Have you ever actually tried to figure out how much you’ve spent on gear
throughout the years? For those with simple
rigs that change little over time, it’s probably not too tough. For insatiable gear heads
though, you might as well ask us to figure
out cold fusion. Personally, I’ve learned a lot
about gear from the process of trading, buying, and selling. But it’s depressing to think
about how much money I’ve spent on pedals that weren’t quite right, just to cast them
aside for that next big thing.
Electro-Harmonix might help put an
end to that cycle, however with the release
of the Analogizer, which is designed to lay
a thick coat of analog warmth on top of
digital effects. After my experience with
the unit, I can only imagine how much
money I would have saved, and how many
stompboxes I might have held onto if the
Analogizer had come out years ago. And if
you tossed that dusty old digital delay in
the corner because its repeats were a little
too cold, the Analogizer might be reason
enough for you to dig it out and give it
another spin.
The pedal’s ability to smooth out the
sharper edges of the (digital delay’s) tone
was extraordinary.
slightly dirty character to the processed signal’s voicing. And the combination of several subtle differences added together create
a larger tone while retaining the essence of
the sound you began with.
guitar and the lo-fi analog processed tone
kicking in on the tail of really detailed
delay tone was subtler than you’d imagine
highly effective and heavy sounding—
giving the impression of doubling a track in
the studio.
Blast From the Past
The Analogizer works via a simple principle.
It uses an all-analog circuit to process the
incoming signal of a digital effect placed a
head of it in a chain and adds the subtle lo-fi
nuances that analog devices are known for.
The Analogizer uses four controls to
shape tone. A simple gain control—ranging
from 0 db to + 26 db—bumps the volume
and overall body of the tone, but it also has
a brash vintage voicing at higher settings
that works in the capacity of a stand-alone
overdrive. The control can also be used with
dry guitar to fatten up the tone of thin-sounding pickups.
The Analogizer effectiveness also depends
on a delay time control called spread that
enables you to add delay ranging from 3. 5
ms to 65 ms. At 3. 5 ms, the delay time isn’t
very noticeable at all, except as a very effective thickening agent. At higher settings the
difference is very apparent and when used
in conjunction with the pedal’s blend knob,
you can conjure a wide range of tones.
When the spread control is set higher and
mixed with a little dry signal via the blend
control, you can get some neat slapback and
discordant-sounding tones.
Together, the controls adds and sub-
tract certain frequency ranges, and apply a
Analog-y and Ecstasy
With a 2011 Gibson SG Classic, I plugged
into a Boss DD- 6 Digital Delay, which I
then routed to the Analogizer, and into a
Fender ’ 65 Twin Reverb reissue combo.
Setting the Analogizer’s Spread control
fully counter-clockwise and the Blend at
maximum arpeggiated, Edge-inspired chord
progressions took on a form that made
the DD- 6 sound more like Boss’ famous
DM- 2 and DM- 3 analog delays.
Experimenting with this setup also demonstrated how the Analogizer rounds off the
low-end on repeats. The pedal’s ability to
smooth out the sharper edges of the DD- 6’s
tone was extraordinary. And dropping the
volume and increasing the gain concurrently yielded some fat and wild-sounding delay
tones that worked great for soundscape-infused, post-rock guitar work. Eventually,
I turned off the DD- 6 and had a ball with
the Analogizer’s built-in overdrive on its
own. It’s a really good overdrive—balanced
with plenty of midrange, although I was left
more than once wanting a little additional
control for tone sweep.
While the Analogizer is extremely useful for warming up sterile-sounding rigs,
it wouldn’t be an Electro-Harmonix pedal
without some element of pizazz or off-the-wall tone trickery. And working with
the pedal’s blend and spread controls in
tandem will indeed get you some strange-sounding results. Since the spread knob
only changes the time that the effect kicks
in on the wet signal, mixing it with the dry
can get you into some very off-the-wall,
lo-fi spaces. With the DD- 6 set for a long
delay, the Analogizer’s blend set at 50/50
and the spread at max, the rig sounded
almost like a multi-headed tape delay. The
contrast between the clean, unaffected
The Verdict
If you’re looking to warm up a rig
that’s populated with digital effects, the
Analogizer is one of the best—and most
inexpensive—ways to do it. It’s extremely
simple to use, has a small footprint and
has a pretty nice-sounding overdrive tone
on top of everything else. There aren’t any
options to change the voicing or range
of the effect, which is just about the only
drawback. And it would be nice to be able
to brighten or darken or different guitars
and amps. That said, it’s the kind of tool
that can save you when encountering an
unfamiliar backline that requires a little
more spunk or that has a touch too much
clean headroom for your digital rig. And
for the price and all the dough it’ll save
you on pedal replacement, the Analogizer
is a steal and a truly practical addition to
any board.
RATINGS
Electro-Harmonix
ehx.com
Analogizer
Street $104
Tones
Ease of Use
Build
Value
Pros
Compact and easy to use. Easily warms
up harsh and digital-sounding effects.
Cons
