The Pinwheel Rotary Speaker Emulator Pedal Review

Mixed emotions

Great construction. Good Leslie simulation. The dynamic switch I don't like too much, just leave it off or else you get unexpected and hardly controllable sounds. The instructions are the worst of any pedal I have ever bought. The sound though is ok. It has decent sound and a good true bypass. $ is a bit steep for this pedal

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Omg!!

I've always loved the sound of a Leslie combined with the guitar! I've actually played through the real deal and was completely seduced by the sound. Over the years I've tried a handful of pedals but nothing ever compared to the real thing. In recent years pedal technology has come so far and they finally got these into the ballpark. I read so many reviews and listen to so many… read more demos on YouTube that I feel like I finally found a pedal in my price range that would do the job. This thing is just fantastic! It doesn't color the sound in a negative way but it does add a bit of mid-range which is easy to overcome if you don't like it. The two features that sold me on this pedal are the drive feature which just adds a bit of break up like a Leslie speaker being over driven. It's not at all like a typical overdrive where you get a ton of sustain and harmonics. And the other control is the sensitivity control where if he hit it lightly the speed ramps down and the harder you hit it the speed will ramp up. Very sensitive and very reactive to my picking touch. If you're at all on the fence about a a Leslie simulator, check this pedal out! While they're kind of pricey they're still not in the area of the Neo Mini Vent or Mini Vent II and I think that they do a comparable job. Thanks to Pat and the staff at Sweetwater for another fantastic transaction!

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Great pedal!

This thing has been in constant rotation since I got it. I play guitar through it and mostly use an expression pedal to control the speed. I really like this pedal. If I had my wishes this pedal would have a mix or blend knob. Maybe that's not necessary for a rotory pedal but I'd like to use it to add movement and color but it's all or nothing with this thing. It's still fantastic.… read more It's my first rotary pedal outside of a Rotovibe(tone-suck) I had years ago. I'm no expert and rarely leave my house let alone play anywhere so take it for what it is...A great if overpriced pedal that I really enjoy.

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Fender Pinwheel Rotary Emulator

This pedal sounds great, and all three rotary emulators are distinct, and usable. The drive setting is a really nice addition--I prefer this built-in drive to running the pedal clean with a gain pedal in front of it. So well-done, Fender. The brake pedal works well, and I like how I can customize the speed of both the slow and fast settings, as well as the speed of the transition… read more ("ramp" knob) between the two. The "sensitivity" knob is interesting in theory, but in practice, I find myself not using it (I've had this pedal for a week now). The reason is that you have to find the exact sweet spot to differentiate between your soft and hard playing. That in and of itself is not hard to do. However, as soon as you change anything about your input signal, you need to recalibrate that knob. For example, using your guitar's volume knob will then require an adjustment of the sensitivity knob, as will engaging any pedals earlier in your signal chain that in any way alter the strength of the input signal (i.e., any pedal with a volume or gain control). I enjoyed this feature for a few minutes until I realized how much time I was spending fiddling with that knob. If you are in a situation in which your input signal will be consistent whenever you use the Pinwheel, you will probably set the sensitivity knob once and be happy with it. I want to play at different volumes, so it's not worth the fuss for me. It's kind of a bonus feature, so I don't mind it not panning out for me because the pedal sounds great. The only real shortcoming of the pedal is the LED. Wow is that thing bright. As soon as I plugged it in, I saw spots for a minute. It's now covered in two layers of blue masking tape, and it's still too bright. I'm going to try the other reviewer's suggestion and get some nail polish.

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Fender Pinwheel

This is brand new from Fender, so I guess I'm the first to write about it. I was initially looking at the Lester G but stumbled upon this. When Sweetwater had a demo, I figured I'd save a few bucks and go for the newest technology. I really like the effect. It's the only pedal I'm using on a new AC15 two 12 i also got from sweetwater. It didn't take long to find my favorite settings.… read more What I especially like is the Sens dial, which senses how much you want the effect to kick in based on how hard or soft you're picking or chording. also the fast/slow brake button is nice. on slow you can stay above and below the effect. this enables you to keep it kicked in. the only negative is the friggin' green indicator light (or should I say lamp or spotlight). while you can turn off the LED lights on the knobs, not the green indicator. I'm thinking of doubling it as a nightlight for the hallway. my buddy came up with a solution...a dab of nail polish to dim it down. fender are you listening? other than that small minus, i'm digging it. didn't try the Lester G, but like i said, i kinda went for the latest...

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