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We interrupt what would be an otherwise boring article on not much of anything to tell you something worth knowing. The super human team of pedal developers Electro-Harmonix have as of recently contributed to the world the new Switchblade+ channel selecting pedal.
While the Switchblade+ is a new pedal it is not the first of its kind, but rather the successor to EHX’s previous Switchblade channel selector.
People that enjoy employing multiple resources to manipulate their tone such as amps or pedals have the most obvious benefit. To make that end meet the Switchblade+ offers two separate outputs cunningly labeled A and B. By the powers of the additional foot switch you can activate both A and B channels at once.
To contribute to the cause even more so the Switchblade+ features a designated output jack for a tuner. To add to the convenience the tuner jack is hardwired directly to the input jack providing you with maximum direct output regardless of the state of the unit. And for all of your knowing what channel needs there is not one, but two LED lights to keep you in the know of what’s going on.
For what it’s worth the Switchblade+ is powered by a 9 volt battery (one of which is included, (presumably an EHX brand battery)) or a power supply (not included, though EHX also has those available too if you’re picky about your power supplies). The purpose of power is very limited however. All audio in the Switchblade+ is passive so the biggest sacrifice you make when you bail on power is the LED lights won’t turn on and look all pretty for you anymore. You can still use the pedal to switch between channels as you see fit.
Now I’m going to take a slight detour to compare the new Switchblade+ to the original Switchblade. Should you be curious on your potential investments, considering an upgrade, or just plain interested then perhaps this will contribute to the cause. No doubt there will be a price difference between the two, so it becomes a wants vs. needs situation. The design of the Switchblade+ is a Nano chassis that has been turned 90 degrees with all input and output jacks along the top long side, so it may offer more convenience to some pedal boards depending on how you have it set up.
The original Switchblade is built in a stock EHX Nano chassis and has one input with two outputs. The foot switch only permits you to select A or B independently. While I have read details on a few websites (primarily online stores) citing the original Switchblade to using a 9 volt battery to power it EHX’s own web site states that it requires no such power supply and given the lack of LED lights I can’t imagine it needing power for much of anything, especially if it has a similar passive audio design to the Switchblade+ so I’m going to assume EHX is more accurate and that it doesn’t need power.
Tiptoeing back on the topic of the Switchblade+ it is scheduled to ship late in November. Seeing as to how it’s already late November with just over a week left in the month you can expect a mini-update to this article when that happens. Currently the list price of $63.20 has also been announced.
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