Step sequence pedals have become quite trendy in the last few years, probably because of their ability to create intriguing textures that manifest themselves as some kind of happy accidents. I find it really useful to have a piece of gear that allows me to approach the creative process in a different way than your usual “just play something!”- in particular when I can’t come up with any interesting guitar line! Step sequences allow me to forge rhythmic patterns that integrate with the guitar lines, often mangling them into something that’s completely different from the original, but entirely awesome.
Z-Vex, a manufacturer that doesn’t seem able to give itself a break from churning out new pedals, has presented at NAMM a revamped version of its 3 step sequence pedals with new features, implemented following suggestions brought forward by their user base.
As you can see from the video below, the main new feature is that the pedals can now synch with each other (and with external sources) via Midi, which allows you sequence maniacs to create a pretty insane synchronized pedalboard should you buy them all!
The three Pedals, called Super Seek Wah (filter), Super Seek Trem (amplitude) and RingTone II (…ringtone!) were also upgraded to 16 steps (they were just 8 in the previous versions, but you can activate as many as you want). Of course, each step has a knob that allows you to change the effect parameter for that single step – on the Wah and Ringotne, if you use a high resonance or really fast frequency modulation on some of the steps you can generate some actual notes your guitar isn’t playing.
Another new feature is the glissando knob, which controls how gradual the transactions from step to step is, while the rather sick Delta function (borrowed from their Sonar tremolo) also allows to ramp the speed up and down.
These pedals aren’t shipping yet, but I’m sure many creative guitarists will be ready to grab a couple of them when they are finally
on sale.
