The Mythos Pedals Envy Pro Overdrive NV-9 is an overdrive pedal from Nashville-based stompbox company Mythos Pedals, built around the Ibanez Tube Screamer circuit but with two additions aimed at the complaints players most often raise about that design1. Announced in September 2024 and available now, it sits in a green enclosure with white typeface and carries the familiar Level, Drive and Tone knob layout1.
What makes it different from a stock Tube Screamer is a pair of switches flanking the Tone knob. One switches the clipping diodes in or out of the circuit; the other puts low end back into a circuit famous for cutting it. On That Pedal Show, Mick put it plainly: Zach of Mythos built the pedal to address "the overt level of compression in the game because of the way those diodes clip" and, secondly, "an option to put a bit more bottom end back in"2.
A Tube Screamer derivative with switchable clipping
The Envy does not hide its lineage. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley describes it as inspired by "that little green box, the iconic, the ubiquitous and the occasionally controversial" Tube Screamer, and Delicious Audio calls it "a Tube Screamer variant that doesn't reinvent the green overdrive's tone but expands it"13. On That Pedal Show, Mick called it "obviously very closely related to the tube screamer," one of many TS derivatives on the market2.
The Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer it descends from is an overdrive pedal in its own right, and the family has grown steadily: Ibanez's own ST9 Super Tube Screamer takes a similar approach of widening the formula, and third-party takes such as the Fortin-Modded Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer rework the circuit for heavier styles456. The Envy's angle on the recipe is the two switches, and Mythos sums up the result in its own words:
"With it's increased output, expanded drive range, and thickened low end the Envy takes the TS formula and makes it more useful for every player, regardless of style"
In stock form the clipping is the classic silicon soft clipping associated with the Tube Screamer sound3. Press the Clip button and the diodes drop out of the circuit entirely, leaving a diode-less, op-amp-based sound that Delicious Audio describes as "a lot louder, more open, and more dynamic"3.
The controls: Bass switch and Clip button
Three knobs do the traditional Tube Screamer jobs: Level sets the output volume, Drive sets the gain, and Tone rolls the treble1. The two switches either side of the Tone knob are where the Envy departs from the template.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Sets output level1 |
| Drive | Sets the amount of gain1 |
| Tone | Treble control, as on a Tube Screamer1 |
| Lows switch | Pushes up the lower frequencies for a more natural sound with less focus on the mids; the other position is more traditional Tube Screamer territory32 |
| Clip button | Mini push-button that disengages the silicon clipping diodes, opening up the sound: louder, less compressed, more headroom132 |
The two switches work on the two most common criticisms of the TS circuit. The Lows switch counters the famous mid-focused, bass-cut voice: Delicious Audio says engaging it "pushes up the lower frequencies, delivering a more natural sound with less focus on the mids"3. The Clip button counters the compression the diode clipping imposes. Mick's reading on That Pedal Show: with the bass switch up you are in "more traditional Tube Screamer territory," and with the clipping removed "I think you'll notice a great deal of more head room"2.
The Clip button changes the pedal's output level as well as its character. With the diodes disengaged the Envy is noticeably louder, so it is worth re-balancing the Level knob when you switch.
The op amp: socketed and swappable
Inside, the Envy uses an RC4558P dual op amp, the chip family long associated with the Tube Screamer circuit13. The difference from a stock TS is that the chip is socketed rather than soldered in. MusicRadar notes it "has been socketed so the DIY modder can swap it out if they so choose and affix their preferred Op Amp"1, and Delicious Audio says it "can be easily swapped with any similar dual op-amp for a more custom tone and character"3.
You do not even need to source your own chips to start experimenting. On That Pedal Show, Mick noted that "as standard the Envy comes with an RC 4558 chip but in the bag are also a whole bunch of other chips including a TL072"2. For a player curious about how much of the Tube Screamer character lives in that chip, the Envy makes the comparison a pull-and-swap job rather than a soldering project.
What reviewers made of it
The fullest published description of how the Envy Pro NV-9 sounds comes from the maker itself. Mythos Pedals says of it: "With it's increased output, expanded drive range, and thickened low end the Envy takes the TS formula and makes it more useful for every player, regardless of style"1. The company also confirms the circuit is built around an RC4558P dual op amp, the same chip family associated with the Tube Screaper formula it references21.
"the Envy is one of the few TS types derivatives that I think really holds muster because of those two switches"
He found that with the clipping diodes out and the bottom end back in, the pedal becomes a more full-range, versatile overdrive with tons of headroom, and that it sounded more like his old 808 than the TS 92.
The episode runs the Envy alongside its ancestor and a tube-driven alternative, which makes it a useful watch for anyone weighing how far a TS derivative can stretch beyond the original's mid-forward voice2.
Where it sits in the Mythos range
Mythos Pedals builds a range of drives around Nashville, and the Envy Pro Overdrive NV-9 is the company's Tube Screamer-variant entry, joining designs such as the Klon-style Mjolnir family and the Herculean dual overdrive. Its green enclosure and white typeface nod openly to the circuit it is based on1.
Videos
Mythos Pedals
Mark Hopkins
Worship Guitar Resources
Questions
Is the Mythos Envy Pro NV-9 a Tube Screamer clone?
It is a variant, not a clone. The circuit is closely related to the Tube Screamer, but the Lows switch and the Clip button change the bass response and the clipping in ways a stock TS cannot match. Delicious Audio describes it as a Tube Screamer variant that expands the green overdrive's tone rather than reinventing it3.
What does the Clip button do on the Envy NV-9?
It disengages the silicon clipping diodes, leaving a diode-less, op-amp-based overdrive that is louder, more open and more dynamic, with less compression and more headroom132.
What chip does the Envy NV-9 come with?
An RC4558P dual op amp, fitted in a socket, with additional chips including a TL072 supplied in the bag12.
Can you swap the op amp in the Envy NV-9?
Yes. Because the chip is socketed, any similar dual op amp can be fitted without soldering, and spare chips ship with the pedal132.
Who designed the Mythos Envy NV-9?
Zach of Mythos Pedals, the Nashville-based stompbox company, designed it around the two most common Tube Screamer complaints12.
Is the Mythos Envy NV-9 a Tube Screamer clone?
It is a Tube Screamer variant rather than a straight copy. The circuit is closely related to the Ibanez Tube Screamer, but Mythos added a Lows switch for extra bottom end and a Clip button that disengages the clipping diodes. Reviewers describe it as taking the TS formula and making it more useful for every player, regardless of style.
Sources (6)
- “Takes the TS formula and makes it more useful for every player, regardless of style”: Mythos Pedals unveils the Envy Pro Overdrive NV-9, adding switchable low-end and spicy clipping options to a classic recipe, MusicRadar, 2024-09-13
- Ibanez Tube Screamer Or BK Butler Tube Driver? Plus Mythos Envy Pro & Hagerman 12AX7 Overdriver, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2024-11-08
- New Pedal: Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2024-09-12
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME
- Fortin-Modded Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer Overdrive, maxonfx.com
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME
