Featured Pedals: Dr. Scientist’s BitQuest

Are you old enough to remember the amazing old Sierra video game series from the late ’80s and early ’90s that included the classics like Kings Quest, Hero’s Quest, Space Quest, and Police Quest? Well, the Canadian husband and wife duo, Ryan and Tanya Clarke, of Dr. Scientist pedals (who by the way have possibly the best website on earth) have managed to conjure up that nostalgic spirit of vintage gamer lore in pedal form with their latest adventure in a box, the BitQuest.

A poke around the Dr. Scientist website and you’ll quickly find that the company has a fondness for 8 bit gaming as well as a penchant for exploring worlds unknown. They often jokingly describe their pedals as tonal weapons for use against evil arch enemies and alien invaders from the future. The BitQuest brings that playful attitude to an all-in-one exploratory stompbox that includes eight different expression effects – both with a clean and dirty option – effectively creating 16 different effects in one box. The effects include a combination of everyday useful tones – and some more reserved for saving the world from attackers! You have a flanger, a HP/LP filter, a bit crusher, an infinite reverb, a notch filter, a ring modulator, a pitch shifter, and a delay.

All of the effects are high quality and the box has three control dials that have unique functionality for each of the eight effects, ensuring a high degree of tweakability. Every effect can be used for pure tones or extended into a manic exaggeration of the effect. Importantly, the pedal’s gain capability is crunchy and powerful, so the dirty options are very high quality and potent. Overall, there is a ton of fun to be had with the BitQuest, so embrace your inner nerd and start your own expedition. – Ryan Dembinski