The Pigtronix Space Rip is an analog synth pedal in a mini enclosure, with a choice of sawtooth or square waveforms as its two core sounds. Pigtronix describes the sound it makes as "Sounds like tearing the fabric of spacetime in half." It was announced with no official release date, expected in 2021, and runs off a 9V DC power supply.1234
What it does to your sound
The Space Rip is a guitar-to-synth converter in the analog tradition: it tracks the pitch of your playing and turns it into synth voices rather than processing the guitar signal itself. RockBoard's PedalPedia says a "state-of-the-art tracking engine" lets it keep up with fast single note lines and replicate both pitch and dynamics.1
It is monophonic. Guitar World's reviewer, Stuart, put it plainly: "The Space Rip is monophonic, so you'll need to play single-note lines into it in order to track your notes." Chords and double stops will not track, so the pedal rewards lead lines and single-note runs.5
The synth side is built on pulse width modulation, a way of shaping a square wave's tone by varying its pulse width, which is where the pedal's movement and character come from. Premier Guitar's reviewer found the sounds are not harsh by default: "On the contrary, they can be rich and sonorous."7
The controls
The pedal keeps its face simple, with a small set of knobs and a switch that cover the whole synth:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Shape | Switches the oscillator between sawtooth and square waves5 |
| Sub | Adds an additional voice one octave down from the input signal1 |
| Rate | Sets the speed of the modulation, a VCO modulation rate knob67 |
| Octave switch | Drops the entire synth down an additional octave, which RockBoard's PedalPedia describes as producing "a devastating amount of pure analog synth" bass1 |
MusicRadar sums up the two-waveform design: "With a choice of sawtooth or square waveforms, you've got two core sounds to take you through the wormhole."6
Power and connections
The Space Rip runs on a standard 9V DC, center negative supply and draws 100mA, according to Pigtronix's product information. Connections are input, output and power.15
At 100mA, the Space Rip asks more from a power supply than many analog mini pedals do. A daisy chain or a low-current outlet may not be enough once other pedals are sharing it.
Where it came from
What reviewers said
- MusicRadar's verdict: "Lots of fun."6
- Premier Guitar's reviewer found the synth voices "can be rich and sonorous" rather than one-dimensional.7
- Guitar World's reviewer flagged the monophonic tracking as the main thing to understand before buying into it.5
For players comparing it with other synth pedals, the Space Rip sits among analog options like the Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer and Pigtronix's own Mothership2, and alongside digital synth pedals such as the BOSS SY-1 and Source Audio C4 Synth. See the full Synth Pedals type page for the wider field.
Videos
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R.J. Ronquillo
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Questions
Is the Pigtronix Space Rip polyphonic?
No. Guitar World's review notes that the Space Rip is monophonic, so you need to play single-note lines into it for the tracking to follow your notes. Pigtronix describes its tracking engine as state of the art, able to keep up with fast single note lines and replicate both pitch and dynamics.
Can the Space Rip track chords?
No. Because the pedal is monophonic, chords will not track properly. Play single-note lines into it and the tracking engine follows pitch and dynamics. Guitar World's reviewer makes this clear in the review, and it is the usual trade-off with analog synth tracking of this kind.
What power supply does the Space Rip need?
The Space Rip runs on a standard 9V DC, center negative power supply, according to Pigtronix's product information. Guitar World also reported that the trio of mini pedals Pigtronix launched alongside it, the Constellator and Moon Pool included, all run off 9V DC power supplies.
How much current does the Space Rip draw?
Pigtronix's product information lists the current draw at 100mA. That is worth knowing when planning a pedalboard power supply, since a daisy chain or a low-output outlet may not cover it alongside other digital pedals.
What waveforms does the Space Rip's synth use?
The Space Rip's analog synth uses pulse width modulated (PWM) sawtooth and square wave voices in multiple octaves. A Shape control switches the oscillator between sawtooth and square waves, giving two core sounds, as MusicRadar put it.
How much does the Pigtronix Space Rip cost?
Guitar World lists the price at $179 in the United States, with a UK price of £159. It launched as one of three $179 mini pedals Pigtronix announced around NAMM 2021, alongside the Constellator delay and the Moon Pool.
Sources (7)
- Space Rip by Pigtronix, RockBoard (PedalPedia), 2026
- Pigtronix Space Rip Analog Synth, Delicious Audio, 2021-11-22
- NAMM 2021: New Pigtronix pedals: Space Rip, Constellator and Moon Pool, gearnews.com, 2021-01-18
- Pigtronix boldly goes where no mini pedals have gone before as it launches the ultra-versatile Constellator, Space Rip and Moon Pool, Guitar World, 2021-01-18
- Pigtronix Space Rip review, Guitar World, 2021-10-27
- Pigtronix Space Rip review, MusicRadar, 2021-12-06
- Pigtronix Space Rip Review, Premier Guitar, 2021-08-18
