For most electric guitar players, natural,
even-harmonic amp overdrive and distortion
is a kind of perfection—a balance of
grit, grime, and clarity that’s at once rebellious
and resonant. Then there are those who
don’t like their distortion so civilized—players
who like it to sound a little alien, a bit nasty,
and occasionally just straight-up cruel. Totally
Wycked Audio’s Triskelion TK-1 Harmonic
Energizer (which is distributed by Godlyke)
is remarkable for being able to offer something
to each type of player. But it definitely
favors those with more radical tastes. And
if you’re a jazz, funk, metal, or heavy rock
player that loves the outer limits of the form,
the Triskelion can help get you there.
Though it rewards the adventurous and
looks dangerous, the Triskelion (which was
inspired in no small part by the Maestro
Parametric Filter and Systech Harmonic
Energizer favored by Frank Zappa) is essentially
a filter that can boost and modify specific
frequencies. It’s not all about sonic agitation,
though. The Triskelion has a wide range
of voices. It loves hot humbuckers and vintage-
voiced single-coils equally. It’s exceptionally
responsive to a player’s input—the kind of
pedal that offers give and take no matter how
radically you set it up. And in almost any setting,
the Triskelion can take you from merely
playing well to playing your ass off.
Clear Intentions
One glance at the Triskelion gives you a pretty
good idea that it has the ability to get out
there. The red sparkle finish would make a
vintage speedboat owner envious. Its trefoil
logo lights up more like a warning than on/off
indicator (which is occasionally appropriate). It
also changes color based on where the expression
pedal/Variant Mass knob is set, providing
valuable visual feedback about the function of
this complex unit. But even when the pedal
is turned off, it seems to glow like some possessed
hardware in a Stephen King story.
The three gold knobs control Energy (the
level of harmonic boost), Variant Mass (the
frequency to be boosted), and Amplitude
(output level.) Two small buttons
beneath the three knobs light up
when engaged. The first is Boost,
which shifts the Variant Mass setting
into a higher frequency range.
The second is Engage, which
bypasses the amp and filter circuit
allowing you to use the pedal as a
single-channel EQ with attitude.
Adventures in Filtration
With my Blackstar HT40 running clean and a
Fender Stratocaster and Ibanez Sabre at hand,
I set the Triskelion’s Energy knob up high and
moved the Variant Mass knob through its
range to check out the many flavors of cool
overdriven raunch on tap. With the Variant
Mass knob around 12 o’clock and the Boost
engaged, I got a cool wall-of-Pignose sound
that made me miss Zappa himself. Dialing
back the Energy knob to about 9 o’clock or
lower, and fine-tuning the Variant Mass knob
between 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock traded grit
for a very honky-tonkin’ treble boost that
was downright Tele-esque on my American
Standard Stratocaster. The clarity and tonal
versatility at these settings is impressive—I was
even able to coax sparkling country tones from
my 25-year-old, hot-rodded Ibanez.
Dialing back both Energy and the
Variant Mass knobs even further gave me a
wide-frequency clean sound that was akin
to the tones from a semi-hollow body. And
attaching an expression pedal to control the
Variant Mass knob enabled me to sweep
between the two clean tones easily, which
was very cool. As effective as this pedal is
when growling and snarling, the range of
cleaner tones are stunners—clear, chiming,
and kicking with high-end boost.
Cranking up the Amplitude and Energy
knobs introduced a sweetened Tube
Screamer overdrive effect, but with more
expansive tonal options. Running the Sabre’s
Seymour Duncan into the Blackstar’s clean
channel and dialing back the Variant Mass
knob summoned some cool ’70s stoner tones
in the vein of Wolfmother. Exploring similar
overdrive settings with the help of an expression
pedal controlling the Variant Mass
knob yielded shades of Robin Trower or Jimi
Hendrix modulated grit, as well as cockedwah
tones that are great for giving lead lines
character and space in a heavy rock mix.
While the pedal sounded great at any
three-knob setting I tried, I loved jacking up
the Amplitude and Energy knobs, kicking on
the boost, and using the expression pedal in
the manner of a wah to get some absolutely
blistering lead tones. Even with the Energy
knob back down to a sensible 5 o’clock, the
Amplitude at 3 o’clock, and Variant Mass
set wide open with the expression pedal, my
guitar wept, cried, howled, moaned, sang,
and screamed. And hanging out in the range
of these more aggressive settings makes it
a breeze and a joy to get abundant musical
feedback—especially with a whammy bar.
It’s also easy to set the Triskelion to take
advantage of a guitar’s given strengths.
Setting the Energy to about 12 o’clock, and
sweeping through the Variant Mass control
enabled me to hone in on the harmonic
sweet spot of a guitar or pickup and boost
it—making it a delight to generate pinch
and tap harmonics, as well as coax overtones
from chords.
When you’re ready to forego any semblance
of restraint, maxing out the Energy
and Amplitude knobs will take your playing
into interstellar regions. But even at these
extreme settings the signal, which constantly
teeters on the edge of feedback, is lush
with harmonics and rich with character.
From John 5 noise-tones to Dave Navarro
leads to dark, beautiful Santana-style sustain,
the pedal is graceful and at home
when heavy. It will drag you and your guitar
happily screaming in pursuit of lingering
notes and harmonics. Best of all,
the expression pedal gives you a sense of
control in these extreme settings.
The Verdict
Any good pedal complements your playing,
allowing you to preserve the mojo you
worked hard to call your own. The Triskelion
does all that. But I’d argue it improves your
playing too. It is very forgiving, even as it
leads into radical territory where it beckons
you to cut loose and be expressive.
As a reviewer, I feel obligated to find
something that needs to be improved
upon—some flaw or unfulfilled wish. I’ve
looked up and down the TWA Triskelion
and listened all over, and I only found
one—a second footswitch to turn amplitude
on and off would be seriously cool. TWA
did an outstanding job in delivering a pedal
that is beautiful and dangerous in both
looks and tone. At 350 bucks, you’ll pay for
that power to express. But if you’re unafraid
of getting outside the tone box you’re accustomed
to, the dividends this pedal pay on
that investment are potentially hefty.
Buy if...
you want your tone (both clean and
dirty) to smoke and stand out, and
you’re down with screaming, howling,
crying guitar sounds.
Skip if...
you hate filters, wahs, and feedback
in all their forms.
Rating...
