Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter

Hell Melter
Summon cult-classic, high-gain heavy metal tones!

With its take on the cult-classic, chainsaw distortion pedal, the EHX Hell Melter takes distortion to its extremes. The Hell Melter features expanded controls and tonal capabilities, allowing the already in-your-face sound of the pedal to broaden by switching to more open clipping options and boosting the internal voltage for increased headroom, less compression, and more attack.

Originally designed as the ultimate in high-gain tone, this world-famous distortion circuit is known for the death metal sounds of Sweden’s Entombed and the shoegaze wash of My Bloody Valentine. It’s even found a home in the rig of David Gilmour!

The EHX Hell Melter’s expanded control set includes Gain and Level controls, and a powerful active EQ featuring with parametric mids for improved versatility. The Dry level control allows for blending your input signal for improved low-end when used with a bass or even blending in other distorted tones.

Boost Footswitch engages an input gain boost and volume boost which is internally adjustable. The Normal/Burn switch toggles between the classic chainsaw sound and the more open clipping option.

Controls:

1.DISTORTION: Adjusts the amount of distortion and saturation, from a light grind to a roaring chainsaw. Turn clockwise for more distortion.
2. LEVEL: Adjusts the overall output level of the Hell Melter. Turn clockwise for more output. More output is available than on the original ‘chainsaw’ circuit.
3. LOW: Provides active boost or cut to the bass frequency range. The middle position leaves bass frequencies flat.
4. MID LVL: Provides active boost or cut to the mid frequency, with the frequency set by the MID FREQ knob. The middle position leaves mid frequencies flat.
5. MID FREQ: Adjusts the frequency boosted or cut by the MID LVL knob. Turn the knob clockwise to increase the frequency.
6. HIGH: Provides active boost or cut to high frequencies. The middle position leaves high frequencies flat. Tip: the frequencies controlled by the HIGH Knob are slightly lower than a typical ‘treble’ control, allowing you to produce searing highs without a lot of treble harshness. To emphasize even higher ‘treble’ frequencies, turn the HIGH knob below the middle position, and increase the LEVEL knob to re-emphasize treble.
7. NORM/BURN Switch: Switches between “Normal” and “Burn” Modes:

• Normal Mode The famous vintage chainsaw distortion sound.
  
• Burn Mode A custom, modernized distortion sound, utilizing higher voltage rails and alternative clipping options. This results in a less compressed and more open distortion sound with a more pronounced attack.

8. GATE: Mini Knob Removes unwanted hum by adjusting the noise floor threshold. The gate mutes the OUTPUT jack when the signal at the INPUT jack is below the threshold setting of the GATE knob. As GATE is turned clockwise, a louder guitar signal at the INPUT jack is required to unmute the OUTPUT jack. Set GATE fully counter-clockwise to disable.
9. DRY LVL: Mini Knob Adds clean, undistorted input signal to the output. As the knob is turned clockwise, the amount of dry signal increases. At the minimum position, no dry signal is mixed into the output. Tip: this is especially useful to maintain note clarity when stacking the Hell Melter with a dirty amp or another gain pedal.

Specifications:

• Circuit : Analog
  
• Bypass : Buffered Bypass
  
• Audio : Mono
  
• Power Supply : 9.6VDC-200mA power adapter included
  
• Dimensions (in) : 4.75 x 4 x 2.25
  
• Current Draw : 140mA