A discontinued Chase Bliss pedal, the (regular) Wombtone was a wildly flexible digitally controlled analog phaser pedal, thanks to its 6 knobs, 3 toggle switches, two footswitches, and 12 DIP switches in the back panel. The Minneapolis-based company reissued a Billy Strings limited edition featuring some variations on the original, implemented in partnership with the established bluegrass guitarist. There are only 3,000 units of it, only sold in the US.
The collaboration (the first of the “artist signature” kind for Chase Bliss) sprung when the company became aware that the artist had started hoarding Wombtone pedals because he wanted to “make sure that until I am an old man, I will have one of these.”
As you may have guessed, this reissue isn’t just a rehashing of the old circuit, but comes with a host of new features: in particular, an entirely new envelope-triggered mode (activated through an ENV switch on the side panel) requested by Billy, which allows the player to interact with the effect through the dynamics of his or her performance.
When Envelope Mode is on, two 3-way switches on the opposite side of the pedal’s case become active, controlling the envelope’s Sensitivity and Release settings (which can be, respectively, Low, High, and Medium and Slow, Long, and Medium).
The pedal lets you control any parameter of the phaser through the signal’s dynamics, and that can be configured through the DIP switches on the back panel, be it Volume, Mix, Rate, Depth, or Form, which is the shape of the LFO. Each of these parameters has two switches, allowing you to set them for an increase of the settings (Rise) or a decrease (Fall).
This configuration allows these 5 parameters to be activated and do different things simultaneously, offering the player a playground of sonic possibility which is the signature feature of all Chase Bliss pedals.
Other improvements to the circuit include a new slow mode, increased headroom, and an improved input stage using Burr Brown op-amps.
On top of that, the BS Wombtone can work like any regular phaser when ENV mode is off, and also features advanced connectivity and customization options including Envelope control, MIDI, CV and Expression control, presets, and internal modulation of any or all its knobs.
Chase Bliss Billy Strings Wombtone Phaser, Builder’s Notes
Stratospheric Swirls.
Wombtone is back with some new tricks.The Billy Strings Wombtone collects multiple styles of phasing in one place, using a rich, all-analog signal path. You can now control the phasing directly with your playing, for responsive and tightly-synced movement. If there’s a phase sound you’re dreaming of, it’s probably in here.
I asked Billy how he would modify the Wombtone if we were to make a version together, and that’s when envelope control entered the conversation. Billy had essentially been faking envelope control with an expression pedal, moving it in time with each note.
So we made it for real. It turned out to be way more challenging for me than I initially expected, but I’m so happy with where we landed. I can’t stop playing it – I may have already played this new Wombtone more than any pedal we’ve ever released.
It also has a few other refinements. There’s a new slow mode, increased headroom, and we improved the input stage by using Burr Brown op-amps.
