The Colombo Audio Eruption EVH Variac Distortion is a distortion pedal from Colombo Audio, built to capture the tone of Eddie Van Halen. Its central feature is a Variac control, a reference to the lower-voltage trick Van Halen famously used on his amps, which sweeps from a classic plexi-style response toward what the maker frames as the instant Eddie character. Guitar Pedal X listed it among its best new distortion pedals of 2024, priced at €219 / $2301.
Controls
The pedal keeps things to four knobs1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Sets the pedal's output level |
| Gain | Sets the amount of distortion |
| Variac | Sweeps from "< Classic Plexi" to "Instant Eddie" |
| Tone | Shapes the treble response |
What reviewers said
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, writing in December 2024, was strongly positive about the pedal's take on its target tone1:
"Simply my favourite EVH sounding pedal to-date - it really nails that Brown Sound superbly1."
Stefan Karlsson, Guitar Pedal X1
Context
Eddie Van Halen's death in October 2020 spurred a series of gear releases dedicated to him, and Colombo Audio's Eruption is part of that wave. The pedal was later added to Delicious Audio's article on plexi-style pedals in May 2021. Colombo Audio has since expanded its range, announcing The One, an analog high-gain preamp pedal inspired by the Marshall JMP-1 rack preamp, in April 2025. For more on the pedal itself, see the Colombo Audio Eruption page, or compare it with other overdrive pedals and fuzz pedals in the same family of gain effects.
Videos
Brett Kingman
Luca Colombo
Questions
What is the Variac control on the Colombo Audio Eruption?
The Variac control sweeps between two characters, marked from Classic Plexi on one side to Instant Eddie on the other. It lets a player dial how far the pedal moves from a vintage plexi-style response toward the hotter, more compressed feel associated with Eddie Van Halen's modded amps, alongside the standard Volume, Gain and Tone controls.
Sources (1)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-12-17
