Eventide Pitchfactor Review. The answer to the Bass Whammy substitute?

Chronicle · #1 05-17-2009, 07:40 PM

Do we finally have an answer to the question of all questions? Something that sounds just as good as the Digitech Bass Whammy? Let's find out...

First off, this pedal is around the price of the Bass Whammy. 500 bones. Not mentioning the used price for the Pitchfactor that will probably be around 420$ in the next year or so. But IMO, this is definitely worth the hard earned cash!

One of the most exciting pedals of 2009 and the hype isn't over exaggerated. I believe this is one of my favorite pedals of all time so far.

Enough of the drool, let's get onto the review.

Construction:
You're not paying Eventide 500$ for a poorly made pedal. It's built "Tonka-Tough" and the insides are impressive. The true bypass is awesome, you can unplug the device and still get a signal. All the knobs feel pretty good as well.

Ease of use:
The scheme of the basic use for the pedal is pretty easy if you're experienced with pedals. To a new guy, it might be a tad hard. I haven't played too much with setting the expression pedal up with different parameters and all those other crazy things, but to dial in a sound with the basic controls is pretty easy. Tap Tempo those appregiating beats!!...And other things like delay!

Sound
Some of the most unique sounding effects can come from this box. I couldn't believe some of them. This is probably the first pedal that made me smile from one setting. I'll disclose that near the soundclip

There's even a calibration setting for bass for even better traking. The tracking is superb. It even tracks a low D. Haven't tried it with a 5 string yet.

All in all, if you're looking for a pitch shifting delay with a lot of cool features, buy it. If you are GASing for it real hard, maybe wait for it to go down in price...maybe it will? I'm not sure because as far as I know, they are very hot sellers at the $500 pricetag.

And finally, the clips. I'll make a clip of each setting with different arrangements.

(After listening to some clips, I noticed I had the gain a little too high in some recordings. Ignore the clipping )

Diatonic- one of my favorites from the pedal. You can change the scale and key it's in. The dealy, feedback, and pitch.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611118
In the second clip, I play with some of the settings, lower strings, and simple chords.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611139

Quadavox-
Want that HOG like sound but BETTER?! Check this out. You can set each octave on A,B,C,or D. You can set how far apart each octave is from each other. You can also have delay.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611166
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611203

Harmodulator
This is a unique sound...puts my Prometheus in a tight bind but I think I'll keep the Prometheus on the board just because it's a filter kind of s/h.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611195

MicroPitch
Similar sounds from the PS-3's detune feature. Chorus-like effect. Pretty nice and can get crazyyyy!

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611224

H910/H949
Not too sure on this effect....I'm not an Eventide junkie(yet...) so all I know is this is from a Rack unit...
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611277

PitchFlex
The bass whammy killer? Hell yes.
Bass Whammy first, and then Eventide. Delay is Echobox.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611328
Major Octave down (-2) at the end of this clip!
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611341

Octaver
This can get a little corny but you can dial in some neat stuff comparable to some ChunkSystems O.S sounds. Digital fuzz mix? Oh yeahhhh.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611359

Crystals
BOSS PS-3 Mode 7!!!! Wooo! Now I have this sound on two boards!

In case you don't know, it's reverse pitch shifting. The Eventide also throws in a reverb option for creepier sounds.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611395

Harpeggiator
Ohhhh yeah, beats! man! BEATS! At the end, I play with the kind of effects you can put in like FUZZ, FILTER, and GLITCH. Afterward, I do different steps.
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611399

Synthonizer
Sound like a synth on my bass without a GR-20? Cool! Not my favorite setting but it's not bad

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7611459

Joe Gress · #2 05-17-2009, 07:46 PM

Just play some tool songs and get over with it.

Cool sounding clips.

Chronicle · #3 05-17-2009, 07:49 PM

Heh, I'm doing that soon, last clip

Chronicle · #4 05-17-2009, 08:21 PM

Stay tuned means stay tuned! I'm half way done with clips.

I love to tease >:]

funkucan'ttouch · #5 05-17-2009, 08:42 PM

AH! So glad I ordered mine this past friday! Can't wait....

nice clips!

Chronicle · #6 05-17-2009, 08:55 PM

More coming!

Joe Gress · #7 05-17-2009, 08:59 PM

I really should have never listened to any of these clips. Really bad gas now.

