The latest bucket bridge modulation from the legendary pedal makers reminds me of a Memory Man without the delay
Overview & Cost: $99.00 from Sweetwater, ehx.com and Reverb.com!
There’s arguably no better pedal in existence than the Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, which is the modulated echo most famously used by The Edge of U2. Ever since I got that pedal I’ve been firmly obsessed with EHX’s modulation tones and pedals. The Eddy is just the newest in a long line of awesome products and features “Bucket Brigade”-style chorus and vibrato in one pedal. Typical controls like rate, depth, and volume sit beside a wave form control, an envelope control, and then a tone control. You can even connect an expression pedal to control either the rate or depth while you play, with the choice of parameter controlled by a toggle switch on the top of the pedal. With that wave form control you can adjust the modulation from a typical sinusoidal wave to all sorts of assymetrical shapes to create lush, warbly modulation that you might not otherwise be able to pull out of your average chorus/vibrato. Add in the ability to control the modulation with the envelope knob or an expression pedal, and you’ve got a seriously tweak-able little pedal.
Review & Opinion:
Once I plugged the Eddy in I was hit with a wave of familiar sounds. This pedal can do all of the typical modulation sounds that I prefer. I use chorus in ways very similar to my influences: Mick Jones, Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain. I either like it very light to simply supplement and thicken up a distorted section of playing or my guitar is drenched in it for that “Lost In The Supermarket”-type feeling. EHX’s Eddy can do all that and more by just adjusting the typical controls of rate and depth. It’s nothing crazy and new, it’s just classic bucket brigade goodness at an affordable price. However, once you kick in the envelope and shape controls, that’s where you get into some pretty flexible sounds in both the chorus and vibrato. When you turn the shape all the way assymetrical and roll off all the depth, you can even pull of this amazing stuttering, tremolo-like vibrato that’s surfy and lo-fi and everything you might want in a vintage sound. But at the end of the day, the Eddy will be remembered for being a warm sounding modulation that can quickly get weird. Chorus and vibrato sound ultra familiar, like the best vintage EHX mod pedals, but with some modern updates to make it more user friendly. The sonic weirdness is easily increased but also easy to ignore if its not your thing. So for me, there is real value in having a pedal that I can use traditionally on my board all the time but can get weird if/when my music goes that way.
Final Conclusion & Rating: 7 out of 10
Overall I think the EHX Eddy Chorus/Vibrato provides a ton of value for the money alongside some ultra-useful tones. One of the reasons it doesn’t grade higher is because you do need to have an expression pedal handy to make use of arguably its greatest feature. That’s not a huge dig on the Eddy, but otherwise without that it is juts another great bucket brigade modulation that can crazier than some mods but not as crazy as the modern day mod circuits have gone. For me, this will be a staple on my live board thanks to its affordability, reliability, and overall familiar tone. Paired with a non-modulated delay, it even helps me perfectly recreate the Memory Man modulated echo that I use every day to write music. EHX has churned out another affordable winner here, and I think this is an ideal modulation for the working musician, be that stage or studio, who doesn’t have super ambitious modulation needs.
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