JHS PedalsJhs Colour Box V2 Preamp

Expensive but worth it. Makes everything sound better. Overdrive is rad—sounds retro and cool, makes a mic sound rad and tinny/trash can lid-like. If you can justify spending the money, go for it!

This pedal is an incredibly versatile tool with a lot to offer, as long as you’re not expecting it to replace a full Neve console in a small box. It features a powerful parametric EQ, XLR and 1/4" outputs, input and output transformers, and flexible gain controls. It works great as a mastering-style effect, DI, or EQ for vocals and instruments. The high-pass filter and step controls add even more functionality.While it’s a significant investment, the feature set makes it worth it. The XLR output is noiseless, but the 1/4" can be a bit noisy, depending on use. The LED is quite bright, but that’s easily fixable. Overall, it’s a reliable, multi-purpose tool for live performance and studio use.

Watch the JHS YouTube vids on this for the details. I’ll point out that even though it’s pricey, you def get your money’s worth. It’s a pedal, but doesn’t have pedal topology. It has preamp and a boost, with 5 gain stages from clean to fuzz. There is a toggle to bump them for even more dirt. Plus the EQ is very good and the Hi Pass is also handy. Worth every penny.

I use it for a direct in to my USB interface. It has the ability to be in your face with screaming distortion/fuzz or just adding a little sparkle on a clean sound. It is now the first thing that I plug everything into from microphones to guitars. An amazing addition to my home studio set up.

As long as you don't go in expected it to ACTUALLY be a Neve console in some miraculously small box, it's remarkably versatile! Similar in spirit, but definitely a departure with unique high-gain features.Pros:-Powerful-but-simple parametric EQ (minus a Q control I suppose)-XLR in, plus parallel XLR and 1/4 inch out.-Both input and output transformers (I view it as a nice little "mastering" kind of effect)-Step control and hi/lo toggle in addition to two volumes provide as wide a range of gain as you would ever really need.-No-nonsense hi-pass with on-off toggle is very useful for applying this pedal to a variety of instruments/microphones/pickups. I have recorded vocals and instruments through a variety of mics, and performed with it as a DI for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and electric bass. *Once you learn how to use it* I have found it to be a wonderful catch-all EQ+D.I.Cons:-Significant monetary investment (ultimately worth the feature set, but admittedly steep)-Somewhat noisy 1/4inch output (XLR is remarkably noiseLESS, and I suspect this is a natural factor of the original intension of getting the "drive a console very hard like on x,y,z record!" sound live through your amp on a stage. I typically use this direct through XLR live, however, and have had no noise issues.)-Very bright LED (easy to fix by coloring or taping over) that makes it hard to see the controls in a lot of the lower-light situations of a typical stage.

This isn't a guitar pedal for people just starting (get some dedicated dirt or delay pedals) or who can't really distinguish good tone. This pedal is very subtle, almost non-existent sounding, to the untrained ear. But if you care about tone and seek to hear raw emotions in sounds, this pedal is for you. It's honestly incredible. It begs me to throw more at it to see what it can do. Just an incredible boost to any chain. It's an always-on pedal on my board and should be for yours too. The hefty price is worth it. Sorry it cannot be explained in words by anyone giving a review but that's because it is such an unexplainable pedal.

I wasn't prepared for how incredible this is. I was looking for a way to practice and record direct. I had previously bought a Mooer cab/sim pedal (The JCM marshall voiced one), and that was pretty good.I saw this being used on the JHS Pedals channel and just decided to spring for something high end. And this is really a next level bit of engineering.All the knobs are useful and although it's an unconventional setup, it's really easy to get used to. The Mooer pedal took some tweaking just to get a realistic sound, but the Color Box is so much more flexible! Tones can be explored that all sound good, I don't have to work at finding the "sweet spot" and leaving it there.I haven't tried this with bass and vocals yet, but I can't imagine my experience being any less than how great it sounds for guitar. I'm not even using a cab sim. I don't think it's necessary now. I can put pedals in front of it for dirt, compression, whatever and it all works. I'm amazed.

People I think fail to understand that Jhs makes gear. Not just guitar pedals. This isn’t a fuzz or a distortion or a drive. This is a preamp (in guitarist that’s a “boost”) And This is a GREAT preamp with eq. The eq is musical and sounds good once dialed in on every source I’ve tried it on. It has high enough gain settings to power a dynamic mic and send it in line level without eating up a mic pre. And low enough gain settings to let you run line level signal out of a daw into it to reamp the signal. Either through the colour box alone or the colour box and guitar pedals. I honestly need a midi version that saves presets because of all the ways I use it. The only problem with mine is he’s getting lonely. Might have to order him a friend...