Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Classic

The Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Classic is an analog overdrive and distortion pedal that takes a different approach from the typical pedal in its class. Instead of pushing a signal into a high-gain clipping circuit, it uses what the maker calls analog wave-shaping technology: circuitry that re-shapes the waveform itself to model the saturation and distortion waveforms produced by vacuum tubes, transformers, or analog tape¹²³. The result, according to Creation Audio Labs, is a pedal with an ultra-wide bandwidth that responds like a tube without changing your tone, with an extremely low noise floor⁴.

The pedal offers three modes in one box: transparent gain, dynamic smooth overdrive, and thick rich distortion⁴. It is in its final run: Creation Audio Labs lists it as a last-chance product that will not be built again once the remaining stock is gone⁴.

Three modes: clean boost, overdrive and distortion

The Holy Fire Classic covers three gain stages in one pedal, and each mode works differently under the hood⁴.

The gain control acts like a master volume on the output of the pedal, so it can add up to 12dB of pure clean boost or be turned completely off⁵. The overdrive mode is where the wave-shaping approach matters most: rather than modeling high gain into a clipping circuit, the analog circuitry models vacuum tube crunch directly¹.

The pedal also responds to playing dynamics and instrument volume. Creation Audio Labs describes it this way: play with a softer attack and velocity for a cleaner sound, or dig in to get as much grit as you want³. The maker notes this behavior works for both guitar and bass⁷.

Hi-cut filter and analog circuit

Two design choices set the Holy Fire line apart from most overdrive and distortion pedals⁴¹².

Analog wave-shaping. Creation Audio Labs says the Holy Fire introduced the world to analog wave-shaping technology, re-shaping the waveform to achieve tube-like effects without adding noise or heavy filters³. The company describes the underlying approach as combining old school analog computing with state of the art analog circuitry to model the saturation and distortion waveforms produced by vacuum tubes, transformers, or analog tape². Premier Guitar reported on this approach when the line was introduced, quoting the maker's description of the technology⁶. Everything in the signal path is analog; there is no sampling or latency⁵.

Hi-cut filter. The pedal includes a hi-cut filter to shape edges for vintage speaker simulation⁴. This lets you roll off the top end, which tames the brightness that high-gain circuits can produce and moves the pedal in the direction of an older speaker's response. Players comparing this to a dedicated speaker simulation pedal will find it a simpler, single-control take on the idea.

Where it came from

The Holy Fire line began with the original Holy Fire, which Creation Audio Labs describes as a valve tube simulator pre amp⁸. The company's own history of the product explains that combining old school analog computing with modern analog circuitry allowed it to model tube, transformer, and tape saturation waveforms in a sturdy, inexpensive, all-analog pedal².

A later power boosting circuit opened the door for a 9V version of the Holy Fire². When Creation Audio Labs introduced the Holy Fire 9, Premier Guitar described it as a Holy Fire with the new power circuit that steps up a standard 9VDC pedal power supply to the voltage the wave-shaping circuitry requires⁶. The Holy Fire 9 carries the heart of the Holy Fire Classic circuit⁵, so the Classic is the ancestor of the current 9V pedal rather than a derivative of it.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the Holy Fire and found a lot to like, calling it both clever and useful⁹:

How it compares in the lineup

The Holy Fire 9 shares the Classic's three modes, its hi-cut filter, its dimensions, and its +12dB clean boost¹. The practical difference for a pedalboard builder is power: the 9 runs on a standard 9VDC 250mA center-negative supply⁷, while the Classic needs its included 48VDC supply⁷¹⁵.

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