Old Blood Noise Endeavors debuts BL-44 Reverse pedal

December 5, 2022 · 5 sources

Old Blood Noise Endeavors debuted the BL-44 Reverse, a real-time reverse delay pedal, Guitar World reported on December 5, 2022¹. The pedal is part of the company's BL line and is priced at $179²³¹.

The BL-44 is a real-time reverse delay that, in the maker's description, is "constantly reading backwards what you put into it forwards"³. Guitar World reported that OBNE took the reverse delay section from its Minim delay pedal as the core of the build to create what it calls a "true reverse effect," meaning it records and reverses passages of play¹. The Minim, announced in 2019, included a reverse section selectable between normal speed or double speed⁴.

The pedal has four controls. Clock affects the timing of the entire system, changing the delay time from fast and fidelitous to slow and degraded, and introducing noise as it reaches bottom³. Speed sets the playback speed ratio, creating the impression of pitch shift, with unison speed at noon and speeds at roughly octave down, fifth down, fourth down, fourth up, fifth up, and octave up available³. Mix sets the effect blend from 100% dry to 100% wet, and Volume sets overall volume³. A soft-touch bypass footswitch provides true bypass³. The pedal requires a 9V DC center negative 2.1mm jack power supply capable of 110mA, not included³. The art is by Brandy M Patterson³.

Guitar World described the slider as taking the player from short high-fidelity playback to lo-fi reverse repeats, and said the Speed knob refers to the read speed of the pedal, where tweaking it can create octave and harmonizer-style effects¹. Delicious Audio described the Speed knob as controlling the speed at which the sample is played back, translating into a lower pitch or stretched samples at low settings and a high pitch or rushed playback at high settings, and said the pedal is "not a reverse delay or reverb pedal" but "just a pure reverse pedal"⁵.

Guitar World put the retail price at around $179¹; the maker's site lists the BL-44 at $179.00³. At the time of the announcement, the maker's product page listed the pedal as sold out³.