Seymour Duncan SFX-07 Shape Shifter Pedal Review

	Download example 1 British Trem; Helicopter; Backward Trem; Faux Piano
Recorded in Sound Studio on a MacBook Pro using Digidesign Mbox (SM57); Vox AD120VT modeling Marshall Super Lead; Fender Contemp. Tele, both pups S/C.

This tap tremolo was made to reproduce the rich classic tremolo sound of vintage fifties tube amps, but the Shape Shifter also offers new parameter controls to make your tremolo do things those amps could never do—warble, sputter, flutter, even a helicopter chop. Some settings approach a filter effect vibe, and others even sound like delay.

The unit comes in 16-gauge steel housing with bypass and digital tap tempo switches, and uses a pure analog signal path. Control knobs are large but not quite “toe-tweakable” size. The Depth control, at the heart of the traditional tremolo sound, has a wide range that goes smoothly from subtle to pulsing tremolo; the Wave control offers continuous waveform variation, from sine to triangle to square.

The unique Shape control for which the pedal is named is a very cool feature, allowing you to control the ratio of volume swell to decrease, enabling the creation of very appealing envelope-type sounds, from percussive and piano-like chimes to backward-sounding pulses. The Rate knob works in two modes: in rate mode, it is a speed control that goes from 1 to 20 cycles per second. In ratio mode, the Rate knob controls the tap-to-note ratio, while the tempo is set by the tap switch.

The sound was indeed lush, and gave me no noise. I had a lot fun dialing all types of effects, some of which were truly inspiring. This is much more than a tremolo. – CB

Buy If...
traditional tremolo effects bore you.
Skip If...
you’d much rather stay bored.
Rating...

MSRP $225 - Seymour Duncan - seymourduncan.com