Third Man Hardware and Gamechanger Audio announce the PLASMA Coil, a special version of the PLASMA Pedal created by Gamechanger Audio and Third Man Records.
The PLASMA Coil is used by Jack White on the Raconteurs’ latest album Help Us Stranger, in the subsequent tour and upcoming projects. At its heart is Gamechanger’s innovative High Voltage Distortion technology that expresses audio signal as a series of electrical discharges. Even though they’ve been printing the words: “High Voltage Rock’n’Roll” on t-shirts since 1973, PLASMA Distortion is the first commercial musical device that literally amplifies the audio signal to 3500 Volts. Plasma Coil takes High Voltage distortion to new heights by adding multiple Octave-style circuits, and an additional Effects footswitch that can be toggled as latching or momentary. The expected life of the xenon tube is 10,000 to 70,000 hours of active playing.
The PLASMA product series is a revolutionary approach within the realm of overdrive and distortion, as it is a new and previously unexplored method of achieving signal clipping.
Instead of using LED circuits, transistors or vacuum tubes to produce overdrive, PLASMA technology transforms your instrument’s live signal into a series of continuous high-voltage discharges within a xenon-filled tube.
In essence – you are playing a bolt of electricity, and the electrical discharges produced by your instrument are instantly converted back into an analog audio signal, producing a quick, responsive, and extremely heavy distortion with TONS of unique character!
Subharmonics are produced by modulating the Xenon tube's Voltage with multiple divisions of the instruments fundamental frequency, resulting in a glitchy, distorted octave-down sound that is somewhere between a ring-mod and a bit-crush effect. Upper harmonics are produced by using a full-wave rectifier and band-pass filter, creating an octa-fuzz type sound with a distinct 2nd harmonic enhancement (which is perceived as an octave-up effect).
Simplified signal chain: Input -> EQ -> Octave/Effect -> Transformer to High Voltage -> Xenon Tube -> Antenna that picks up the electromagnetic vibrations surrounding the Tube -> Output
Main Features
- 2 EQ controls to boost or cut low and high frequencies;
- VOLTAGE knob – adjusts the amount of electrical current sent to the PLASMA Tube.
- EFFECTS knob allows you to select 1 of 6 different effect types:
- Volume boost
- 2 Subharmonic modes (Bitcrush-style octave down)
- 1 Upper harmonic mode (Octafuzz-style octave up)
- 2 Mixed modes (Upper and lower harmonics combined)
- Effects footswitch – engages the PLASMA COIL’s special effect circuit.
- Master VOLUME knob – cuts or boosts the output signal level.
- ON/OFF silent footswitch.
- Effects footswitch toggle on the back panel – configure effects footswitch as a latching ON/OFF switch or as a momentary switch.
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