aion Apollo Mk I Manual - Page 2

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1 Project Overview

2 Introduction & Usage

INTRODUCTION

The Apollo Preamp Drive Mk. I is an adaptation of the Catalinbread WIIO, based on the Hiwatt

amplifiers used by Pete Townshend of The Who, particularly their Live at Leeds show from February 14,

1970. (The artwork for the original pedal makes it obvious that "WIIO" is intended to resemble "WHO".)

The WIIO was originally released in 2009 as a limited run of 100. The limited availability caused a huge

debacle as people from gear forums bought up all the preorders and flipped them for profit, capitalizing

on Catalinbread's favored status among gear aficionados.

Catalinbread was not happy with the way the circuit turned out, so before releasing the non-limited

version, they overhauled the circuit to reduce the gain and tweak the EQ so it was more versatile as an

amp platform. Most people agree that the second version is superior, but the hype surrounding the first

version has given it a lasting reputation.

The WIIO was succeeded by the RAH, which is largely the same circuit but with a midrange knob added,

and the circuit re-voiced for Led Zeppelin's famous show at the Royal Albert Hall. (They even referred

to the RAH as the "Royal Albert Hall Edition of the WIIO" in the manual.) The WIIO was discontinued

shortly after the release of the RAH.

The Apollo Mk. I is a direct adaptation of the V2 WIIO (non-limited version). The only modification is the

addition of a trimmer that makes a feedback resistor variable, allowing adjustments to the gain, tone

and feel of the circuit. The RAH is also available from Aion FX as the

USAGE

The Apollo Mk. I has the following controls:

• Gain controls the amount of gain coming out of the first amplifier stage.

• Bass and Treble form a 2-band tone stack adapted from the original amplifier.

• Master is the overall output level.

• Feedback (internal trimmer) controls the global feedback from the third stage back to the first. Set

it just past the halfway point for the stock circuit, and then adjust it to taste.

APOLLO PREAMP DRIVE MK. I

10 Licensing

Apollo Mk.

II.

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