JHS Colour Box "10"

The JHS Colour Box "10" is a limited gray edition of the Colour Box V2, a preamp pedal that puts a Neve-style studio console channel in a stompbox enclosure. Released in October 2024 to mark ten years of the Colour Box line, it keeps the V2's circuit, including its Lundahl output transformers, and adds Neve/Marconi fluted knobs in a pro-audio gray finish with studio knobs¹².

The idea behind the Colour Box goes back to the original 2014 pedal, which JHS describes as "a full-fledged studio-grade preamplifier, EQ, and distortion generator with multi-instrument compatibility"³⁴. Josh Scott's stated goal was a pedal that would "transform my guitar rig into the tonal equivalent of a Neve studio console", replicating hard-to-achieve direct-in electric guitar recording sounds³. EarthQuaker Devices' pedalboard guide calls it "a Neve in a box and plenty versatile for guitar, bass, synth, and even vocals"⁵.

A studio-style console preamp in a pedal

The Colour Box line began in 2014⁴ and grew out of Scott's interest in the sound of a guitar plugged straight into a studio desk. In JHS's own demo video, he describes how the project "turned into a full-blown Neve 1073 style studio grade preamp device in a pedal"². Aclam Guitars' tone-research article frames the original as a preamp-style overdrive aimed at Beatles tones, calling it "the closest approximation to this weird and beautiful tone" of the desk-saturated direct sound on "Revolution"⁶.

Guitar World's news editor describes the Colour Box as "more comprehensive and advanced" than other pedals designed to replicate studio desk tones⁷. Where a typical overdrive or boost pedal shapes a signal that still goes through an amp, the Colour Box is built to be the whole front end: preamp, EQ and distortion in one box, with enough gain and headroom to drive a balanced output straight to a desk or interface. Guitar Pedal X notes the V2's combination of "extensive EQ, headroom, gain and XLR output"⁸.

The line has since expanded beyond the pedal format. In 2017 JHS released the Colour Box 500, a 500-series lunchbox module with three inputs (front DI jack, plus mic and line-level inputs on the back) and a +48V phantom power toggle for microphones that need it⁹². JHS says engineers, producers, instrumentalists, programmers and studios worldwide have used the Colour Box on vocals, bass, keys, acoustic instruments, beats and voiceovers⁹.

The controls and jacks

The "10" carries the V2's control set. On the top panel you get Master Volume and Pre-Volume Gain¹, with the Master controlling the overall volume of the unit³. The tone controls are a modified Baxandall tone stack with pre-selected frequencies: treble, middle and bass knobs that are "straight-ahead +/-17dB boost/cut controls with center indents"¹⁰. A Step control acts as a gain control on both stages, increasing the level in five increments and adding girth as you move up through the five levels¹⁰. Vintage Guitar's launch coverage lists the same five-step Gain Stage selector and a selectable Hi-Pass Filter among the original's controls¹¹.

Around the edges of the enclosure:

The V2 also added an output transformer compared with the V1³, and the "10" retains the Lundahl output transformers that Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson rates as "stellar" pro-level audio transformers, equivalent to Neve/Carnhill in overall suitability and fidelity¹.

Power comes from a standard 9V DC negative supply. JHS's page for the V2 is emphatic: the pedal "runs only on standard 9V DC negative power (do not plug in anything greater than 9V)"³. There is no battery option, and the 9V supply does not provide phantom power, so microphones needing +48V are out of reach here (the Colour Box 500's phantom toggle covers that case⁹).

The 10th anniversary edition

The "10" exists because the Colour Box turned ten in 2024. JHS marked the anniversary with a grey colourway edition¹, offered in "that pro-audio gray with studio knobs for a limited time"². Beyond the finish, it adds Neve/Marconi fluted knobs, the fluted knob style associated with vintage Neve consoles, while keeping the Lundahl output transformers¹.

Two things are worth knowing about its availability:

• It was not limited in quantity; production simply stopped in December 2024².
• The ordering window ran until December 31, 2024².

At launch it was priced at $449 in the US and £449 in the UK, which Guitar Pedal X reported as $50 dearer than the previous model¹. The standard Colour Box V2 lists at the same $449 on JHS's product page³, so the anniversary premium in the US came to the difference between the V2's earlier $399 launch price in November 2019¹² and the current $449 figure.

For context on the line's history: the V1 era also included hand-painted editions that JHS describes as "really cool and rare"², and the V2 arrived on November 14, 2019 with expanded EQ control over the V1²¹³. EarthQuaker Devices' guide notes that "Version 2.0 has even more precision with its EQ shift knobs"⁵.

Guitar Pedal X's take on the "10" is that it suits players who want one box to handle everything¹:

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