EarthQuaker Devices Blumes vs JHS Colour Box V2

Aug 19, 2026

Blumes vs Colour Box is really a bass question, and the two pedals answer it from opposite directions: one is an overdrive revoiced for low end, the other is a console preamp that happens to fit on a pedalboard. The widget above plays them through the same bass loop, the same chain and the same room at two settings, Thump and Bite, so you can hear where they separate before reading a word about it.

EarthQuaker Devices Blumes

The Blumes is the first pedal EQD built specifically for bass players. It’s a modified version of the Plumes, their hot-rodded screamer, with double the gain and a deeper bass response so the low end survives where the guitar original thins out.

The panel is small on purpose: Level, Gain, Tone, and a three-position Mode toggle sitting between Level and Gain. Mode is where the character lives. Position 1 is symmetrical LED clipping, the crunchiest and most compressed of the three. Position 2 pulls the clipping diodes out for a wide-open OpAmp boost. Position 3 is asymmetrical silicon, looser and warmer with a fuzzier edge.

There’s no clean blend, and that’s the design decision that matters. Instead of parallel-ing a dry signal back in, EQD voiced the whole circuit for bass, which is why it adds midrange definition without costing you fatness and girth. On the widget’s Thump setting it’s in mode 1 at moderate gain; Bite flips to mode 2 with the Gain well up and the Tone brighter. The full Blumes demo covers all three modes and the Gain sweep.

Buy through these links and support Loopy Demos at no extra cost to you.

JHS Colour Box V2

The Colour Box V2 is a recreation of the Neve 1073 console preamp, with a genuine output transformer new to V2. It isn’t an overdrive that grew an EQ; it’s a studio preamp whose gain structure happens to clip beautifully when you lean on it.

The controls split into two colour-coded rows. Red handles gain: Master, Pre-Vol (drive between the two internal stages), Step (a five-position rotary from +18dB to +39dB) and Hi Pass. Blue handles EQ: Treble, Middle and Bass, each with a Shift knob below it that moves the band’s center frequency rather than just its level. Bass Shift reaches from 20Hz up to 440Hz, which is the control bassists will reach for first, and the high-pass filter is there to tidy up whatever the low bands add.

That range is why it works as an allrounder: subtle coloration and EQ at low Step settings, preamp clipping and eventually fuzz when Pre-Vol and Step climb together. Both widget settings run Step at 3, with Bite adding a big Middle boost. The combo XLR/quarter-inch input with phantom power and a pad makes it a real DI too. The full Colour Box V2 demo walks the Step rotary, the Hi/Lo switch and all three Shift knobs.

Tone quest ends here

Fuel your tone obsession

More pedals, more fun

Buy through these links and support Loopy Demos at no extra cost to you.

Get This One If…

Get the Blumes if you want grit on a bass board without a menu. Three knobs and a toggle, no clean blend to balance, and a voicing that keeps the low end intact for rock, post-punk and funk. Mode 2 below noon doubles as a clean boost, so it earns its space even on songs where you don’t want drive. If you need metal-grade bass distortion, or a clean blend is non-negotiable, this isn’t the one.

Get the Colour Box if you record direct or want one box handling preamp, EQ and drive. The parametric Shift knobs let you place the colour exactly where the mix needs it, the XLR input covers mics and phantom power, and the gain range runs from clean sheen to genuine fuzz. The tradeoff is real learning time: ten knobs and two toggles take a while to become instinctive.