Hold that note!
Long sustaining notes on the verge of feedback were an ideal that required a certain amount of volume and gain to get consistent for your parts.
I opted for these types of tricks even though I had an E-Bow nearby if I wanted.
There was something primal about that loudness and going up to the cabinet speakers to push your guitar as close as possible.
Somehow that would give me more of that sound I craved.
E-Bow to Ego - EHX Super Ego that is.
There was a definite limitation to what was possible with the feedback tricks I used to relish. Eventually I tried using an e-bow more and more to maximize control and increase the possibilities.
With 2 modes to choose from, I opted for the higher pithed harmonic mode and practiced my fake violin style techniques. There was an interaction between the e-bow, the string, and ultimately the magnets in the pickups themselves. You would get a maximum dynamic when sliding over the pickups and it would spike easily if not careful.
I had gotten used to using an MXR Dyna Comp as an always on pedal and this style of effect obviously helped the spiking and reliability however a few central problems still existed:
The E-Bow is essentially monophonic, it is one note at a time. By nature, it cannot by itself do simultaneous multiple notes.
The E-Bow is handheld, slightly fragile device. I found it hard to switch between it and a pick in the same song let alone put it down quickly and securely.
These types of issues made me think there would always be limitations until someday, there weren’t any.
When EHX started offering Freeze devices with endless sustain, I had moved on and did not think about possibilities and improved technology. The Super Ego entered the picture and I was able to try it in a local guitar store. This singular box unlocked the concept I had in my head - play rhythm guitar parts with a sustaining synth pad as a layer underneath.
Now, I did not need to ask a keyboard player to do these simple parts, I had control over them first hand.
Or foot.
Definitely first foot.
Part of the fun of the Super Ego is to sustain a chord, of find a way to use the auto triggers to follow you through a proper chord progression. The biggest fun for me was to sustain that chord into other effects - maybe some fuzz but definitely some modulation and more.
Enter the FreqOut!
Digitech has made a number of amazing and coveted devices beyond just the Whammy or their Space Station. In recent years they have put out unique items like the FreqOut which essentially offered what the E-Bow offered for single note lines/sustain except with more overtone/harmonic options and a simple foot based control.
No more switching things with my hands, pick to E-Bow and back again for the rhythm riff. No fun as the BPMs click upward and much room for error live -
This would now become my single note fake Sustaniac from the pedalboard! If paired with the Super Ego, I would be really getting somewhere I figured and truly cover all my needs.
The variety of tone options has been great for dialing in a timbre specifically however a major detail I never see mentioned is that you can create controlled feedback in an ampless headphone only environment. To me, this seems to be a huge selling point for people looking to replicate feedback and such without an amp, possibly going direct into a DAW.
Personally, I would recommend using this pedal after a compressor in order to still maintain control over the rise/fall settings versus squash those dynamics.
An Added Feature!?
There are numerous pedals offering sustain and freeze features these days - the above groundbreaking devices have led the way for other companies to expand on the original concept and offer additional features based on the ways in which we combine our effects.
EHX took their SuperEgo+ to new heights of awesomeness with onboard additional effects to make for a worthy update. A basic frozen note could be rather static and most often a chorus, a phaser, or moving filter even would give that sound a texture the original SuperEgo alone could not. Additional stompswitches allow for a great amount of control to dial in your tones.
Delay and pitch focused pedals like the Red Panda Labs Particle 2 have a granular delay engine that incorporates the ability to freeze chords and notes - but to also have control over the grains themselves. Density controls and a multitude of modes incorporate Pitch and LFO aspects for a range of evocative spatial sounds. Aside from extensive delay options, time stretching effects, pitch shifting and granular effects - you get a robust freeze as well!
One of the most fun and deconstructive of the newer devices released in 2020 is the Hologram Electronics Microcosm. By deconstructive, I am saying you can play into it and be able to predictably, controllably get something you would never have had access to previously. The closest I may have come was running a Chase Bliss Audio Mood into a Boss MD-500 Slicer and reverb mixed to taste. All that and it still has a 60 second looper that can work independent of its phrase sampler, which itself acts a bit like a freeze/sustain.
How deep did you want to go?
Additional products have entered the market that allow even deeper control of effects, in fact - you build them one virtual circuit at a time.
Empress Zoia and Poly Effects Digit/Beebo offer extensive control even if its a learning curve - the rewards will be abundant. There is much to say about both devices but a key take away if that they both offer freeze/sustain/granular effects with a massive amount of options and controls.
Think of them as digital modular synths; as their own unique environments that still play nice with other effects.
More to come on these with future posts!