List Price - $279.99
Street Price - $199.99

Having spent my younger years with numerous pedals between my guitar and amp, I still keep an eye out for cool effects. While browsing through a local music store I happened to see the much publicized Digitech EX-7. As I read the information regarding the pedal I became intrigued and was lucky enough to have the shop loan me the pedal for the weekend. (Thanks Fazio's Music - www.faziosmusic.com)

The Digitech Expression Factory is a very rugged pedal; it is made from metal and has a faux carbon fiber finish. There are four knobs on top of the device, three of which are stacked potentiometers, more about theses later. On the left wall of the pedal there are two inputs: input and a footswitch input for the optional FS3X footswitch. On the right side are two output jacks, on for the amplifier and another for going direct to a mixer although this input can be changed via their Flexible Output Mode.

The Flexible Output Mode lets the user change this output jack from a single mono send to a double mono send, a stereo mixer mode or a stereo amplifier mode. Very flexible.

The pedals the Digitech EX-7 models are the Dunlop® Cry Baby, Vox® Clyde McCoy Wah, Digitech® XP300 Space Station, Digitech ® Whammy, Unichord Uni-Vibe, Leslie® 147 Rotary Speaker and the A/DA® Flanger.

Before I venture further I should mention that each preset has three control knobs, these change to be useful for each effect. Earlier I mention that these were stacked potentiometers, the other three knobs control the distortion functions. I will address this later.

As you would imagine the wah models recreate the pedals listed above. The unique feature that the EX-7 offers to these is the opportunity to tweak the frequency range and Q (shape) of each; letting you create whining wahs, to the great funk wah sounds of 60s and 70s television and movies. I dug the ability to really dial in a great wah tone.

Next Digitech decided to recreate itself; they utilized the Digitech Space Station Synth Swell. I believe the manual states it best: "The Synth Swell packs an entire outer-space string orchestra into your guitar". This was an interesting effect to use, not one I would normally use, but in a group setting it would have some nice uses. This is the only effect my wife commented on (my studio is located in the basement of my home), and she said, "That one that made your guitar sound like a keyboard was pretty cool." By tweaking the pitch shift and chorus/pitch balance you can get some fun sounds.

The next effect is the famed Digitech Whammy. Yes now you too can have that Rage Against the Machine feel in your soloing and single note lines. You can choose the pitch range to vary from 2nd up, M3rd up, 5th up, Octave up, @ octaves up, Octave up and Down, or reverse 2 Octaves down. This is fun for harmonies, pitch bends, detuning, etc.

The fifth model of the Digitech EX-7 is the Unichord Uni-Vibe. Now I must say this is the effect that knocked my socks off. I have always loved the Uni-vibe and running this pedal via humbuckers through my mid-seventies Music Man 210 65 gave me chills. The tone was huge and fat. The effect was full and lush. Either a chorus or vibrato effect are available like the original unit offered, both were very pleasing. The treadle controlled the modulation speed and when it was rocked all the way back it bypassed the effect.

Next is the Leslie 147 Rotary Speaker. I liked this model, but the aspect I enjoyed the most was the drive control giving the player the opportunity to dirty up the sound. This setting was also lush and full. I like that you can set the minimum speed of the rotating speaker to be associated with the treadle in the toe up position.

The last, but definitely not least, effect the Digitech Expression Factory emulates is the A/DA Flanger. Yes, not only do you get the swirling effects of the Leslie and Uni-Vibe, you also get the famed jet airplane flyby. The treadle controls the sweep of the flanger effect.

The Digitech EX-7 Expression Pedal offers quite a number of pedals for the price. Each effect sounds great, is easily tweakable and very useable. But that isn't all you get, there are also a slew of built in distortion boxes.

The distortion boxes provided include the Ibanez TS-9, DOD Overdrive 250, Boss DS-1, ProCo Rat, Boss Metal Zone, Digitech Metal Master, EH Big Muff Pi. Each distortion is modeled with a specific amplifier and cabinet to offer that ideal tone. The cool thing is that with each modulation effect you can select and save a distortion to go along with it. The treadle has a second switch in the heel that lets you choose the "effect + distortion" mode. My favorite combination what eh Uni-vibe with the Big Muff PI distortion; it was the fattest tone, gnarliest tone I have ever played; I dare say it was larger than life.

Now only being able to select the effects via the rotary knob on the far right of the instrument was a little discouraging. I don't know about everyone else but there isn't always time to switch knobs between or during songs. That brings me to the aforementioned optional FS3X footswitch; this controller lets you more easily switch between modes and presets making switching on the fly possible, although there are no read-outs as to what effect you are on.

Overall I really liked the pedal; the tones sounded great and were very useable.

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