Electro-Harmonix Finally Releases Expanded and Presets-enabled Pitch Fork+ Dual-Voiced Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter and Harmonizer
Electro-Harmonix originally introduced the Pitch Fork+ at this year’s one and only NAMM back at the start of the year - alongside the 1440 Stereo Looper and Oceans 12 Dual-Channel Reverb Workstation - the latter of which I have. Like many other builders EHX has been impacted by delays in manufacturing, but as I’ve mentioned on this blog several times recently - delayed production can be a real boon to the end-consumer - as the extended production cycle allows for more refinement and polish to be applied to the pedal - and therefore less need for imminent / post-purchase firmware updates or fixes. So the Pitch Fork+ arrives fully formed on the scene and fully road-tested as such.
The compact enclosure Pitch Fork original had just 4 controls - Blend, Shift (11 Modes), 'Dual' - Up/Down/Both and Latch. The single Shift knob included combined modes of Effects in Both directions, Up and Down. Where we had D, m2, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, m7, 1, 2, and 3 Octave settings. D = Detune, m = minor, M = Major, P = Perfect and numbers are single octaves, while Dual - 'Both' settings had specific combinations of values in each direction - e.g. 2 = 2 OCT Up, 1 OCT Down.
For the Pitch Fork Plus we simply have 2 entirely separate Shift 1 and Shift 2 Pitch-Shifters, each with singular individual Up/Down values as you choose to apply them. In fact you now have 30 different shift Modes per Shift 1 & 2 knobs : D, m2, M2, m3, M3, P4, b5 (b = flat), P5, m6, M6, m7, M7, 1OCT, m9, M9, m10, M10, P11, b12, P12, m13, M13, m14, M14, 2OCT, m17, M17, P18, P19, 3OCT. In Detune Mode you can vary the degree of detune by ±99 cents.
The Pitch Fork+ Controls are as follows :
- Dry = Level of Dry / Unaffected Signal
- Shift 1 = Level of First Pitch-Shifter
- Shift 2 = Level of Second Pitch-Shifter
- Value Enter/Save = Rotary/Push Encoder for selecting Shift 1 and 2 Modes and Values
- Screen = 4-Character Large LED Screen
- Aux = Set / Select different output value / Mode for Aux / pseudo-stereo Channel
- Shift 1 = Shifter 1 Select Button
- Shift 2 = Shifter 2 Select Button
- Exp = Set Expression pedal mode
- User = Variable Settings Mode for setting Function of fully configurable 'User' footswitch - includes functional modes such as Blend, Crossfade, Hold and Jump
- X-Mod = Cross-Fade Mode - Select nature and direction of Cross-Fade between Shift 1 and Shift 2 settings
- Preset = Use to engage Presets in conjunction with Value knob
- Latch = Switch from Momentary to Latching mode for footswitches
- User Footswitch = Configurable transformative Footswitch
- Bypass Footswitch = Principal On/Off switch
Features
• Dedicated volume controls for both Shift voices and the Dry signal
• Two outputs, Main and Aux, with multiple routing options - for Stereo Output
• 10 unique factory presets plus the ability to easily save/recall 100 programs
• A Bypass footswitch that toggles between effect on and buffered bypass. In latch mode it switches between effect and bypass mode. In Momentary mode the effect is on when the FS is held down and the pedal enters bypass when it’s released
• A User footswitch that’s programmable and can be assigned to a variety of functions such as muting either Shift voice or jumping to a preset program. It features a dedicated LED
• An EXP input for EXP or CV control over a broad selection of parameters in three sub-menus: Frequency, Glissando and Volume
• An EXT input for connecting an external foot controller like EHX’s Triple Foot Controller which enables players to change modes, enter/exit sub-menus and load presets
• Eight modes, including X-MOD, which features cross-modulation that creates FM and ring mod type effects, LATCH, based on the original Pitch Fork, but with enhancements to the Momentary mode functionality
Final Thoughts
This pedal is a very significant advance on the original Pitch Fork - which I still had on my wishlist but is now supplanted by the newer more impressive variety. I feel this would be another superb utility for me on my #2 mainly Octaver / Pitch-Shifting / Harmonizer Slot in my pedal-chain. So I will likely be getting this at some stage, while probably not quite an immediate pressing priority as such. That #2 slot already has the new Boss OC-5 Octave in rotation with the Meris Hedra, DigiTech The Drop and Whammy Ricochet, Dr Scientist BitQuest, Mu-Tron Octavider, and TC Electronic Brainwaves, *Ditto+, Sub 'N Up, and Quintessence. I've only just recently acquired the Boss OC-5 so it will be a while before I look to bring the Pitch Fork + further into this rotation.
This for me combines lots of really clever transition and transformation effects and should be able to double up nicely as my sort of Tom Morello style effect (vs Whammy Ricochet) as well doing more vanilla simple pitch-shift and octave jumps and bends.
There is a huge degree of configurability - and the ability to save all your preferred settings as easily recallable Presets is really just what is needed here. For sure it's a little larger than I would prefer - and the limited nature of its 4-character LED screen is a little odd, but overall it is hugely compelling and its £179 price tag very reasonable really for what it delivers.
I will for sure be getting one eventually - how about you? See anything you like here?
