JHS Colour Box V2

About the JHS Colour Box V2

The JHS Colour Box V2 is a preamp and DI pedal modeled on a Neve 1073 console channel, the classic recording-console sound in a stompbox. It pairs a full EQ with multiple gain stages, from lots of clean headroom to overdrive and distortion, and adds an XLR output so you can run straight to front-of-house or an interface. It shapes tone anywhere in the chain, handles re-amping, and comes in a smaller, cheaper sibling, the Crayon.

In one paragraph

The page's figures as one paragraph, assembled for quoting; not written by hand.

Listings of the JHS Colour Box V2 we watched from listing to sale typically went in 11 days (36 watched), a fast mover; it sells for a median of €280 over the last 90 days across 61 recorded sales, with most examples landing between €260 and €290. New, it costs €473 at Thomann (read 5 October 2026), so a used one at the median saves about 41%. There are 149 listings live right now across Reverb, eBay United States, from €275 asking, a median ask 43% over the sale median. Figures computed 18 October 2026 by Doirado from cross-platform listing data.

What owners have said elsewhere

Paraphrased from 71 discussion threads among 8 owners, 2024-2025. No names, nothing quoted.

Owners call the Colour Box V2 fantastic and awesome, a very fun and genuinely useful tool, one bass player says the only JHS pedal he owns has been more than satisfying because it is essentially a Neve 1073 in pedal form. That console character is the whole point: run the XLR output straight to front-of-house and in-ear monitors for punchy, clean direct sounds (owners use it with an IR loader for both clean and distorted amp voices), and it is a favorite for recording and, especially, re-amping, where owners say it can't be beaten. Dial the low setting for lots of clean headroom, or push the gain stages for dirt, and place it wherever you shape tone, before the effects loop, at the end after an IR, or split at the front for tracking. The honest caveats are cost and focus: it is an expensive pedal, so owners point to the cheaper JHS Clover or the compact Crayon as alternatives, and a few find it easier to love in the studio than to place in a live rig. But for that Neve desk sound in a box, it delivers.