Thryallis Germanium Boost/Overdrive

THRYALLIS Germanium overdrive, booster
  Germanium guitar overdrive/boost to push your amp or stack with other pedals.
- Improves the sound of the drives that come after it.
- Wonderfully pushes an amp that is set on the edge of breakup
- It works as a tuneable treble booster that can be stacked nicely with other overdrives.
- It can be subtle at low gain but also aggressive at max gain.
- Offers a vintage attitude.

This pedal is actually a booster with dual gain controls which give you a wide overdrive range, starting from a slight grit when both gain-knobs are at minimum up to fuzzy sounds when the gains are at max.

The addition of a controllable bass filter right in front of the circuit offers you the ability to adjust the tone of the effect and the ‘color’ of the drive. When the bass knob is at maximum you get a full range drive and as you turn it counter-clockwise (reducing the bass) you will start to approach the sound of a treble booster.

The circuit has two discrete stages each one built around germanium transistors, each with a separate gain control. Each stage produces distortion by overdriving its transistor. In addition, when you increase the gain of the first stage it will lead to a more intense overdriving of the second stage. A diode section has been also included and can be engaged via a toggle switch.
Due to the topology that was selected for the circuit the pedal has an input impedance similar to the classic, wide known treble boosters.

Knobs:
  • VOLUME: sets the level of the output
  • BASS: adjusts the input filter
  • GAIN 1: sets the gain of the 1st transistor
  • GAIN 2: sets the gain of the 2nd transistor
The toggle switch offers you 3 different sound possibilities:
  • Middle position (N):  Normal state. Transistor only.
  • Bottom position (d):  Adds a diode-clipping stage.
  • Top position (L):  Adds a high-cut filter.

    ▹ Voltage Required: DC 9 Volt
    [Do not exceed recommended voltage! It may damage the circuit.]
    ▹ Polarity: Negative tip
    ▹Max Current draw: 2mA
    ▹ True Bypass
    ▹ Enclosure dimensions: 114 x 60  x 32 mm (4.43 x 2.38 x 1.22 in)
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    Nomenclature:
    - Thryallis is a Greek word (in Greek: θρυαλλίς) and it means "wick" but it's also the name of a plant which was used in the past to produce wicks.