Digitech FreqOut

Jeg var totalt solgt, da de første videoer kom frem af den her - fra NAMM i 17' eller 18'. Måtte have den. Tænk at kunne styre og kontrollere feedbacken der ellers kræver en hel del gain og volume og af natur er let random...

Den siger da nogle sjove lyde og er skæg at lege med, men det virker ikke efter hensigten. Det er meget mere E-bow/harmonizer-territorie end det er "feedback creation". Den er ikke ubrugelig, men den kan på ingen måde erstatte at du vender dig om mod forstærkeren og leger du er Hendrix på Monterey. Her får du i stedet sådan et lidt halvynkeligt piv tilbage. Det går over min forstand hvordan den lyder "rigtigt" på diverse test-videoer.

OBS: heftig strømsuger. Vær sikker på at du har mA nok i strømforsyningen - ellers virker den slet ikke. (og nu skal jeg lige være sikker på at jeg siger det rigtigt med strøm. Det ER 9V og boss-style center-negativ, men den trækker 235 mA., hvilket er et problem for flere standard-trafoer med 120 pr. output eller måske 500 i alt (i kombination med andre pedaler)

Sjov, men ubrugelig. Bygget som en tank, dog. Det kan man ikke tage fra den. Har du en Richochet, er det samme kasse, er jeg 99% sikker på.

Spiller man på modelling, så spiller man også mange gange med lavt lydniveau eller via In Ear Monitors.

Det beskytter hørelsen, men berøver også tit muligheden for at lade guitaren gå i feedback.

Det råder denne godt udtænkte pedal bod på.

Når den er aktiv, så lægger den overtoner på, så det lyder som man står med guitaren lige op af dobbeltstacket med alle kontroller i øst.

Her dog ved fornuftig lydniveau og samtidig med fuld kontrol, hvor og hvornår det hele skal lyde sådan.

Spiller du Axe Fx, Helix, Kemper eller anden top-modelling, så skylder du dig selv, at have denne pedal forrest i kæden.

I like this pedal a lot, but only because I knew what I was getting. I can understand the people who didn't like it, thinking it was something else. Maybe Digitech shouldn't have even called it a 'natural feedback creator' on the box; perhaps 'haunting, ambient theremin simulator' would have been a better description.

It's far from perfect though. Here's some slight negatives:

It is definitely not a replacement for ebow or sustainic to any useful extent, because the generated signal abruptly cuts off after 6 - 10 seconds. It doesn't even sound like those devices. Do NOT buy the Freqout thinking you're getting a cheap ebow alternative.

The short cut-off actually does annoy me, even though I was prepared for it. It must have been a hardware limitation rather than a design decision. Eight seconds is fine 90% of the time, but maddening when you really do need the signal to continue for a little longer. They could have at least made it fade out slowly. This is the pedal's largest failure, I think.

Another thing that bothers me is that the gain/onset needs to be set quite accurately. I was hoping I could just set and forget it at one favourite setting, but it needs tweaking quite a lot depending on what you're playing and what other effects are enabled. On stage, I'm not sure how I would go about changing the settings without having to test it in front of the audience before starting the song.

It also generates a slight buzz from the power supply in my daisy-chained set-up, so consider using an isolated power source. It requires 240mA.

The Freqout has to be at the front of my effects chain. Anywhere else in the chain sounds like a tacky synth.

Lastly, I wish I could toggle between momentary and latch mode with a double-click on the foot switch; I dislike bending down to use the toggle switches.

The Freqout is basically a two trick horse. 1) adding a traditional feedback sound to sustained chords and notes, and 2) a sort of atmospheric theremin sound.
Don't expect anything more than that. You might be able to coax a little more out of it by combining it with other effects, but those are the only two sounds you should expect out of the box.

On the plus side, it adds feedback to ringing chords (and tracks bends and tremolo) much better than I anticipated. The straightforward traditional feedback sounds good enough to fool an audience.

I'm using the theremin sound quite judiciously (no-one would really notice it's there unless I suddenly turned it off), and it sounds really nice, adding a subtle layer of delicate texture, bubbling and tweeting underneath the playing, especially in conjunction with a delay. At times it is very atmospheric and beautiful.
It's pretty useless for rock/pop covers, but will lend itself very well to some of my own material, especially pieces composed with this effect in mind. This unique pedal could make certain songs shine if used with care.

Edit 1: Since Digitech got closed down by Harmann, if you see one of these going cheap second-hand, I'd be inclined to nab it.

Unbelievable. As soon as I first discovered this pedal I knew I had to have it. Pete Thorn once said this pedal was made for soloing and he was right, it's a joy to use while tearing out a solo, be it chaotic or melodic, or both simultaneously.

If you're looking for an E-Bow type effect, where you can achieve infinite sustain while retaining a fantastic tone, look no further than this. Placed before distortion, it will provide a very ethereal tone, almost like a theremin; placed after distortion, it's as if you're stood in front of a Marshall stack with the gain on full, wailing banshee trapped inside your cab. It is mind blowing. Your solos will never be the same after using this.

Being able to select different harmonics is a brilliant feature. Personally so far, I'm not quite a fan of the Sub harmonic but it's good to know its there if I need it. Being able to toggle between latching and momentary mode on the fly is very convenient, but the real winner for me is the dry kill switch, leaving nothing but said ethereal wet tone. It's perfect for creating ambient pieces or textures.

I can't find an overall fault, but one little thing bugs me. I'm not sure if it's me, my amp or my setup but I found it doesn't work through an FX loop and has to be placed in front of the amp instead. Other than that, I cannot fault it at all.

Kudos Digitech, first the Whammy DT, now the FreqOut. Keep churning out the crazy element in these pedals, we need more!