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Artist Spotlight - Fredrik Thordendal

As the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish metal institution Meshuggah, Fredrik Thordendal is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern heavy music. His pioneering use of 8-string guitars and polyrhythmic compositions helped define
the "Djent" sound. To achieve the surgical precision required for his riffs, Thordendal has formed a deep technical partnership with Mike Fortin of Fortin Amplification, resulting in some of the most iconic gear in the high-gain world.

The Signature Gear: Precision Tools for Extreme Metal

The collaboration between Thordendal and Fortin is centered on a shared goal: achieving absolute clarity and "percussive" pick attack at extreme levels of distortion.

The Fortin 33 Signature Boost

The Fortin 33 is Thordendal's most famous signature tool. Developed over two years of research, it is designed to sit at the very front of a signal chain to "tighten" the response of a high-gain
amplifier.

  • Performance: It provides up to +22dB of boost.
  • The Sound: Rather than adding its own clipping, it reshapes the frequency curve—firming up low frequencies and focusing the midrange so that complex rhythms remain articulate even under heavy gain.
  • Innovation: It includes a side-mounted 1/4” jack that allows the pedal to act as a remote channel switcher for your amplifier when the effect is engaged.
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The Meshuggah Preamp / Distortion Pedal

Released to bring the "unobtainium" sound of the signature amp to a wider audience, this pedal encapsulates the amp’s preamp section into a stompbox format.

  • Dual Channels: Features two foot-switchable gain stages (Red and Green).
  • Integrated Noise Gate: Includes a built-in Fortin Zuul noise gate, a crucial component for the dead-silent "stops" characteristic of Meshuggah's style.

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The Fortin Meshuggah Signature 50W Amplifier

In late 2016, Fortin was tasked with creating an amp for Thordendal and Mårten Hagström that could cover the diverse tones used on the album The Violent Sleep of Reason.

  • The Build: A limited-edition, point-to-point handwired 50W tube head.
  • Components: Built with New Old Stock (NOS) parts and custom Heyboer Transformers, it is designed to be a "single-channel fire breather" that retains note definition despite sickening amounts of gain.
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Legacy and Impact

Thordendal’s work with Fortin has set a new industry standard for 8-string guitar tone. By focusing on frequency-specific boosting rather than traditional overdrive, they created a blueprint for modern metal production. This partnership ensures that no matter how low the tuning or how fast the riff, the "mechanical" soul of the performance remains clear and unrelenting.

"Fredrik Thordendal’s signature 33 pedal is a sonic detonation tool that transforms any gain-fueled amplifier into an unrelenting wrecking ball of metal." — Fortin Amplification

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