Source Audio Hot Hand 3

The Source Audio Hot Hand 3 is a wireless effects controller you wear as a ring. A 3-axis accelerometer inside the ring translates your hand's motion into an expression signal, which is applied to effect parameters in real time¹. Instead of rocking a foot pedal, you move your picking hand: the same hand that plays the strings can sweep a filter, push a drive control, or modulate whatever parameter the pedal exposes.

Source Audio announced the Hot Hand 3 Universal Wireless Effects Controller on September 7, 2012, and it was available at launch¹. It is the successor to the original Hot Hand, the motion-sensing ring Source Audio released in 2006 as its flagship product¹². The original Hot Hand Wireless Adapter & Controller carried a $150 MSRP when it launched in 2008³.

How it works and how it is worn

The system has two parts: the wireless motion-sensing ring and a receiver base station. The base station features a standard 1/4 inch expression output, which is what lets it drive pedals from almost any maker¹. You wear the ring on your picking hand, or, as reviewers have noted, on other parts of the body, and the movement of the ring becomes the control signal⁴.

Premier Guitar's reviewers have described the experience in practical terms. Reviewing the Soundblox Tri-Mod effects, one noted that the Hot Hand can be set to react to either subtle movements or wild arm gestures, so you can choose how much physical motion a sweep requires⁴. In the Multiwave Distortion review, the ring was mapped to the pedal's Drive control, so hand movement raised and lowered the gain⁵.

That point matters to players who worry a motion controller will interfere with playing. The reviewer also found the ring allows wah effects faster than what is possible with a foot⁴. In a bass envelope filter review, the same publication described the motion-sensing ring attached to the picking-hand pinky⁶.

The wireless sensor ring charges over USB-style charging before use; one reviewer reported a full charge took about an hour⁴.

Compatibility with other pedals

The headline change in the Hot Hand 3 over the original is compatibility. Source Audio says the new model broadens compatibility beyond its own pedals, working with brands including¹:

Because the base station outputs a standard 1/4 inch expression signal¹, any pedal or rack unit with a conventional expression pedal input is a candidate, the same way a conventional expression pedal would connect. Delicious Audio has described the underlying Hot Hand technology as a motion-sensing remote control system that brings control of pedal parameters to the guitarist's hands⁷.

Within Source Audio's own line, the ring's history is long. The first pedals designed for use with the Hot Hand controller were the Hot Hand Wah Filter and the Hot Hand Phaser/Flanger, both introduced alongside the original controller in 2008⁸.

Where it came from

Source Audio released the original Hot Hand Motion-Sensing Ring in 2006 as its flagship product². Guitar Interactive Magazine later called the Hot Hand Effects Controller award winning⁹. The controller was conceived from the start as a device for manipulating effects parameters in real time with hand movements, worn like a ring and using motion sensors⁸.

For the third version, Source Audio's Vice President of Engineering Jesse Remignanti described the design goals¹:

Alongside the announcement, Source Audio highlighted the Hot Hand 3's receiver base station, which features a standard 1/4" Expression output, making it compatible with expression-enabled pedals from brands such as Boss, Electro-Harmonix, Line 6, Pigtronix, Eventide and many more¹.

Price and current options

At announcement in September 2012, the Hot Hand 3 carried an MSRP of $209 U.S. with a street price of $149¹. The original Hot Hand Wireless Adapter & Controller had been $150 MSRP in 2008³.

Source Audio has also extended the expression-controller idea in other directions, including the Dual Expression pedal and the programmable Reflex Universal Expression Controller, a foot-controlled alternative for players who prefer a conventional pedal to a ring. For a broader look at the category, see expression pedals.

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