CITY ISLAND, NY, March 22, 2013 — Those who know Mitch Colby are well aware of his preoccupation with guitar amplifier tone. As a key member of Korg USA’s team for over 30 years, Colby helped guide the direction of two legendary amplifier brands, VOX and Marshall. As a collector, gear aficionado and technician, he has stayed at the forefront of the state of the art of guitar amps his whole life, with an insatiable curiosity and drive to search high and low for the perfect tone. And as a set of ears, he is second to none.
Enter COLBY Amps™. His lifelong pursuit of the ideal amp (aesthetically, structurally, feature-set-wise, and of course, tonally) has led him to create this new line of uncompromising hand-wired boutique units. The first COLBY Amps to be unveiled are the dual-channel dtb, “dual tone booster”™ heads. These amps were developed in close collaboration with veteran guitarist Jim Weider (The Band). The dtb50 and dtb100 heads, with their pure tube and meticulously prepared signal path, have a rich feature set that will rightly place COLBY Amps at the peak of a short list of boutique amp manufacturers from around the globe.
The two models took over two years of tonal development before they were finalized. The main goal was to build (in Colby’s words) “tone-to-the-bone” channel switching amps with two channels, each with its own dedicated tone controls suitable for any playing situation, whether recording, live or at home. Colby and Weider carefully selected components critical to the tone including resistors, capacitors, transformers, chassis and tubes, so that the amps perfectly reflect the sounds of sparkle, fullness, compression, body, focused gain, smooth feel and touch sensitivity that they had in mind. Weider’s involvement was so crucial that Colby decided to have him put his signature on the back of each unit.
COLBY Amps are built to the absolute highest quality standards and are 100% hand-built with care. Notes Colby, “My designs are not simple, but a few things were of paramount importance to the outcome: the control panel had to be easy to understand and operate; nothing was done if it would compromise tone in any way; and every feature has to be useful to the player.”
Weider is more than pleased: “I play this amazing rich tone machine everywhere! We compared the amp against all the best-of-the-best classics every inch of the way, on every cap and resistor change, from the Cleans to its Gain qualities. The feel and touch sensitivity, the huge chimey cleans with body, and the focused gain within your note are everything I’ve always wanted in one amp to enjoy and make music!! I’m very proud of our outstanding results. I truly believe others will be too, as soon as they plug in.”
Dual Tone Booster Feature set:
Two channels with independent tone controls, so you can dial in your sound for each channel
Separate tone shift switches for each channel
Separate bright switches for each channel
Two boosts on channel 2, full range and mid focused
Tube buffered FX loop with Send and Return level controls (Colby: “Forget external loops! This loop is voiced specifically for the amp so that your effects work perfectly and the tone is not compromised.”)
Three-way footswitch with detachable and easily replaceable cables, control Channel selection, Boost 1 and Boost 2 for five gig-ready tones
Front panel LEDs so you always know which channel is selected
Clean channel, full bodied and clear, works perfectly with pedals
OD channel goes from a bold, full bodied clean to articulate and focused gain, to mid boosted mean
Two speaker outputs with 4 and 8 ohm selectable impedance (8 and 16 or 4, 8 and 16 also available)
Available with two (dtb50) or four (dtb100) 6L6GC output tubes depending on your requirements and preferences, as the circuits are voiced differently (also available with appropriately tweaked circuits for EL34s or 6550s for different tonal and power options)
Back panel bias jacks and trim control so you can easily keep the output tube biased at the optimum setting as your tubes age
Custom power and output transformers
All components selected for TONE!
dtb50 Head Specifications:
Power: 50 watts with 6L6GC
Tubes: five 12ax7, two 6L6GC
Front panel controls and switches:
Clean channel: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Bright, Mid Shift
OD channel: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Gain, Master, Bright, Mid Shift, Bass Boost, Gain Boost 1, Gain Boost 2
Common: Channel Switch, Presence
Back panel controls and switches:
On/Off, Standby, Bias jacks, Bias trim pot, Impedance selector, two speaker outputs, FX send and Return level controls, FX Send and Return jacks, Foot switch jacks
Dimensions: (W) 21.5”, (H) 10”, (D) 9.5”
Weight: 40 lbs.
dtb100 Head Specifications:
Power: 85 watts with 6L6GC
Tubes: five 12ax7, four 6L6GC
Front panel controls and switches:
Clean channel: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Bright, Mid Shift
OD channel: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Gain, Master, Bright, Mid Shift, Bass Boost, Gain Boost 1, Gain Boost 2
Common: Channel Switch, Presence
Back panel controls and switches:
On/Off, Standby, Bias jacks, Bias trim pot, Impedance selector, two speaker outputs, FX send and Return level controls, FX Send and Return jacks, Foot switch jacks
Dimensions: (W) 21.5”, (H) 10”, (D) 9.5”
Weight: 45 lbs.
Companion Speaker Cabinets:
The companion 1×12″ and 2×12″ speaker cabinets were developed and voiced at the same time as the dtb heads so that they work together to produce the ultimate tone. The speakers were chosen specifically for the sound the amps produce. The 1×12″ is appropriate for the dtb50 and the 2×12″ will work with both the dtb50 and dtb100. The 2×12″ can be used horizontally or vertically. Colby adds, “We chose pine for its tonal properties and light weight. The sizes make them easy to transport, but big enough to produce big tones.”
Companion Speaker Specifications:
1×12″ Cabinet
Speaker: Celestion G12-65, 8 ohm
Dimensions: (W) 21 5/8″, (H) 19″, (D) 10.5″
Weight: 33 lbs.
Wood: ¾” pine, ½” birch ply back panel, ½” birch ply baffle
2×12″ Cabinet
Speaker: Two Celestion G12-65s, 16 ohm each, wired in parallel for a total of 8 ohms
Dimensions: (W) 21 5/8″, (H) 30″, (D) 11″ (vertical orientation); or (W) 30″, (H) 21 5/8″, (D) 11″ (horizontal orientation)
Weight: 45 lbs.
Wood: ¾” pine, ½” birch ply back panel, ½” birch ply baffle
For more information, please visit www.colbyamps.com.
