Gamechanger Audio officially launches the Bigsby Pedal, which is exactly what it sounds like

The ever-experimental Gamechanger Audio has officially launched the Bigsby Pedal, a stompbox version of the classic vibrato tailpiece. We got to chat to Gretsch about the pedal at Winter NAMM 2020, but now we have a launch window as well as some more details.

The pedal will arrive in a small limited run this summer, with preorders opening on 21 June. Gamechanger says that those who are in on this run will receive their personalised, signed special edition Bigsby Pedals in August 2021.

The brand is also preparing a “massive” launch across all of its dealers, and are expecting to see the first standard commercial run of pedals in late 2021 or early 2022.

The pedal itself is a partnership with Fender and Bigsby, and aesthetically of course mirrors its tailpiece namesake. The vibrato arm is repurposed as a foot controller, and still loaded with an actual spring to return it to a neutral position. Rather than mechanical action on the strings, however, pitch bending is achieved with “a proprietary pitch-shifting algorithm, fueled by an extremely powerful state-of-the-art DSP chip.”

This algorithm can mimic the range of a normal Bigsby, or it can be tweaked for more extreme effects. Its range can be adjusted from a quarter-tone up to a full octave and you can set up different intervals for both downward and upward bends. Pitch-shift direction can also be quickly switched with a dedicated Invert switch on the pedal’s back panel.

Gamechanger is also promising more specifications and demo videos to be posted soon.

The Bigsby Pedal will list for $379. Find out more at gamechangeraudio.com.