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Six Square Waves and a Manglephone

Inspired by a cult favorite, this decadently deviant "harmonizer" makes it an absolute breeze to indulge anti-tonal tendencies. The PG RPS Effects Arcade Machine review.

Fabulously freaky possibilities. Expression-pedal control maximizes mayhem potential by letting you scroll through all 11 intervals in real time.

Not for the tame. Masks the voice of virtually every pedal running into it, making signal-chain placement key.

$265

RPS Arcade Machine
rpseffects.com

5
4.5
4.5
4

Ask adventurous pedal builders to name the coolest weird pedal ever, and there's a good chance you'll hear something about the Schumann Electronics PLL. RPS Effects' aptly named new Arcade Machine is the latest of many available PLL homages. While others have shrunken and simplified the approach (EarthQuaker Devices' Data Corrupter and Mantic's Flex being perhaps the best known), the Arcade Machine remains on the large side, though it does manage to cut the number of controls from Schumann's 15 to 11—and to label their functions much more self-evidently.


Recorded with a Squier Classic Vibe '70s Jaguar with Curtis Novak Jag-V pickups feeding the Arcade Machine, then the boost side of a SoundBrut DrVa MkII, a Ground Control Tsukuyomi mid boost, a SolidGoldFx Electroman MkII delay, an Anasounds Element reverb, and then a 1976 Fender Vibrolux Reverb miked with a Royer R-121 and a Shure SM57 going into an Audient iD44 then into GarageBand with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
Clip 1: Bridge pickup with high-pass filter engaged. Arcade Machine with -2 oct knob at minimum, -1 oct, 0 oct, and int-level knobs at noon, +1 and +2 oct controls at 9 o'clock, gate at max, level at 7:30, vibrato off, and an expression pedal changing pitch intervals.
Clip 2: Bridge and neck pickups with high-pass filter engaged. Arcade Machine with -2 and +2 oct knobs at minimum, -1 oct at 3 o'clock, 0 oct at 9 o'clock, int-level and +1 oct at noon, gate at 4 o'clock, level at 7:30, vibrato off, and a minor-third interval selected.
Clip 3: Neck pickup. Arcade Machine with -2 oct at minimum, -1 oct at 11 o'clock, 0 oct at max, int-level and +2 oct at 10 o'clock, +1 oct at 2 o'clock, gate at 2 o'clock, level at 7:30, vibrato depth at 9 o'clock and rate at noon, and a perfect-fourth interval selected.

What unites all the aforementioned eff-things-up boxes is their use of "phase-locked loop" circuitry—which sounds nothing like what those individual terms might mean to most guitarists. Arcade Machine is an analog monophonic harmonizer that converts your signal to a square wave and lets you add up to five other pitches—up to two octaves above and/or below the source, plus one of 11 intervals. Sonically speaking, "square wave" should be the operative term rather than "harmonizer," as it all adds up to sounds reminiscent of vintage video games and/or old-school synths gone haywire. There are independent volume controls for all six pitches, while a gate knob instills a modicum of predictability vis-à-vis attack control, a vibrato circuit's depth and rate knobs govern agitative throbbing, and an expression/CV input vastly expands your ability to bleep-bloop-bloop and digitally mangle the $#!% outta your sound in ways sonic anarchists will deem patently glorious.

Test Gear: Squier Classic Vibe '70s Jaguar with Curtis Novak pickups, '76 Fender Vibrolux Reverb

Day 9 of Stompboxtober is live! Win today's featured pedal from EBS Sweden. Enter now and return tomorrow for more!

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A 26 1/4" scale length, beastly pickups, and buttery playability provoke deep overtone exploration and riotous drop-tuning sounds.

A smooth, easy player that makes exploring extra scale length a breeze. Pickups have great capacity for overtone detail. Sounds massive with mid-scooped fuzz devices.

Hot pickups can obscure some nuance that the wealth of overtones begs for.

$1,499

Reverend Billy Corgan Drop Z
reverendguitars.com

4
4.5
5
4

No matter how strong your love for the guitar, there are days when you stare at your 6-string and mutter under your breath, “Ugh … you again?” There are many ways to rekindle affection for our favorite instruments. You can disappear to Mexico for six months, noodle on modular synths, or maybe buy a crappy vintage car that leaves you longing for the relative economy of replacing strings instead of carburetors. But if you don’t want to stray too far, there are also many variations on the 6-string theme to explore. You can poke around on a baritone, or a 6-string bass, or multiply your strings by two until you reach jingle-jangle ecstasy.

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Intuitive operation. Forgiving footswitch feel. Extra features on top of basic looping feel like creative assets instead of overkill.

Embedded rhythm tracks can sneak up on you if you’re not careful about the rhythm level.

$249

DigiTech JamMan Solo HD
digitech.com

4.5
4.5
4.5
4

Maybe every guitarist’s first pedal should be a looper. There are few more engaging ways to learn than playing along to your own ideas—or programmed rhythms, for that matter, which are a component of the new DigiTech JamMan Solo HD’s makeup. Beyond practicing, though, the Solo HD facilitates creation and fuels the rush that comes from instant composition and arrangement or jamming with a very like-minded partner in a two-man band.

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