ELECTRO-HARMONIX PITCH FORK+

102
GUITARIST FEBRUARY 2021
Pitch Fork+
Harmonies and more from this dual pitch-shifting tool
MANU FACTUR ER
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
MODEL
PITCH FORK+
CONTACT
ELECTRO-HARMONIX WWW.EHX.COM
PRICE
£199
PEDALBOARD
PROS Two pitch shifters; solid tracking; wide
frequency range; practical footswitching
options; expression pedal capability
CONS At this price, it would be churlish to
complain about the usual warbly artefacts
on extreme shifts
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Phil Barker
T
he Pitch Fork+ provides two
identical but independent pitch-
shifting engines in a single pedal,
both offering pitch up or down over a
+/- three octave range and detuning of
+/- 99 cents. There are separate volume
knobs for each pitch shifter and for the dry
sound, so there are plenty of options for
totally pitch-shifted sounds or blends.
Besides the main output you’ll also find
an AUX output that has various signal
routing options, including stereo pitch
shifting and keeping dry and effected
sounds separate, while a second (User)
footswitch can be assigned to different
functions such as toggling channels on
and off, selecting presets, crossfades and
more. Should you want more switching
capability, there’s a connection for a
triple footswitcher.
There is a lot of creative sonic potential
available from this pedal and plenty of
places to store your creativity in its 100
presets; the 10 presets that have been
programmed at the factory offer a good
overview. The mildest effect in the pedal
is detuning – just a few cents each side can
give you some useful alternatives to using
a chorus pedal or similar.
Tracking and tuning stability are good,
so it’s possible to turn off the dry sound
and use an octave down, turning your
guitar into a workable bass. You could
also conjure up a baritone guitar or other
dropped tunings, or turn the pitch up for
an instant capo effect, albeit with altered
tonality, especially noticeable as a metallic
timbre on the pitched up settings.
With dry sound back in play you can
dial in a faux 12-string sound, and even
opt for an 18-string! There are, of course,
loads of exquisitely beautiful harmonies
on tap, as well as totally discordant
stuff for the noiseniks who’ll be sure to
embrace the X-Mod mode, which offers
cross modulation for creating ring mod
and frequency modulation. The bypass
footswitch can be set for latching or
momentary action where it can be used
for glissando effects if desired. But if you
really want to get into the performance
aspect then you can plug in an expression
pedal for instant octave rises and other
Whammy-style action.
This Boss compact pedal has the ability to create
up to three-part harmonies and other pitch shifts,
including detuning and the option of controlling
the pitch via an expression pedal.
This is the leftfield choice, built around a DSP
pitch-warping engine that’s designed to be slightly
imperfect and described by its makers as “totally
not for purists and/or tone hounds”.
Rainbow Machine V2 £225
Two voices not enough? Take a look at the Hedra
from Meris, which offers three voices. Described as
a rhythmic pitch shifter, it comes with tap tempo
synchronised delay for esoteric effects.
Hedra £319
ALSO TRY...
PS-6 Harmonist £129
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
MERIS BOSS EARTHQUAKER DEVICES
VERDICT
A diminutive pitch-shifting powerhouse
with a tasty combination of features to suit
many needs.
GIT468.peds_ehx.indd 102 17/12/2020 15:11