Hell Melter

Name: Hell Melter
SKU: HELLMELTER
Price: 176.66 USD
Availability: InStock

Advanced Metal Distortion

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

$176.66

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Sound Clips

Chainsaw Refueled

Burn Mode with Boost On

Gilmour Style Lead

Doomed Out Burn Mode, Volume Roll-up

Hell Melter on Bass & Guitar

Stacking & Shaping Other Drive Pedals

Hell Melter | Advanced Metal Distortion
$176.66
Find a Dealer
Hell Melter quantity

Hell Melter

DESCRIPTION

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.

Classic Heavy Metal circuit with expanded controls
Increased overall output volume
Active EQ controls expansion with parametric MIDS control
Noise gate and dry level control
NORMAL and BURN modes
Footswitchable boost section
Independent distortion and level knobs
9V power supply included

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

Year Released

2023

UPC

683274012421

Owner's Manual

OUTPUT JACK

Audio output from the Hell Melter.

INPUT JACK

Audio input to the Hell Melter.

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.

LEVL KNOB

Adjusts the overall output level of the Hell Melter. Turn clockwise for more output. More output is available than on the original ‘chainsaw’ circuit.

DISTORTION KNOB

Adjusts the amount of distortion and saturation, from a light grind to a roaring chainsaw. Turn clockwise for more distortion.

MID LVL KNOB

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.

HIGH KNOB

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.

LOW KNOB

Provides active boost or cut to the bass frequency range. The middle position leaves bass frequencies flat.

MID FREQ KNOB

Adjusts the frequency boosted or cut by the MID LVL knob. Turn the knob clockwise to increase the frequency.

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.

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.

EFFECT FOOTSWITCH & RED LED

This footswitch engages or bypasses the effect. The LED lights when the effect is active. The Hell Melter employs high quality buffered bypass.

BOOST FOOTSWITCH & YELLOW LED

This footswitch engages Boost Mode, adding extra gain at the input of the circuit, and adjustable volume boost.

BOOST LEVEL INTERNAL TRIMMER

This trimmer controls the additional volume added when Boost Mode is active. To access it, remove the 4 screws on the back plate of the Hell Melter, and locate the trimmer next to the BOOST Footswitch. Taking care not to touch the rest of the circuitry of the board, turn this trimmer clockwise using a small flat-head screwdriver to increase the volume boost. At the minimum position, Boost Mode provides no volume boost.