Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Pedal Review

Long-Term Evaluation

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While a guitar pedal the emulates a whammy bar may not seem like something that FutureMusic would be interested in evaluating in a long-term review, this isn’t any guitar pedal. It’s made by Gamechanger Audio. And when you name yourself “game changer,” you better deliver the goods. Well, after five different reviewers put their new Bigsby Pedal to the test, we can tell you, Gamechanger lived up to its name.

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If you’re not familiar with Gamechanger Audio, they’re one of the most innovative music companies to have emerged from the former Soviet Bloc and they continually offer products that not only push the limits of technology, but also the imagination. Case in point, their plasma distortion pedal, which takes a traditional guitar effect and rams it through Frankenstein’s Laboratory just for yuks. The ideas may seem crazy, but they’re crazy musical.

But When Your Name Is Gamechanger…

For those not intimately familiar with the Bigsby vibrato arm or Whammy Bar, it was invented in 1951 by Paul Bigsby and has been a part of the rock guitar paradigm ever since. Just watch Eddie Van Halen use it to great effect on arguably the greatest solo of all time, Eruption. The Bigsby system was a spring-loaded arm that attached to the bridge on a guitar and altered the tension of all six strings at once. By maneuvering the arm up and down, either fast or slow, a guitarist could achieve wild bends and vibrato effects.

NOTE: The Bigsby system, and others like it, are often mislabeled as a tremolo effect. This is actually incorrect, since tremolo is a modulation effect that creates a change in volume. A Bigsby is a change in pitch, which is a vibrato effect.

Paul “I can build anything” Bigsby was a genuine genius and graduated from his humble beginnings as a mechanic for Crocker Motorcycles to create all types of innovative musical instruments. According to the Bigsby website, Paul’s instruments became suddenly popular and he struggled to meet the demand since each instrument was built on a custom basis and he made every part himself. Making matters even more complicated, the Bigsby Vibratos became wildly successful and took up more and more of his time.

By 1965, Paul’s health was deteriorating and he decided to sell the company to Gibson guitars who purchased the Bigsby name and all of Paul’s remaining inventory. Bigsby passed away just two years later in 1968. In 1999, the Gretsch Company bought Bigsby from Gibson and oversaw the brand until it was sold to Fender in 2019.

Although Gamechanger developed the Bigsby pedal primarily under their own roof, Fender did work with them throughout the process to provide valuable feedback. In fact, even before Gamechanger started building the first prototype, they pitched the idea to Fender, who not only green-lighted the project, but also provided a healthy dose of encouragement and enthusiasm for the endeavor. Fender then consulted Gamechanger on the pedal’s mechanical design and assisted in fine-tuning the pedal’s sound.

You can tell instantly that this is a Gamechanger product by the build-quality. “It’s outstanding.”

That said, you can tell instantly that this is a Gamechanger product by the build-quality. “It’s outstanding.” In fact, it’s one of the best built guitar pedals we’ve ever encountered. Every component, which we’ll get to in short order, is world-class. But let’s focus initially on the signature feature, the articulating pedal. The original Bigsby had a very identifiable aesthetic with a thick, stainless steel arm and a large spring. Gamechanger adroitly translated that design into their pedal with a large, chrome plated “number 7” pedal, attached to a thick rocker arm that sits on a substantial spring. The actual pedal can not only move down, but also up to create pitch shifts in a forward direction. While our guitarists noted that a foot pedal cannot hope to compete with the supple gestures or nuances from wrist articulation, with practice “you’d be surprised what you can evoke from the Bigsby pedal.” You can thank Gamechanger’s painstaking approach to getting the balance right between the “7” and the spring to achieve the same bounce and rebound that the original possessed.

Close-Up Of The Bigsby’s Spring

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Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Specifications:

• Input Type: 1/4″ Unbalanced TS
• Input impedance: 1MΩ
• Maximum input level: 9 dBu
• Output type: 1/4″ Unbalanced TS
• Output impedance: 100 Ω
• Maximum output level: 9 dBu
• Expression Input Type: 1/4″ Unbalanced TRS (Exp out) / 1/4″ Unbalanced TS (FSW in)
• Input impedance (ring): 100 kΩ
• Output impedance (tip): 220 Ω
• Max input level: 20 dBu
• Max output level: 20 dBu
• MIDI Connector: 3.5 mm TRS (mini jack), Type-B
• Optically isolated input, RF filtered
• Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz (±1 dB)
• Signal to noise ratio: 90 dB (A weighted)
• Operating temperature: 0º to 50º C
• Power Supply Connector: 9V DC, center negative 2.1 x 5.5 mm plug
• Input voltage: 9V DC / Input current: 220 mA
• Power consumption: 2 W
• Product Dimensions: WLH 220 x 110 x 86 mm (8.6 x 4.3 x 3.3 in)
• Product Weight: 960 g (2.11 lb)

There’s one thing that you won’t be contending with from the Gamechanger pedal that you would have to with the original Bigsby — tuning issues. While the original was able to achieve that identifiable twang by manipulating the bridge, it did have a tendency to pull the strings out of tune after a while. No such problem with the Gamechanger, since it employs several proprietary algorithms fueled by a high-performance SHARC chip to create polyphonic pitch bends that sound “remarkable.”

