Rainger FX Reverb-X w/Igor

This is a digital reverb mini-pedal, simple to use, but giving a whole selection of unique – and very useful – new sounds. It’s based around an FV-1 chip, and comes with an Igor expression pad for real-time control. ‘Size’ adjusts the length of the effect, and ‘Level’ the amount of it you hear (the original guitar signal is always present).

DISTORTION

The Reverb-X really comes into its own in how it can deal with the reverb. It’s based on the excitement of plugging an overdrive pedal after a reverb pedal; it’s ‘wrong’, but everything you play sounds huge and epic, exaggerated and full of texture and detail… Here, an overdrive circuit – after the reverb – can be blended in via the ‘Distn’ knob. Have it totally clean, a bit gritty, quite rough, or dial in a fully burnt-out glow.

At all times, however, the input signal is unaffected; if you already use an overdrive pedal, the Reverb-X can add a whole new dimension of distortion to your sound! If your tone is clean however, it stays clean – no matter how much distorted reverb you dial in.

Usually though, in this situation when you stop playing, the hum from your cable alone would be as loud as the notes you were playing! So you have to have a noise gate involved…

NOISE GATE

This is always on, either before the reverb and distortion circuits, unobtrusively silencing hums and buzzes when you’re not playing. Switch in the ‘Gate’ button though, and this changes to post reverb and distortion. It opens when you play, and closes hard when you stop, totally cutting off any reverb that’s happening – giving an incredibly dramatic and original effect. Sure, it’s a gated reverb, but play a long riff and gate stays open, giving the full reverberation as set by the ‘Size’ knob. Stop playing and the whole thing is shut down, giving a tight control over it – like a hard-edited ‘sample’.

The ‘input’ control and ‘Overload’ LED insure that the output is always as loud – and clean (if desired) – as possible. The ‘Out’ knob has plenty of spare output volume on tap.