Electro Harmonix Pitch Fork Pitch Shifter

Let me start stating that my sound is forged upon three axis: distortion, delay and pitch shifting. For that reason, I have tried, rented, used, purchased or currently own many, many pitch shifters since the 80?s, being witness of the evolution of pitch shifting, as technology evolved, since its very inception.

Today, I?ve got three points in the sound chain with pitch shifting, as follows: Boss PS3 & PS2 MIJ, Digitech Whammy (various incarnations, today the chromed limited edition), EH Slammi (now replaced by the pitch fork), Eventide Pitch Factor, Eventide Ultra Harmonizer, TC Electronic G Major 2 (pitching effects) and POD XT Pro (pitching effects).

So what?s with the Pitch Fork? Quality of sound is very modern, similar to the Slammi I might say, in particular if you do not overdo it. At 35% mix, is smooth and still natural. It handles gives you true bypass capabilities and polyphony with no issue, lags, delays or annoying shimmering, lows are reasonably "analog" sounding, and highs are sharp and not brittle. Loved it. I sincerely believe that, given the market status at present, sound quality is not open to debate. Same goes to building quality. If you ever work with EH small sized pedals, same standards will be found here. 100% capable of handling tours, gigs, rehearsal with the fellas and most certainly your bedroom studio rigors for the next 100 years.

What I would like to address here is my admiration on the design of this effect. Envisioning the ability to select octaves on programs that are based on harmonies (even getting a fantastic chorus effect for free!), the possibility to convert switching from latching to unlatching, the simplicity of controls and (to top it off marvelously!) the added flexibility of an expression pedal in, is difficult to overlook the genius in the concept.

As a tool, everything is inside, Tom Morello, Dimebag Darell, all the sounds are here. Just spend some time with the pedal and you will be flying in no time. If you are not concerned about real state in your pedalboard, adding an expression pedal is a MUST.

Only con? From my perspective, clearly none. This has everything a great effect should have, executed beautifully (damm, it even looks good!). All you need had been included in the price (AC adaptor included!) right from the box and sound, construction, handling and looks are irreproachable.

If you?re in the market for a pitch shifter in stomp ox format, look no further.

I bought this so I could use a whammy type of effect, although it does more than that.
So first of all, the sound. It's good, I've never tried the Whammy 1, so I don't know if it's better or worse but, having no reference, all I can say is that all octaves sound in tune, it tracks easily and the bending is continuous. No control for mixing in dual mode (as in the POG), only a blend knob that mixes dry and wet.
Harmonies sound good as well. No minor 3rd however, which might be a drawback for some.
the footprint is small, which is nice for crowded boards, and if you use an exp pedal you can put them apart in your board, which is also good.
Also, if you don't want/have an exp pedal, you can use momentary mode (it as a latch mode on/off switch) and you can calibrate the bending speed (by using an exp pedal, just for a one time calibration)
Very easy to use.
But pricey.
Pros: sound, small footprint, use of expression pedal, or momentary mode (which can be calibrated). Up/down/dual modes allows to choose the octave direction. Goes up to three octaves.
Cons: pricey (and extra if you want an expression pedal), so it becomes more expensive than a whammy. Doesn't allow to control the mix of the octaves independently.
4 stars because of the price, and the lack of octave mix.

I play a lot of different types of music. Switching between bands that play in E standard and E-flat standard used to be really annoying considering i mainly play with a guitar equipped with a floyd rose. This pedal immediately eliminated that pain considering I could now simply turn my pedal to m2 down and full wet signal. Sometimes I also play baritone, and would you look at that - P4 down full wet. What if I want to harmonize with myself Lizzy style? M3 up half blend. Really downtuned metal? P5 down full wet.

The intervals that this pedal provides are all very useful, and most importantly they sound great. I frequently plug in an expression pedal and use this pedal as a whammy, and even the 2 octaves up function doesn't sound digital or fake, as I think is the case with a lot of other pedals. This is a tool (1 octave and 2) that you can hear in many different types of music, and is certainly very useful and also a whole lot of fun.

