Electro-Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer Pedal

This thing is fun! Never had a problem with ElectroHarmonix products, and the Freeze is no different. But, beware acoustic players! You're not going to get a good acoustic sustain from this pedal. I use it, before the preamp on the signal chain, with a 12 string acoustic, and the sound I get out of this pedal is much more electronic than I hoped...it sounds like an organ, more than a guitar. But I've incorporated that into my sound, and still love it. Just be aware that you can't get a pure acoustic sustain from this pedal.I've played with this with my electrics as well, and I can't say enough about how fun it is. Sustain for miles! No problem with sound or anything else. Enjoy!Great job, EH!

I'll start this review by saying that I ended up returning this pedal, but before I get to that please read my thoughts. This is a one of a kind effect -- something really innovative that I can't believe has not come along until now.Basically you hit a chord or note while holding down the footswitch and it will drone out until you hit the footswitch again (or after a period of time, depending on the mode you're in). It's a really cool sound, especially for solo players who need to fill their sound out with ambiance and/or bass. I was able to knock out some really cool ambient tunes with this pedal right out of the gate and as I got the timing down I was able to get more fancy with the latching chord changes to really add a unique texture to the sound.If that's the kind of thing you're looking for, this is the pedal for you. For me, I am more into organic, simple sounds. To get the latched sound the EHX Freeze pedal does some digital magic to the chord or note to smooth it out. The sample taken by the pedal is very, very short, about 250ms by my estimation, which is then digitally altered to seamlessly loop the sound.For some sounds this works well, like clean notes and simple chords. For dirty or distorted sounds the drone can sound almost synth or organ like. Something like that could really work well if that's the sound you're after, it was just not my style.I cannot knock this pedal solely because it was not for me, but I can knock it for the footswitch. The first unit I got had a ridiculously loud click when the footswitch was engaged. I returned it for another which was much, much better in that regard. I guess EHX didn't have much choice in the switch they could use but I found it really distracting.So great pedal, especially if you're into the EHX POG or sort of sound. Not for you if you like more natural sort of sounds.

Very interesting pedal. I play guitar as a hobby in my music room at home. Therefore, I am always looking for pedals to 'fill in' for the lack of another guitarist or bass player or keyboard player. The Freeze serves as my back up keyboard player on certain songs. I certainly don't use it all the time like I do my other pedals like overdrive and fuzz. For example, I will strike a G minor bar chord and hit the Freeze. This gives you a very nice sustained G minor chord and it runs until you hit the switch on the Freeze a second time(if on latch mode which is what I use 95% of the time). Since it captures the note in a moment of time it really sounds more like a keyboard chord. Then I play a riff over it. For example my favorite song to play with the Freeze is Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond. I strike a G minor chord and freeze it (by pressing the switch on the pedal once). Then I play the intro riff. If you have pedals you can strike the chord clean or dirty and freeze it then change to another pedal and play over it. the possibilities are endless. In short this is not an essential pedal to have but if you are like me and play alone this pedal is a nice companion for certain songs. It is also a relatively quiet pedal or else it would have been returned immediately. I have no tolerance for hiss. My only criticism is that the switch is a little clunky. So when you press it you hear it click. The click is not amplified you just hear it under your foot. Not a deal breaker but something to improve in the next generations of the Freeze.

This is a neat pedal. It sustains one note. It's not a looper. It catches one note and sounds like an organ playing it. I put a vibe after it to give it some variance. It has a switch to select whether it plays only while you hold the switch, or until you hit the switch again and some other setting. When I first got this I thought it was really cool. A month later, I'm wondering what I need it for. Unless you've already got every pedal on Earth and you're bored, or you've got a $100 to blow and you're in rehab, this might be worthwhile. But if your planning on using it very much playing out, forget it. Save your money.