MusicRadar Verdict
A stylish, practical and affordable way to add a dedicated rotary speaker pedal to your ’board.
Pros
- +
Compact.
- +
Good price.
Cons
- -
Not as authentic as some alternatives.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
Rotary speaker sounds are complex to recreate but there are several stompboxes dedicated to the task on the market.
A cool alternative to chorus or phaser pedals, they are generally a source of lush modulation such as the Fender Vibratone tones as heard on SRV’s Cold Shot. Most, though, offer stereo operation, have large footprints and are a lot more than this Big Spender.
What you’re getting here is a compact mono pedal that could slip into a tight pedalboard space yet still offers a second footswitch for transitioning from slow to fast speeds. The Speed knob sets your chosen fastest speed and hitting the Ramp footswitch takes you from there to the slowest speed or visa versa.
There’s plenty of output in the volume knob to add a bit of grit. The Big Spender may not be quite as slavishly authentic as some rotary pedals out there but it’s certainly a decent shout for the asking price.
“Get the ideas out - and then look back with different ears or different eyes in a few months. Then the really good ones will stand out to you”: Tourist shares his music production wisdom
“We tried to capture the heart of what a Gibson Custom guitar is, and I think we really have done it”: Epiphone expands and upgrades its flagship Gibson Custom collab with eight stunning vintage-inspired electrics
“It's probably my Behringer Model D monosynth. So simple and obviously cheap, but it’s just so versatile. I’ve used it on basically every track that I’ve created”: 10 producers share the tech they can’t live without
