Remembering DigiTech's HardWire Offshoot
DigiTech launched its HardWire offshoot back in 2007 - billed as rugged and dependable hardware for touring musicians. While, though the pedals were generally well received and favourably reviewed at the time - that brand never really properly took off. HardWire had a mix of both Analog and Digital pedals in its range - and there was some confusion with its comparative price point versus its DigiTech parent. It didn’t help either that DigiTech further confused the issue by latterly re-branding those pedals with the DigiTech imprint - too many changes and the prospective customers were likely to get spooked!
And so in and around 2015 the decision was made to phase out HardWire, and streamline the then 3 brands down to simply just DigiTech for Digital Pedals, and DOD for the Analog ones. There were still some HardWire pedals in retail channels as of 2016, while manufacturing had long since ceased, and supplies were already dwindling fast by then.
The profile of the pedal enclosure is rather broad comparatively - they’re quite a bit wider than regular compacts - not sure whether that had any significant impact on the brand’s viability. While a number of these pedals are still very much loved to this day - including the 2 Lexicon infused Reverbs in particular!
There were 12 pedals in the overall range as far as I’m aware, out of which I’ve picked out my 9 favourites here - organised into 3 x 3 Row-based Groupings.
Interestingly I first did this visual back in 2021, the delay to this article was in part because I thought I might get some more of these in, while to date I’ve only added the TL-2 Metal Distortion - which was included in the first Full Metal Racket overview. In fact the intention was then, and still kind of is to get all 9 featured here - but of course somewhat opportunistically in among all my other current and contemporary commitments and priorities.
ACTUALLY! - as sometime happens - I decided to check out Reverb.com, and picked up the TR-7 Tremolo / Rotary too - as I’m still questing for the ultimate syrupy sounding Rotary Pedal - and 2024 was in part also supposed to be a Year of Tremolo for me - albeit its somewhat spun out from that a touch. I will likely report on said pedal properly somewhat later - as most likely said pedal won’t have landed by the time this article goes live - while it will be very close!
I’m OK with having a long-term plan to capture the rest of these - a lot of it is about being patient - and waiting for the right condition pedal to show up at the right price. Albeit most people seem to be notoriously poor at appraising the quality of those pedals - including heavily misunderstanding and misrepresenting ’Mint’ and ’Excellent’!
Here are my 9 favourites then - as grouped in the visual (essentially : 3 x Gain, 3 x Modulations, and 3 x Time-based Effects :
- CM-2 Tube Overdrive
- SC-2 Valve Distortion
- TL-2 Metal Distortion
- CR-7 Stereo Chorus
- SP-7 Stereo Phaser
- TR-7 Stereo Tremolo/Rotary
- DL-8 Stereo Delay/Looper
- RV-7 Stereo Reverb [with Lexicon]
- Supernatural Stereo Ambient Reverb [with Lexicon]
Most of these are currently priced second-hand between £100 and £150 and equivalent ($130-$195) [of course for good condition ones!], with the exception of the 2 Reverbs which can fetch twice as much - around £200 to £250 ($260 - $325) typically. Reverb.com is probably your best bet, while there are some on Ebay too!
I know a lot of you have some of these - so it would be great to hear your own insights. A weird thing about this range is that most of the featured pedals are Stereo - and yet the vast majority of the demos are in Mono!!!
CM-2 Tube Overdrive
Controls - Level, Low, High, Gain, Voicing : Classic / Modified.
A handy extended range Tube Screamer adjacent overdrive with 2-band EQ and dual voicing. If you were thinking of getting in a Screamer - then this is an excellent choice - which will deliver quite a bit more than your classic 3-knob job!
SC-2 Valve Distortion
Controls - Level, Low, High, Gain, Voicing : Crunch / Saturation.
Definitely a Marshall style Distortion - where the clue is really in the 'Crunch' voicing. Easily covers you for Plexi and JCM800 tones and more - same topology as the previous CM-2. Personally I would have preferred 3 Band EQ - I always feel that the very best Marshall / MIAB pedals have 3-Band EQ!
TL-2 Metal Distortion
Controls - Level, High / Low, Mid / Mid Frequency, Gain, Voicing : Tight / Loose.
Interesting one - and one that I have - it's quite a distinct Metal Distortion - looks like a Metal Zone in terms of its control topology - but the default / core sound is somewhat sharper and more mids-present than the Boss. In terms of core timbre and such - it's closer to the Keeley Filaments - while I probably overall prefer the Keeley - it's a touch more versatile. The TL-2 has quite a raspy / astringent output - in some ways more like an HM-2 than an MT-2, but definitely it's own thing - I go from quite liking it to not liking it that much! I do have several preferred weapons of choice - but I'm still glad I have this one in the reference collection A lot of players seem to like the texture on this one - where it's also closer to the MXR Fullbore - which I never managed to get along with. I always say pedals are like horses for courses - and certain ones will suit some people's rigs better than others. The TL-2 is pretty decent - with plenty of range - I just mostly have other preferences!
CR-7 Stereo Chorus
Controls - Level, Speed, Depth, Mode : Studio / Multi / Modern / Boutique / Analog / Jazz / Vintage.
A pretty cool 7-Mode Stereo Chorus - with that all important 'Level' control too. I do have a certain something for Analog BBD Choruses - where I mostly prefer those variants - while there are some decent Digital / DSP varieties out there too. Interestingly all of HardWire's Modulations are in Stereo which is super handy for me - and actually relatively rare! There are plenty of flavours here too - so certainly an interesting target for me!
