Crazy Tube Circuits: HI POWER Preamp / Overdriver
Global: https://crazytubecircuits.com/hi-power
Australia: https://gsus4.com.au/products/crazy-tube-circuits-hi-power
Somehow this one eluded me when it was released about a year ago. Nevermind, it’s better late than never, right? The HI POWER by Christos and the team at CTC, Athens, is one of the most extraordinarily accurate DR103/504 amps-in-a-box that I’ve ever heard. And the extra bonus is that It’s teamed with an equally accurate Overdriver/Power Boost circuit at the front to deliver the classic tones that David Gilmour was pulling around the time of DSOTM. Fun? Oh, hell yes. Maybe the most fun I’ve had in some time.
Run this pedal with an IR or cab sim if you can, to get the best from it. It will see a standard amp input, of course, but then you’re adulterating the HI POWER’s accurate preamp with another preamp. Regardless, this is an outstanding pedal and I thank Kang at Gsus4 for letting me have a crack at it. Lovely work, Christos!
Today’s tools:
Guitar: 2021 Fender American Original 50’s Strat and Vintera 60’s Strat, both with JJ’s Pickups (https://www.jjsguitarpickups.com).
Amp: HI POWER to HIWATT and FANE IR’s, hosted by Axe-FX III. York Audio IR – https://www.yorkaudio.co/product-page/hwat-412-fn50-lite
Cables: Various
Strings: Ernie Ball Paradigm 10-46
Pick: Signature Honey Pick https://www.honey-picks.com/collections/all/brett-kingman
Mic: Audix USA A231 – https://audixusa.com/products/a231/
Camera: GoPro HERO10 + Sony ZV-1M2 x 2
Soundcard: PreSonus Quantum 26×32
Desktop Monitors: PreSonus R80 R-Series Active AMT Studio Monitors – https://www.presonus.com
Monitor Control: SPL 2Control – https://spl.audio/en/spl-produkt/2control/
Headphones: Audix A150 – https://audixusa.com/products/a150/
All Stands: Gravity Stands – https://www.gravitystands.com/en/
Computer: 2017 Apple iMac Pro, 2.5 GHz 14-Core Intel Xeon W, 64 GB 2666 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro Vega 64X 16 GB
Backing track “Deep Psychedelic Groove Guitar Backing Track Jam in B Minor” courtesy Elevated Jam Tracks.
#Crazy #Tube #Circuits #POWER #Preamp #Overdriver
Originally posted by UCBHoPcJMiFe6CuVY2X7I0YQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpH2h9wCB8k
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I always thought that Gilmour was using his Hiwatt pretty clean (in order to keep some headroom for the delays in a scenario with no IRs of course but a real cab) and that the gain was coming from the pedals, like the Power Boost, Big Muff or Tube Driver…so let's try this with a clean Hiwatt setting and adding a Big Muff instead.
Nice playing!!! Looking to replace the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor with this or the Vahlbruch Kaluna II. Which would you recommend for that Gilmour tone? I'm running through a Friedman Dirty Shirley combo?
Brett, would my Tonemaster amp be suitable as a cabinet for this little ripper outdoors? Or that grunty little battery amp?
Very cool indeed, look forward to mastering one of these, whole lot going on in a Matchbox!!!????????
What a great video. Thanks mate. I purchased this a couple of months ago and wondered why I wasn't getting the HiWatt sound. The preamp on the amplifier. Never thought of that. Cheers.
I would love to here the Keeley Darkside into the high power
I've had one of these for a while. I run it into an old Victory V40, which is a very flat sounding amp with a lot of headroom, and within the limitations of my playing abilities, this delivers a very enjoyable Gilmour-esque tone. I like running the power-boost to add a touch of cream and extra kick with another version (a handmade dual muff & power-boost) further back in the chain for that classic early 70s fuzzy overdrive. Suspect my other amps (Fender 65DRI and Victory VC35) would colour the tone too much but the V40 is perfect imho.
Super delicious sounds! Great demonstration! Greetings from Hollywood California.
Love his playing and tone.Thankyou for all your time.
OK, so I've been looking at these for a while, and thigking that they're good. It takes Brett to go, yes, you really, really want this. In doing so hhe makes really practical advice about how to use it.
All I can say ……This is Crazy good.
Yo Brett the algorithm is cheating or YT has a glitch I have the notification bell set to ALL for your channel and it didn’t work for this video!! Good laughs hope all is well ????????
Great demo Brett! As always!
Thank you, what I heard is what I hear. Best demos online!
Great playing, sir.
FYI, that master control isn't just a linear output control…if you wind it up it'll do a power amp style gain. Try it with the master cranked and bringing up the pregain, it's a different beastie then. ????????
That's really good, when you change modes it really makes a difference, like from the 103 to the 504. Nice Strat too, based on your review of those pickups months ago, I snagged a set myself. So many of my favourite guitarists used a Hiwatt. Gilmore, Townshend, Bolin too I think used them in Deep Purple. I have a Hiwatt 4×12 cab, but I've never actually played a Hiwatt amp. A friend from work has a 70s Hiwatt head, I should ask him to bring it over for a jam.
???? oh now that sounds fantastic.
Thats Some Rip'n Tone