Jared Lash · #8 05-17-2009, 09:06 PM

Yeah, the H910/H949 threw me for a loop too. It was the only setting I couldn't get something cool out of right off the bat. So I finally went to the manual to see what that setting was all about and all it says is something along the lines of "this setting is based on the classic Eventide H910 and H949".

I got an interesting pseudo-flanger sound but I still don't really understand what it actually is.

The Pitchfactor is without a doubt the most fun pedal I've played with in a very long time - maybe ever. Which is why I had to stop playing and box it up if I was going to have any chance of returning it.

scotch · #9 05-17-2009, 09:13 PM

Ummm,.... I was totally uninterested in this pedal until I checked out that last clip. That's all I need, another big expensive pedal!!!!

FreaqyFrequency · #10 05-17-2009, 09:17 PM

The H910/H949 algorithm is epic. I would buy this pedal just for that algorithm.

MicroPitch sounds awesome too. Great clips so far, I look forward to more!

Also, were you using an expression pedal on any of those clips?

Chronicle · #11 05-17-2009, 09:19 PM

Oh, the epicness continues guys... A couple of more clips...

Chronicle · #12 05-17-2009, 09:28 PM

DONE! Enjoy!

Joe Gress · #13 05-17-2009, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chronicle

Oh, the epicness continues guys... A couple of more clips...

You know, I really hate you now.

Thanks for the clips! Some of the sounds are plain awesome, Harmodulator Harpeggiator and PitchFlex especially, and then some of the sounds are just plain weird. But in a really interesting way.

Chronicle · #14 05-17-2009, 09:38 PM

I really like how the H910 clip came out...I didn't know it could do that

...the best part of it? I had control of the feedback with the expression pedal

FreaqyFrequency · #15 05-17-2009, 09:55 PM

You knew a Chris W. fanboy would be listening to the Octaver clip, didn'tcha?

The Synthonizer sounds like it could almost do a ring mod type thing. That algorithm would definitely excel at video game music.

Crystals is just plain gorgeous...so much potential for that algorithm with ambient themes.

HarPeggiator sounds like you could do some interesting things with it, but it would probably be the algorithm I used least. Then again, that thing you start doing at 1:56 and 4:11 is pretty trippy. Sounds like more LoFi-ness going on in the background, as well.

I imagine this pedal would shine best with a fretless. This thing will be mine when I have the funds to support it.

Jared Lash · #16 05-17-2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreaqyFrequency

I imagine this pedal would shine best with a fretless.

Yes and no. Definitely some cool sounds to be had, but while the PF's tracking is really good, a fretless can give it a little trouble depending on playing style.

Also, you obviously have to be spot on with your intonation. It's bad enough if you're a little off on a fretless, but when you've got 4 delayed and pitch shifted notes following each note you play it really magnifies any errors.

The only thing I'd disagree with Chronicle about is the idea that the PF can get sounds "comparable to the Chunk Systems O.S.". I don't see any real overlap between them and would see people using them together rather than trying to get one to do what the other does.

Personally I found the Synthonizer and Octave settings to be the only weak aspects of the PF. Honestly, the old Digitech BP80 my brother had did a much better octave and octave fuzz. Still, I just see that as Eventide trying to do too much. The other settings are pretty amazing.

Chronicle · #17 05-17-2009, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Yes and no. Definitely some cool sounds to be had, but while the PF's tracking is really good, a fretless can give it a little trouble depending on playing style.

Also, you obviously have to be spot on with your intonation. It's bad enough if you're a little off on a fretless, but when you've got 4 delayed and pitch shifted notes following each note you play it really magnifies any errors.

Yeah, towards one of the last clips- My Rick became a tad off in the tuning and you can hear the Pitchfactor magnifying that.

Chronicle · #18 05-17-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

The only thing I'd disagree with Chronicle about is the idea that the PF can get sounds "comparable to the Chunk Systems O.S.". Personally I don't see any real overlap between them and would see people using them together rather than trying to get one to do what the other does.
.

Last time I played with an OS, it had a sound like that but obviously the OS sounded better.

Jared Lash · #19 05-17-2009, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chronicle

Last time I played with an OS, it had a sound like that but obviously the OS sounded better.

Ok, now I see what you meant - just that both boxes do an octave fuzz sound. Which is true, but the OS is on a completely different level than the PF.

Not a knock on the Pitchfactor - that setting almost seems like a bonus or afterthought. The other settings are the reason to buy it.

Chronicle · #20 05-17-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Not a knock on the Pitchfactor - that setting almost seems like a bonus or afterthought. The other settings are the reason to buy it.

+1