May 83 Treble Boost

Another treble boost used by Mr May. This one can be seen in photos of his pedal board from 1981.

The original has no pot, but we know people like to have some degree of control so we've added one as an option so can tweak the bias. If you go for it without a pot you lose the secure enclosure mounting it offers.

Kit is available with a standard sized 1590B enclosure with battery, or a mini 1590A (36 x 90mm) enclosure with DC power only, though be aware that you'll be wiring in a very confined space.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components, pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is available as an option with full kits, and can take a battery if desired with footswitch positioned 22mm higher, closer to the controls. Knobs are not included.

Builds are only available with full kits including enclosure. Please choose appropriate knobs.

Inspired by: TB83

Difficulty: Easy

PCB size: 25 x 22mm

Knobs required: 1

Enclosure: 1590B, 1590A

Direct Connect compatible (4 way)

Download INSTRUCTION PDF

Product Code: May-83

Brand: Pedal Parts

Weight: 81.0g

Product Condition: New

Kit type 1* Allow for battery?* Bias pot* Ribbon connector?* Pre-built? (UK Only)*

£19.20 inc. tax

£16.00 ex. tax

? Tax based on United Kingdom.

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Customer Reviews

3 review(s) posted (write review)

Absolutely Amazing!
"I tried the Treble Deluxe version first and was really impressed by it so decided to give the May 83 a go and I'm absolutely blown away by the sound. Out of two this one is my favourite, they are both great but there seems to be more grit with this one, a beefier thicker sound but still does the cleans great when you roll back the volume. The pic is of it in my testing rig and like the deluxe I've added a switch to toggle between 3 different input caps. Buy this you won't regret it!
" Lee - 10 May 2022

Nasally boost
"My first build a few years ago was the 'Brian May boost' that basically became an expensive ashtray! Now Im a bit more experienced i thought i would try this as my first mini build. The kit to test stage took about 30 mins. Wiring it into the mini enclosure then took about 2 hours, trying to figure out which jack went where, then the ribbon connector came off the main pcb board after i'd soldered in the footswitch. ANYWAY, got it all in, and it works! The bias nob seems to give it a some volume and gain boost. This has a nasally, snotty sound, and if you want a guitar virtuoso like Brian May, works really well for punch in the nuts punk!" Ozzie Battler - 26 September 2020

Got a Vox? Get this!
"I love my little Vox AC4. But anything that makes it sound even better is surely worth a couple of hours of my time! I'm a bit of a Brian May fan, and while I don't have a room full of AC30s or a Red Special (Dr May did inspire me to build my own guitar about 20 years ago tho), plugging this May 83 into the AC4 does sound remarkably good and that bit closer to the most magical tone on earth. The circuit is dead easy to build, and fit in the reused pedal casing I had in my cupboard. It took a bit of fiddling around to get everything inside, but that's all part of the fun. If you're a gorilla, these pedals might make you go bananas, but regular humans will have hands the right size to get it right. One thing - the gain level goes from SCREAMING to PAINT PEELING. This ain't no transparent drive. If you own a Vox, you owe it to yourself to spend an evening meditating over a soldering iron to produce a May 83 Treble Boost." Nick Burman - 01 June 2020