MWFX 8 Bit - 18

The MWFX 8 Bit - 18 is a guitar pedal that converts the guitar signal to a square wave using an analog, transistor based circuit¹. MWFX describes it as responding to guitar in a similar way to a standard fuzz pedal, but with a synthesized tone that falls in pitch as the signal trails out¹. Where a conventional fuzz clips and shapes your original note, the 8 Bit replaces it with a square wave whose pitch drops as the note decays, which is what gives it its synth-like character.

The 8 Bit - 18 is one of a numbered series of re-releases of the original 8 Bit, an MWFX pedal from 2007/8¹. MWFX says each of these re-releases is individually handpainted and finished in oak wood¹. It carries a list price of £175.00¹.

What the 8 Bit does to your sound

The pedal is primarily designed to react to the velocity, pitch and length of your picking². In practice that means how hard you pick, what note you play and how long you let it ring all shape the output: the square wave follows your playing dynamics the way a fuzz does, but the tone itself is synthesized rather than a clipped version of your guitar's own sound. The most distinctive part of the behavior is the pitch drop: as the signal trails out, the synthesized tone falls in pitch¹.

MWFX has nicknamed the 8 Bit "our square egg"², a reference to the square wave at the heart of the circuit. Internally, the pedal is off board wired with mPPE wire, kept separated to minimize noise and crosstalk from the clocks and switching¹.

The controls

The control surface is deliberately minimal. Everything that shapes the effect lives inside the box.

There is also a setting inside to control response². So a player's day to day interaction with the pedal is one volume knob and the footswitch; dialing in how the square wave tracks your picking means opening the box and adjusting the internal sensitivity and trimmers.

Versions of the 8 Bit

The 8 Bit - 18 belongs to a numbered family of re-releases of the 2007/8 original, each individually handpainted and finished in oak wood¹. The 8 Bit - 3, 8 Bit - 16 and 8 Bit - 5 pages cover other units in the same series, as do the 8 Bit - 1, 8 Bit - Pride and 8 Bit - 15 pages.

All of the numbered versions share the same core specification: an analog, transistor based square wave circuit, true bypass, an exterior volume control, an interior sensitivity setting, and suitability for both guitar and bass³. What separates one numbered unit from another is the handpainted finish, since each box is painted individually³.

Where it sits among fuzz and synth pedals

Because the 8 Bit responds to picking velocity, pitch and note length the way a fuzz does², it can occupy the same spot on a pedalboard as a fuzz, but its output is a synthesized square wave rather than a clipped guitar signal²³. Players looking for a more conventional clipped tone would look at ordinary fuzz circuits instead, while players after pitch manipulation with more conventional guitar tone might consider octave and pitch pedals. The 8 Bit's closest relatives are synth pedals, which similarly replace the guitar's waveform with a generated one.

Questions