French pedal brand Keyztone has developed a speciality in pickup-modeling pedals, allowing players to expand their tonal options without breaking out the soldering iron. Now it has announced its most ambitious stompbox yet: the Exchanger PRO.
The new pedal offers an array of tones based around eight pickup families, allowing the user to convert the sound of their existing electric guitar pickups.
Preset options include classic single-coil, hot rails, modern humbucker, vintage single coil, P90, ’50s-style humbucker, rockabilly (think Gretsch Filter’Tron-style tones) and metal humbucker settings. A central knob selects the pickup family engaged by the footswitch and an LED indicator clearly shows your choice.
You can also fine-tune the resonance and frequency of each pickup type using the Tweak control knob and adjust the level appropriately. Any adjustments can be saved to the pickup preset by pushing down the pickup selector dial. There’s also a Midi In connection to allow remote control of the pedal.
Keyztone has form in this sort of thing, having previously produced the ReKoil pedals – which offered players the option to ‘convert’ their humbuckers to single-coils, or vice versa, depending on their preference – and this pedal’s predecessor, the EXchanger.
For those who want the flexibility without the pedal, the pickup world is enjoying a period of innovation, with a host of new modular and interchangeable designs hitting the market, including the recently announced Organic Pickups You series.
The EXchanger Pro is set to retail for $249 usually, but currently has a launch offer of $215. Head to Keyztone’s website for more information.
