The Seymour Duncan SFX-04 Twin Tube Mayhem is a preamp pedal with a built-in boost, made with Sylvania 62051 pentode tubes. Premier Guitar described it as ideal for serious metal, while noting it can also be harnessed for heavier old school rock1.
What it does
The Twin Tube Mayhem is a preamp with a built-in boost. The boost is user selectable between 4dB and 8dB, so a player can kick the front end of the pedal, or an amp, harder from the same footswitchable unit1.
The tube stage uses Sylvania 62051 pentode tubes, a pair of small pentode tubes rather than the preamp tube types found in most tube-driven pedals1.
Where it sits in Seymour Duncan's line
The SFX-04 was announced alongside the Seymour Duncan Power Grid distortion, and it shares the SFX tube preamp territory with the Seymour Duncan SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic, the lower-gain sibling in the same tube line1. Players looking at Seymour Duncan's later high-gain preamps may also know the Seymour Duncan Palladium Gain Stage, which arrived years after the Twin Tube pedals1.
Sound
Premier Guitar's description of the pedal when it was announced:
Seymour Duncan describes the Twin Tube Mayhem as "ideal for serious metal, it can also be harnessed for heavier old school rock"1. The pedal uses Sylvania 62051 pentode tubes and includes a built-in boost of 4dB or 8dB, user selectable, for pushing solos over the top1.
In other words, the Mayhem is built for high-gain playing first, with enough range to cover older, heavier rock styles as well1.
Videos
Guitar World
Seymour Duncan
Ola Englund
Sources (1)
- Seymour Duncan Power Grid Distortion and Twin Tube, Premier Guitar, 2008-02-06
