Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
The Second 'Gain' Chapter of Thermion's PowerBolt Series is out - with the super versatile and distinct analog PowerDrive Overdrive and PowerMuff Fuzz / Distortion
Thermion famously started off its affordable €125 PowerBolt Series back in May of last year - with two amazing Modulation pedals - The PowerTrem - in part based on JAM Pedals’ Harmonious Monk, and the PowerVibe - a superb compact take on a Shin-ei Uni-Vibe - not nearly as expansive as DryBell’s Vibe Machine - but near enough as flavourful. I was hugely impressed at the time and quickly acquired the pair of them.
This time around I’m a little behind the curve - as the pedals have already been launched - before I even get the launch email - which is just as well really - considering all the work I have on at the moment - it gives me a little more flexibility to get everything sorted without too much stress.
On first glance these two new ones - the PowerDrive and PowerMuff appear pretty ubiquitous in and of themselves - and you think to yourself ’oh dear! - do we really need another Screamer / Breaker / Ram’s Head / Green Russian’ - but these are not those or really versions of those.
For instance - for the PowerDrive - there are 4 key points of reference - the Klon, the Marshall Blues Breaker, the Marshall Guv’nor, and the Suhr Riot - kind of marking the lower and upper ranges of the gain curve. That’s a very specific combination of influences - and not a specific mix you can ascribe to any speicific existing pedal. Thermion’s José has started from common references - and then expanded the scope and refinement to end up with a largely proprietary circuit - the PowerDrive - which covers those key characteristics - sort of Klony / Marshally - with a significant range coverage - from fairly soft to fierce!
The same is the case for the PowerMuff - it sort of starts off with the original 1969 Triangle variety as its initial inspiration, therefore fully transistor-based, but then evolves along its own path to deliver two very different voicings - which you can’t fully ascribe to any of the existing Muff variants or core flavours - this is Muff-inspired for sure - but like the Powerdrive - It has evolved along its own path.
Thermion have engineered both pedals to have significant range extension and expanded tone and timbre coverage - so that these can cover a large range of styles and massively different gain profiles. The PowerMuff has been redesigned and modified to deliver more clarity and midrange presence within that saturated and sustaining Fuzz / Distortion.
The Classic voicing is kind of more Gimourish - smooth and sustaining, while the Modern voicing responses very differently - far more dyadic and reactive - incorporating starve and cut characteristics that create a gated effect with shortened note decay. The Modern mode responds a lot more directly and immediately to the picking dynamics - enabling tighter and more percussive articulation and more expressive under-the-fingers control.
You still have quite classic gain circuits - but they’ve been honed with adapted contemporary electronics - to give you a little bit more than those typical drives and muffs. A sort of part-way track-day-car masquerading as an everyday runaround!
I’ve seen and heard enough to want to check these out - and the pricing is definitely right for me.
The PowerDrive and PowerMuff each go for €125 on the Thermion Store - exactly the same as their sibling predecessors - I now just have to decide what colour knobs I want to swap in for each variety - I've already gone with Dark Blue (PowerTrem) and Light Blue (PowerVibe) for the previous varieties. Probably a Marshally style Gold or Red or near match for the PowerDrive, and a Pink / Violet one for the PowerMuff - I would need to buy those in from Love My Switches - while I have so many priorities on my plate for the next 4 weeks, that I'm not even sure there is space for these that imminently - there's only so much budget to go around!
Note that the PowerMuff has 3 internal Trim-pots to adjust output - while the PowerDrive is measurably simpler - as it has none!
The PowerDrive Analog Overdrive (Inspired by Klon, Breaker, Guv'nor and Riot) - €125
Controls - Volume (typically start at noon), Gain (significant range), Tone (Active Highs 400Hz+ control), Mode / Voicing : MODERN (More Gain + Drive - with tighter, more aggressive character in line with a modern British Amp) / CLASSIC (softer more balanced overdrive with mids present, and for adding punch and saturation - sort of pushing an amp up to the edge of breakup)
So Classic is more Klon and Blues Breaker, and Modern is more Guv'nor and Riot - so kind of slightly softer and more balanced saturation to more compressed and aggressive, and tighter gain. You can see from those markers that it covers quite a wide range of tone and timbres.
By description alone this is kind of a perfect overdrive / distortion - very much working within that Marshall ballpark of tones and timbres.
The PowerMuff Analog Fuzz / Distoriton (Initially inspired by Triangle Muff, but massively evolved) - €125
Controls - Volume (start at noon), Gain (vast range), Tone (largely typical Big Muff Tone-stack), Mode / Voicing : MODERN (added Starve & Cut Behaviour (adjust with trimmers) for more clipped, gate and dynamic / reactive sound) / CLASSIC (a wide, dense distortion with a classic wall of sound feel, but with more mids and a articulation, and a tighter sound).
Internal Trimmers - Starve (Modern Choke control), Cut (Modern Sustain Cut), Bass (amount of low end in signal for both modes).
So in Classic Mode this PowerMuff behaves more like how you would expect a Muff to behave - think more traditional / Gilmourish sounds). The Modern mode ads elements of Power Starve and Sustain Cut - to give you a slightly more cut up and edgy output - super modern and tight - kind of clipped - a little like how you get with some of those more High Gain Muffs.
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