Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Supreme

The Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Supreme is an analog fuzz-stortion pedal, a fuzz and distortion hybrid that the maker describes as "the ultimate, or Supreme fuzz-stortion that Black Arts has produced"¹. It takes the Pharaoh platform and adds two things the standard pedal does not have: a variable Pre control that shapes the saturation of the circuit's front end, and a six-way diode selector that doubles the clipping choices. The pedal is discontinued and out of production¹.

What the Pre control and Clip knob do

The Supreme's headline feature is its Pre knob. Black Arts Toneworks explains that "the Supreme utilizes a variable pre input control to infinitely adjust the saturation of the front end of the circuit"¹. Where the standard Pharaoh uses a hi/lo switch, the Supreme replaces it with this continuous control, letting a player dial the amount of gain hitting the fuzz stage anywhere across its range rather than choosing between two fixed settings².

Working alongside it is the Clip knob. RockBoard's PedalPedia notes that "The Pre knob control in addition to the Clip knob, produce an array of sounds and textures that expand the Pharaoh"². In practice, the Pre control sets how hard the front of the circuit is driven, and the Clip selection sets the character of the clipping that follows.

Diode settings

In place of the standard Pharaoh's three-way diode selector, the Supreme uses a six-way rotary switch. It carries the standard Pharaoh's settings and adds three that were not available on the earlier Pharaohs².

Black Arts Toneworks lists the full set as "BAT41, Asymmetrical BAT41, Silicon (standard Pharaoh), Mosfet, LED and Bypass (standard Pharaoh)"¹. An independent technical analysis on Guitar FX Layouts adds that diodes D13 and D14 in the circuit are 1N914 diodes³.

How it compares to the standard Pharaoh

Black Arts Toneworks states that "The Supreme has all of the sounds and abilities of the Standard and Primitive Pharaohs, but with some very useful additions"¹. The company first showed the pedal in January 2014 as a successor to the Gold Standard Pharaoh, saying it "does all that the Gold Standard Pharaoh does"⁴. An independent trace on Guitar FX Layouts reaches the same conclusion from the other direction: "the circuit itself is the same as the regular pharaoh. the only difference is the pre-gain pot, and the additional clipping"³.

One interaction worth knowing if you track down a used unit: the Guitar FX Layouts analysis notes that "the Highs pot has very little effect when the Tone pot is set in a noon to fully clockwise position," but becomes very effective as the Tone is turned counterclockwise with lows boosted³.

Power

The Supreme runs on a standard 9VDC power supply and draws 10mA¹². There is no battery connection, so a power adapter is required¹. The 10mA draw is low enough that it should sit comfortably within the budget of a single output on most pedalboard power supplies.

The 2014 prototypes

Before release, Black Arts Toneworks offered three of the first five Pharaoh Supreme prototypes for sale in February 2014. The maker was candid about their appearance: "All of the protos were different cosmetically as we were trying out color combinations/led colors and knob selections," and noted that they came "in standard Pharaoh graphic enclosures, NOT a Pharaoh Supreme graphic"⁶. Internally, though, the design was settled: "All of the circuits were standardized at the end of testing, so all are the same internally"⁶.

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