so, based on this thread:
help me spend my money, i picked up an
EHX Worm. when i say "based on this thread", i mean i completely ignored everyone's advice and picked up an ehx worm anyway. the worm (
http://www.ehx.com/products/worm) is a analog multi effect that does auto-wah, phaser, tremolo, and vibrato.
here is a review of the pedal for your consideration.
please note this is IMHO, YMMV, etc. - just my (likely unqualified) opinion.
so, new pedal day arrived and i happily tried this pedal. again, for reference, my chain was pretty basic: SX P-bass (stock pup, DR fat beams) to EHX Worm to VT bass to GK Backline 210 combo.
the pedal has the standard input/output jacks. takes a supplied 24v power supply (no battery) and has a jack for an expression pedal. i don't have an expression pedal so i didn't try that aspect of it. it is in the new XO enclosure, which is pretty rock solid. a shake test got no sound out of the unit - construction is pretty good.
the switch is true bypass. it mostly didn't pop when switched, but a couple times it did.
there are 3 knobs. knob 1 is a rotary switch that switches between the mode. i was minorly annoyed because the line on the knob didn't quite line up with the markings on the pedal. knob 2 is "range", basically controlling the amount of effect that is applied to the signal. knob 3 is "rate", controlling the rate of modulation. i felt that the rate knob had a limited usuable range - at about 12 o'clock it went to the point of very fast modulation and i couldn't hear any difference between the tone at about 2 o'clock and at full CW setting.
the biggest complaint i had about this pedal is it really seemed to take a lot of low end out of my sound, unless the range knob was turned down far enough to have little effect on the sound. word on the street about the worm was that it is fairly subtle - it is, even on higher range settings.
for the most part i couldn't tell the difference between the tremolo and vibrato settings. on slower rates it was more evident but the tremolo effect still seemed to also have a bit of a pitch change effect.
the vibrato did have a somewhat cool setting with the range around 12 o'clock and rate around 10 to 11 o'clock that kind of sounded like a rotating leslie speaker would sound if it was put through a high-pass filter. not so cool for low-end stuff, a little nifty for chords high on the fretboard.
i just couldn't get anything useful on bass out of the tremolo. at about 11 o'clock it went from a noticeable tremolo to a continual fast stutter sound. at lower rates it still took out the low end from the sound.
the phaser was the bright spot for me - but honestly, in comparison with the mxr phase 90 i demoed last night, it's a lot more subtle. below 11 or 12 o'clock on the range knob my wife couldn't even hear the effect. as with the other effects, this one took out low end, and was not really rich enough for my liking. (i will probably be getting a phase 90 though!)
the auto wah was really not my bag of chips. i did manage to get a decent funky sound out of it on a guitar with the range about 3 o'clock and the rate about 10 to 11 o'clock, but again, no low end on the bass. (it didn't help that i had been listening to the samples of the 3leaf audio proton, for which i now have GAS!)
in conclusion, i really wanted to like this pedal. i've always thought EHX pedals were cool and i wanted these effects to work. however, the effects on this pedal are too subtle and it kills too much low end for me to give it anything more than a
2/5 on bass. maybe a 2.5/5 on guitar. sorry, EHX. i'll probably come back to you for the microPOG at some point.
rating in classic TB style:
