Photography by Jon Roncolato
Zach of Mythos Pedals participated in our Stompbox Booth at the recent NAMM 2019 show. The Anderstones stopped by for an interview – streaming below. Under it, our profile of the company.
Many guitarists spend their time and money pursuing the legendary sounds created with vintage pedals. Mythos Pedals makes that endeavor easier and less costly by offering modern handmade iterations of the great stompboxes that shaped the sound of the music we love, all at budget-friendly prices.
Zach Broyles founded Mythos Pedals in 2010. His lineup currently comprises seven pedals, some of which are based on the circuits of pedals like the Klon Centaur, the Marshall Bluesbreaker and the Ibanez TS-808. Broyles and his wife make the pedals one at a time, in Nashville, using only high-quality components.
“The idea behind Mythos Pedals is bringing classic tones to everyone and giving yourself sounds you once thought were beyond your grasp,” Broyles writes on the Mythos website. “There is a legendary quality about vintage stompboxes, and no matter how many iterations we add to our collection there is often ‘one more sound’ we are forever on the hunt for.”
Broyles began honing his skills by modding and tweaking existing pedals. He previously worked at Carter Vintage Guitars, where he says time spent with classic guitars and amps trained his ears for his pedal-crafting efforts.
In addition to its pedal line, Mythos Pedals offers modifications for many of the most popular guitar pedals. The company also sells a DIY Tubescreamer mod kit that lets you convert a TS-9 pedal to a TS-808.
All of Mythos’ pedals operate on standard center-negative, 9-volt DC power adapters and do not have internal 9-volt battery clips. Broyles’ small operation means he personally attends to every pedal he makes, ensuring quality throughout the selection of components, assembly and build. If you ever have an issue with a Mythos pedal, Broyles will repair it.
Mythos Pedals’ current lineup includes the following units. See interactive gallery below for videos and descriptions.
Mjolnir Overdrive
A tweaked version of the modern-day classic Klon Centaur pedal. Those who purchase the pedal directly from Mythos can buy the unit stock or with an optional Germanium mod featuring hand-matched germanium clipping diodes, oxblood pointer knobs, and a red LED. The Germanium mod has a softer clipping that is more compressed with less overall gain, making it more of a booster than an overdrive.
Dædalus Overdrive
A take on the classic BluesBreaker circuit. The Dædalus features more volume and gain with very dynamic controls that allow you to dial up anything from clean boost to lightly cranked combo to roaring stack sounds.
Herculean Overdrive
The Mythos version of the classic 808 circuit. It retains the input/output buffers and 4558 chip of the original but features “massive improvements throughout.” The latest version features a Clipping switch and Fat Boost control for even more tonal shaping.
Golden Fleece
Based on a much-talked-about pedal used by Wilco’s Nels Cline, the Golden Fleece features an incredibly simple circuit that skirts the line between overdrive and fuzz. The latest version is now in a smaller enclosure, but all the original tone is there, with more clarity, responsiveness and lower noise, all with lower output.
Chupacabra Overdrive/Fuzz
Built around the CD4049UBE chip, this simple gain pedal is designed to replicate the tones of the first few ZZ Top records and does everything from pushed tweed breakup to balls-to-the-wall rockin’ fuzz.
Erlking Overdrive
The latest Mythos Pedals overdrive is based on the Nobels ODR-1. This four knob unit raises the headroom, smooths the gain, and adds a much needed Bass control.
Titan Overdrive
Built specifically for YouTube sensation Rob Chapman (a big fan of the company, see video below), the Titan is based off of the Mjolnir OD. It has increased gain, a thicker low end tone, and a deeper tone control
voicing. In addition to the circuit modifications we added a Fat boost switch, this adds huge low end when the gain is cranked. We also added a Clipping switch that gives you classic Germanium, Open, and punchy LED clipping.
Mjolnir Buffer
The Mjolnir Buffer is the solution for any rig that needs added clarity. Taken from the company’s popular Mjolnir pedal, this op-amp-based buffer will give any rig a kick of clear tone.
Runestone
This is a more modern and flexible reinterpretation of the company’s now discontinued Daedalus, a drive voiced after the Bluesbreaker circuit.
Here’s the list of the tweaks that were made to improve it:
The output has been increased so you can easily push your amp or use the pedal as a low gain booster, the tone has been reentered and treble reduced for a natural sounding drive, and the gain has been tweaked for more useful control.
Positron Collider
Inspired to classic sci-fi comedy Ghostbusters, the Positron Collider is a limited edition fuzz box voiced after the Rams Head circuit, but offering a much wider range of tones.
The clipping switch allows you to choose between silicon or LED diodes, while the Total Protonic Reversal footswitch lets you lift the tone stack for extra volume. It also features Treble and Bass EQ knobs instead of the single tone knob found on vintage units
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