The Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing is a digital ring modulator and single sideband modulator pedal, released by Electro-Harmonix in 20101. It descends from the company's earlier Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, but goes well past it: alongside ring modulation it offers single sideband modulation and pitch shifting, with selectable waveforms, nine presets and external control12.
Electro-Harmonix describes the range of sounds as running "from metallic sweeps to subtle color changes to unique and limitless modulations"1. In practice that means everything from the dissonant, bell-like timbres players expect from a ring modulator to gentler tremolo, vibrato and rotary speaker-like coloration, plus straight pitch shifting up or down by as much as two octaves3.
What it does: ring modulation, single sideband and pitch shift
A ring modulator multiplies the guitar signal with a carrier wave, producing new sum and difference frequencies that were not in the original note. Guitar World, writing about the effect's vintage history, sums up the result plainly: "That's the sound of a ring modulator"4. The Ring Thing's carrier frequency range runs from 0 Hz to over 2,000 Hz2.
The pedal offers three ring modulator modes: standard ring modulation, plus upper and lower single sideband modes. In standard ring modulation, MusicRadar's reviewer Trevor Curwen found you get "all the dissonant and bell-like timbres that you need, either transforming the guitar sound or adding a metallic edge"3. The sideband modes are the more musical half of the pedal:
"The single sideband sounds can be a little more musical in colouring the sound and you can dial in a very useful range of tremolo, vibrato and rotary speaker-like sounds."3
In pitch shift mode, all notes are shifted up or down by the same amount, to a maximum of plus or minus two octaves3. That makes it a member of the wider octave and pitch family alongside pedals like the Pitch Fork and Slammi, though the Ring Thing's pitch shifting sits inside a modulation pedal rather than being its whole purpose.
Controls and presets
The front panel carries six knobs and two footswitches15:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| BLEND | Wet/dry control for the effect outputs1 |
| WAVE | Changes the waveshape of the modulation signal, working two different ways depending on the mode1 |
| FILTER/RATE | Low pass filter in all three ring modulator modes; modulation RATE control in Pitch Shift mode1 |
| COARSE | Sets the ring modulator frequency, or the pitch shift amount, depending on mode1 |
| MODE | Chooses the mode to play through and scrolls through the nine presets1 |
| PRESET/TUNE footswitch | Loads and cycles through presets; also tunes the ring modulator to the incoming signal at the INST jack1 |
| BYPASS footswitch | Toggles between effect mode and bypass mode1 |
The multi-wave selection covers square, sine, ramp up, ramp down and triangle shapes for modulation and ring mod12. The PRESET/TUNE footswitch's tuning function is worth knowing: it matches the ring modulator's carrier to the note arriving at the INST input, which keeps the effect tracking musically instead of drifting out of tune with what you play1.
Power and connections
The Ring Thing runs on the included 9.6VDC-200mA adapter and draws 190mA, so it is not a battery pedal1. Connections are generous for a modulation box:
- INST input jack: the main instrument input1
- MOD input jack: connect an external modulation source and set the WAVE knob fully counter-clockwise to enable external modulation1
- EXP input jack: expression pedal input1
- MONO/L and R output jacks: use MONO/L alone for mono, both jacks for stereo1
The stereo outputs have a trick specific to the sideband modes. As Premier Guitar's reviewer noted, "The pedal features stereo outputs so that, in upper and lower sideband modes, you can send each sideband to a separate output"2, splitting the upper and lower sidebands across two amps.
For Whammy-style pitch bends, the EXP input is the route in. Curwen found that "if you're into Whammy-style pitch-bending effects, plugging in an expression pedal will do the business, it's especially effective set to an octave up" in pitch shift mode3.
Ring Thing versus Frequency Analyzer
The Ring Thing's lineage runs directly back to the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, a ring modulator with controllable high order filters that, unlike most ring modulators, reduce cross distortions and enhance the variations6. Premier Guitar frames the newer pedal the same way: "Building on the success of that pedal, EHX recently released the ultra-versatile Ring Thing"2. MusicRadar likewise describes the Ring Thing as providing ring modulation "adding new features to the original Frequency Analyzer"3.
The practical differences for a player:
| Frequency Analyzer | Ring Thing | |
|---|---|---|
| Effect | Ring modulator17 | Ring mod, single sideband, pitch shift1 |
| Circuit | Analog filters to reduce cross distortion6 | Digital1 |
| Presets | None listed | Nine1 |
| External control | None listed | MOD and EXP inputs1 |
What reviewers said
The Ring Thing was demoed at NAMM 2010 by Premier Guitar, which described it as offering "articulate pitch shifting, preset tuning, selectable waveforms and external control"5. By the time of Premier Guitar's full review, its verdict was unambiguous:
"The Ring Thing is the most versatile, cutting-edge ring modulation stompbox on the market."2
MusicRadar's review echoed the range of the pedal, highlighting both the classic ring modulator sounds and the more musical sideband and pitch shift modes, with the expression pedal pitch bending called out as especially effective3.
Videos
Guitar World
EHX
EHX
Questions
What is single sideband modulation?
Ring modulation multiplies your guitar signal with a carrier wave, producing sum and difference frequencies that give the classic metallic, bell-like sound. Single sideband modulation keeps only one of those sets of frequencies, the upper or the lower sideband, instead of both. The Ring Thing offers upper and lower sideband modes, which reviewers found more musical, capable of tremolo, vibrato and rotary speaker-like sounds.
Can the Ring Thing do Whammy-style pitch bends?
Yes. MusicRadar's reviewer found that plugging an expression pedal into the EXP input jack does the job for Whammy-style pitch-bending effects, and that it is especially effective in pitch shift mode set to an octave up. The expression pedal sweeps the pitch shift amount in real time.
How many presets does the Ring Thing have?
Nine. The MODE knob chooses the mode to play through and also scrolls through the nine presets, and the PRESET/TUNE footswitch loads and cycles through them. The same footswitch also tunes the ring modulator to the incoming signal at the INST input jack.
Is the Ring Thing true bypass?
No. Electro-Harmonix lists the Ring Thing as buffered bypass. The BYPASS footswitch toggles the pedal between effect mode and bypass mode, but the signal path is buffered rather than true bypass.
What is the difference between the Ring Thing and the Frequency Analyzer?
The Frequency Analyzer is an analog-style ring modulator with controllable high order filters that reduce cross distortions. The Ring Thing builds on it with a digital circuit, adding pitch shifting, single sideband modes, selectable waveforms, nine presets and external control. MusicRadar describes the Ring Thing as adding new features to the original Frequency Analyzer.
Sources (7)
- Ring Thing, Electro-Harmonix
- Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing Pedal Review, Premier Guitar, 2010-06-16
- Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing review, MusicRadar, 2010-07-13
- Weird Science: The 10 Strangest Vintage Effects of All Time, Guitar World, 2018-01-12
- NAMM '10: EHX Ring Thing Modulator;Iron Lung Demos, Premier Guitar, 2010-02-01
- Frequency Analyzer, Electro-Harmonix
- Video: Electro-Harmonix Demos New 8 Step Program Analog Expression/CV Sequencer, Guitar World, 2013-07-30
