Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
My Thermion PowerTrem and PowerVibe have landed - and they both sound fantastic!
As soon as I saw Thermion’s PowerBolt Series I immediately thought I would probably acquire a few of those - and I would likely need to swap out knobs to be able to be able to easily identify each one on the fly!
I also slightly mis-identified the PowerVibe in my original take, and kind of wrongly decided that I should go with the light blue knobs for chorus - while Uni-Vibe is usually associated with Black or Purple even - but Flanger is also a kind of Purple - and those MXR style knobs don’t come in infinite colours.
It makes sense for Thermion to use Orange Knobs on all its PowerBolt Pedals - but from a standing playing position that immediately becomes confusing if you have several of those - or even if you’re looking to swap out one for anotherr quickly. Having different colours makes for easier identification and less mistakes in operation and application - while it would obviously add costs to the pedal manufacture if Thermion had to source all those different knob colours. You get a much better bulk discount on several hundred or thousand orange ones - versus several types of different hues!
I of course try to source locally, but there isn’t really a major knobs supplier based in the UK - and not one that provides all those different colours for those skirted smaller 19mm MXR style knobs - which usually come in 19mm and 25mm sizes. The orange fitted knobs are the tiniest bit larger than the MXR 19mm ones - while the 19mm types are the ones you need to buy in typically - like I did.
I got 4 colourway types from ’Love My Switches’ Light Blue, and Dark Blue as pictured, and Pink, and Purple. Love My Switches don’t cover every single primary colour or hue - but with a selection of 22 (including transparent) - there’s plenty of options there to cover what’s coming I believe.
The two visuals below are of the Love My Switches Skirted MXR 19mm types, followed by my recent Dominant Pedal Colour Chart Visual. And original PowerBolt article visual :
Primary / Dominant Pedal Colour Chart Visual from Primary Pedal Colours article
All PowerBolt Series Pedals come with Orange Knobs as standard - a colour typically associated with Phasers!
My principal colour for Tremolo is Teal typically - but that colour is not available - so I chose the Dark Blue Hue as appears on my favourite Tremolo Pedal - the JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk. The PowerTrem covers much the same territory - with an equivalent standard / amplitude tremolo voicing - which sounds equally great, and it's my second favourite Harmonic Tremolo voicing after the aforementioned Harmonious Monk.
For the PowerVibe - I was kind of fixated on the Chorus mode and went with the Light Blue / Sky Blue therefore - where I probably should have gone purple - a colour I already have. In any case the visual probably looks better with those two blues! Uni-Vibe is usually associate with the colour black - but I want to keep things colourful - so a secondary colour for that effects is often Purple - while that does sort of overlap with the primary colour for Flanger - as per my above colour chart.
I will need to get smart on my knob colour choices - so I asked my good friend José from Thermion what was likely coming down the pipe - and he replied as follows - note that as always - nothing is set in stone until those pedals are final - and many things may change in the in-between! :
"We have an idea to release the basics (for the PowerBolt Series) : Overdrive, Fuzz, Compressor, Chorus... All you'd expect from a compact pedal range. It is hard to tell which models we have in developement will make the cut, but I want the next ones to be in the 'drive world' - OD and Fuzz would be super sweet. Indeed I'm exploring the probability of mixing the good old architecture of a Klon with different clipping options etc., and something like a mini Stone Age (Multi-Fuzz) may also be on the list."
So we have plenty to look forward to - and I will have myriad different knob hues to acquire to service that series - where I will try to stick as close to my colour chart as possible - so the Compressor Knobs would be Red, the Overdrive - Green or Yellow, and then I need to decide on those variants where the appropriate colour isn't available! Will be fun in any case.
I know I have just 2 so far - but this PoweBolt Series is off to an incredible start. The PowerTrem is much better for me than say the JHS 3 Series equivalent (particularly the Harmonic Trem voicing) - this PowerTrem has more flavour - and the PowerVibe is equally fabulous sounding - I expected good things - but I've still been pleasantly surprised by how good these sound!
PowerBolt PowerTrem - Classic Amplitude and Harmonic Tremolo Modes - €125
Controls - Intensity. Speed, Level, Mode : Classic / Harmonic, Internal sine or square wave selector.
I really love this pedal - both Modes / Voicing are excellent and the Harmonic Tremolo side is probably my second favourite ever take on that type - where it doesn't run quite as rich as the Jam Pedals Harmonious Monk - but then again it's less than half the prices.
If you're looking for the perfect all-rounder tremolo - then look no further - this one really sounds superb - and has all the key parameters you need - including Level!
For both pedals I prefer a fuller flavour of modulation - so I tend to have Intensity and Level up as far as 3-4 o'c - while Speed is a lot more variable - and usage-specific!
PowerBolt PowerVibe - Chorus and Vibrato Modes - €125
Controls - Intensity. Speed, Level, Mode : Chorus / Vibe, Internal sine or square wave selector.
I'm not sure how it happened but I didn't quite get the story straight for my original article on this pedal - this is a fantastic sounding Uni-Vibe - full of flavour - and particularly on the Chorus Mode - which is what I normally favour. I rarely go near the Vibrato Mode on Uni-Vibes - so for this pair of pedals - the PowerTrem is slightly more useful for me - as I used both sides all the time.
People like Josh Scott love the Vibrato side of things, and there are many who overall prefer wobbly Vibrato to Chorus. While I'm personally staunchly on the Chorus side of things - and the Chorus Mode on the PowerVibe is as Fantastic as the Harmonic Mode on the PowerTrem.
Both pedals sound fantastic and are punching well above their weight - especially as regards their price tag. At €125 each on the Thermion Webstore - these are a bargain. Yes they are slightly dearer than the JHS 3-Series - closer to the Walrus Audio affordable series pricing. These are beautifully engineered pedals - which deliver exceptional sounds and value! Highly recommended!
