Quick Hit: Red Panda Bitmap Review

Touted as a vintage-voiced, “fractional” bit-rate reducer and sample-rate modulator, the oversized, single-stomp Bitmap features mix, crush/rate, freq(uency), and level knobs mated to two switches—a toggle for selecting bit-reduction or modulation, and a 3-position switch for choosing triangle, square, or random waveforms (the latter only in mod mode).

With all these controls, it’s no wonder the Bitmap avails a variety of strangeness—from corpulent digital fuzz to ’80s-ish synth sounds and glitching, blarging, and bleeping bizarreness of the sort you’d expect if you plugged your 6-string into the Wachowskis’ Matrix. Of particularly cool inclusion is the ability to control sample rate via expression pedal. The only significant limitation is that those inclined to mete out maximum weirdness with a 100-percent wet mix will find that the closest they can get is a roughly 50:50 ratio.

Test gear: Squier Jazzmaster w/ Duncan Antiquity IIs, Squier Tele Custom w/ Curtis Novaks, Jaguar HC50, Subdecay Super Spring Theory, Catalinbread Topanga

Clip 1: Mode - Mod, Waveforms - All, Mix - Max, Crush - Rate - Max, Freq - 11 O'clock, Level - 3 Oclock

Clip 2: Mode - Crush, Waveforms - All, Mix - Max, Crush - Rate - 10 O'clock, Freq - Noon, Level - 3 O'clock