Jackson Audio's New Wave Modulator is an incredibly innovative and expansive 7 Mode Stereo Analog Chorus, Vibrato, Rotary and Harmonic Modulation Pedal

Readers will know that I had something of a falling out with Mr BJ himself a couple of years back. However, I’m not one to carry grudges forever - where Karma typically delivers its own reward eventually. Guitar Pedal X is all about uncovering and sharing the most innovative and musical guitar effects pedals - and when something has that essential ’X’ factor - it almost doesn’t matter who made it - you have to credit quality and innovation when you come across it.

And this Stereo Analog 7 Mode Chorus / Vibrato etc. - is the smartest and most innovative of that kind to materialise for a very long time. I know that BJ has been working on this for a long time now - over a couple of years. And the earliest prototype demos had me a little concerned that this was going to be a larger unit - possibly more in line with JA’s recent 1484 Twin Twelve.

But I need not have worried as the now just launched New Wave is that same pedalboard-friendly compact enclosure so many of us love - with that Smart footswitch control / digital control layer, and some significant chorusing innovations here. Including the novel Solina Harmonic Waveform - from which new wave shape the pedal derives it name!

Firstly you have 7 different modes of chorusing - which are somewhat programmed and ’on-rails’ (Similar to most of the Compressor Settings on the JA Bloom) meaning that the digital processing control layer has certain pre-calibrated parameters which set the core tonality and timbre - and allow you to tweak around it - within those limits. While the User Control mode is wholly off the rails - with no pre-calibrated limits / guide-rails in place.

Controls - Mix (Dry > Chorus > Vibrato), Depth / Mode : 1-7 (see below), Speed : 0.1Hz > 2Hz > 10Hz, Tone, Phase / Ratio / Wave Shape, Delay, Engage / Bloom Footswitch, Tap Temp / Speed Ramp Footswitch, Press Both to Cycle through 7 Modes.

As with lots of high-end choruses - this one needs an 18V power supply and a decent amount of current (250mA). You can see that most of the controls are very typically found on many extended range choruses - Mix, Depth, Speed, Tone and Delay. You then have the fairly unique PHASE / RATIO control which essentially allows you to set the Phase Offset of the two LFO’s for most of the Modes - i.e. you can offset them by as much as 180° which really heavily accentuates the modulation / texture. For the Rotary and Harmonic Modes - that control becomes one for Ratio - firstly for the Ratio of the Treble Horn to the Bass Rotor, and secondly for the Ratio of LFO1 to LFO2.

Two of the controls have secondary functions - firstly by Clicking on the Depth knob you cycle through the various New Wave Modes :

7 Modes :

1. 70s - Classic mono chorus, using clock and LFO settings measured from an original CE-1
2. 80s - Stereo chorus, reminiscent of the classic CE-300
3. RCK - 80s style chorus, with a built-in +/- pitch shifter for a classic rack tone
4. VIB - Classic Vibrato, with complete control
5. ROT - Pitch and amplitude modulation effect, for an accurate emulation of a Leslie speaker cabinet
6. HRM - Harmonic mode, modulates each channel in a mathematical relationship for new chorus sounds
7. UC - User Control, allows for full control and the ability to create wild sounds

Then if you click on the Phase / Ratio knob you can cycle between different wave shapes - as follows :

5 Wave Shapes :

• Sine
• Triangle
• Square
• Solina Harmonic
• Solina Harmonic Triplet

The last two are very unique Harmonic Wave Shapes derived from the ARP Solina String Ensemble Synth.

Everything about this pedal is pretty much exactly as I would have wanted it - and I can for sure just as easily cycle through Modes and Wave Shapes by toe-tapping those knobs, as well as of course cycling more conventionally via the dual footswitches.

At $299 I feel the New Wave is very well priced for what it delivers - it is truly innovative, smart and unique. Of course the UK price of £325 is not quite as attractive - but it’s still less than I expected this to be. JA’s pricing has seemed to have been on a somewhat upwardly rising trajectory - and so I’m kind of pleasantly surprised that these did not cost more.

This is exactly my kind of thing - and I’ve been scouring the UK webshops for the last few days in order to snag one. First to come into stock for the UK seemed to be Guitar Guitar - where I ordered mine from - should hopefully have that by Wednesday. I would imagine this will become a pretty firm favourite in my pedal-chain!

How about you dear readers - are any of you tempted by this particular variety of Chorus?