Without an exp pedal the pitchfork is also very easy to use. The latch/non-latch option is very handy if you just want to use an effect for a short period.

Lastly, the interface is very intuitive, looks simple and it's easy to make the pedal do exactly what you want it to do. There is not a single thing that I think is "missing" or a feature that I would like have included. The amount of blend makes it so you can get very precise tones if you for example want a very subtle octave above what you're playing.

I strongly recommend this pedal to everyone because of its versatility, usability and sound.

I used many different guitar effects and I was always obsesed with pitchshifters or octave pedals. I used to have the digitech Whammy. The whammy is legendary and provides many different presets to play. My only wish was to add another mixed harmony wich the Whammy cant`t do it (for example: octave up and down).

The pitchfork is amazing. You get an awesome pedal which has many different ways of use. The great thing is you can dial in many different tones which can be use in up, down or dual mode. You can even mix your dry and wet which is great if you need just a bit highlight in the back or 100% wet octaves.

Great things is also latch or momentary switch.

I realy recomend the pedal to anyone.

I expected the tracking to not be great but's it much better than I thought it would be. Not gone on the upper octave (sound I mean), but that is personal taste. I use it mainly for the lower octaves and it is a great tool for any solo instrumentalist performers who are looping material. The intervals are cool enough but only in moderation, haven't found much practical use for them as a series or consecutive major 3rds for example doesn't really work, you'd need a mix of major and minor. Like the 9ths. Can be useful for transposing a key down as well. Good and useful pedal and worth the price I think. I wish EH pedals didn't sound so obviously EH, sorry if that sounds vague but I'm hearing that particular EH sound, particularly in the upper octaves everywhere now. Must be the tracking.

I tested the Pitch Fork with a Music Man Stingray Classic (standard tuning).

The Pitch Fork is built using the standard Electro Harmonix die-cast aluminium enclosures we all know. It is reasonably solid and I can't see any problem regarding its solidity for studio or live usage.

The controls are intuitive and well organised. The Blend knob sets the balance dry/wet allowing a good level of flexibility. The Shift knob sets the pitch shift interval. The manual, also available from the EHX web site explains in detail the wide amount of possible settings. The only things I would have liked to see is the presence of two separate knobs for dry and wet but it not a major point. I'm sure other users prefer a blend knob.

The tracking is perfect: it tracks without a glitch in total polyphony. On some settings, I noticed a little bit of latency but nothing terrible.

The range of available pitch shifts is huge. The Pitch Fork can go up (or down) 3 octaves. With guitar is a setting probably useful for communicating with dolphins but nevertheless it shows how flexible the Pitch Fork can be.
Although the pedal itself is a monster of flexibility, in my personal opinion, the tone itself is depressingly bad - at least with bass guitar.

The sonic artifacts are very noticeable. It is like there were a second note playing alongside the major one. A sort of small delay not too dissimilar from a reverb effect set to "room" and with an almost zero decay.

I didn't test the Pitch Fork with electric guitar. I hope that at higher frequencies, the sonic artifact disappears and the Pitch Fork performs better.

If you are a bass player that wants to experiment with pitch shift effects in the bedroom it is a great pedal. It has a lot of settings and it tracks great. However, if you plan to use it live or in a recording environment, I would be very surprised if it covered your needs with professional results.

this pedal comes with a very strong metal body like all the products from EHX. it's perfect as an octaver and the blend function allow you to find the perfect mix among the original sound of the instrument and the shifter. It has a lot of pitch possibilities, from minor 2 until 3rd octave, the switch allow you to hear only the upper register, or only the low register and with the middle position you can hear the upper and normal register. it is possible to use it like an expression pedal, holding the footswitch for all the time you want, or like a normal pedal On/Off. I use this product both on bass and guitar.