In 2012, I had the crazy idea of a tone shaping device that had never been done before in the world of guitar pedals. It was to create a pedal that could replicate the sound of the electric guitar "direct-in" recordings that I love so much. Bands like The Beatles, Spoon, Wilco, and Steely Dan have used this technique for years, but it's been nearly impossible to replicate live.
I wanted this pedal to transform my gear into a tone on par with the Neve® studio console, but it was no easy task. However, after a lot of trial and error, experimentation, and rework, the concept evolved into something far beyond our wildest imagination.
When we shot our first demo video at Abbey Road Studios in London in 2014, we knew this idea had evolved into one of the most unique products we've ever made. Completed as a full blown studio grade preamp/EQ/distortion pedal with compatibility with a wide range of instruments, the Color Box is more than what I was after all along.
Even on the day of its release, I had no idea how the Color Box would be received, but I was extremely happy with it. And as the months passed, we saw that something amazing was beginning to happen. It's great for studio and live vocals, kick drums, acoustic guitars, basses, keyboards, overhead mics on drums, stereo basses, room mics, synthesizers, reamps, and almost any instrument set up on an incredibly large stage. It was a scene where Color Box was used. All the producers, engineers and artists were sending us emails and social media telling us how they used the Color Box.
The sound of this unit can be heard on numerous recordings by U2, Wilco, Beck, Mac DeMarco, St.Vincent, The National, Spoon, Collective Soul, Muse, War on Drugs, Foo Fighters, Phantogram and many more. I'm proud of this pedal and at the same time I thought it should be better, which is why I decided to build the V2.
The Color Box V2 inherits all the features of the V1, with new features such as expanded EQ controls, a Hi/Lo switch for large, clean headroom, and phantom power for condenser mics.
Let's take a look at the features and controls of Color Box V2.
The red Gain section consists of three controls: Master, Pre-Vol, and Step. The Master volume control controls the volume of the entire unit. Pre-Vol controls the amount of gain for the two internal gain stages. Similar to how a typical “Drive” or “Gain” control works, increasing the gain gives you sounds like grit, distortion and fuzz.
The STEP control increases the gain of each preamp stage in 5 steps. By turning the STEP knob from left to right, the gain increases in order of +18dB, +23dB, +28dB, +33dB, +39dB.
The Color Box V2 has a new HI/LO switch that allows you to switch between clean headroom sizes. LO mode makes it easy to get a pure clean sound with no breakup, perfect for tone shaping that doesn't require distorted sounds. It distorts easily in HI mode, so you can get a wide range of sounds such as overdrive, distortion, and fuzz.
In addition to the HI/LO switch, there is also a -20dB Pad switch on the right side of the Color Box V2. This feature only works in XLR input mode and is useful for adjusting the volume of high output mics.
The blue EQ section features three new Shift controls that interact with the standard Treble, Middle and Bass controls. This knob adjusts the frequency range of the Treble, Middle and Bass controls. The Shift knob has a center frequency of 10kHz for Treble, 1kHz for Middle and 120Hz for Bass. The Treble, Middle and Bass knobs control boost/cut between +/- 17dB. If you want to boost the high-mid frequencies, turn the Mid Shift knob above 3 o'clock and the Middle knob above 12 o'clock. If you want to cut the higher treble band, turn the Treble Shift knob above 3 o'clock and set the Treble knob below 12 o'clock. A Shift knob allows precise control of the EQ of any input signal through the Color Box V2.
The Hi-Pass section can be switched ON/OFF with the toggle switch below the Hi-Pass knob. Flip the toggle switch up to activate the Hi-Pass knob, with a 6dB per octave change between 60 and 800Hz.
Color Box V2 has a combo jack that supports both 1/4" phone input for instrument input and XLR input for microphone input. The INST/XLR switch on the right side of the housing Switch the input terminal according to the source to be used.
Color Box V2 operates with standard DC9V center negative polarity.
W98 x D144 x H65 ( mm )
