Hammer of the Gods Almost no one knows the name of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and that's a shame because Mjolnir is just as cool as the guy wielding it! How cool? Well, I'll let the description of Mjolnir from Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur's translation of the Viking epic "The Prose Edda" speak for itself: "Then he gave the hammer to Thor, and said that Thor might smite as hard as he desired, whatsoever might be before him, and the hammer would not fail; and if he threw it at anything, it would never miss, and never fly so far as not to return to his hand..." Just as every god of thunder needs a divine hammer, every guitar player needs a dependable dirt pedal that will never miss and never fail. The Mjolnir Overdrive from Mythos Pedals may not be made of enchanted steel, but, just like its namesake, you just can't lose when you use it. A Vaunted Circuit The Mythos Mjolnir Overdrive is based on the circuit of the legendary Klon Centaur, a pedal famed for both its organic, transparent sound and its rarity (not to mention it sticker shock-inducing price tag!). Our friends at Mythos have managed to capture the spirit of this legendary hoofed beast while adding in a few important tweaks to the circuit that bring in a little more clarity and grit. Field-Testing Transparency "Transparency" is a favorite buzzword of pedal aficionados, but transparent pedals are as difficult to describe as they are trendy. Basically, a good transparent overdrive will make your amp sound like the volume is at 7 when it's actually at 2. That way, you get the natural-sounding amp overdrive without having to turn up to an earsplitting volume. To test the Mjolnir's transparency, I plugged it into the amp I know best: the Friedman Dirty Shirley. I've done tonal evaluations on hundreds of guitars using an overdriven Dirty Shirley, so I know the nuances and details of its tone well enough to tell if any pedal I put in front of it is truly transparent. Hammering it Out So, I set the volume on two, clicked the Mjolnir on, strummed an open E chord, and immediately forgot that I was supposed to be working as I started jamming out. I couldn't help myself, because this pedal is truly incredible! With the Mjolnir on, your amp responds just like it would if the volume were cranked even if you're actually playing at neighbor-friendly levels. To complete my test, I turned the Mjolnir off, and put the Dirty Shirley on seven. The amp certainly got louder, but the timbre of the overdrive barely changed at all! I expect a lot from Mythos Pedals, but the Mjolnir exceeded my wildest expectations. It's hard to quantify what makes an overdrive transparent, but I know one when I hear one, and the Mjolnir passes the transparency test with flying colors (or, more accurately, a flying lack of coloration!). Clear Tone. Full Sound. Can't Lose Earlier, I mentioned that every guitar player needs an overdrive that will never miss and never fail, and the Mjolnir fits those criteria. That may seem like a bold claim, but it's really not! All the Mjolnir does is help you get more out of your guitar and your amp, and it does so in an unobtrusive, natural way. It's hard to miss the mark with a sound like that, no matter what type of music you're playing. Wildwood Guitars is proud to present our exceptional customers with a reliable tool worthy of Thor himself: the Mjolnir Overdrive from Mythos Pedals.
