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You can now demo 150 pedals online for free with Thomann’s Stompenberg FX
Try out pedals from Boss, Walrus Audio, TC Electronic and more via your computer.
Image: Thomann
Thomann, the German music retailer best known for its vast online store, has unveiled a new free service that lets shoppers demo guitar pedals in real-time over the internet.
Stompenberg FX features 150 pedals from well-known brands such as JHS, TC Electronic, Boss, Revv and Walrus Audio. These aren’t software emulations, either – they’re the real deal. Thomann took apart the pedals and housed them in a behemoth rack pedalboard at its headquarters that you can interact with virtually.
After choosing a pedal to try out, you have three ways to play with it. You can run 14 pre-recorded loops – nine for guitar, five for bass – through the effect, upload your own loop, and even play live through your computer with “a maximum of 200ms” in latency.
Particularly useful for testing drive effects are five onboard amplifier IRs, all of which which are based on Celestion speakers. You also have the option to use your own IRs.
To showcase the full range of each pedal, you get access to all its controls – just like in real life. This means you can even test out momentary effects such as the EHX Freeze, or the hold function on the Red Panda Tensor.
Because each effect is being demoed in real-time, you might encounter a digital queue if someone else is already trying out a particular stompbox.
Thomann said in a blog post, “Currently, only one tester can be active per pedal at one time. If another tester connects to the desired pedal via an app, a countdown starts on both sides. The active user has five minutes left; the user in the digital waiting line can automatically take over after the active user has finished.”
Try out Stompenberg FX yourself at thomann.de
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