The Recovery Effects Bad Comrade is a hand-wired glitch, pitch, slice and dice pedal, which the maker calls "the world's first hand-wired glitch, pitch, slice, and dice pedal." It is aimed at what Recovery Effects describes as "the adventurous guitarist (or anyone wielding a 1/4 inch jack) who craves unthinkable tones," so it accepts any source with a standard 1/4 inch plug, not just guitar. The maker poses the question itself: "Is it a distortion pedal? Is it a ring modulator? Delay?" The answer is that it does all of these, letting you distort, modulate, glitch, and slice on the fly1.
What it does
Recovery Effects describes the Bad Comrade as a tool that lets a player distort, modulate, glitch, and slice a signal in real time. The company's own framing gives a fair picture of the territory1:
"Is it a distortion pedal? Is it a ring modulator? Delay?"
In practice that means it sits somewhere among distortion, delay and pitch-based effects, in the octave and pitch family of sound-warping tools1. The maker's own description of the pedal covers these points1:
- Distorts the input signal
- Modulates it, in the manner of a ring modulator
- Glitches the signal on the fly
- Slices and dices it in real time
- Accepts any source with a standard 1/4 inch plug, not only guitar
The V3 Eurorack version
The Bad Comrade line includes a V3 version sold as a Eurorack modular device as well as the pedal12. The two versions compare like this:
| Bad Comrade pedal | Bad Comrade V3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 1/4 inch jack pedal, 4.67" x 3.654" x 1.547" enclosure1 | Eurorack modular device2 |
| Description | Glitch, pitch, slice and dice pedal1 | "A powerful glitch, delay, and chaotic distortion tool"2 |
| Extras | Glitch and Time controls1 | CV inputs for mix and delay time2 |
| Power | 9Vdc Boss-style supply, 20 mA12 | 9Vdc Boss-style supply, 20 mA12 |
The V3 is described by the maker, in text credited to DivKid, as a tool that can "freeze wrecked blips and oscillations in place, create scrambled gated delays, and straight-up over-the-top distortion," all mixed to taste with the original signal2.
Controls and power
The pedal runs on a standard 9Vdc Boss-style power supply, which is not included, and draws 20 mA12. One startup detail matters:
Power up the Bad Comrade with the Glitch and Time controls wide open. The maker marks this as important on both the pedal and V3 product pages12.
Where it is made and support
Recovery Effects and Devices designs and assembles the Bad Comrade in Seattle, Washington1. The pedal includes a one-year limited warranty if registered within 30 days of delivery1. Recovery Effects states that most of its devices are made to order, and the pedal has been listed as currently out of stock with an email notification option1. The list price shown on the maker's page is £174.00 GBP as of 26 October 20261.
Videos
recoverysounds
recoverysounds
recoverysounds
Sources (2)
- BAD COMRADE PEDAL (Glitch, Pitch, Slice and Dice), Recovery Effects and Devices
- BAD COMRADE V3 EURORACK MODULAR DEVICE (Glitch, Pitch, Slice, and Dice), Recovery Effects and Devices