Thryallis Germanium Boost/Overdrive

Thryallis Germanium Boost/Overdrive
  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)
     
    Note: The Thryallis this specific form is a limited series pedal and very few pieces will be produced since we’re not fans of the Germanium hype. 

    Nomenclature:
    - The word "Thryallis" is of Ancient Greek origin: "θρυαλλίς". The word is still in use in contemporary Greek language either in it's ancient form or with the more contemporary form: "θρυαλλίδα" (Thryallida).
    Thryallis was called the plant which back then people were using to make wicks from. In contemporary Greek the word is used with the meaning of "wick" (mostly the wick that causes the detonation of some explosive) but more often it is used metaphorically to refer to something (e.g. a cause) that will set-off a chain of big events (usually destructive).