Horrothia Effects Triage Germanium Pre-Amplifier
Horrothia Effects returns to the channel with a genuinely new idea in overdrive — the Triage Germanium Pre-Amp. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Horrothia Effects Triage Germanium Pre-Amp takes center stage — featuring the Novo Guitars Serus P2 with Lollar Gold Foils and Emerson Custom Treble Bleed, into the Benson Amps Monarch and Benson Tall Bird via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. The Horrothia Berkeley Uni-Vibe and Meris LVX also feature later in the demo.
In Tom Oakes' own words, from Horrothia Effects in Falmouth, UK:
"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 behaving as a standard Triage."
The result is a sweepable germanium clipping control that goes from subtle top-end sizzle to full-range fuzz character — an approach that lets you dial in exactly how much of your frequency spectrum gets the germanium treatment without committing to a fixed fuzz voicing. 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.
Controls explored in this demo: Ge Diodes filter knob (new to this variant), Gain, Output, Tone, Mids switch, HF Balance.
The Novo Guitars Serus P2 is the work of Dennis Fano — the builder behind the original Novo and Fano guitar lines. The P2 body is chambered swamp ash with an eastern curly maple top and German carve, 24.75" scale, chunky C neck (.880"), quartersawn tempered maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with compound 9.5"-14" radius and MOTO hollow block inlays. This unit has been loaded with Lollar Gold Foils and wired with an Emerson Custom Treble Bleed.
🎛️ Horrothia Effects: https://www.horrothia.com
🎸 Novo Guitars: https://www.novoguitars.com
🎸 Lollar Gold Foil: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Novo Guitars Serus P2 | Lollar Gold Foils | Emerson Custom Treble Bleed
🎛️ Horrothia Effects Triage Germanium Pre-Amp | NOS 1N3470 Ge Diodes | Sweepable Filter | JFET + Discrete Op-Amp
🎛️ Also: Horrothia Berkeley Uni-Vibe | Meris LVX
🔊 Benson Amps Monarch | Benson Tall Bird | Boss Waza TAE | Benson 2x12"
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
