Hello everyone! I'm starting a new series here about some musician related gear, both my own gear and gear that I don't own but I find interesting. In this case it's a pedal I own and it's called Morpheus Drop Tune. This one is a great pedal but unfortunately it was discontinued. You can still find it on ebay, or you can buy a similar pedal from other brands (Digitech for example).
Here's some of the specs:
- Polyphonic pitch-dropping effects pedal
- Drop tune up to 3-1/2 steps in 1/2-step decrements
- Full octave drop and octaver
- Latching Effect On/Off switch
- Momentary Down and Toggle/Up switches
- Bright backlit Drop Tune, Octave, Octaver, Toggle, and Effect indicators
- Rear panel Input Level control with front panel LED level display
- In, Out, and power supply jacks (power supply comes included)
- Rugged cast-metal chassis
Description from the brochure:
This is cool. The Morpheus DropTune lets you instantly drop the tuning of your entire guitar — no need to deal with tuning instability, floppy string buzz, super-heavy strings, or buying another guitar. By engaging the Morpheus DropTune, you can drop your tuning in 1/2-step decrements... all the way up to 3-1/2 steps. Plus, there's a full octave and octaver onboard. Best yet, Morpheus' patented algorithm keeps your tone harmonically accurate, with all of those overtones you'd expect. You've got to try DropTune out for yourself.
I have this pedal practically since it came out, a few years back, and I've been using it quite extensively, so I know it's ins and outs very well. This pedal usually is the first one in your effects chain, right after your guitar. And it only works for guitar! It has to take it's clean signal and do it's magic from there. You just plug your guitar in the Guitar In input and use the dial called Trim Level to regulate the input signal coming from your guitar. In the top of the pedal you can check your Input Level and dial the trim up to a point that, if you strum really hard, the indicator rarely goes to yellow. Don't let it go to red!
Now on the Line Out (in the back) you plug the cable that goes to the front of your amp (or to any effects that you have in front of your amp). In the front of the pedal you just press the Down button as many time as you need to drop the tuning for as many half steps as you wish, press the On button and the magic happens! ^^
Included is a 12V power supply and also a USB port to update the firmware, although it might be very difficult or even impossible to find any kind of firmware for this pedal, considering it has been discontinued and the official website doesn't exist anymore.
No matter how much you drop from your original tune, no matter how many strings and notes you play at the same time, this pedal always sounds nice and keeps your tone harmonically and tonally correct, just like it says in the product's description. But not everything is perfect. First of all, you notice a slight decrease in output. And don't go running to the Trim Level and increase it, because it won't do a thing to the output... You'll have to compensate with a light boost in volume with a booster pedal (or an overdrive) or compensate in your amp's settings (Gain, for example). Another thing I noticed is that when strumming a chord, the lower pitch note seems to fade away a little too quickly compared to all the others, but this too can be compensated by hitting the lowest pitch string more deliberately. You get used to the technique very quickly, or at least I have. But then again, harmonically and tonally everything is always correct, so you'll never get/feel out of tune because of the pedal. These are very minor quirks that if you know them, you'll find a way to compensate for them very easily and have great fun and make a good use out of this fantastic pedal. If you have the chance to try one, do it, and you won't be disappointed.