Blackbox Cobalt

A little less intuitive if you're used to just gain and volume on a pedal. If you read the instructions, it won't take too long before you know how to use it properly. I personally think the knobs are brilliant. More pedals should be capable of controlling these parameters!

The Cobalt is a boost pedal. I don't think the overdrive tones are all that great, and there's no eq to shape the tone, just the drive, bias, gain, and volume knobs to control the KIND of breakup you get. The drive knob is something like a presence control. Gain is self-explanatory, but there's not a whole lot of grit inthis pedal. The bias knob is what is more interesting, and it works much like biasing the tubes in your amp, either hotter for quicker breakup and sloppiness or colder for clarity and definition. It's the bias knob which makes the tone a bit farty if you crank it too high.

This pedal honestly compares to some of the best boutique bossts out there. In particular, I've tried the Klon, RC booster, 2002 Fatboost, Cold Fusion, Blue Tube, Real Tube (w. various tubes), Tim, Timmy, and a host of OD pedals that can do some clean boost. The best comparison to my ears is the Klon, without the mids. Now, many of the above pedals do a non-middy boost, but none of them have that nice sparkle in the highs and tight aggressive lows like the Klon has. The Cobalt has a good portion of that going on. When you kick it in, it brings your notes up front, with authority, not just volume, but tight and hamonic punch. Obviously, this stuff is hard to put into words, but it impressed me so much since I have owned 2 Klons (and I think they're amazing, they just take too much space on a pedalboard). The others seem to want to follow in the Klon's footsteps, usually to no avail. I think the Coblat would please Klon lovers who are tired of the mid hump. Yes, it's true that the mids help you to cut through live, but I think the Cobalt will give most players what they like about the Klon. whether this was Lorren's intent or not, I can't say. I rank up the Drive knob, keep the bias around 9-11 and the gain below 12 for a very solid tone.

Looks very well made with full-sized pots, and the guy I bought it from had it for a good number of years (so the paint is chipped but the components inside are solid). I think it could be squeezed into a smaller box if you don't have to fit a battery inside (in fact I intend to try that).

Pretty cool guy, answers e-mails. I also own a special edition Quicksilver delay from Blackbox, and it's rather intense.

To reiterate, I think this is a boost that will give at east 90% of the good Klon tones, without some of the bad. Highly recommended as a boost (not as an overdrive). I'm really happy, especially for the price I got it for!

4 knobs, each serving a different purpose, volume sets the output (I use mine on "V"), bias controls the mild compression (I use mine on "B"), drive and gain separate the overdrive into very good clear sounding rock tones (I set Drive to "D", Gain to "G").

This pedal is truly transparent and very high quality sounding. True bypass too. You can use this with very expensive amps, or budget amps, with very impressive results. I use high quality equipment favoring PRS McCarty soapbars and humbucking guitars, and Strats. I also own a Guytron GT-100 head running into a Zinky 2x12 closed back, Budda Superdrive 30 2x12, and a Peavey Classic 30 with the 112 extension cab. Using the Cobalt live with the Peavey it sounds damn close to my other expensive amps. One thing the Cobalt is really great at is dialing in true tube grind at any volume and it sounds good! Being able to customize the gain and drive is brilliant.

High quality construction on the case and components, hand painted finish.

My question was answered immediately by the owner.

This pedal is perfect for dialing in classic rock sounds live. You can also get pretty impressive results recording direct into a computer program using this pedal. I would definately buy another one of these if lost or stolen and everybody that I have loaned this pedal to immediately bought one after using it, it's that good. The Oxygen pedal is also worth checking out for clean segments but it also sounds great as a boost since it has a very good sounding gain control. After buying this pedal I sold all my other overdrive boost pedals. The only pedal that I can compare this too is a fulldrive II which is also very good. This Cobalt pedal is definately a keeper.

Four kinda confusing knobs, but very well thought out!

Gain- Input gain for the OD. Use this to set a level that'll work with the output level of your guitar's pups. Too high and your dynamics get clipped and farty. Too low and you get no over drive sound
Bias- Use this to add a compression. Past 12:00 it changes the tonal characteristics of the OD the cobalt produces... making it grittier, and more fuzzy.
Dirve-a fine tune knob for the amount of OD the cobalt outputs.
Volume-sets the final output level for the device.

Box is a bit tricky to dial-in. Especially if you're in a hurry or trying to get in a quick demo. You can get a raspy OD sound if you try to use it how typical OD's work. But if you take a bit of time, it's very much worth the effort! I love all the control of this box. Allows me to tweak it to MY needs. I'm taking a point away though, because i think they could labeled the controls with better or more suited names.

Jazzmaster/Gretch Country Gent. into a '68 Twin reverb with JBL d-120's or into a "70 Deluxe reverb with an alnico Weber California. My board goes like this: Foxx tone machine-COBALT-klon-Picture wah-Goodrich volume-Small Stone-DM-2

This is an amazing MILD gain OD. Extremely transparent!. It has a very sweet high end and doesn't compress unless you want it to. And that's why I'm giving it a ten. It also works great being goosed by fuzzes, other OD's, and wahs. I've given other OD's 10's in the past, but in retrospect, I feel that only the Klon and the brown channel of the Blackstone deserve it really. All three have a hi-fidelity to their sound that is rare in guitar pedals.

Very tough!!! Stout true-bypass switch... wouldn't worry about dropping it!

Lorren put-up with all my obsessive questions, and no one should have to do that, but he did, and was very helpful.

