Pigtronix Gloamer Review

I have no idea if the Pigtronix Gloamer’s sounds or name were inspired by “The Gloaming”—a 2003 Radiohead track that doesn’t have a lot of obvious guitar work. But if so, it’s certainly apt. This 6-knob, compressor-outfitted volume-sweller is rife with undulating, burbling, bleeping sounds of the sort Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood would gleefully approve.

Here’s the catch: To get to the goods, Gloamer pretty much has to be paired with other pedals. Otherwise, the audible effect of even drastic volume-, blend-, sensitivity-, and attack-knob settings might pass by too quickly to grok what’s happening. Same goes for the even subtler decay function (governed by a separate knob and footswitch).

I found that mating Gloamer with spacious reverb(s) and delay units, and setting its compressor and sensitivity knobs toward their nether regions, was particularly effective. (Blend seems to need to be decidedly past noon, as well.) Get creative with what you put before and after Gloamer, and that’s where the effed-up magic happens. In fact, the more atmospheric effects you can add to the equation, the better. The more I stacked—including a Catalinbread Cloak reverb, a Gamechanger Audio Light reverb, an Ibanez Analog Delay Mini, and a SolidGoldFX Electroman MkII (and somewhere in the middle, a Silktone Fuzz)—the more disorienting and glorious the textures became. Just the way Thom and Jonny would like it!