Used JHS Crayon British Console Overdrive Pre-Amp Guitar Effects Pedal

Mint, all original packaging, as new

In 1968 a piercing guitar tone came through the speakers on the Beatles "Revolution 1". This is one of the most famous uses of plugging a guitar straight into a mixing console, creating what is now referred to as "Direct-In Distortion." That tone is one of the most recognizable and unique guitar tones of the last 60 years and was one of the inspirations for the JHS Colour Box. We sought to recreate that same compressed bite and fuzz that you get when plugging directly into a British style preamp but in a compact pedal. Many players have expressed interest in a unit that is like the Colour Box but more streamlined for the basic application of a dirt box — no XLR, no 3-band EQ, just the dirt in an easy-to-use format for guitarists. So we decided to pull the Crayon out of the Colour Box.

The controls are Master, Pre, Tilt, and Hi Pass. "Master" is your classic volume control. "Pre" works as a drive or fuzz control — as you reach 75% and above, the fuzz will begin to gate out as you pick the strings harder, making it very responsive to your input signal and touch. The "Tilt" acts as an active tone control that is flat at 50%. Turned left, it boosts bass and cuts treble; turned right, it boosts treble and cuts bass. The "Hi-Pass" toggle switch activates from two different frequencies on the side: 200Hz and 750Hz, allowing amazing tone shaping possibilities.

The Crayon excels at Direct-In fuzz tones but covers more ground than you would first imagine — from subtle tube-like overdrive to classic rock distortion and all the way to spitting fuzz. The Crayon cleans up with your guitar's volume better than any other drive JHS makes. It is exceptional for the player who wants to access multiple dirt tones with the controls of their guitar.