'80s Guild Brian May Pedal

GAD

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Anyone know who made this for Guild? I asked Hans and (gasp) he didn't know! I suppose it's possible that they made it themselves but they don't really have a history of doing that.

The year is probably '84-86 or so along with the original Brian May guitar. I've got plenty of info on that, but this pedal remains a bit of a mystery. There are no markings inside and nothing to make it obvious who made it. I have some theories but cannot prove them at all. The pedal is a VERY simple single-transister boost similar to an EH LBP-1.

The knobs, BTW, are not original. They should be like the master volume knobs on Guilds from that era but I suspect someone in the past sold them for big money since they are impossible to find.

Guild-1980s-BrianMay-Pedal-Top.jpg
 
A

adorshki

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walrus said:
There's lots of photos of these on-line, but this link has the only photo I could find that has some sort of stamped information on the back of it. Don't know if it helps:

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/guild/brianmay/powerbooster#pictures

walrus
Click to expand...

Betcha it's a winner, looks like "'BUD WILLOUGHBY OHIO" and sure enough:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Industries
EDIT:
Seems like a lock that's their enclosure but what's not clear is whether they may have subcontracted to make the whole pedal assembly as well.
Apparently very early on they actually made circuits and component kits but at some point decided to focus on enclosures only.
 
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Nice! The circuit board has Ws on it:

Guild-1980s-BrianMay-Pedal-PCB-Top.jpg




Gonna see if I can dig anything up on them. Thanks, guys!

I think at this point I may know more about these pedals than I ever planned to. Had a bit of an epiphany today about their designs. This is gonna be a good one.
 
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GAD said:
Nice! The circuit board has Ws on it:

Guild-1980s-BrianMay-Pedal-PCB-Top.jpg




Gonna see if I can dig anything up on them. Thanks, guys!

I think at this point I may know more about these pedals than I ever planned to. Had a bit of an epiphany today about their designs. This is gonna be a good one.
Click to expand...

What the heck is growing in there?!? :shocked:
 
SFIV1967

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SFIV1967 said:
You get them new from Guild those days: https://shop.guildguitars.com/product/newark-st-collection-mini-master-volume-knob-black/

Ralf
Click to expand...

hansmoust said:
I believe these are for knurled shafts. You need the ones for a solid shaft with a set-screw!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, the pots are split-shaft on the pedal (and appear to be original) and the modern Guild knobs actually worked! The knobs that were on there were set-screw just like the old MV knobs. The NS knobs aren't as nice as the old ones and are a bit harder to read, but they look the part.

Guild-1980s-BrianMay-Pedal-Knobs.jpg
 
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@DrumBob do you have any insight into who made these pedals for Guild or any stories about them?
 
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hansmoust said:
Fantastic! Finally an affordable solution for a parts problem with an older unit!
Click to expand...

Right? I honestly thought that the NS knobs would end up in my parts pile. I was also kind of surprised at how quickly I got them since I've bashed Guild parts ordering in the past. Ordering through deliver was quick and easy this time.
 
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I thought so too for a bit, bit it's not a Distortion+. I've figured out what the circuit is (gotta wait for the big reveal), but not who actually made it.
 
Quantum Strummer

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Single transistor, yes? (Edit: oops, GAD notes this early in the thread.) More caps & resistors than I'd expect for a Rangemaster clone. A mid-focused booster?

-Dave-
 
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Nuuska

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Can we have two pictures of pc - one from each side?

It is quite easy to draw the schematics of that box.
 
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Nuuska said:
Can we have two pictures of pc - one from each side?

It is quite easy to draw the schematics of that box.
Click to expand...

I already have the schematic. :)

More pics when I publish the article.

BTW I know what the pedal *is*. What I want to know is who manufactured it for Guild, which I think we have a lead on.
 
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