Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Classic 48V Edition

The Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Classic 48V Edition is an analog overdrive, distortion and boost pedal in one box, built around the company's original 48V circuit. Creation Audio Labs describes it as delivering "Transparent GAIN, dynamic smooth OVERDRIVE, thick rich DISTORTION," with an ultra-wide bandwidth and an extremely low noise floor, and says it responds like a tube without changing your tone¹.

What sets the Classic apart from most distortion pedals is how it generates its gain. Instead of relying only on clipping diodes, the maker says it uses "analog wave-shaping technology to re-shape the waveform and achieve tube-like FX" without adding noise or heavy filters¹. The maker pitches the result as "Like a tube preamp in a pedal, but without the bulky, fragile and expensive tubes and transformers"².

Three modes in one pedal

The Classic 48V Edition combines three gain stages, each with its own character. The maker describes the pedal as responding to playing dynamics and instrument volume: "Play with a softer attack and velocity for a cleaner sound, or dig in to get as much grit as you want"¹.

The Classic also carries a hi-cut filter that the maker says shapes the edges of the waveform for a vintage speaker simulation². For players shopping by effect type, the pedal sits across the overdrive, distortion and boost categories at once, and Creation Audio Labs lists it as great for guitar or bass¹.

Power: why 48 volts

The Classic 48V Edition does not run on a standard 9V pedal supply. It operates on 48VDC and ships with a 48VDC universal 90 to 260VAC power supply¹. That high internal voltage is central to the design: Premier Guitar's reviewer wrote that "Those 48 volts are put to great use in creating a sound unlike most gain/overdrive/distortion pedals on the market"³.

The 48V requirement is also what led to the pedal's successor. Creation Audio Labs' history of the company notes that a new power boosting circuit "opened the door for a 9V version of the HOLY FIRE"⁴¹. The result was the Holy Fire 9, announced in November 2014 alongside the Grizzly Bass. In the announcement the company described it as "A Holy Fire with our new power circuit that steps-up a standard 9VDC pedal power supply to the voltage required by the w[ave-shaping circuit]"⁵.

The Holy Fire 9 runs on 9VDC at a 250mA pedal power input requirement, with a standard center-negative 5.5 x 2.1mm barrel connector, and the maker recommends the high-current output of a pedal power brick for best results⁶⁷. Its "G" (Gain) control acts like a master volume on the output, able to add 12dB of pure clean boost or be turned completely off⁸. Players who want the Classic's circuit without the external 48V supply can find it there.

Where it came from

Creation Audio Labs introduced the Holy Fire as an overdrive distortion pedal built on the 48V wave-shaping approach²⁹⁴. The company's artist page lists the Holy Fire among its products as a "valve tube simulator pre amp"¹⁰. The Classic 48V Edition now being sold is the last run of that original design, offered as new old stock¹.

The circuit line continued in two directions. The Holy Fire 9, described by the maker as having "the heart of the Holy Fire Classic and the power of a Grizzly," carried the design to standard 9V power⁸. The related Holy Fire Classic page covers the same 48V platform, and the original Holy Fire page covers the pedal as first released.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the Holy Fire overdrive/distortion pedal and found the high-voltage approach distinctive, writing that the 48 volts create "a sound unlike most gain/overdrive/distortion pedals on the market"³.

Questions