Thursday, March 22, 2012

Totally Wicked Audio Triskelion

GEAR IN REVIEW - Totally Wicked Audio Triskelion





Intro...
Lets face it the boutique pedal market is flooded with the same type of circuits over and over again with slight tweaks and variations.
Not too much unique out there these days. The Totally Wicked Audio Triskelion will help you get your freak on and then some.


Applications...


Is it an over drive? Is it a filter ? Is it a treble booster ? Is it a cocked wah ? Is its a synth drive ? Is it an intergalactic alien light show? You betcha. If you are after something very unique that will inspire you to write and play new music you are reading about it right now.


Killer looks....


I mean look at it. Red sparkle paint with a light up logo that looks like it could beacon the aliens home to mother earth. This logo is actually the symbol for Kinetic energy. Perfect for this tone energizer. Not only does this logo totally light up it also flashes to the dynamics of your playing ! Better yet while adjusting the Variant Mass control it changes color as well ! This knob can be adjusted via an expression pedal and this changes the color adjusting via expression pedal as well ! Without a doubt one of not the coolest pedal we have taken a look at it. A light show included! Just amazing.




Zappa plays Totally Wicked Audio...


What caught my eye initially with the Triskelion was when I saw that Dweezil Zappa was using THREE of them in his rig. Being a huge Dweezil fan with his Zappa plays Zappa shows I spent many a night listening to live clips scratching me head going " How in the heck is he getting those gnarly synth tones ? "  I came to find out that he tours with 3 Triskelions and that the Trisk is based on a pedal that Frank Zappa used to use and are near impossible to find.


Sharing circuit cues from the Maestro Parametric Filter and the Systech Harmonic Energizer any fan of the Zappa plays Zappa tone Dweezil has been getting on tour must get one of these. 



Here Dweezil shows and talks about the TWA Triskelion






Tone shaper....


The Trisk is UNIQUE and VERSATILE. Just a killer tone shaper. Testing with a USA strat I was able to dial in a sweet overdrive tone that worked great for a great drive tone for standard rock fare. Playing with the knobs I was able to fatten the Strat tone up into a much beefier almost humbucker type tone. Killer rich harmonic fuzz tones are in here in spades. It is amazing how you can dial in standard overdrive and EQ tones and with a few adjustments get into synth type bacon frying fuzz electric tone that really NO other pedal out there does. 


Notched wah...


The half cocked wah sounds are AMAZING. Messing with these type of tones letting the notes ring out the Trisk morphed into sweet controlled feedback. This effect alone is worth the price of admission.


High Gain...


Digging deeper I found a tone that sounded like all of my harmonics just drank 1000 Energy shots and invited a few hundred friends over for a ride. Sweet gain and tons of harmonics coming from nowhere.


Feedbacker...


The Trisk can be set to feedback - MUSICIAL feedback on command. Just amazing how it molds the tone sonically into a swirl of harmonic gain rich feedback. 



Mid Boost....


Using it as a boost can add tons of sustain and harmonics. It can be adjusted to be smooth and sweet or gnarly and biting. Works as well into a clean amp or into an overdriven amp. There are SO many possibilities with this pedal.


Fuzz wah...


With an expression pedal it is very possible to set it up to do a killer fuzz wah full of harmonics. If you are tired of your standard wah tone this is a very cool alternative.


mini Boost switch...


Just when you get things cooking the mini boost switch kicks you into into high gear shifting the bandwidth of the Variant Mass frequency up. Things get really insane cranking this.


mini Amplitude engage switch...
Allows to to totally bypass the gain in the pedal to make it a tone shaper , treble boost , lead boost and more. An amazingly versatile pedal.




Brian May tone ...


Can nail the classic Queen guitar tone in spades. High or low gain you can shape your tone as you see fit . Such a versatile pedal.



In closing...


There is no substitute for this pedal unless you hunt down an original Systech and spend way more money, have less features, be less reliable and not look near as cool. If you are a tone freak you OWE it to yourself to as Kevin likes to say GO GET SOME.  


I had more fun testing this pedal than probably any other in a long time. If you are looking for something to set your tone apart and really bring your tone to life look no further than Godlyke.com to buy your own Triskelion from Totally Wicked Audio. 



From Godlyke.com



The latest creation from Totally Wycked Audio, the Triskelion uses vintage Synth technology to re-shape the harmonic structure of the input signal, adding punch, clarity and depth to any guitar tone.
The Triskelion’s specially designed filter can create glassy clean tones, boost midrange for throaty solos, or tune your rig to any room for a wall of singing, resonant feedback. Massive amp sounds, explosive lead-breaks, infinite sustain, and downright nasty, energy-intense tones are just a few of the uses for the Triskelion – the possibilities are almost limitless!
The Triskelion circuit shares similarities with vintage units such as the Maestro Parametric Filter and the Systech Harmonic Energizer – this latter pedal was prized by several well-known artists, including Jim Walsh and Greg Lake.  It’s most notable advocate was guitar legend Frank Zappa, who used the Systech for many of his throaty, mid-boosted solo tones. 
It’s no surprise that Frank’s son, Dweezil Zappa, relies on the Triskelion to replicate his father’s guitar sounds for the ongoing Zappa Plays Zappa project.  In fact, Dweezil actually uses three – yes, THREE – Triskelion’s in his live touring rig!
So if you’re looking to step out from the masses and create guitar tones that drop jaws and drawers, then you owe it to yourself to add a Triskelion – or three – to your arsenal!  Get energized!