Gamechanger even created an a Detune feature to emulate the discordant characteristics the original Bigsby produced. With all the DSP (Digital Signal Processing), you’d think that the pedal would sound sterile and mechanical, but every one of our reviewers touted how “musical” the pedal sounded “without any ugly artifacts.” Truth is, Gamechanger dedicated a significant amount of research and development to emulate the original’s sound authentically. Here’s what they had to say about its development: “The Detune parameter is an emulation of the non-linear nature in which an actual Bigsby vibrato system detunes the strings. Since all strings have a different tension, but are mounted on a shared rotating axis, the amount of note detune varies for each string. Therefore, measuring and modeling this relative string detune offset was a crucial element for capturing the Bigsby sound. For other applications, such as larger whammy-style pitch-shifts, you can turn the Detune Parameter off and get precise polyphonic interval changes, as expected from a digital shifter.”   Even better, the digital processing allows the user to modulate all these glorious pitch-bending parameters via MIDI, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

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On the top of the pedal are three thick and robust rotary knobs that are cleverly embedded into the chassis so they will never get knocked off. Each contain internal LED lights to indicate their status – denoted by red or white illumination – which is toggled by a Select button on the top of the pedal. The main white functions are Rate, Blend and Depth, the red are Detune, Tone and Depth II. The Depth specifies the bend range of the pedal from 0 to 12 semitones. Thus, when the knob is not illuminated, the range is zero, but when fully rotated, and at the brightest setting, the amount of bend is a full octave. Blend has a dual function. It adds the Dry signal to the mix as you turn it up, which in turn creates a Chorus effect. Since the harmonics are digitally controlled, the result is tuned and musical. Rate can add a nice tremolo to the pitch bends and can be synced to MIDI clock. You can set a precise amount or rotate the knob all the way up for Auto Mode. Auto Mode also ignites a more pronounced Chorus effect when turning up the Blend.

Inverting the knobs – red mode – enhances each one of the functions. For Depth, red adjusts the pitch only of upward pitch shift value. Tone is an EQ of sorts that you can deploy based on the frequency range of the input. For bass material, turning the Tone all the way down will shave off the high frequencies for a darker, more muted sonic signature. Ratcheting the Tone knob up, will act like a sonic maximizer, boosting the high frequencies, which is more suitable for brightening guitar and synth sounds. Red Detune, as mentioned above, provides a more unpredictable “out of tune” effect and can even sound like tape warble, if pushed. Considering the fact that there are dedicated pedals for this effect alone, our reviewers thought this was “a hidden talent” of the Bigsby, and added “even more value.”

But Wait, There’s More…

The Bigsby can also be used as an expression pedal — at the same time it’s being used as a pitch shifter. So the Bigsby can effectively control another pedal, while simultaneously modulating the pitch. Of course, if you just wanted to use it as a standalone Expression pedal you can do that as well, and Gamechanger allows you to modify the Direction, Range and Offset in the Settings menu. If that wasn’t enough, the Bigsby can also be put into Latch mode with an external footswitch. This is a huge feature, if you want to hold a particular pitch shift without having to hold down the pedal for extended periods.

As mentioned previously, the Bigsby has full MIDI implementation. Now most technically savvy guitarists will simply utilize this functionality to save presets – ten slots are available. Although, our reviewers found it to work as advertised, it’s not for the faint of heart and we’re afraid many “Just give me three knobs on my stompbox” folks won’t use them.

That said, Gamechanger does give you the ability to fully automate the Bigsby with a DAW and MIDI controllers, which opens up an exciting new world for this effect. In fact, by manipulating various parameters at once, you can “achieve insane pitch-bending – chorus effects that are synced to your track’s BPM.”

Almost every parameter can be modulated, either by a program change or CC messages so you’re only limited by your imagination and understanding of MIDI. One of our reviewers found that employing the Bigsby with her Eowave Quadrantid Swarm breathed new melodic life into the synth. In fact, by manipulating the pitch via MIDI, you can turn any drone synthesizer into a melodic wall of sound. The developers at Bigsby were well aware of the potential of the Bigsby Pedal with MIDI: “The Bigsby’s polyphonic pitch shifting algorithm is quite a powerful beast, and we simply wanted to give a full control over all parameters to those who wish to use it to the max in a studio or live electronic setting!”

Conclusion

If you couldn’t tell by now, this is one incredible pedal that was adored by our reviewers for this long-term test. And Gamechanger certainly lives up to its name with the Bigsby. In a world where $700 guitar pedals are suddenly the norm, and Expression pedals alone are going for over $150, we haven’t encountered a pedal that can do this much for $379. Whether you’re a guitarist, a keyboardist, a sound designer or a live performer who wants to modulate your sound in exciting new ways, the Gamechanger Bigsby pedal is a must. Highly Recommended.

Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Rating: 100%

 Gamechanger Audio’s Bigsby costs $379.

The Future: All our testers loved is how Gamechanger translated the traditional Bigsby design aesthetic to the pedal. They also felt the Bigsby is “one of those guitar pedals that you’ll never sell, since it can do so much.” That said, a couple felt that the rubber feet could be more robust, since it had a tendency to creep on solid floors.

For less technically inclined musicians, Gamechanger may want to think about adding five mechanical preset buttons onto the Bigsby, maybe just to the right of the Select button, so that users who don’t have an understanding of MIDI could select and save their favorite sounds directly onto the pedal. A single quick press to Select a preset and a simple Press and Hold to save would be an effective solution. The Select button could even act as a shift while held to turn the five buttons into ten slots.