TC Electronic unveils Sonic Specialists line of pedals

TC Electronic has unveiled their latest line of pedals, the Sonic Specialists. Coming in the same box as the "Behringer clones", they include a spring reverb, a shimmer reverb, a spinning speaker simulator and an Echoplex-styled pedal. The pedals are expected to be released in the coming months, check TC Electronic for more info.

Drip spring reverb

The best way to spice up your dry guitar sound with some distinctive character and depth is a good spring reverb. An homage to one of music's most recognizable reverb effects, Drip Spring Reverb instantly takes your tone back to the good old days of amp reverb, to the iconic California surf scene and countless classic blues recordings. Not to mention iconic instrumental bands such as The Shadows and The Ventures, who built their sound on those classic reverberated guitar tones. Quite simply, spring reverb was so ubiquitous on classic recordings that it has become a quintessential part of sound of the electric guitar.

For more info on the Drip, visit TC Electronic.

Fluorescence shimmer reverb

Shimmer reverb is one of those effects that you have to hear for yourself before you really know what it is. Originally pioneered by recording legends Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, shimmer is produced by layering a tail of reverb that is pitched up an octave and sent through a feedback loop on top of the dry signal. This produces lush soundscapes that take on a life of their known, ranging from voluptuous chimes, to interstellar travel-like sounds that will evoke memories of Carl Sagan's Cosmos while you're playing.

For more info on the Fluorescence, visit TC Electronic.

Gauss tape echo

Few delay effects are more revered, or iconic, than the tape echo machines of yesteryear. The warm, fat tones of the vintage reel-to-reel tape units have become the stuff of legends, but they are hard to come by, pretty temperamental and typically quite expensive. Gauss Tape Echo realistically emulates the sound of those legendary tape echo machines, plays well with other effects, and is pretty darn affordable!

For more info on the Gauss, visit TC Electronic.

Vibraclone rotary

Every guitar player knows the thick, syrupy tones of the iconic 60s guitar heroes blasting their licks through a rotating speaker cone. SRV, Hendrix, Trower and Gilmour to mention a few - they all mastered the unique tone of the original rotating speaker designs. Vibraclone brings that same luscious whirl to your sound, allowing you to explore everything from earthy and swampy to ethereal and spacy ambient tones - all the way up to full-on kaleidoscopic psychedelia!

For more info on the Vibraclone, visit TC Electronic.

MF Stupid Deal - Pigtronix Rototron

Musician's Friend's Stupid Deal of the Day is the Pigtronix Rototron. It's on sale for $149, a cool $170 off its usual price.

Pigtronix Rototron is an all-analog rotary speaker effect that combines frequency modulation, phase shifting, tremolo, bucket brigade-based chorusing and a three-way crossover all meticulously voiced to achieve unsurpassed, three-dimensional rotary realism in a compact, easy to use pedal.

Designed by Howard Davis and David Koltai, the Pigtronix Rototron accurately recreates the complex acoustic phenomenon of the legendary dual rotor 122 and 147 cabinets as used by Peter Frampton, Danny Gatton, the Beatles and many more. The analog design approach used within the Rototron sounds warmer, fatter and feels far more realistic than the digital rotary effects currently available from other companies. Line-level headroom and full stereo input and output options make the Rototron ideally suited to keyboardists as well as guitarists who use a stereo setup live or in studio.

Independent Slow and Fast speed controls with adjustable ramp time allows musicians to achieve the mesmerizing sound of speeding up and slowing down an actual rotary cabinet. A remotely switchable Brake option completes the authentic experience to provide rotary bliss on stage without the back breaking hassle. Separate expression pedal jacks for the low and high rotors enable some entirely new variations on the classic rotary sound. Internally switchable input summing and mid-range panning options round out this incredibly flexible, easy to use and hypnotic sounding analog rotary simulator from Pigtronix.

MF Stupid Deal - Pigtronix Rototron Analog Rotary Speaker Simulator

Musician's Friend's Stupid Deal of the Day is the Pigtronix Rototron. It is on sale for $169, a savings of $150 over its usual price of $319.

