Effects Archives

Dwarfcraft Devices has expanded their effect lineup with the Grazer, which they describe as a granular repeater and glitch machine. “[It] builds sounds by continuously taking tiny samples from the input audio,” they explain. “The sounds range from off-kilter echoes to curious “buffer overload” skips, all the way up to harsh machine glitches.” The Grazer has a Size knob to...

Boutique builder Daredevil Pedals has introduced the Almighty Bass, a driver pedal featuring an original design that they say covers a wide scope of sounds. The pedal, which is hand-wired in Chicago, is described as having an aggressive feel and goes between “warm and deep, bright and fuzzed out, or any flavor in between.” The Almighty bass has a straight-forward...

Keeley Electronics has introduced the 30ms Automatic Double Tracker. The stereo effect pedal works with bass, guitar, keyboard and vocals and offers an array of studio style doubling effects for creating thick textures. The company cites the early days of recording techniques as an influence behind the design. “Since the early days of automatic double tracking pioneered by Ken Townsend...

A piece of the ’70s is being revived with the Gizmotron 2.0. Originally designed in 1973, the Gizmotron is an electro-mechanic device that attaches near the bridge of your bass or guitar and creates a sustained, bowed sound similar to a cello. It contains spinning wheels for each string that are engaged by pressing keys. “The Gizmotron 2.0 allows the...

After introducing the Bassbone OD last year, Radial Engineering is updating the original Bassbone with the Bassbone V2. The second generation device features a dedicated effects loop, a combination power booster-mute footswitch, and a piezo optimized input for upright bass. “We recently launched the Bassbone OD which has gained tremendous attention from many of the world’s most prominent bass players,”...

Devi Ever: FX has unveiled the Big Distortion Sound Machine, a parallel distortion that combines their Ruiner and Torn’s Peaker fuzz circuits. The company, which is now owned by the same people that run Dwarfcraft Devices, says the pedal was designed for bass guitar but is applicable to guitar or keyboard as well. It is the first release under the...

JHS Pedals has introduced the Emperor, a true analog chorus and pitch vibrato pedal based on the vintage Arion SCH-1’s chorus topology. The Emperor employs a bucket brigade system, which JHS says allows for a host of vintage modulation tones. The Chorus and Vibrato modes are selectable via a mini switch. Combined with a three-way switch to toggle between sine,...

After two years of development, TWA has released the Little Dipper Mk II envelope-controlled vocal formant filter. The new version of the pedal, which is based on the classic Colorsound Dipthonizer circuit, adds new control features as well as a fuller frequency response, lower noise floor, and improved tracking. Among the new features is a Low Boost switch that the...

Q: Is it ok to plug my bass directly into my chain of effects pedals and out to my amp, or is it better to run the pedals through the effects loop, and plug my bass straight into my amp? A: I seem to be on a roll with the topics I have limited experience with personally, and so I’m...

Q: Most of the time, I play fingerstyle, but sometimes in the middle of some songs, I change to slap-style. In those situations, I find I just don’t have enough punch to come through. I don’t think that’s a matter of technique or strength. What do you suggest? Do I need a gearbox to augment the volume when I switch...

Here’s something different: Ibanez has teamed up with Korg to introduce the SRKP4 Bass. The 4-string model takes the company’s flagship SR model and equips it with a Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S, which has 100 effect programs that can be controlled real time with a touchpad interface.

TC Electronic has added a new twist to their TonePrint technology with the introduction of Combined Toneprints for use in their BG250 and BH250 bass amps. Toneprint is a slot on the amp for onboard effects that can be changed via USB or smartphone app. The company is launching the new effects series with six Combined TonePrints based on the...