Horrothia Effects Triage Germanium Pre-Amp
The Horrothia Triage Ge returns — this time with humbuckers and a semi-hollow body to show the other side of what this germanium preamp can do. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Horrothia Effects Triage Germanium Pre-Amp takes a second run with the Frank Brothers Ultralight Semi-Hollow loaded with Lollar El Rayo Humbuckers and Lollar Firebird on a Blender Pot, into the Benson Amps Monarch. The Horrothia Berkeley Uni-Vibe and Meris LVX join throughout the demo.
Watch the first Triage Ge demo with the Novo Serus P2 and Lollar Gold Foils here: [LINK TO FIRST DEMO]
Also on the channel: Horrothia Teeth Overdrive and Horrothia Berkeley Uni-Vibe.
The single coil pairing from the first video confirmed what germanium diode clipping does when it's working with inherently bright, articulate pickups — the Ge filter control adds sizzle and fuzz texture without robbing the Gold Foils of their natural shimmer. This demo is the other side of that picture: what happens with the warmer, fuller, higher-output Lollar El Rayo humbucker into the Triage Ge, particularly in the semi-hollow Frank Brothers Ultralight which has its own acoustic resonance and harmonic complexity underneath the pickups.
In Tom Oakes' own words:
"The Germanium Triage is a slightly re-voiced standard Triage, with a sweepable filter on the output. The filter sends the high frequency content — swept range 50Hz to 15kHz — to a pair of NOS 1N3470 germanium diodes which act as a high frequency compression control. This adds some sizzle to the pedal but without taking away the volume which is often the case with germanium fuzz or overdrive pedals. With the control all the way one way, all frequencies above 50Hz — the whole guitar — are sent through the diodes (imagine fuzzzzz). The other way, the diodes receive only the very highest harmonics — essentially it behaves as a standard Triage. Every Germanium Triage uses hand-selected diodes and ships in a hammertone finish."
The rest of the circuit: high impedance JFET front end with output control trimmer. Completely discrete transistor op-amp secondary gain stage. HF Balance control. Mid hump/peak switch. Relay bypass. Zinc milspec footswitch. Hand-built one by one in Falmouth, South West UK.
The Lollar Firebird on the Blender Pot adds a third voice throughout this demo — blending single coil clarity and mid-forward bark into the El Rayo humbucker signal. The combination of all three pickups cleaned up through the Triage Ge at 12:46 with the Berkeley Uni-Vibe and Meris LVX is the highlight.
🎛️ Horrothia Effects: https://www.horrothia.com
🎸 Frank Brothers Ultralight: https://www.frankbrothersguitars.com
🎸 Lollar El Rayo & Firebird: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Frank Brothers Ultralight Semi-Hollow | Lollar El Rayo Humbuckers + Lollar Firebird (Blender Pot)
🎛️ Horrothia Effects Triage Ge | NOS 1N3470 Germanium Diodes | Sweepable Filter | JFET + Discrete Op-Amp
🎛️ Also: Horrothia Berkeley Uni-Vibe | Meris LVX
🔊 Benson Amps Monarch
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