SP-7 Stereo Phaser
Controls - Speed, Depth, Modify, Mode : 2 Stage / 4 Stage / Modern / Boutique / 10 Stage / Envelope / Dynamic.
Interestingly you normally see Uni-Vibe and Rotary Modes as options on a Phaser pedal - while for HardWire those options sit on the mostly Tremolo pedal - so here we get 2, 4, and 10 Stage Phasers with additional Modern, Boutique, Envelope, and Dynamic options - obviously all in full Stereo. These's no Level control here which makes me a little nervous - while this is a really expansive and full flavour sounding phaser.
TR-7 Stereo Tremolo/Rotary
Controls - Speed, Depth, Modify (Shape / Pattern / Tone), Mode : Tremolo / Opto / Bias / DuoTrem / Rotary / Vibe / VibroPan.
This TR-7 is fairly unique in covering Tremolo, Rotary, and Uni-Vibe all in the same pedal. Funnily enough - all favourite effects of mine - and where 2024 is my Year of the Tremolo - but there's also been a smattering of Uni-Vibes too this year. The lack of a Level control here makes me nervous - so I will need to see how that works when mine lands in the next day or two. Certainly an intriguing sort of Mini Multi-FX - I really like the look of this, we will soon know how well it works in my rig!
DL-8 Stereo Delay/Looper
Controls - Level, Repeats, Time, Mode : 0.5s / 1s / 2s / 8s / Reverse / Modulated / Analog / Slap / LoFi / Tape / Loop. Hold switch for 2s to access Tap Tempo.
For whatever reason - this is the one I've been least exposed to - while some say it's really a better quality adjacent variant to the Boss DD-7. There's up to 8 seconds of delay time onboard - with plenty of variety, including a looper. The only thing that's a little odd with this pedal is the hold-down Tap Tempo - which needs to be engaged while the pedal is off in effect - and makes it more complicated to adjust tempo easily on the fly - in and out of that mode. Otherwise there's a lot to like here - including Analog, LoFi, and Tape Modes as well as a Looper. An interesting proposition - while we have so much competition in this area nowadays!
RV-7 Stereo Reverb [with Lexicon]
Controls - Level, Liveliness, Decay, Mode : Room / Plate / Reverse / Modulated / Gated / Hall / Spring.
The first of 2 Lexicon-infused HardWire Multi-Verbs - these are perennially popular, alongside the later Supernatural variety. The RV-7 is more traditional where 'Modulated' is just one of the 7 flavours - while for the Supernatural - its algorithms are more 'blended' and most of them make use of one or two modulation flavours.
RV-7 Modes - Room / Plate / Reverse / Modulated / Gated / Hall / Spring.
Supernatural Modes - Plate / Plate Mod (+Swirly Chorus) / Shimmer / Supernova (+Flanger & Pitch) / Shine (+Chorus) / Pherb (+Phaser) / Spring.
Both Reverbs are quite different even though they have similar controls - it will depend on your own situation as to which one of these is more suitable for you preferences - I really like both, and want both - there are some really cool and distinct flavours to be found here - and particularly on the Supernatural - while the RV-7 has its own advantages too! I love having Reverse and Gated Reverbs - which are only on the RV-7!
Supernatural Stereo Ambient Reverb [with Lexicon]
Controls - Mix, Liveliness, Decay, Mode : Plate / Plate Mod (+Swirly Chorus) / Shimmer / Supernova (+Flanger & Pitch) / Shine (+Chorus) / Pherb (+Phaser) / Spring.
More of a Modulated / Blended Reverb than the RV-7. The RV-7 is more traditional / mainstream with its Modes - while the Supernatural is more Modulated and distinct. I said before that I really like both of these - and there are algorithms on each one that I really like - which make it worth getting both. I need to grab one of each before the prices start going really stupid - these have very unique DSP chips which are incredibly hard to get hold of these days - and is the reason that DigiTech could not reissue its Obscura Delay or Polara Reverb. Note that the Polara Reverb is also somewhat Lexicon infused - that has Room / Plate / Reverse / Modulated / Halo (Timmons) / Hall / Spring - so more like the RV-7!
This Supernatural is a little more unique than its RV-7 sibling - so I will pobably prioritise that next!
Supernatural Modes - Plate / Plate Mod (+Swirly Chorus) / Shimmer / Supernova (+Flanger & Pitch) / Shine (+Chorus) / Pherb (+Phaser) / Spring.
RV-7 Modes - Room / Plate / Reverse / Modulated / Gated / Hall / Spring
NOTE - in the bottom of the battery compartment- there is a Trails On/Off switch - this also features on the DL-7 and RV-7 pedals!
Final Thoughts
These Retrospectives are always interesting projects for me - while you can often get a little bit blinkered by nostalgia.
I find these exercises really help me to organise my thoughts - and rationalize targets and priorities.
I've kind of decided that I have a tonne of gain pedals already - so the remaining two here are a relatively low priorities for me.
The Stereo Nature of the Modulations is interesting - and I'm testing the ground there with the TR-7 - if that works out well for me - then I will probably come back for the two other modulations - the Chorus in particular.
I really have plenty of delays, and while the DL-7 is often seen as something of a secret weapon - it's so far not really inspiring me for whatever reason - but as we've seen - that can change very rapidly.
I feel that the Reverbs are still the most in-demand pedals here - and probably the Supernatural slightly over the RV-7.
So if I like my TR-7 - I will then try to get in a Supernatural and RV-7 next - followed by the CR-7 (The Ronaldo!) and and the SP-7! All of course as opportunistically as possible!
Which are your own favourites among these?
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
