THUNDERTOMATE
Phil Hilborne Signature - ‘Fat Treble Booster’

PRICE: £135
ORIGIN: Spain
TYPE: Treble booster pedal
FEATURES: Silicon transistors, Cut control, internal DIP switches
CONTROLS: Level, Cut
CONNECTIONS: Input, output
MIDI: No
POWER: 9V battery or DC adaptor (not supplied)

You might not have heard of Spanish stompbox company ThunderTomate, but you probably know Phil Hilborne. The two have joined forces to create a signature version of ThunderTomate's treble booster pedal, combining a standard treble boost circuit with a high-cut control similar to the one on a Vox AC30. And if there's one player who should know all about treble boosters and Vox AC30s, it's Phil Hilborne, who regularly plays in the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’.

Housed in a standard compact die-cast box, the pedal is built around silicon diodes. Neutrik jack sockets are used along with a range of low-noise components for the cleanest possible signal path. The pedal runs on either a nine-volt battery (to access the battery compartment you have to remove the baseplate) or a standard Boss-style power supply.

There are two controls... Level adjusts the amount of treble boost, while Cut reduces some of the high frequencies, creating a fatter midrange tone. For perfectionists, though, an extra level of tone-shaping can be found inside the pedal, in the shape of a row of eight DIP switches. Three of these switches are used to select the treble booster tone, while the other five are for setting the desired amount of 'fatness'.

SOUNDS
Starting with the pedal plugged into a crunchy valve amp, with about 50% treble boost, we found its basic tone slightly brighter than some of the other treble boosters on the market, with a little more crispness and less of a nasal midrange bite. That's the case with the Cut control at its minimum setting, anyway; increasing the amount of cut removes the more brittle high frequencies, giving a very powerful, focused lead boost.

While the boooster will obviously be of interest to Brian May fans, it has a much wider range of applications. There's enough scope on the Level control to add some serious distortion, especially if your dry amp sound is already overdriven. On the other hand, you don't even have to use the pedal as an occasional boost... you could leave it on all the time, using the Cut control to shape your basic rhythm tone, adding another overdrive pedal for solos as necessary. With a moderate amount of boost and about 50% cut, we were able to dial in some fantastic Stones-like rhythm tones. Use less amp gain and you can add a touch of extra definition to jangly arpeggio parts.

The pedal really comes into its own as a lead boost, though, and that's where you can get creative with the row of internal DIP switches. The three treble boost types build gradually in intensity, or you can chain all three together for maximum drive. Thanks to the Cut control, it's already possible to get quite a fat, midrangey tone from the pedal, but the five extra levels of fatness make for a really powerful sound, meaning you can then leave the Cut control wide open for a huge, full-range boost. This sound is just perfect for a Strat's bridge pickup.

VERDICT
As we mentioned in another treble booster review recently, this effect type has really come in from the wilderness in recent years. Several small-scale effect builders are now taking the plunge, and players are starting to see the attraction of this alternative to a standard overdrive. The Phil Hilborne signature model is definitely one of the best boosters we've come across, and while it's quite expensive for such a simple type of effect, we can't fault the workmanship or tone quality. What's more, it's considerably more flexible than just about any other treble booster we've seen. Our only criticism is that you have to open up the pedal to access the DIP switches, but then if they were on the outside, maybe we'd all do more tweaking than actual playing!

BUILD QUALITY 4.5
FEATURES 4.5
SOUND 5
VALUE FOR MONEY: 4
WE LIKED: Superb range of tones, generous amount of boost
WE DISLIKED: Fiddly access to the DIP switches and battery

Adrian Clark
Guitarist Magazine