The Mythos Air Lane Drive is a limited edition, stripped-down dual overdrive pedal built by Mythos Pedals in collaboration with Nashville's Novo Guitars. It packs two independent overdrive sides into one enclosure, SUITE 8 and SUITE 9, both based around the same single transistor topology but each tweaked differently, with hard-clipping diode arrangements made to optimize stacking. Paolo De Gregorio of Delicious Audio described it as a pedal born when Dennis Fano and Matthew Timmons of Novo Guitars wanted to make a pedal named after the street Mythos is on1.
The controls: MORE!, EVEN MORE! and internal masters
The front panel is deliberately minimal. The two gain knobs are labeled MORE! and EVEN MORE!, and each controls the gain of one side of the pedal only. There are no external tone or volume controls: each side instead features an internal trim pot to set the master volume, so setting levels means opening the pedal up and adjusting the dual internal master volume trimmers with a screwdriver1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| MORE! | Gain control for one side of the pedal1 |
| EVEN MORE! | Gain control for the other side of the pedal1 |
| Internal trim pots (one per side) | Set the master volume of each side1 |
| Two footswitches | Each channel has its own footswitch, so the sides engage independently1 |
The two channels have their own footswitch and gain knob, so you can run either side alone or both together1.
SUITE 8 and SUITE 9: how the two sides differ
The two sides are the same circuit tweaked for individual tastes, one leaning toward Novo's preferences and one toward Mythos's1.
| Side | Clipping | Character |
|---|---|---|
| SUITE 8 (the Novo side) | Asymmetrical clipping | Medium gain boost/drive with nice full bass and a present top end, a smooth feel with amp-like compression1 |
| SUITE 9 (the Mythos side) | Symmetrical clipping arrangement with a NOS Germanium diode | Slightly more aggressive feel, a slight bass cut, and smoother top end overall, with the Germanium diode shaping the edge of the note and attack1 |
In practice that gives a player two related but distinct drives in one box: SUITE 8 as a fuller, medium-gain push, and SUITE 9 as a tighter, more aggressive voice with a touch less bass. Because both sides are independent and the clipping arrangements were chosen to optimize stacking, the intended use is running one into the other for more gain and sustain than either side delivers alone1. If you are looking at Mythos's current dual drives, the Mythos Herculean Deluxe follows a similar two-circuit formula.
A limited edition with Novo Guitars
The Air Lane Drive came out of a collaboration between Zach of Mythos Pedals and Novo Guitars: once upon a time Zach collaborated on a pedal design with Novo Guitars, and that pedal was the Air Lane Drive2. Delicious Audio reported that the design was crafted in collaboration with Dennis Fano and Matthew Timmons of Novo Guitars, with the name a nod to the street Mythos is on1.
Batch #1 was a lovely sky blue and was limited to 200 pieces, and every batch of the Air Lane Drive was planned to feature a different colorway1.
The pedal is no longer a Mythos product. According to Mythos's own product page, after Mythos moved out of Air Lane Drive, Dennis asked if they could retain the name in case they wanted to do another design, so the name now sits with Novo Guitars for a possible future design2.
The Air Lane Drive circuit has also had a life beyond this pedal: MusicRadar reported that Mythos's Extra Hot overdrive and boost pedal for Carter Vintage Guitars drew on circuits appropriated but modded from the Air Lane Drive/210 Double Drive pedals3.
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Questions
Does the Mythos Air Lane Drive take a battery?
Yes. Alongside its standard 9 volt DC power input, the Air Lane Drive features an internal battery clip, so a battery can be fitted inside the enclosure. All Mythos Pedals operate on standard 9 volt DC power adapters, and the pedal is center negative only, so a battery is the fallback rather than the main way to power it.
Is the Mythos Air Lane Drive true bypass?
Yes. The pedal uses true bypass switching, so when it is switched off your signal passes straight through without the pedal's circuitry in the way. Each of the two channels has its own footswitch, so either side can be engaged or disengaged independently.
How many Air Lane Drive pedals were made in the first batch?
Batch #1 was limited to 200 pieces and came in a sky blue finish. Every batch of the Air Lane Drive was planned to feature a different colorway, so later batches, if any, would have looked different from the first run.
Can you stack both sides of the Air Lane Drive?
Yes, stacking was a design goal. The pedal's hard-clipping diode arrangements were made to optimize stacking, and the two sides are independent, each with its own footswitch and gain knob, so you can run SUITE 8 into SUITE 9 or use either side on its own.
Sources (3)
- Mythos Air Lane Drive (Novo Guitars Collab), Delicious Audio, 2022-06-21
- 210 Double Drive Deluxe, Mythos Pedals
- “You can really fine-tune a ton of sounds”: Mythos Pedals cooks up a delicious exclusive twofer drive for Carter Vintage Guitars with the Extra Hot full of classic Nashville flavour, MusicRadar, 2024-08-09
