EarthQuaker Devices The Depths Optical Vibe Machine

Some pedals are great at doing one thing, and one thing only. It’s usually quite specific, and they’re not trying to do anything but the ONE thing they’re great at. The Depths from EarthQuaker Devices is NOT one of those pedals, as it can perform many effect functions, with ease and sounding great in the process. Chorus, vibrato, rotary speakers, phasers and more – this pedal has got your needs more than covered.

Intensity starts us off in the control knob section, and it does precisely what it says, lightening or amplifying the effects to your taste. Rate controls the overall speed of the pedal, from a super-slow sonic crawl, all the way up to a blistering inferno of speed, working with the other controls to produce some far-out sounds. Level is a nice addition to any vibe-type pedal, as some tend to be real volume suckers, but the Depths lets you control the boost and total volume level of the pedal.

Voice is a cool knob, and works as a kind of EQ, but not exactly. Instead of a typical low/high EQ, this knob goes from a thin and sharp but faint tone up to a deep, lush and organic sound, plus a multitude of sounds in between. Voice also works well with the final control, Throb, which adds more low end thump into the tone. When added into a warm setting from the Voice, and a slow-ish speed from the Rate department, you can get some gorgeous wave-driven, rotary speaker-sounding, thick, rich grooves working, especially when experimenting with your guitar’s own pickups.

The Depths conjures up sonic memories of a ton of memorable and classic song recordings, but throws in a few surprises to keep it both modern and vintage at the same time…make sense? This is truly a pedal to sit down with and experiment on for hours, perhaps days, and find the setting(s) that works for you and your unique tone. Another knockout from EarthQuaker Devices, of course – if you don’t know yet, go see them and find out.