TECH 21 ROTO CHOIR
Rating:
BY DIMITRI SIDERIADIS
Buy If...
you’re after a convincing and highly
tweakable Leslie simulation.
Evoking the vastness of the heavens in one moment and watery, pressurized pulsations the next is no small feat. However,
this has been the task of the humble (and
huge) Leslie rotating-speaker cabinet for
decades. Guitarists’ use and misuse of
the Leslie and its swirling sounds is well
chronicled. But simulating a rotary speaker
convincingly with a stompbox remains one
of the great challenges in the pedal-design
world.
One of the more overlooked aspects
of the Leslie’s sound is that it has its own
onboard tube amplifier. So when Andrew
Barta of Tech 21 had a go at a rotary-speaker-in-a-stompbox, he felt it was
natural to include his SansAmp tube-amp
simulation—technology that has been an
industry mainstay for years. And with such
effective amp simulation onboard, the Roto
Choir represents a unique departure from
standard modulation fare. It is both an
amp simulator and a rotary-speaker effect
that excels at both.
Spin Doctor
The Roto Choir’s tweaking options are
very intuitive, given how much ground the
pedal covers. Amplifier controls include
Level, High and Low EQ knobs, and a
Drive control. Bass rotor and horn rotation speed settings are adjustable via the
Top Speed knob and Fast/Slow switch.
The Biamped button spins (in the figurative sense) both the bass speaker rotor and
treble horn when engaged, and bass speaker
rotor alone when switched off. This latter
setting greatly enhances the effect of the
Position control, which simulates microphone proximity.
Skip If...
a more antiseptic and completely noise-free
rotary sound is essential to your sound.
Tech 21
Street $219
tech21nyc.com
CLICKHere… or scan this QR code with a mobile device to hear audio clips of this pedal at premierguitar.com/nov2011.
Round We Go
Plugging into a Fender Champ, I started
my test of the Roto Choir with the
Biamped button in the off position, getting
rid of the horn component to get a more
Fender Vibratone-like sound. I engaged the
Slow setting and set the Position knob to
9 o’clock, which produced a lush, chorus-
like sound peppered with a phasey, trebley
color. Kicking the footswitch into
Fast mode was like changing from
chorus to an intense vibrato.
The pedal really comes into its
own when switched into Biamped
mode. With Position and Speed
at noon, the sound coming out of
my Les Paul’s bridge humbucker
bloomed and swirled throughout
the room with impressive clarity
and warmth. The sound was almost
completely free of digital edginess,
and I found myself delightfully
lost in David Gilmour-like ambient swirl in both Slow and Fast
modes. Just like a good old Leslie,
the pedal is not exactly noise free,
and the noise is more noticeable
with the Drive control turned up.
At no time, though, did the noise
compete with or distract from the
rich, musical sounds coming out of the
amplifier.
Turning up the Position and Speed
knobs put me into the Roto Choir’s organ
simulation range, which was probably my
favorite tone. Those looking to get some
of Jimmy Smith’s funk and swing from a
guitar should take note. Cutting back a
bit on the Drive and Top Speed controls
produced an even more subtle flavor that
sounded quite like Charlie Hunter’s organ-like sound on “Right Now Move.”
The Verdict
If you’re at all curious about the captivating
sonorities and celestial potential of vintage
rotating speakers, you should spend some
time with the Tech 21 Roto Choir. On
the Biamped setting especially, it’s incredibly easy to conjure huge, smile-inducing
sounds you never thought would come
from a guitar. At times, the illusion is so
strong it’s hard to believe you’re actually
listening to a little metal box. The extra
oomph and flavor you can coax from the
pedal by toying with the amp section controls can help you tailor the effect even
more precisely for your rig and performance situations. Good rotary simulators
tend to be pretty expensive, and at $219,
the Tech 21 isn’t small change. But given
the control and quality of the sounds within, it represents a value for anyone bent on
exploring rotary speaker swirl.
