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Gamechanger Audio and Fender’s Bigsby Pedal is finally available to buy

It was first teased over two years ago.

Gamechanger Audio and Fender’s Bigsby Pedal

Image: Gamechanger Audio

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Gamechanger Audio has finally launched its collaboration with Fender, a guitar pedal that simulates and expands upon the pitch-shifting functionality of a Bigsby vibrato.

The pedal was first teased back at NAMM 2020 – and first available to purchase last summer as part of an extremely limited run. Now, the pedal has been launched as a standard production model in Gamechanger Audio’s lineup.

The unit features three roller knobs, as well as the standout feature of a foot-operated and spring-loaded Bigsby bar. The knobs control pitch depth (ranging from zero semitones to a full octave), wet/dry mix, and pitch modulation rate. There’s also a button to activate detune mode, which simulates the pitch imperfections of a real mechanical Bigsby.

Gamechanger Audio and Fender’s Bigsby Pedal
Image: Gamechanger Audio

On the back of the pedal is also a switch to invert the pitch range of the pedal. In standard mode, pressing down on the pedal’s bar decreases the pitch, while pressing the part of the bar past the hinge – closer to the knobs – increases the pitch. This is reversed with the invert switch.

The pedal can also function as a rather unique expression pedal thanks to the EXP Out / Footswitch In jack. This, unsurprisingly, also lets you use an external footswitch to activate the Bigsby pedal’s pitch-shifting function in a static manner. For even more control, there’s an eighth-inch MIDI-in jack.

The pitch shifting is all performed by a powerful SHARC audio processing chip, running a proprietary algorithm that Gamechanger states “has been painstakingly tweaked to
preserve the natural timbre and sound of electric and acoustic string instruments, including
guitars, baritone, and bass guitars, mandolins and banjos.”

See and hear the rather unique piece of tech in Gamechanger’s official launch videos below.

The Bigsby pedal lists for €313, and is available from gamechangeraudio.com.

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