Crazy Tube Circuits

Notes: HI POWER is Crazy Tube Circuits' next endeavour in pedal + amp-in-a-box overdrives recreating legendary sounds, following the success of Crossfire and Unobtanium.

It was inspired by the sonic combination of two British tone machines. The almighty Colorsound Power Boost meets the blistering high-headroom Hiwatt amp.

While the combination of these two units directly hints at the gear setup of David Gilmour and especially the gear used on Pink Floyd's album: Wish You Were Here (think the guitar solo sounds of "Shine on you Crazy Diamond", "Have A Cigar") the sonic options are endless.

The orange enclosure silicon transistor circuit (Colorsound Power Boost) can deliver from a transparent clean boost to an all-out fuzz driving a tube amp to sonic bliss. Crazy Tube Circuits set out to clone the original unit featuring the true-to-the-original spec BC184 transistors running on 18V DC (via an internal voltage booster circuit).

The ultra-flexible 2-band Baxandall EQ circuit can add bite and low-end rumble to any setup. Crazy Tube Circuits used a reverse log gain pot (labelled as volume), compared to the linear taper pot found in the original units and acted as an on/off switch, to be able to set the amount of boost/overdrive more precisely. While the earlier units didn't feature a master volume control (only as an aftermarket mod - Pete Cornish made an external unit master volume for David Gilmour's Power Boost) Crazy Tube Circuits chose to include one that is setup in a way so that when it is all the way clockwise it is bypassed. Later versions of the Power Boost had 9V power supply and were renamed as the "Overdriver" due to the lower headroom and their ability to drive the signal earlier. They were offered in a grey enclosure and can be seen in the gear setups of Jeff Beck, Marc Bolan, etc. Crazy Tube Circuits chose to incorporate this version as well with a flip of a toggle switch (PWR-ODR toggle switch).

On the left side of the HI POWER you will find an all-analogue circuit set out to emulate the sound and feel of a Hiwatt amp. Following the path of the famed British tube amplifier, this circuit offers authentic amp tone and feel resembling guitar tones from guitar greats like David Gilmour, Pete Townsend, Jimmy Page, Noel Gallagher to name a few. From the big bold high-headroom clean sounds to the face-melting crunchy tones.

True to the last detail, Crazy Tube Circuits have included the full EQ section along with a presence control located at the negative feedback of the power amp simulation circuit. A headroom toggle switch selects between the high headroom 100w power section provided by a quartet of EL34s (think Hiwat DR103), or the lower headroom and compression provided by a 50W power section with a pair of EL34s when hit hard (think DR504). Similar in operation to the original amps the master volume was designed to produce more gain at higher settings.

Crazy Tube Circuits taken the design a step further by adding a switch to select between input channels of the amplifier. You can select between the full response of the normal channel of the amplifier, the increased presence and tight low end of the bright channel input or the "Gilmour-ish" enhanced frequency response and added gain of those inputs linked together. This follows the modifications that Pete Cornish did to all David Gilmour's Hiwatt amps.

Like their other dual overdrive/amp-in-a-box designs, Crazy Tube Circuits also included a passive effects loop to give you the option to connect your beloved pedals between your booster/overdrive and amp in a box or use the two sections as separate and independent effects when using an external bypass switcher/looper. Gilmour enthusiasts will love to insert their Big Muff, Tube Driver and Phase 90 in there. Note that all pedals inserted in the passive effects loop are still in the signal chain when any or both sections of HI POWER are in bypass.

HI POWER features a power-up bypass/engage pre-set function for the footswitches. That way you can select which state your pedal will go to when you plug the power supply. This function comes in especially handy to people that use remote pedal switchers / loopers as they only set the state of the pedal once and then operate from the controller.