Pigtronix Rototron is an all-analog rotary speaker effect that combines frequency modulation, phase shifting, tremolo, bucket brigade-based chorusing and a three-way crossover all meticulously voiced to achieve unsurpassed, three-dimensional rotary realism in a compact, easy to use pedal.

Designed by Howard Davis and David Koltai, the Pigtronix Rototron accurately recreates the complex acoustic phenomenon of the legendary dual rotor 122 and 147 cabinets as used by Peter Frampton, Danny Gatton, the Beatles and many more. The analog design approach used within the Rototron sounds warmer, fatter and feels far more realistic than the digital rotary effects currently available from other companies. Line-level headroom and full stereo input and output options make the Rototron ideally suited to keyboardists as well as guitarists who use a stereo setup live or in studio.

Independent Slow and Fast speed controls with adjustable ramp time allows musicians to achieve the mesmerizing sound of speeding up and slowing down an actual rotary cabinet. A remotely switchable Brake option completes the authentic experience to provide rotary bliss on stage without the back breaking hassle. Separate expression pedal jacks for the low and high rotors enable some entirely new variations on the classic rotary sound. Internally switchable input summing and mid-range panning options round out this incredibly flexible, easy to use and hypnotic sounding analog rotary simulator from Pigtronix.

DigiTech announces Ventura Vibe rotary/vibrato pedal

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – HARMAN’s DigiTech today introduced the Ventura Vibe, putting a few new spins on one of the most distinctive sounds in rock: the hypnotic, swirling sound of a rotary/vibrato pedal. The Ventura Vibe faithfully delivers iconic vibe and rotary effects and ventures into new sonic possibilities with its choice of three effect types, Tone and Drive controls, true bypass operation and much more.

“The Ventura Vibe perfectly captures classic phase and pitch vibrato, and rotary speaker sounds made famous on recordings like “Machine Gun,” “Bridge of Sighs” and “Cold Shot” – but that’s just the starting point,” said Tom Cram, marketing manager, DigiTech. “The Ventura Vibe also features a stacked Tone and Drive knob that allows the player to create their own swirling sounds”.

The DigiTech Ventura Vibe offers a choice of three modulation types – Vintage, based on the classic opto-coupler phasing type pedal introduced in the 1960s; Modern, a straightforward pitch vibrato effect, and Rotary, designed to emulate the Doppler-effect pitch-shifting sound of a large speaker cabinet with spinning drivers and horns.

The Ventura Vibe’s Speed control adjusts the rate of the modulation effects, from a slow sweep to a fast warble. The Depth knob increases the intensity of the effects, ranging from subtle enhancement to vertigo-inducing sonic extremes. The Tone control decreases the amount of high frequencies in the effect signal. Key to the Ventura Vibe’s sonic versatility is its Drive control, which determines the amount of drive/distortion incorporated into the rotary/vibrato effect and which adds body and harmonic complexity to the sound. The pedal’s Mix knob adjusts the amount of the effected signal added to the dry signal.

The Ventura Vibe’s dual-function footswitch turns the effect on and off and also controls the speed of the modulation effect via holding down the foot switch – invaluable for going from a syrupy slow sweep to an emphatic fast warble during a live performance. The Ventura Vibe offers mono and stereo inputs and outputs, to create dramatic left-to-right movement and spatial effects when used in stereo operation.

The pedal’s additional features include true bypass operation to preserve the tone of the unaffected signal when the pedal is not engaged, a 9-volt power supply, a bright bi-color LED indicator, and a road-tough metal housing. Adding to its usability, the Ventura Vibe comes with DigiTech’s hard rubber Stomplock attachments that fit over the controls to keep the player’s settings in place.

The DigiTech Ventura Vibe will be available the last week of October 2015 at suggested retail price of $187.44.

ProGuitarShop has the first demo below:

DigiTech Ventura Vibe info page and press release