CB LABS PRX-902
ROCKTRON AUSTIN GOLD
A gold-colored overdrive, you say? Well
now! It’s tough to pin down an actual
release date for the Austin Gold, but since
the oldest review on the Internet is dated
June 11, 1999, it’s safe to say that the pedal
was released before that date. Since the
Internet became a major fixture in average
American households around that time, the
Austin Gold may predate 1999. Our own
Austin Gold contains no date (not even
on the potentiometers) but the rear label
does have Rocktron’s URL on it. One thing,
however, IS well-documented, and it’s the
fact that Bill Finnegan’s Klon debuted in
late 1994. Coincidence? Maybe. But the
Austin Gold sounds suspiciously like a Klon
Centaur. It doesn’t have the same dualgang potentiometer arrangement, so the
topology is certainly different, nor does it
contain the “magic diodes;” the Austin Gold
uses standard 1n4148s. The Treble control
has been replaced by “Pre-Bass” as well.
That said, it sounds reasonably similar to a
Klon, but with a sound all its own. Like the
Klon, the Austin Gold sounds great as a
clean boost, but there’s much more gain on
tap. The “Pre-Bass” knob is meant to cut out
“fuzzy bass” tones and refine the overdrive
experience. Consider Pre-Bass a flub cutter
in conjunction with the Drive and Level
knobs. The Austin Gold is a great pedal in
its own right and is well worth scooping up
if seen at a hawk shop, especially at around
$40, the usual going rate.
10
TONE TALK //
Though it looks like a mundane piece of
early-‘90s office equipment, CB Labs (AKA C
Tech) made some mighty fine (if not strange
looking) pedals. One of them, the Sonny
Boy, was even a [The] Gear Page favorite
for a brief period. However, the Sonny Boy
was a C Tech creation, and the prices have
gotten a little far away from a “good deal.”
CB Labs made two pedals, the PRX901 and
the PRX902, with the 902 being the more
full-featured model. The PRX902 markets
itself as an “amp modeler” which places
it as one of the earliest amp modelers in
existence, but the model descriptions are
extremely vague, so it’s more like a fullfeatured overdrive than anything else. With
names like “Classic Tube” and “Presence,”
there is little expectation, but luckily most
of the modes sound great with a huge,
dynamic gain range. The pedal also features
a three-band EQ, switches for Lead and
Attack, a 2vV