9 Favourite Mainline Compact DigiTech Pedals
I’ve long been a fan of DigiTech in all its guises - Mainline, DOD, and HardWire editions. Since a number of these are now discontinued I thought it a good time to review some of my favourites and nearly-weres.
In fact from this selection of 9, I own 4 - Dirty Robot, The Drop, Ventura Vibe, and Whammy Ricochet - all of which have seen fairly regular use in the pedal-chain. The Dirty Robot was my favourite Synth pedal pretty much before the Boss SY-1 and SY-200 materialised. And the Whammy Ricochet is my most-used pitch-shifter as such (Tom Morello!). The Drop and Ventura Vibe have been in the rotation a number of times - and I’ve really enjoyed using all of those.
Of the remainder - the FreqOut has been on my wishlist the longest - since its announcement for Winter NAMM 2017. And I’ve long had a soft spot for the Nautila Chorus/Flange, Polara Reverb, and SDRUM smart beat-maker. The Obscura Altered Delay is pretty decent too, but I have rather a number of other preferences there.
Prices still remain fairly stable and there don’t seem to be too many bargains to be had yet - obviously my ideal target is as close to $100 as possible, while anything up to $125 is pretty decent going. For sure there is the occasional opportunity out there, but really not in any significant numbers. The FreqOut is still being produced - but no longer in distribution really, had I spotted some prime candidate Nautilas and Polaras I would undoubtedly have pounced on one of those before now.
It’s all a waiting game really - and largely based on luck and happenstance - as to whether you spot the one bargain at the right time!
I would imagine I have a few more of these to collect - but then I also have a few outliers for DOD and Hardwire remaining - all entirely opportunistic and mostly rather ’nice-to-haves’ than ’must-haves’!
I would love to hear of your own experiences of these pedals and what stands out for you.
Here follow the usual detail overviews :
Dirty Robot Stereo Synth - discontinued - $170 when new
Controls - Mix, Modulation, Drift, Start, Stop, Sens, Time.
As mentioned - this was my favourite Synth pedal before the Boss SY-1 arrived, and it had a number of outings in the chain - I always preferred it to my slightly more capable Pigtronix Mothership 2 as the Dirty Robot was so much easier to dial in for satisfactory tones - while the Mothership I find somewhat fiddly and finicky! So the Dirty Robot is really one of the simplest and most satisfying synth pedals out there - and the main thing is how easy it is to dial in wholly satisfactory tones - which is often not an easy task as Synth pedals can sound somewhat harsh and strident and somewhat unmusical at times too!
The Drop Polyphonic Drop-Tuner - $240
Controls - Shift, Momentary : On/Off.
This really saves you having to re-tune your guitar for different song tunings - incredibly useful for all manner of metal music - which is the application I use this for the most. On cleaner tones the artificial nature of the down-tuning can be a little more pronounced, while on saturated high gain riffs it's less notable. It's not as pin-sharp as actually tuning your guitar down, but it's much quicker and easier, and for heavier applications really works a treat!
FreqOut Natural Feedback Creator - $225
Controls - Momentary : On/Off, Dry : On/Off, Gain, Onset, Type : Sub / 1ST / 2ND / 3RD / 5TH / NAT LOW / NAT HI.
Weirdly for me I don't yet have a Natural Feedback type pedal yet - I've been looking at this, as well as the Boss DF-2 and FB-2 Feedbackers - have long since decided I want at least one representative of that type, but have not yet pulled the trigger for whatever reason. I guess I've not spotted any of those at the right balance of price and condition yet! A brief check on Reverb.com shows that the FreqOut prices are still high, as are Boss DF-2 and FB-2 prices - so not anywhere close to the right time for acquiring any of those opportunistically!
Nautila Stereo Chorus/Flanger - discontinued - $170 when new
Controls - Type : Chorus/Flange, Mix, Drift / Triangle | Loop | Sine, Speed, Depth, Emph, Voices.
I somehow classify this more as Flanger for some reason and as a stereo-capable flanger it ranks fairly high for me. While it's pricing still remains somewhat high at the moment - so again not particularly ripe for the plucking as the saying goes. A really decent Chorus / Flanger - elevated by its 7 controls and stereo output!
