These are selected questions and answers from the Ask Me Anything (AMA) that Zach from Mythos Pedals does every Friday on Instagram. The questions and answers have been edited slightly to adapt them to text format and provide context. Any errors or misunderstandings are our fault. With that said, enjoy this wealth of information from Zach at Mythos!
Any chance of a Mythos fuzz and overdrive dual pedal?
At this point there is a possibility of anything with anything. There are currently no plans for a fuzz/overdrive combo pedal from Mythos.
Circuit-wise, are the Herc, Dumbloid, Zendrive, Dude, Gladio, etc all similar?
The circuits all share things. Zach doesn’t know the intricacies of all of the pedals listed above.
The Mythos Herculean pulls inspiration from many places to make what Mythos thinks is a very powerful do-it-all overdrive pedal. It has the clipping of a Zendrive as an option. It has a soft clipping option similar to a tubescreamer. (The Dumbloid is a super modded tubescreamer.)
The Herc shares a lot of things. The most important part is that is sounds really good.
How does the Mythos Herculean compare to the Browne Protein overdrive pedal?
Zach hasn’t played a protein pedal. He is open to checking one out some day.
The Protein is based on a Nobels ODR-1 and a Bluesbreaker whereas the Herc circuit is the Herculean overdrive design connected to a modded bluesbreaker. Zach’s tastes to most pedal builders is very different. He thinks that the Herculean Deluxe design is more useful and versatile than all of the other dual overdrive pedals that he has played.
Is noon the “neutral” setting for the bass knob on the Herc Deluxe?
Turning the bass knob all the way down is a slight bass cut. All the way up is a bass boost. Somewhere in the middle will be neutral. It may not be exactly at noon depending on the guitar and rig that you are using.
The clarity knob is a general tone circuit. It’s not a strict treble control.
Is the limited lifetime warranty on Mythos pedals transferable to used sales?
Mythos offers a limited lifetime warranty. As long as the pedal hasn’t been obviously abused, they are good at covering it under warranty. So if something inside the pedal breaks, it is typically covered unless there is obvious abuse. Even components like the footswitch, under normal usage, is something that Mythos will generally replace if it fails.
What is the best first fuzz pedal for a guitarist?
The Mythos Golden Fleece. According to Zach at Mythos, the Golden Fleece is always the answer when someone is looking to get into fuzz pedals. It’s a great option for someone who has never found a fuzz they have liked or for people who have never experimented with fuzz pedals. Mythos is proud of the Golden Fleece and it works as a great gateway into your journey of fuzz pedals.
Do you prefer a 10″ or 12″ Fender Princeton style amp?
Zach doesn’t really like single cab 10 inch speakers. He would recommend getting either the 12″ or a 2 x 10″ cabinet on a Princeton amp.
Is running a Mythos Golden Fleece into a Mythos Argonaught a good pairing?
Yes! The Argonaught works really well with the Golden Fleece before it. This combination gives you a classic Octavia sort of tone.
This pairing also tends to work better up and down the neck than a standard octavia.
How did you eliminate the charge pump on the modern Mythos Mjolinir models?
The klon has two op-amps. The second one, the charge pump, takes the positive 9V and raises it to 18V. Then instead of ground, the klon has negative 9 volts. So it keeps the op-amp signal really clean.
If you get rid of all that, and wire up the op-amp as normal where it gets positive 9V and goes to ground, the pedal will still function — but, the op-amp will break up. Whereas with the charge pump, the op-amp stays super clean, so you’re only hearing the diodes doing the clipping.
Zach really likes op-amp distortion. He thinks it works really well. In Zach’s opinion, getting rid of the charge pump gives you a little bit of a more flexible overdrive sound that is still blendable. The Mjolnir gain control works all the same as a traditional klon.
This modification makes the pedal less prone to blowing up and overall makes a better sounding overdrive.
How do you think about choosing drive pedals when backline equipment can vary wildly?
This is a hard question. Zach has never gigged with backline equipment. (i.e. touring musicians using amps provided by the concert venue)
Having something versatile that works into many amps is a great way to start. For Zach he would use something like the Herculean Deluxe, where you have a lot of options, and a lot of tone shaping opportunities and everything from clean to high amounts of gain, is a good place to start.
We’re going to wrap up the Q&A here.
If you’d like to watch demo videos of any of the pedals mentioned here, please visit our individual Mythos Pedal pages. Have a great week everyone!