TC Electronic takes on the Whammy with Brainwaves pitch-shifter pedal
Four polyphonic pitch effects and two independent voices onboard
TC Electronic has waded into the pitch-shifter pedal market with the Brainwaves, which boasts four polyphonic pitch effects and two independent voices.
A Pitch mode offers a choice of set intervals up or down, while Whammy allows players to bend pitch up and down at the same time, courtesy of those dual voices.
Then there’s the obligatory Detune setting for chorus-y sounds, plus the V1>V2 mode, which combines the pitch-shifter and Whammy and bends Voice 1 to Voice 2. Rad.
Like TC’s other recent releases, the Brainwaves features the company’s pressure-sensitive MASH footswitch, which offers the ability to control up to three parameters at once, sort of like an onboard expression pedal.
There’s also perhaps the most exciting integration of TC’s TonePrint Editor yet, allowing guitarists to set custom intervals and even combine pitch effects with delay for arpeggiated sounds.
DigiTech’s Whammy Ricochet is the obvious point of comparison here, but the Brainwaves’ deep editing and multiple voices might just give it the edge.
The price helps, too: the Brainwaves is available now for $149 - see TC Electronic for more info.
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
