JHS Colour box v2 - nice subtle saturation, with useful EQ - an alternative to boutique DIs for some?

[pn_day]

Hi all,

 

I finally took the plunge and bought the Colour box v2 (got the 10-year anniversary one with the Neve style colour scheme). 

 

I use a Stomp for my tone shaping & effects, but wanted a DI box that added some subtle warmth/fatness. After looking for ages I pulled the trigger on the Colour box and am thoroughly enjoying it.

• The EQ is very musical, even with extreme cuts/boosts. It's quite nice having easy to use controls to tweak on the fly. 
• The 2 transformers combine to give a subtle but pleasing 'warmth' to the sound. It also sounds slightly compressed - but maybe this is just the EQ colouration. 
• The high pass might be useful in some cases, but doesn't go low enough for bass guitar unless you add some boost at the same frequency. I'm guessing this is more useful for other instruments. 
• The console style distortion is best avoided in my opinion - I'm staying in the clean but warm lane
• It's quite a large pedal - just squeezes onto my new small board - but it looks the business, particularly in the Neve-inspired livery. 
• The white LED is eye-searingly bright. I am experimenting with tape/cupboard bumpers/stickers to save my poor eyes. 

 

I thought that I would share this in case anyone was also in the hunt for something to put at the end of the chain as an alternative offering. I know there are some really nice valve DIs / pres (Sushibox Finally , Noble, new Khan mini, Jad Freer Luce etc), but I've always enjoyed the sound of a direct bass straight into a nice vintage console. (I'm also a pessimist - I know pre-amp valves last a long time, but transformers last even longer!)

 

As always, your mileage may vary. This is just an opinion. I haven't even used it in anger yet - just at home, so I guess this is even less useful than normal!

 

Bad photo attached as I know it's bad form to post without pics. (The mini-tuner is because our church meets in a lively acoustic, with band setup in front of the speakers meaning that I can't always hear my bass clearly over the subwoofer mush, and so knowing if the fretless is in tune is rather useful.)

 

Let the flaming commence...!

Phil