Strymon Lex

TOTAL GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2018
F
or most people, ‘rotary
speaker’ probably
instantly conjures up two
key sounds: Hendrix’s
clean tone in Little Wing , and his
guitar histrionics in cuts like
Machine Gun later in his career.
What’s interesting is that even
in the 60s, the Uni-Vibe phase
eff ect, which aimed to emulate
the sound of a rotating speaker,
was what he was using to
achieve those tones live. The
rotating speaker, most famously
the Leslie, generates a
fl uctuation in volume and in
pitch, which is why it bears more
than a passing similarity to the
sound generated by a phaser
pedal. From subtle vibrato
sounds to wild tremolo,
pedal-based emulations can
exceed what the original
physical machines could do, and
take the player into wholly new
sonic territory. We check out the
best modern off erings...
ROTARY SPEAKER PEDALS
104
A
lthough not as complicated as some
Strymon pedals, the Lex is still feature-
rich. It’s stereo, and best experienced in
that mode, as well as boasting an expression-
in, should you want more fi ne-grained control
over the vibrato speed. Without an expression
pedal, you have a knob for fast rotor speed,
and a footswitch to transition from slow to
fast. This footswitch also doubles as a tap, so
you can modify the speed on the fl y. There’s a
control for mic distance, which we didn’t fi nd
useful, but the horn (treble) and preamp drive
controls are excellent and facilitate a number
of diff erent timbres and tones.
A
lthough the Danelectro is the cheapest
of the options here, don’t let that fool
you. The sounds are solid, although the
control panel is limited and there’s a high
likelihood of hitting both footswitches at once
if you have big feet. The ramp footswitch
toggles between a faster and slower rotary
setting, and with the treble control pulled
back, we were able to fi nd a sweet spot of great
rotary sounds. There was some unfi ltered
noise on the test unit, and the manual states
you should expect switch pop on the fi rst fi ve
actuations every time it’s powered on. It’s a
shame, because the sounds are great.
Strymon
Lex
YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND
Danelectro
Big Spender
BIG SPINNER
£99
TH
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FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
£299
TGR310.gear_pedals.indd 104 16/08/2018 16:43