Chase Bliss Mods its Wombtone Analog Phaser for a Billy Strings Signature Limited USA-only 3,000 Pedal Run
So it’s been an odd week for Chase Bliss announcements! As just 6 days ago Joel announced that 5 of their pedals were to be discontinued owing to their containing one or more Vactrols / Resistive Opto-Isolators / Light Cells (LDR / Light-Dependent Resistor) components - which is deemed to contain a carcinogenic / hazardous substance in its make-up (Cadmium Sulphide [CdS] / Cadmium Selenide [CdSe] )- and where it falls foul of European and UK RoHS regulations (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment).
Several pedal builders have been impacted by this legislation, with a number of UK brands having to revise and re-engineer some of their pedals. Obviously USA Customer Protections are somewhat less substantial - which means that Cadmium Sulphide is still perfectly permitted in the USA, so presumably until such a time that the Dark World, Condor, Warped Vinyl, Thermae, and Automatone Preamp MKII are re-engineered - those remaining stocks will only be sold in the USA :
And then just yesterday we got the follow-up announcement that Chase Bliss would be releasing a custom Billy Strings Edition of the long discontinued Wombtone Analog Phaser (a favourite of mine!) - which would include a number of extra Billy Strings essentials onboard. Props once more to Eric Nyfeller - for yet another superior enclosure design!
Said pedal would still feature those hazardous Vactrol components - and would therefore only be sold in the USA. Presumably to use up the remaining stocks of Vactrols - before some of those pedals are re-engineered. We know that a Stereo Dark World update has been on the cards for a while, as has a Thermae replacement. I feel that the Automatone Preamp MKII and very original Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl Modulator will likely also be re-engineered soon enough, while the Hi-Fi Condor was always meant to be just a limited run.
I'm still a little miffed though as I really love the Wombtone format, and hate that there is now a superior version of that circuit that I am prohibited from getting my hands on. Supposedly Bluegrass sensation Billy Strings was sort of faking Envelope-Control for his personal Wombtone - by using an expression pedal to add in those flurries of movements. And where Joel decided to make his very first Signature Artist Pedal - and give Billy Strings the Envelope-Follower element that he was so obviously missing!
Underneath its still largely the same fantastic Wombtone Analog Phaser Circuit - but as mentioned above, now with some smart extras in the mix!
What's New!
- Burr Brown OpAmp on the input stage
- More headroom (+/- 15V)
- New Slow Mode
- Added Envelope Follower with 3 further side-mounted controls
The further innovations for the Wombtone are four-fold really, with the most significant changes for me being the 3 new Envelope Controls! I always felt there was plenty of range on my MK2 Wombtone, and I'm not sure I would personally feel the impact of the Burr Brown OpAmp and Added Headroom, while I do appreciate the new Slow(er) Mode.
Part of me is considering conspiring on how I could conceivably get my hands on one of these, while another part hopes that this can ge re-engineered in a future edition which is suitable for the ROTCW.
I own quite a few modulation pedals which have Envelope Followers onboard - which allows for dynamic playback responses and added movement from your playing style and pick attack. This is used a lot for Tremolos in particular - to ramp up and accelerate LFO speed for certain passages or else deliver more or less intensity for different elements of the music.
Once you're used to having access to an envelope follower you pretty much want it on all your modulation pedals - so I sincerely hope I will be able to upgrade my Wombtone as such at some stage in the future.
The price point is the typical $399 Chase Bliss price tag - an obviously exclusive to America (so no European $469 including tax). I totally understand Chase Bliss wanting to use up existing stocks of components, but would have admired them even more if they had properly re-engineerd the Wombtone - to give all of us Wombtone fans the ability to acquire a much improved version.
This is the rare occasion of a signature pedal that delivers more! Often for signature gear you get a reductive, very specific usage scenario model for that artist - while all the changes made to the Wombtone here I feel would be welcomed by all who championed that format - which I certainly did.
Please Joel - consider making a future re-engineered version of the Wombtone for us Europeans! I am a Chase Bliss fanboy - from its earliest Analog Modulations and proper Digital Brain / Analog Heart grassroots days! Surely I deserve one of these too!
Controls - Feed (Ramp), Volume, Mix, Rate, Stage : 2|4|6 / Tap 1|2|4, ModuShape } Depth, Form, Wave Start : Sine/Triangle/Square, Wave End : Square/Triangle/Sine, Preset 2 / Panel / Preset 1, Tap Tempo Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch, 16 x Dip-Switches
3 x Envelope Controls - across both Left and Right sides of the pedal : Envelope Off/On, Release : Slow/Long/Medium, Sensitivity : Low/Medium/High. Note that there are internal trimmers that allow you to specify the value of the 2 x 'Medium' settings which are default set somewhat moderately!
Expression/Ramp Parameter Dip-Switches :
Volume, Mix, Rate, Depth, Form, Bounce, Slow, Moto BVP |/| Volume, Mix, Rate, Depth, Form, Tap : R/T, Toggle T/S, Sweep T/B.
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