Obscura Altered Stereo Delay - discontinued - $170 when new
Controls - Tails : Off/On, Level, Type : Analog / Tape / Lo-Fi / Reverse, Time, Repeats, Tone, Degrade.
As mentioned - this one is my least likely acquisition as there are quite a few Stereo Compact Delays out there that I prefer to this - including examples from Boss, Keeley and Walrus. I also tend to favour Delay Workstation pedals - so I'm not convinced these 4 flavours would be enough for me - albeit those are a particularly smart mix of algorithms - and likely my own perfect choices were I limited to just 4! Prices still rather high so nothing there either really to sweeten the deal as such!
Polara Stereo Reverb - discontinued - $170 when new
Controls - Tails : Off/On, Level, Type : Room / Plate / Reverse / Modulated / Halo / Hall / Spring, Liveliness, Decay.
Obviously another Lexicon-infused Reverb which justifiably remains in fairly high demand among connoisseurs - while there's also the HardWire RV-7 and Supernatural to contend with - all great Lexicon infused devices. I feel the mix of algorithms here is just perfect and this is most definitely one of the DigiTech frontrunners for me - to acquire once the price is right!
SDRUM Strummable Drums - $200
Controls - Groove/Kit : 4/4 | 3/4 | ST | SW | Simple | Busy | E-Pop | Brush | Perc | PWR | Clean, Hats/Rides : 1 - 12, Alt x 2 : Push to Select / Push for Next Bank, Level, Tempo, Kick, Guitar Audition / Hold to Calibrate, Snare.
This is another pedal I was hugely impressed with when it launched, but have since then kind of forgotten about. The way you strum in the rhythm and patterns of various percussion instruments is a really clever take on beat-making. Obviously we have the RaingerFX Snare Trap to contend with now too - while the SDRUM is a very smart compact forerunner to that. Each has their own advantage, and while Boss aren't doing anything to fix the stereo output imbalance for their RC-10R, I'm still on the look-out for a practical beat-maker that works well within my setup.
Ventura Stereo Vibe/Rotary - discontinued - $150 when new
Controls - Type : Vintage / Modern / Rotary, Speed, Depth, Mix, Tone, Drive.
I acquired this primarily because of its Stereo Rotary capabilities - which I still kind of like, but can be overly subtle in delivery. The newer Alexander Pedal Sugarcube which I also have is my preference really in all departments vs the Ventura Vibe - it just has a lot more range, and can go much thicker and deeper than the Ventura. The Ventura is still great for more subtler applications, but since I acquired the Sugarcube I've not felt any particular need for it of late!
Whammy Ricochet Pitch-shifter - $215
Controls - Momentary : On/Off, Shift, Return, Range : Up/Down, Pitch : 2ND / 4TH / 5TH / 7TH / OCT / 2 OCT / OCT + DRY.
And last but far from least here is my most-used DigiTech pedal of all time - in fact my favourite pitch-shifter by far. I use it for that Tom Morello style effect - and this device just does that perfectly and in the most simple manner. I have several other devices capable of the same - including the Boss PS-6, and Meris Hedra - while I tend to whip out my DigiTech Whammy though every time I want to go a little 'Tom Morello' - it's just perfect for that!
Final Thoughts
There are a number of earlier discontinued DigiTech pedals still worthy of consideration - like their excellent Tube Screamer type Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive and Bass Synth Wah - I will possibly cover those later. I am for sure doing a feature on DigiTech's Pro-Range HardWire Pedals next.
DigiTech îs probably still best known for its large-format Whammy and Space Station pedals - which are really rather too impractical for my own preferences - and I prefer elements distilled down from those into rather more compact pedalboard-friendly format - like the Whammy Ricochet and Cooper FX Arcades Satellite Card. There's also the Band Creator Trio and Trio+ pedals of which I have the latter, and which has not had much use of late.
My own most used DigiTech pedal is the Ricochet, next Dirty Robot, then Ventura Vibe. I've not had too much cause to use The Drop recently - and I'm not sure which of my current slots I would want to sacrifice for that.
There's reasons for why I would want both Nautila and Polara pedals, while possibly the FreqOut is my most wanted DigiTech that I don't yet have - and the SDRUM something of an outlier.
I would love to hear from you which DigiTech pedals are still special for you - and which are the ones that got away!
