The Rainger FX Drone Rainger is a delay pedal with a twist: underneath the delay sits a pair of drone tone generators that produce low, throbbing tones you can tune, blend and manipulate while you play. Rainger FX, the UK company run by designer David Rainger, calls it a dub-flavored digital delay based on its Echo-X pedal, and describes it as the most atmospheric, cinematic pedal the company makes1.
The maker pitches it at players in shoegaze, doom, heavy and psychedelic rock, ambient music, and at two-piece bands, solo guitarists and improvisers who want a second, sustained layer of sound under their playing without another instrument1. It is built in the UK2 and housed in a custom-designed, seven-sided desk-style enclosure with a window showing an aerial view of a dystopian city at 1:1780 scale1.
A dub delay with two drone tone generators
The delay side is digital, with a maximum delay time of 1 second1. Pedal of the Day's review of the pedal, published in July 2020, laid out the core delay controls as Level, Rate (delay time, max of about a second), Repeat and Volume, calling them "a nice base to start working with"4.
The drone side is where the Drone Rainger departs from a normal delay. There are two analog tone generators inside, one tuned by a 12-way selector switch and the other by a free-moving control12. A mix knob blends the two generators to taste, and a fine tune knob adapts the drone pitch to music that is not strictly tuned1. When Pitch 1 and Pitch 2 are tuned nearly the same, Pedal of the Day noted:
"When they're tuned nearly the same, you get interesting 'beats' created between the two of them."
A chorus effect is built into the tone generators. It is hard-wired into their signal path, so it cannot be applied to the guitar signal or turned off, and its speed is fixed1.
The controls and footswitch effects
The pedal's foot-operated functions are all handled by footswitches on the enclosure, not by an external controller1. The momentary footswitches control what Rainger FX calls Interfere functions. An interfere knob works with a momentary footswitch to change the pitch of Pitch 25, and Pedal of the Day described the left momentary switch as controlling the Interfere Pitch Up modes4.
The drone footswitches trigger two effects. In the version Delicious Audio documented from builder's notes in 2022, one is a "tone-down" pitch dropping effect and the other is a white noise burst made by the delay chip that echoes away2:
"one is a 'tone-down' pitch dropping effect - making the pitch sag in a truly ominous way!"
The current version differs: the white noise effect from the very original version was replaced by the pitch up momentary sound, because the noise burst was extremely loud and its volume was linked to the delay level, making it very hard to control1.
| Control or switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pitch 1 | 12-way selector switch setting the pitch of one tone generator1 |
| Pitch 2 | Free-moving pitch control for the second tone generator1 |
| Mix | Blends the two tone generators1 |
| Fine tune | Adapts the drone pitch to music not strictly tuned to pitch1 |
| Interfere knob | Changes the pitch of Pitch 2 via a momentary footswitch5 |
| Level, Rate, Repeat | Delay volume, delay time (max about 1 second) and repeats4 |
| Momentary footswitch | Interfere pitch up modes4 |
Power and connections
The Drone Rainger does not have an Igor facility, the pressure-sensitive foot controller Rainger FX bundles with pedals such as the Echo-X. All foot-operated aspects are through footswitches mounted on the enclosure1.
History and versions
The Drone Rainger's delay circuit is based on Rainger FX's Echo-X delay pedal1, which the company announced in November 2015 as its first delay pedal, bundled with the Igor foot controller16. Pedal of the Day reviewed the Drone Rainger Digital Delay in July 20204, and Delicious Audio updated its writeup of the pedal in July 2022 using builder's notes4.
The latest version, released in 2021, has no main volume knob: it runs as if that pot were wide open, with levels set by the individual controls. Rainger FX says it keeps the same basic circuit and other controls as previous versions1. A separate pedal, the Mini Drone, later evolved from the Drone Rainger, dropping the delay circuit and focusing on the drone side7.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day, reviewing the pedal in 2020, found it stood apart from other effects4:
"looks AND sounds extremely unique, and was an absolute blast to explore"
Delicious Audio's writeup, drawing on Rainger FX's builder's notes, called it a pedal that "gives you a boatload of options from one of the craziest minds in the game"2. In 2023, Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed the Drone Rainger alongside Rainger FX's Break Box and Snare Trap, arguing the three pedals work as a three-piece band setup; on the Drone Rainger itself he described "dual pitched analog drones plus X-Echo Dubby Digital Delay" at £299, while noting its mono output as a limit3.
Videos
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Sound Isles
Pedal of the Day
Questions
Is the Rainger FX Drone Rainger analog or digital?
The delay is digital, built around a PT2399 chip that also handles the chorus, but the two drone tone generators inside are analogue circuits. Rainger FX describes it as a digital delay with two analogue tone generators making up the drone sound.
Can the Drone Rainger run on a battery?
No. Rainger FX states plainly that the pedal is not battery powered. It runs on a standard 9V pedal power supply with centre earth (center negative) polarity, and draws around 80mA.
Can you turn off the chorus on the Drone Rainger?
No. The chorus is hard-wired into the signal path of the tone generators, so it cannot be applied to the guitar signal or switched off. Its speed is also fixed and cannot be changed.
Does the Drone Rainger work with the Igor foot controller?
No. The Drone Rainger does not have an Igor facility. All the foot-operated functions are handled by footswitches mounted on the enclosure itself, including a momentary switch for the Interfere pitch functions.
What is the maximum delay time on the Drone Rainger?
One second. Rainger FX lists the pedal as a digital delay with a 1 second maximum delay time, and Pedal of the Day measured the Rate control as covering delay times up to about a second.
Is the Drone Rainger true bypass?
Yes. Rainger FX confirms the pedal is true bypass, so with the effect switched off your guitar signal passes through without buffering or colouration.
Sources (7)
- Drone Rainger, Rainger FX
- Rainger FX Drone Rainger Delay, Delicious Audio, 2022-07-09
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-08-14
- Rainger FX Drone Rainger Digital Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2020-07-11
- 5 digital delay pedals guitar players need to try, MusicRadar, 2021-06-03
- Rainger FX Echo-X review: A deceptively tiny delay pedal with some unique skills, Guitar.com, 2022-08-16
- Rainger FX Mini Drone, Delicious Audio, 2024-08-12
