HardWire™ High Voltage Operation

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HardWire™ High Voltage Operation With the high-output pickups found on some electric guitars, it’s not unusual to hear clipping when playing through an effects pedal. This occurs when the voltage range produced by a guitar’s pickup is greater than the operating voltage of the effects pedal – normally limited to the voltage supplied by the effect’s battery or power supply. HardWire pedals incorporate special circuitry that increases the operating voltage “headroom” above that of the typical pedal. As such, HardWire pedals benefit a wider range of guitars and are also at home in an amplifier’s effects loop.
	HardWire™ True Bypass Serious musicians are highly selective in their guitar and amp choices. After all, it’s the foundation of their tone. Adding effects to their signal chain is done with great care and consideration. And when they turn off an effects pedal, they need to know it’s not creating undesirable noise or coloring the unique character of their tone. In a true bypass pedal, the signal passes straight through the box when the effect is bypassed (Figure 1). When it’s on, it’s on. When it’s off, it’s off. All HardWire pedals feature true bypass.
HardWire™ Constant Voltage Output Guitarists know that battery-powered effects typically perform their best with a fresh battery. As the voltage of the battery decreases, effects can become gritty and distorted. With HardWire pedals, the same circuitry that boosts the voltage also keeps it constant throughout the life of the battery. From sound check to the final bow, HardWire pedals perform flawlessly.

HardWire Review in the Guitarist Magazine

HARDWIRE STRIKES GOLD
25th September '08

Four Guitarist awards for the new Digitech Hardwire Pedals
"...excellent sound quality, bomb proof build and sensible prices".

The October Issue of Guitarist magazine includes an amazing review of the latest pedals from Digitech, the Hardwire Series of stomp-boxes. Most importantly 3 receive the Guitarist Choice award (for excellent, highly recommended buys), the TL-2 Metal Distortion, CM-2 Tube Overdrive and the RV-7 Stereo Reverb. The Guitarist Gold award (5 stars in all categories earns this rare award) is presented to the DL-8 Delay/Looper.

With HardWire, Digitech ushers in a new standard for pedal performance - and a new category: Extreme Performance Pedals. Created especially for experienced players who demand perfection, HardWire represents the first pedals that rock as hard as their users do. Everything about HardWire is designed for the performer and the performance, making them a leap ahead of traditional pedals. Boasting meticulous craftsmanship, superior technology and true innovation, HardWire gets every detail right. HardWire pedals feature true bypass and high voltage operation, as well as extra-rugged construction and a slew of innovative attributes designed to enhance live performance.

"Every Hardwire pedal comes with a chunky rubber attachment called a Stomplock. This fits snugly over the whole row of controls, meaning you'll never lose your favourite settings. Another couple of useful accessories are also included: a large pedalboard-ready Velcro pad and a luminous sticker which fits the footswitch".

TL-2 Metal Distortion
"The bright, preset sound of the pedal in 'tight' mode is ideal for a wide range of metal sounds, whether your tastes lie in old-school NWOBHM, eighties thrash or a more modern seven string variety'. "The 'loose' position on the voicing switch opens up a whole new world of grunge and stoner rock and these are our favourite sounds. Despite the generous amount of gain available, there's no issue with extraneous noise".

CM-2 Tube Overdrive
"Within a couple of minutes of plugging in, we know this is our favourite of the new hardwire distortion/overdrive pedals. It does some of the best TS808-alike tones we've heard, although the EQ controls allow for much more tonal variation". "TS-style pedals often 'suffer' from a lack of bass response, but this really isn't a problem with the CM-2: however, the 'modified' mode is ideal for giving single-coil pickups a helping hand".

RV-7 Stereo Reverb
"The sound quality of the Hardwire range is most evident here, where the reverbs have a clarity and detail not normally found in stomp-boxes. With the stereo ins and outs, the RV-7 isn't limited solely to guitar use-the sound quality is easily good enough for use in a compact home studio".

DL-8 Delay/Looper
"Again, the sound quality is excellent, and the DL-8 is perfect for a player who needs a variety of delay effects without the complexity of a rack unit or multi-effects system. For live use, the footswitch can be used as a tap tempo switch, simply by holding it down for three seconds prior to setting the tempo. Using the looper function is equally user-friendly, simply hold down the pedal to record, release to play back the loop".

The final Guitarist verdict? "We've seen plenty of cool boutique stompboxes over the past few years, many of them with simply amazing sounds, but how many of player scan afford to pay those prices? The solid build quality here however, is an instant winner for gigging guitarists, the extra accessories are a nice touch and the prices are well within most people's budgets. Of course, none of this would mean a thing if the sounds weren't up to scratch, and there's a great range of top tones here...all of the pedals in the range are easily capable of taking on the competition, boutique or not".

Also available now are the HT2 Hardwire Chromatic Tuner. To read the full review, pick up the October Issue (Issue 308) of Guitarist.