Thunder Knob

(Discontinued)

High voltage 12AX7 tube overdrive/preamp pedal.
Chosen as one of the top 13 overdrive pedals of 2017 by youtuber, InTheBlues.
"My first 3 words are – Oh. My. God." -Effects Bay (click here for entire review)
​Now discontinued, the Thunder Knob was an all-tube design that ran a 12AX7 vacuum tube at 250V to deliver lush tube tone with tons of headroom.  The pedal takes a standard 9v DC power input and boosts it internally via LBA's custom low noise DC to DC voltage booster. Any standard 9v pedal adapter will work if it can output at least 350mA of current.     

One of the few features of this simplistic design is the Thunder switch.  This switch toggles between "Normal" which is a mellow tone and a mild degree of distortion (think early stage of break up from a tube amp) and "Thunder," which offers increased distortion, treble, and volume.  Plus, when "Thunder" is engaged the Lightning Boy logo lights up!

The Thunder Knob offers very low noise, quiet true bypass switching, plenty of gain, and that special Lightning Boy sound.
Features
  • 12AX7 vacuum tube pedal.  All-tube audio path - no transistors or IC's.  
  • NOS paper-in-oil capacitors in audio path for a bit of old school mojo.
  • Hand wired point-to-point audio path - just like a vintage tube amp!
  • One big knob for volume.  
  • Thunder switch toggles between two different modes of gain and tone.  
  • Quiet true bypass switching.
  • Designed and assembled in the USA.  
Technical Information
  • Power Requirements:  9v DC @ 350mA (minimum current required) via standard 5.5mm barrel connector - center negative.  Click here if you need a 9v Adapter.
  • Frequency Response
    •  (Thunder) Flat from 70Hz-9kHz.  -3dB @ 24Hz & 14.6kHz
    • (Normal) Flat from 70Hz-6kHz.  -3dB @ 24Hz &12kHz​
  • Maximum Gain
    • (Thunder):  40dB
    • (Normal):  35dB
  • THD+N measured with 30mV sine wave @ 1kHz
    • (Thunder):  30%
    • (Normal):  17.5%
  • S/N:  75dB RMS A-weighted
  • Input Impedance:  200k Ohms
  • Output Impedance:  10k Ohms
  • Operating temperature (case exterior, top side):  Measured with an ambient temperature of 72.9°F / 22.8°C after the Thunder Knob has been powered on for precisely 1 hour. 
    • ​​Maximum (hottest single point):  91.1°F / 33.4°C
    • Average:  89.8°F / 32.1°C
  • Weight:  13.4oz / 380g
  • Dimensions:   (length x width x height)
    • 5.125" x 3.625" x 2.125"(with adhesive feet attached).  
    • Metric (mm): 130.175 x 92.075 x 53.975