Tone Report Weekly Issue 110 | Page 16

ELECTRO-HARMONIX AMBITRON True story: The Ambitron was originally designed by Howard Davis (see also: Man, Deluxe Memory) not as a pedal, but as a way to play his mono LPs in stereo. Not much is known about the Ambitron’s true sound because they’re rarer than a fiveleaf clover, but when Howard Davis wants to design something, he accomplishes it. That said, the Ambitron works by splitting the signal into two identical copies, then delaying the second one. The controls on the Ambitron apply to the second signal, with the Delay control providing the delay range and the High Rolloff knob slightly decreasing the fidelity to accomplish the “vinyl feel” of the delayed signal. The Ambience knob is a mystery, but the writing is on the wall for the Ambitron: it’s a genuinely confounding box. 16 TONE TALK // Uncloned Melody: 9 Boxes that Sound like Nothing Else