Fender Pinwheel Rotary Speaker review

Taking the Leslie sim for a spin

  • £199
  • €198
  • $269
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(Image: © Future)

MusicRadar Verdict

One of the best rotary speaker pedals you can buy.

Pros

  • +

    Excellent array of controls

  • +

    Superb drive sounds

Cons

  • -

    Not the cheapest option

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There’s been a glut of attempts to model rotary speakers of late, and the Pinwheel easily punches up there with the best of them. 

First off, there’s the delicious drive control, which allows you to boost and warm up the tone of the pedal; then there’s three different operating modes - via expression pedal and two footswitchable presets, which the pedal transitions between according to the speed set by the ramp knob, or via the sensitivity control. 

The sensitivity control responds to your picking dynamics, ramping from your slow preset to your fast, and it results in wild, brilliant psychedelic chaos. 

Alex Lynham
Alex Lynham

Alex Lynham is a gear obsessive who's been collecting and building modern and vintage equipment since he got his first Saturday job. Besides reviewing countless pedals for Total Guitar, he's written guides on how to build your first pedal, how to build a tube amp from a kit, and briefly went viral when he released a glitch delay pedal, the Atom Smasher.