TC Electronic, the Danish pedal firm blessed with the feverish productivity of a North Korean nuclear scientist, have announced their latest offering, Quintessence, a "state-of-the-art, intelligent harmonizer pedal".
The headline specs boast eight default and three TonePrint harmonies, seven diatonic scales and a custom scale setting, but the kicker here is the inclusion of the firm's pressure-sensitive MASH footswitch. Previously seen on the Hall of Fame 2 reverb and Flashback 2 delay stompboxes, TC claims it allows Quintessence to put the "pedal in pedal steel".
Auto-bending harmonized notes, by default MASH will shimmy up to the next interval within the scale, but switch to TonePrint mode and you can assign it to control just about any aspect of the pedal, including custom scale steps, both above and below the original harmony.
All-in-all then, this is one with lots of harmonic possibilities to dig into, and we'll be giving it the MusicRadar hands-on treatment just as soon as we can lure one into the studio. Watch this space. In the meantime, check out TC's own demo above.
Quintessence will be available in Mid October, hitting shelves with a RRP of $149.99 or local equivalent. For lots more mouthwatering detail, head over to TC Electronic's Quintessence page.
