Crazy Tube Circuits Hi Power

Colorsound Power Boost Meets Hiwatt Amp!

Following the success of Crossfire and Unobtanium, HI POWER is the next Crazy Tube Circuits combo of overdrive pedal and amp-in-a-box designed to reproduce legendary sounds. It’s inspired by the sonic blend of two British legends: the powerful Colorsound Power Boost meets the glowing tone and ample headroom of a Hiwatt amp. While this combo undoubtedly evokes associations with David Gilmour’s setup and especially the Pink Floyd album “Wish You Were Here” (think of the guitar solo tones on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and “Have A Cigar”), the tonal possibilities are endless.

The transistor circuit of the Colorsound Power Boost in the orange housing can deliver everything from a transparent boost to a full-on fuzz and pushes a tube amp to its sonic peak. For authentic replication, Crazy Tube Circuits used BC184 transistors matching the original specs, powered by an internal voltage doubler at 18 V DC. The ultra-flexible 2-band Baxandall EQ adds bite and deep growl to any sound. For more precise control of the boost/overdrive amount, unlike the original’s linear pot that also served as an on/off switch, a gain pot with reverse logarithmic taper is used (labeled “Volume”). Since earlier units had no master volume control (this was only a later mod—Pete Cornish made an external master control for David Gilmour’s Power Boost), it’s calibrated so that at max it’s effectively bypassed. Later Power Boost units ran on 9 V power and were renamed “Overdriver” due to their lower headroom and earlier onset of distortion. They featured a gray housing and hold a firm place in the rigs of Jeff Beck, Marc Bolan, and others. This version is also implemented and can be activated via the PWR-ODR switch.

The left side of the HI POWER houses a fully analog circuit emulating the sound and character of a Hiwatt amp. In the style of the famous British tube amp, this circuit delivers guitar tones reminiscent of legends like David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, and Noel Gallagher, to name a few. From rich cleans with plenty of headroom to melting crunch. To capture the sound in detail, the full EQ section is integrated—including a presence control positioned in the negative feedback path of the power amp simulation circuit. A headroom switch toggles between a 100-watt power amp with four EL34 tubes and ample headroom (in the style of the Hiwatt DR103) and a more compressed 50-watt power amp with two pushed EL34s and less headroom (DR504). The master volume control works similarly to the originals, delivering additional gain at higher settings. Crazy Tube Circuits took the design a step further by adding a switch to toggle between the amp’s input channels. Choose between the full response of the normal channel, the added presence of the bright input with tight bass, or the Gilmour-typical extended frequency range with more gain that results from linking both inputs. This matches the mods Pete Cornish made to all of David Gilmour’s Hiwatt amps.

As with other Crazy Tube Circuits overdrive and amp-in-a-box combos, a passive effects loop is available to insert your favorite pedals between the booster/overdrive and the amp-in-a-box or to use the two sections as separate, independent effects with an external bypass switcher/looper. Gilmour fans are encouraged to insert a Big Muff, Tube Driver, and Phase 90 here! All pedals in the passive effects loop remain in the signal path even if one or both HI POWER sections are bypassed.

The HI POWER features power-up functions to activate bypass and recall presets. This lets you set which pedal setting is active when powering on. This function is especially handy when using an external pedal switcher or looper, as the setting only needs to be chosen once and the pedal can then be controlled from the controller.