I've been looking for a mild OD to use in a live situation for years. I use my Blackstone if I could, but I feel it compresses a bit too much for live, so I retired it to the studio. I've spent thousands of dollars. I think I'm going to be happy now, I'm really hoping my search is over. I like to be able to kick in my Klon for leads, whether it's from a clean signal or slighly dirty one. The cobalt lets me create a clean tone, and mild OD tone that match in color, and amplitude. It also works great with my Fuzz (doesn't cut the volume when kicked in, just adds sustain) Okay I'm done now. I hope this works out for me for the long run

First of all, you need to know exactly what the Cobalt can do for you. I highly recommend reading the Blackbox web site and listening to the sound samples. It's all about nuance, not in your face distortion or fuzz.

This pedal is not a "plug & play" box. Each and every player who tries a Cobalt needs to experiment and find their own use for it. But once you make the effort, you won't regret it.

The Cobalt has four controls: Volume, Bias, Drive and Gain. These controls are very interactive with each other, and the tiniest of tweaks on any one knob changes the response of the others.

The control settings I like best are Volume-11:00, Bias-8:45, Drive-1:00 and Gain-12:30. I find that the best sounds I get are with the Bias at no higher than 10:00. I should point out that these settings are for LEAD playing only, and I really haven't found a sound for chords that I like yet.

As for the manual, it's one page with some tips and suggestions for control settings. If you are willing to experiment yourself, it's all you need.

There is no LED, and there is no adapter jack. Use a battery or a negative ground battery snap.

I play a Les Paul Custom with 57 Classics, a Les Paul Special with P90s and a stock American Strat. My main amp is a Mesa/Boogie DC-5 combo.

In addition to the Cobalt, I also use lots of other effects. (If you want to see my gear setup, go to www.cvansickle.net/peds.htm.

First, I plug into a VHT Valvulator 1, and then the Cobalt. From there, I connect to a pedal loop selector that engages up to four effects on one side, five on the other. I am able to get very pleasing sounds with the Cobalt driving an Ibanez Compressor, Tube Screamer, Fulltone Clyde Wah, or any combination of these three. However, I don't like it all when running the Cobalt into a Danelectro Fab Tone. The Cobalt takes the raspy, fuzz edge off the Dano, and that's why I use the Dano in the first place (but on only three songs).

Using the Cobalt, I am amazed at how much better my lead tone is. One of my favorite tones is the lead sound Mick Ralphs has on Bad Company's "Shooting Star," and I AM GETTING THAT TONE!!!! And Clapton's "woman tone?" Fuggedaboutit! The Cobalt NAILS it! Jimmy Page is in there too.

So far, so good. I haven't gigged with it yet.

At first, I had some concerns about the Drive control: When I first began to use the Cobalt, there was definitely an audible "swooshing" noise, like the ocean maybe. Not too loud, but there. If my t.c. electronic G-Major's noise reduction was on, then the noise "thumped" instead of swooshed. This noise went away as I adjusted the Drive control below 11:00. Of course, it was not an issue when playing (and that noise was totally gone when the Cobalt was switched off).

Please note the PAST TENSE phrasing above.

When I e-mailed my findings to Lorren at Blackbox, he IMMEDIATELY offered to fix the problem, a small Bias adjustment, if I would send him the pedal. I did, and he fixed it right away. This is outstanding customer service, especially when you consider that I never paid a dime for it!

I'm liking this pedal a lot! Had I not won it, I most definitely would have bought it. I will keep using it.

I believe Blackbox has created a new classification of pedal effect with the Cobalt. What else could it be? It's not really an overdrive or distortion, it's certainly not a fuzz, it does more than a clean boost. Lorren calls it a hi-fi preamp/overdrive, but I think that using any term we already have for pedals doesn't do enough to describe the Cobalt.

Four controls that interact with each other - Volume, Bias, Drive, and Gain (note: no tone control - which is a good thing; this baby truly transparent). While it is fairly easy to get good sounds out of the Cobalt, you have to work with the controls a bit in order to get a feel for what they do. It does not have a LED to let you know when it is on.

I'm using a mid eighties MIJ Strat with Bill Lawrence L280's pups. Not a lot effects in the chain (Strat-> TU-2 -> Cobalt -> Mo'D (custom distortion pedal from John Landgraff) -> Boss DM-2 -> Fender Champ or Deluxe). The signal is clear as a bell with no noise. The Cobalt is a light overdrive (if you are looking for a buzz box, go elsewhere), but you can get a number of very subtle shades of grit by adjusting the controls. At low volumes, you can get a very realistic and natural overdrive sound. At higher amp volumes, you can use it as a clean boost to push your tubes just a little harder. Don't know how it would sound on a solid state amp.

Don't know yet, but it looks very well built.

I've only had e-mail contact with the company, but those messages have been answered promptly and have been informative.

This is the first piece of gear that has impressed my enough to post a review here. I like to play blues/rock. I'm not trying to sound like any one artist, but I tend to favor a 'Texan' kind of tone.

It don't get a ten, because 1) I would like to see a LED, and 2) it ain't cheap.

However, I've been looking for just the right overdrive for the past few months. I don't require a lot of distortion out of an OD, but it does have to be transparent. I have checked out a SD-1, BD-2, OD-1, Fulldrive II, Route 66, Bluesbreaker II, Baby Blue, Sparkle Drive, and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. All colored my guitar's tone. The Cobalt is the first that I can say is truly transparent.

While this box does not have the same level of distortion that you would find in a TS or FDII, it does have what I'm looking for - very subtle and lite. As I posted earlier, you can get a very natural overdrive sound at lower amp volumes, and when you want to open up your amp a bit, you can clean up the tone and boost your signal to get more out of your amp.

I think at last I can say my OD search is over.