Ugly Guitar Truth: DigiTech FREQOUT



When I first saw this pedal I really didn't know what it was. I saw the large letters that spoke to me somehow. "Freak Out" is the not only the name of the pedal, but also what I did when I realized what this did. It is a Feedback Creator. Strangely, Digitech forgot that BOSS has already made a pedal that did this. Not only that, but they also forgot that no one actually bought that pedal. So why have they chosen to make a new pedal that has already failed? Well, the truth is something we should see about...

It Isn't A BOSS Feedbacker

My knee-jerk reaction was that this pedal was simply a second attempt at an old concept. However, as the booth-guy at NAMM this winter explained, this pedal actually does something that hasn't been done before. This pedal is able to produce natural feedback at any volume. I'm not sure what the BOSS pedal did (if not that) but we will assume it was unnatural for the sake of argument. This pedal has an indicator to tell you how much feedback you have. (also not sure why you need this. your ears should do the same function rather well...) You also have adjustable Range and Type. I'm sure they do something important, but I can't tell you. DigiTech's official website doesn't mention what they do at all either, so I guess we'll have to try one and see...


Conclusion


I like feedback in some applications. I think that this pedal has a lot to offer in the 'make noises that don't sound like guitar' category. I even like the look of it. Digitech is putting out pedals that seem to expand on the sounds that their line of pedal can make. This is actually rather refreshing. Some pedal brands seem to find endless way to make the same drive pedals, but only slightly different. And then continue to make slightly different pedal till the end of time. This seems like a fresh approach and I like what I've seem of this pedal so far. Is it for me? Hard to say. It might be something to keep my eye on though.