Only yesterday we were saying what a fine time it was for players scouting out new preamp pedal options, and now there's another one vying for your attention with JHS Effects' sequel to its 2014 success story, The Colour Box preamp. And JHS is making sure it's getting a significant update.
As JHS Pedals founder and namesake Josh Heath Scott explains in the video above (and we strongly recommend subscribing to the JHS YouTube channel as Scott's videos consistently informative for effects veterans and newcomers), the original Colour Box approached preamp pedals from a very different perspective than the rest of the market.
It sought to replicate the opinion-dividing character of plugging your guitar straight into the studio mixing desk (hear Revolution by the Beatles). Specifically, the Colour Box aimed to recreate the legendary NEVE 1073 preamp with its two circuits in series.
But as Scott explains, it soon expanded beyond that with the more expensive 500 series follow-up…
"In 2012, I had a crazy idea for a tone shaping device that had never been done before in the world of guitar pedals," says Smith. "I wanted to create an effects pedal that replicated the hard to achieve sounds of ‘direct-in’ electric guitar recordings that I loved…
"This unit can be heard on dozens of recordings from U2, Wilco, Beck, Mac DeMarco, St. Vincent, The National, Spoon, Collective Soul, Muse, to War on Drugs, Foo Fighters, and Phantogram amongst others. As proud of this pedal as we were, we wanted to make it better, so we did."
Like its significantly pricier big brother, the Colour Box 500, the new Colour Box V2 has a new set of controls along with its three-band that can shift each of the frequency bands. You can now focus on elements of the bass, mid or treble frequencies and shape them in more detail.
The JHS Colour Box V2 is available now for £399 / $399. Visit JHS Pedals for more info.