All-analog dual booster/overdrive - amp in a box.
Recreates the tones of the legendary setup used by David Gilmour in the recordings of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here album.
Right side: Faithful reproduction of the Colorsound Power Boost/Overdriver circuits with true-to-the-original-spec BC184 transistors.
Controls: gain, bass, treble, master, voicing toggle.
Wide gain range control: from transparent boost to gnarly and fuzzy overdrive.
Two-band (treble & bass) Baxandall EQ.
Master knob sets overall output. Huge amount of dB boost available.
Toggle switch to select between the 18V Power Boost style circuit or the 9V Overdriver style circuit.
Left side: Hiwatt AMP in a box overdrive.
All analog simulation of the preamp and power amp sound and response.
Controls: gain, bass, middle, treble, master, input channel toggle switch, headroom toggle switch.
Gain control: from clean to big bold British crunch/overdrive.
3-band Hiwatt style EQ (bass, middle, treble).
Presence control follows the original design/is located at the negative feedback of the power amp simulation circuit to control the amount of upper mid and high frequencies.
Master knob sets overall output volume. Designed to respond like the original control producing more gain at higher settings.
Input channel toggle switch selects between normal, bright, or linked input channels of the AMP for different voicing and gain levels.
Headroom toggle switch selects between the high headroom and dynamic response of a 100W amp or the lower headroom and compression of a 50W power amp.
Independent operation of the BOOST/OVERDRIVE and AMP sections
Click-less true bypass design via high-quality relays for each section.
2 Footswitches / 2 Status LEDs - one for each effect section.
Power-up bypass/engage preset function for the footswitches.
Top-mounted jacks
Passive series effects loop to connect pedals between the two sections or use them separately as independent effects.
Power Supply: Use only 9V DC, 2.1 mm x 5.5 mm, center negative (not included).
Runs internally at 18V DC (via voltage doubler circuit) for higher headroom and tube-like performance.
Current consumption: 84mA.
British Racing Green die-cast enclosure with color-coded lettering for the control section (orange for BOOST/OVERDRIVE section, white for AMP section).
Dimensions: (W x L x H): 119 x 97 x 53 mm.
Weight: 444 g.
Made in Greece.

Notes: Seeking to recreate the sounds of the Klon Centaur overdrive pedal and Dumble guitar amps, the Crazy Tube Unobtanium combines the holy grails of germanium diodes and all-analogue amp-in-a-box tone. Incredible value.

Supplier's Notes:
Introducing the Unobtanium, a rare sonic element born out of legendary tones.

A mythical overdrive meets the tone and feel of two iconic amplifiers. Crazy Tube Circuits have accurately recreated the circuit of the high headroom overdrive with the magic blend of clean and overdriven tones and added extra features for versatility. The amp-in-a-box section uses an all-analogue circuit to capture the essence of two legendary D-style tube amplifiers. From tube-like compressed fat clean to sweet singing overdrive with blooming harmonic overtones. Combine both sides for near infinite smooth sustain and enter sonic bliss while a passive series effects loop gives you the option to connect your beloved pedals between the overdrive and amp section, building your ideal rig

Right side: K-style pedal overdrive circuit including the fabled germanium diodes
Controls: gain, treble (tone), volume, bypass mode and clipping / compression
Wide gain range control: from transparent boost to high headroom overdrive
Treble control is an active circuit to boost or cut treble
Volume knob sets overall output. Huge amount of dB boost available
Toggle switch to select between the original buffer bypass to add clarity and run long cables or
true bypass
Toggle switch to select between stock clipping / compression or enhanced gain and
headroom/output

Left side: D-style Amp in a box overdrive
Controls: gain, emphasis, tone, volume, amplifier voicing toggle
Gain control: from clean boost to sweet singing overdrive
Emphasis control is a pre-drive EQ to control presence and bottom end response
Tone knob controls the amount of post overdrive high end frequencies
Volume knob sets overall output. Match bypassed volume or use as a clean boost or preamp
Toggle switch selects between 2 distinct D-style overdrive circuits
SSS: clean and transparent overdrive with natural organic compression
ODS: higher gain overdrive with enhanced mid frequencies and harmonic overtones
External footswitch input to select amplifier voicing (bypasses on board toggle switch)
Internal trimmers adjust EQ and volume boost of D-style overdrive voicings

Features:

Dual overdrive with independent operation
Two legendary sonic elements combined in one device
Passive series effects loop to connect other pedals between the two sections or use them separately
Runs internally at 18V DC for higher headroom and tube-like performance
Exceptional pick attack response - almost infinite smooth sustain when both sides are combined
Top mounted jacks
Click-less True Bypass design via high quality relay
Power Supply: Use only 9V DC center negative power supply (not included)
Current consumption 83mA
Pebble grey die-cast enclosure with black ink in old school type print
Made in Greece

Notes: Updated version of the White Whale pedal follows the same formula of 60s-inspired tremolo and spring reverb, with an improved power amp for higher fidelity. The essence of iconic amp effects in a single pedal.

