Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe review – the ultimate all-in-one gain machine for fussy tonehounds?

£240, horrothia.com

The word ‘preamp’ was invented by Satan in order to sow discord and confusion. Does it mean the front half of an amplifier, a DI device with speaker simulation, or just a glorified overdrive pedal? Take your pick, it’s all of them! So let me make it clear that the Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe falls into the third category… except that it’s not so much glorified as glorious.

This British boutique stompbox has enough gain on tap to replace your Timmy or ODR-1, but it also has the tone-sculpting power to transform your sound in a number of ways, some of them less orthodox than others.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – what is it?

There was a non-Deluxe version of the Triage, with just three knobs and a mids switch; this unit has replaced it in the Horrothia line-up, but it’s apparently a whole new design rather than just a more complicated take on the old one. So let’s have a look at what’s going on inside.

The first stage of this preamp is a FET preamp – yes, that’s right, a preamp can also be part of a preamp, when will this madness end!? – which runs into a variable high-pass filter, followed by a discrete op-amp (with adjustable headroom) to bring the grit, and a treble-cutting tone section on the way out.

More importantly than all that, though, did you clock the footswitch? It looks like one of the buttons off an old arcade game, and it’s adorable. This kind of thing should be compulsory on all stompboxes from now on.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – is it easy to use?

There are no surprises with the lower three knobs: ‘breath’ is for treble, and gain and output are self-explanatory. For the other two, however, you might have to put your brain into reverse.

The HPF’s cut-off frequency ranges from 20Hz all the way up to 1kHz, so as you turn it up you’re effectively turning the bass down; and the headroom sets the voltage in the second gain stage between 6v and 16v, so as you turn this one up you’re actually reducing the drive and compression.

But hang on, how can you run a pedal at 16v with a 9v power supply? Well, in this case you can’t: the Triage Deluxe will work fine with a standard adapter but it really wants 18v, otherwise you’re basically fixing the headroom at minimum. So, out comes the voltage doubler cable (what would we do without you, Voodoo Lab?) and it’s on with the testing…

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – what does it sound like?

It’s always nice when a pedal gives you a starting point of absolutely nothing. With clipping off, the filter at minimum and the headroom at maximum, the Triage Deluxe can produce something very close to total transparency… which might not be terribly useful on its own, but does bode well for when the gain and output levels start heading north.

That brings us quickly to two easy wins: as a clean boost, and as a transparent low-gain overdrive, this thing is just impeccable. If you simply want to hear your clean tone but louder and/or grittier, it’s right here. The drive feels quite fluffy and uncompressed but tonally it remains tight; in this sense it’s unlikely you’ll find the HPF necessary to sharpen things up – not with single-coils anyway – but it does allow you to shift the emphasis to the midrange, Tube Screamer style, with total control over just how lean the bottom end gets.

The effect of reducing the headroom can be a lot more subtle, depending on other settings, but it’s step one on the journey from preamp to proper drive pedal – and step two is the clipping switch. This makes things pretty hairy, but still without any suggestion of raggedness or unwanted bloom. The Triage Deluxe is a wonderfully entertaining pedal for sure, but it’s also a master of self-discipline.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe – should I buy it?

This is not a cheap pedal, but it’s actually something of a bargain by Horrothia standards (the excellent Berkeley vibe is currently going for £370)… and what you’re getting for your money is undoubtedly of the highest quality. Running it off 9v feels a bit like fitting a 50mph limiter to an Aston Martin; but if you have a power supply with 18v outputs, or don’t mind the hassle of using a voltage doubler, it will let you zone in on the exact sound you’re after with a rare level of precision.

Horrothia Effects Triage Deluxe alternatives

Other pedals that trample all over the line between high-class overdrive and tone-shaping preamp include the Hudson Electronics Broadcast (£179) and Origin Effects RevivalDrive Compact (£329). Or for a very different kind of flexibility, you could go for a dual stomper like the Crazy Tube Circuits Crossfire (€218/£178).