65Amps Colour Boost

There are only two knobs--Voice, and Gain, but don't be fooled! Spend a little time tweaking your guitar's volume and tone controls, experiment with the pedal's four different voicings, and you will find your tone. I was not able to just "plug in" and make great sounds with this, but that is the nature of this product.

My favorite guitar sounds have always been made by the Brits. I'm especially into the jangly sounds of Johnny Marr and the cream, crunch, and complexity of Bernard Butler-era Suede, but I've always appreciated the early innovators as well (Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Harrison, Townshend, etc...).

This is the vintage gravy on your plate of sound! I am playing an unmodified early 90's Les Paul Classic through two original 1960-61 Vox AC30s-- a "Normal" model and a "Bass" model, with plenty of effects. My tone with the Paul has always been a bit dark and muddy especially when chording (my amps are non top-boost). After removing all the effects in my chain, I was able to re-shape my tone and achieve some astounding results with the Colour Boost.

With the amp up, low-mild gain on the Colour Boost, and the guitar volume(s) around 2-4, each note in the chord is distinguishable and crisp. Turn up your guitar's volume, and you hear a creamy, slightly chimey overdrive sound, with increased sustain. The overdrive is completely clear, and harmonically rich-- not crunchy, but growly, and _transparent_. I can hear the harmonic complexity of each chord/note through the Vox and additional, emphasized upper-register overtones. Mmmmmmm... It has completely opened up the tonal range of the Paul-- never before have I been much impressed with the middle setting of the toggle switch, but now I can blend both pickups beautifully and with great results. The volume knobs are so sensitive to the overdrive now!

I liken this sound to Jimmy Page's chordal/picking tones in "Since I've Been Loving You," before the heavy solo at 3:38. Especially when he slams the "Fm(Gm)" chord at 3:15-- it's _that_ sound. There's also some Mick Ronson "Ziggy Stardust" tones in there too. Oh, and Clapton "Beano" sounds, and some Ed O'Brien, and Bernard Butler, and Marc Bolan, and..., and...

I don't notice much additional noise from the pedal itself, save the fact that it is driving the front of your amp a little harder, so if you've got a noisy amp, it's gonna be noisier!

My only qualm is that since it is a "boost," there is a notable increase in sound when engaged (duh). This means I am going to have to re-work my unity gain settings with all my other effects. BFD. I also think placement of this pedal is part of it's magic. I don't have much to say on that yet since I've just been going straight into my amp with this because it sounds so beautiful that way...

Would gig with this. Sturdy construction, durable switch, very nice 4-position selector pot and chicken-head knobs. Pretty hammered blue finish (not gray like the pix online). Popped it open and it is completely point-to-point construction-- no pc board! Came with a battery, but also has a 9v jack out the back (I wonder what sounds I can get if I plug it into the "sag" adapter on my Pedal Power 2 Plus?). Isn't as small as an MXR pedal, but doesn't take up that much real estate on the pedal board either.

Have never dealt with 65amps before.

This pedal has helped me get my Paul out of the muck and get into some really nice vintage tones out of my equipment. Here are a couple of further points:

1) Don't put this in front of a Solid State amp, it isn't designed to work with it. I tried it on the clean channel of my Music Man 110 RD50 and it was buzzy and thin-- awful. Put it on the overdrive channel (which is the tube part of this amp) and it was much better. On the cranked Vox this thing is god. Pushes those tubes into the creamy, melting-glass stratosphere!

2) This pedal was designed in conjunction with Don Butler, if not completely his design. Don has been servicing my amps for many years now, and he does solid work, is cordial, and is a proverbial Vox encyclopedia. I chose his Rangemaster because he knows so much about Voxes and because he does impeccable work. Looks like this 65amps pedal reflects the same quality. You can find more info about his handmade Rangemaster or the 65amps Colour Boost here: http://www.tone-man.com/rangemaster.htm

3) Though this pedal is pricey at $237 (tax out the door) it is worth the money, and worth supporting either 65amps or Don Butler, who is a hard-working musician just like you!

Two knobs. One is the voicing (colour) and one is gain. Sooooo easy.

All the 4 voices are great. Pretty much Full range, Low Mid, High Mid, High range voices. This thing can make you sound like you are playing through a cheap radio, or like you have a bluesbreaker (round and bassy). Also, the Led Zepp I tone you're looking for is encasulated in this box (think Communication Breakdown or Good Times Bad Times). Covers just about everything in between. Very throaty.

I'm running it with a Standard American Tele, Keeley Comp, DLS Echo Tap, Keeley Mod SparkleDrive, Budda Verbmaster.

If you run the Keeley Mod SparkleDrive into the 65 Amps Colour Boost, you get this super funky fuzz tone you won't believe!

N/A just got it.

N/A just got it.

I do contemporary styles (alternative) and also some old blues stuff (brit invasion and brit blues).

This thing is just one of the most superior boxes I have ever used. I have a Pete Cornish G2 I may get rid of now....

The amount of different colors you can get with this is simply amazing. Seriously just a God send. I was looking for a Way Huge Tone Leper, but I don't need it now, this will do that and the wagon to boot.