Electro-Harmonix blurst

If you think that autowah or sci-fi filter sweeps are missing from your guitar sound, you’ll like this…

While there are some newer pedal manufacturers out there, such as EarthQuaker Devices, gaining a great reputation for quirkier pedals, let us not forget that EHX have been doing it since the 1970s, and continue to do so. The Blurst is a fine example of one of their more off-the-wall pedals offering an element of analogue synth-style filter sweep.

What you get in technical terms is a low pass filter that’s controlled by an internal oscillator rather than by an instrument’s dynamics, which is more common and is found in Mutron-style envelope filters or autowahs. That oscillator has a choice of three waveforms (triangle, rising sawtooth and falling saw-tooth) that determine how your filter sounds (think of whether it goes ‘wow’ or ‘ow’) and the rate at which it does this is set by a knob or by the Tap Tempo footswitch, which has three divisions (quarter note, dotted eighth or triplet). Besides these, the Resonance knob sets how peaky your filter sweep sounds, while a Range knob sets the filter’s frequency range so you can have sharp trebly or dull bass-heavy.

The Blurst will deliver familiar synth sounds with quite a range of variations, as well as rhythmic autowah, but the waveform undulations can also yield the sort of warbly effects you might get from a fast rotary speaker or a phaser, not to mention percussive stutter effects and 1950s SF movie raygun blasts.

The fixed speed LFO ensures repetitive rhythmic stuff for sure, but if you fancy more than just a static effect, plug in an expression pedal for foot control over the Rate, Range or Filter – probably the most expressive of the three offering close to a conventional wah. If it all sounds a bit OTT (and you yearn for a bit more subtlety), the Blend knob ensures you can add just a touch of effect to your dry sound.

verdict

Tap tempo makes this a very practical pedal if you need to get effects in time with the band. Whether they are the sort of effects you’d want is your call, but there is loads here for anyone looking to stray from the norm.

Pros LFO-swept resonant filter in a guitar pedal, tap tempo and expression pedal add practicality cons Will filter you to silence on certain settings