MWFX Wave Machine

The MWFX Wave Machine is a guitar pedal based waveshaper and synth effect. Instead of adding overdrive or modulation, it rebuilds the shape of the guitar signal itself, using wave shaping techniques similar to those found in vintage analog synthesizers. MWFX says this makes it possible to produce saw, triangle, sine, pulse and square wave versions of your guitar signal, in the way a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) module does in a modular synth¹.

What it does

The pedal works by reshaping the waveform of the incoming signal rather than layering a separate synth voice on top of it. MWFX describes it as acting "in a similar way to a VCO module in that it outputs 5 different wave shapes"¹. For a player, that means the fundamental pitch of the guitar stays the same, but the tone takes on the character of a synthesizer waveform, from the roundness of a sine or triangle to the edge of a saw or square.

Controls and versions

The Wave Machine is available in two versions¹.

• Wave Machine: Volume, plus a Mix control for blending the effect with the unaffected signal, which MWFX describes as perfect for bassists¹.
• Epic Wave Machine: Volume and the same Mix control, with the added ability to simultaneously mix each waveform for creating unique wave shapes¹.

The Mix control is the practical difference for most players: it lets you run the waveshaped signal alongside your clean tone, which is especially useful on bass, where losing the low end of the unaffected signal can thin out a mix¹. The Epic version goes further by letting you blend the five waveforms against each other, opening up wave shapes beyond the five basic ones¹.

Where it came from

The Wave Machine first appeared in 2009, listed by MWFX as the "Wave Shaping Fuzz" in that year's lineup². It sits in the maker's range alongside synth-oriented pedals such as the MWFX Hard Sync, and it belongs to the broader family of synth pedals that reshape or generate synthesizer tones from a guitar or bass signal.