Deep Space Devices makes first contact with the Radio-Bright ring modulation and delay
This cosmic stompbox was inspired by the "Wow! signal" that made UFO enthusiasts believe that the truth is out there
Here is an effects pedal for taking your electric guitar tone out of this world and out among the stars. It's called the Radio-Bright, and it is a ring modulator and delay from Deep Space Devices that was inspired by an unexplained signal from somewhere out by Sagittarius.
No, really, Deep Space Devices got the idea for the Radio-Bright from the so-called Wow! Signal, which was captured in 1977 on the Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope. The narrowbrand radio signal was unexplained, but it came from outer space and was used to support the hypothesis that there is intelligent life somewhere out there among the stars.
As you might expect, with a backstory like that, this pedal is capable of warping your tone out of sight, but there are plenty of subtle textures you can use for added tremolo and Arp synth effects.
The enclosure has two footswitches, two toggle switches, and six control knobs. The left footswitch turns the effect on and off while holding down the right footswitches ramps up the delay feedback.
There are three knobs to control delay, three for ring modulation. Delay Mix controls the overall presence of delay in the pedal's output, Time adjusts the delay time and Feedback controls the number of repeats.
Adjust the Intensity on the ring modulator side to dial in how much of it you want in the signal, adjust the Frequency knob to access a range of frequencies from 450hz to 4.7khz, while the Rate control adjusts the speed of the effect.
The toggle switches? Here, more options present themselves. The left-hand toggle switch selects between Reg, where the delay is foremost in the effect, and Mod, where the ring modulation takes precedence. These positions interact with the right-hand toggle switch, which selects between a square wave or sine wave for arp-style snyth effects or a more subtle oscillator.
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The Radio-Bright ships mid-October and is priced $199 (£165, €185 approx).
See Deep Space Devices for more details.
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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