Supplier's Notes:
Inspired by the match-made-in-heaven of vintage effects found on 60s American amps, White Whale V2 sets out a new objective to pack bigger real spring reverb and tremolo sounds in the same pedalboard friendly enclosure (17 x 12,5 x 7,5 cm).

The 3-spring reverb tank assembly housed inside White Whale's enclosure has remained the same, but Crazy Tube Circuits have upgraded the power amp driving the springs for increased headroom and wider frequency response. Following the signal topography of vintage units, Crazy Tube Circuits have also upgraded the dwell control to allow you to dial the right amount of signal that goes into the springs for a mellower or splashier reverb sound. Real spring reverb found in 60s American tube amps and external reverb units featured a tube power amp driving the spring assembly via an output transformer, so analogue circuit has been delicately tuned to emulate the tube and output transformer saturation that was produced on higher dwell settings.

Each of these vintage units had its own reverb effect qualities so Crazy Tube Circuits tried to categorize them according to the most emblematic ones with a toggle switch selecting the size and decay. The user can select between the milder reverb qualities of a short to medium 2-spring reverb tank, the liveliness of a medium to long 2-spring reverb tank as found in most blackface amp designs and the dense reverb qualities of a long 3-spring reverb tank assembly. A reverb's tone control comes after the recovery stage at the output of the reverb tank and affects only the wet sounds for lively and drippy or smooth and mild reverb tones. Use the mix control to blend your desired amount of wet signal on top of the dry guitar signal. Higher reverb mix settings tend to get lost in the mix, so we've made sure you'll be heard loud and clear by incorporating a volume control capable of up to 20db boost.

The tremolo section has also been upgraded to feature harmonic tremolo, besides the opto and tube bias found in the previous incarnation of Crazy Tube Circuits' "marine mammal". This hypnotic and mesmerizing effect originated on certain models of the brown and blonde era amps and does frequency-based modulation by shifting between high and low frequencies compared to the amplitude-based modulation (opto and tube bias) that shifts between volume levels. Crazy Tube Circuits have made sure to include the two most significant variations of harmonic tremolo, as found in the original amps, that differentiate in the range and sweep of pulsating frequencies. The depth control sets the intensity of modulation while the range of the speed control has been extended beyond the span of vintage amps' to make sure we'll maximize your creativity. The volume control will boost the signal, if needed, even in the hardest throb settings.

Another upgrade found in the White Whale V2 is that the two effect sections are now completely independent and you can select the effects order so that the tremolo effect comes before the reverb or vice versa. This gives you the option to make heavenly combinations as optical and tube bias style tremolo usually sound better when placed after (post) the reverb effect while the harmonic tremolo usually sounds better when placed in front (pre) of the reverb effect. The two onboard footswitches are used to engage or bypass each effect section and feature a power-up bypass/engage pre-set function. That way you can select which state your pedal will go to when you plug the power supply. White Whale V2 also features a remote switcher input jack where you can control the bypass state of each effect section remotely via your favourite external effects switcher or via the matching artwork remote control dual footswitch (sold separately). Reverb's mix can also be controlled via an expression pedal and tremolo's speed can be controlled by either an expression pedal or external tap tempo footswitch (expression pedals / tap tempo footswitch are not included).

The surf-friendly light green colour adds to the overall drippy experience of a real spring reverb and tremolo that will fit on your pedalboard. If your amp setup doesn't have these effects by design, you have now found your perfect match.

Notes: External footswitch. Accessory for Sidekick JR.

Use the XT footswitch to control the operation of the modulation section of the Sidekick JR independently. Engage or true bypass the modulation effect.

XT footswitch bypasses the onboard modulation operation assign toggle switch of the Sidekick JR.

Connect to the XT jack input of the pedal.

Passive operation - no power needed for the XT footswitch to operate properly - use standard TS instrument jacks / cable only.

XT footswitch function is not affected by the power-up bypass/engage preset function of the onboard footswitches of Sidekick JR.

Dimensions (W x L x H) : 54 x 51 x 49 mm
Weight 0.91 kg
Made in Greece