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There are outs for both mixer and amp.

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Packaged in lots of psychedelic purple and yellow, the Jimi Hendrix Experience pedal continues the basic theme of its predecessor, the digitally modelled ‘seven ages of Clapton’ in DigiTech’s Crossroads pedal.

Who cares about all those generic effects and ambiguously titled patches when you just want your guitar to sound like your hero?

Where the Crossroads pedal was a fairly simple, compact stompbox, the Experience unit is, fittingly, a little more complex. It’s nice to see that DigiTech hasn’t just churned out a whole range of pedals with the same basic design; they’ve clearly thought about the design implications of summing up the ‘Hendrix sound’ and ‘Clapton sound’. Eric Clapton’s sounds have changed frequently over his long career, but at each point in that career there’ve been just one or two instantly recognisable tones. With Hendrix, though, you’ll often hear more tones than that in the course of a single song.

As with the Clapton pedal, there are seven models, each based on a particular song (and designed with the help of producer Eddie Kramer) and selected via one of the four knobs on the control panel. The other three knobs are all dual concentric controls, and mostly self-explanatory: gain/level, low/high EQ and reverb/control. The function of the control knob depends on the model selected, although it’s usually for mid-range.

That’s all simple enough, but there’s more. For each model, there are at least two sounds, one selected by the switch at the toe end of the expression pedal (indicated by a green LED), and the other selected by the switch at the heel end (red LED). For two of the models, hitting the heel switch again selects yet another sound, which is indicated by a yellow LED. Furthermore, the expression pedal is used for four of the seven models, its exact function dictated by the sound (heel or toe) selected.

Operation

For basic operation, you would just need to connect the pedal in mono between your guitar and amp, powering it via the supplied nine-volt AC adaptor. One of the models features an acoustic guitar sound, which works better through a DI connection (to either a mixer or recorder) so there’s a separate output for this.

By means of the pedal’s ‘Flexible Output Modes’ feature, though, you can also set it up for stereo output into either a mixer or two guitar amps. A second input jack enables you to connect the FS3X footswitch (not supplied); this gives a more ergonomic way of switching between the ‘heel’ and ‘toe’ modes, as well as the option of changing the model without bending down and twisting the knob.

Like the similar BOSS PW10, the expression pedal is solidly constructed and feels tight enough for accuracy without being awkward to use. A large rubber pad prevents your foot from slipping off, and the pedal’s behaviour can be easily calibrated to taste. And if all this wasn’t enough, the Experience pedal comes with a luxury purple velvet drawstring gigbag. The beads and flowers, however, are strictly your responsibility.