TC Electronic takes on the Whammy with Brainwaves pitch-shifter pedal

TC Electronic has waded into the pitch-shifter pedal market with the Brainwaves, which boasts four polyphonic pitch effects and two independent voices.

A Pitch mode offers a choice of set intervals up or down, while Whammy allows players to bend pitch up and down at the same time, courtesy of those dual voices.

Then there’s the obligatory Detune setting for chorus-y sounds, plus the V1>V2 mode, which combines the pitch-shifter and Whammy and bends Voice 1 to Voice 2. Rad.

Like TC’s other recent releases, the Brainwaves features the company’s pressure-sensitive MASH footswitch, which offers the ability to control up to three parameters at once, sort of like an onboard expression pedal.

There’s also perhaps the most exciting integration of TC’s TonePrint Editor yet, allowing guitarists to set custom intervals and even combine pitch effects with delay for arpeggiated sounds.

DigiTech’s Whammy Ricochet is the obvious point of comparison here, but the Brainwaves’ deep editing and multiple voices might just give it the edge.

The price helps, too: the Brainwaves is available now for $149 - see TC Electronic for more info.