The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I owned Freeze for years but since about half a year I began to use it intesivele and learnt to imply it in different contexts in musical way.
    there ar esome features though that begin to be a bit problematic after you really dig into it and begin to look for nuabces in using it.
    It is not only loud clicking (I saw th mods people do with it).

    As I began to use it a lot I started to look at Gamchenger pedal which is more than two times expensive but seems to have more versatile applicability and more convinient design.

    What do you think if you have any experience... I am quite close to getting one, compare and let the Freeze go if I like Gamechanger.
    ut since it is only Internet purchase for me I am hezitating.

    thank you for any opinions

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  3. #2

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    I’ve owned both and after about 6 months with the Plus, I went back to the Freeze. Actually, I never stopped using the Freeze, I just used both of them for a while.

    The Plus is a great pedal. It’s almost like an instrument in itself. That was my problem though. I found it too distracting and I started playing the pedal rather than playing the guitar. It has a few quirks, like it samples more than the Freeze does. It samples vibrato and pick attack as well. So you can get a really glitchy sound from it. Again, this was part of the problem. I felt like I needed to shift my attention away from my playing to make sure I pressed the pedal at exactly the right time, otherwise I got a sound I couldn’t use and then I needed to focus on it again to silence it.

    The Freeze, by comparison, is a brute force, easy to use pedal. It does one thing without any fussing. Also, only older models make the loud clicking noise. They replaced the foot switch with a soft one a few years ago.

    I’m not advising you away from the Plus. It’s a great pedal and worth a try if you think it’s going to solve something for you.

  4. #3

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    Replacing the switch on the older Freeze pedals is quite easy...


  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by guido5
    Replacing the switch on the older Freeze pedals is quite easy...

    Yes, I saw those mod videos.

    And Gilad Hekselmann told in the interview he had had it done with hie Freeze


    By the way you say 'older' - I also heard a couple of times that now they use soft switch...

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by unfunfionn
    I’ve owned both and after about 6 months with the Plus, I went back to the Freeze. Actually, I never stopped using the Freeze, I just used both of them for a while.

    The Plus is a great pedal. It’s almost like an instrument in itself. That was my problem though. I found it too distracting and I started playing the pedal rather than playing the guitar. It has a few quirks, like it samples more than the Freeze does. It samples vibrato and pick attack as well. So you can get a really glitchy sound from it. Again, this was part of the problem. I felt like I needed to shift my attention away from my playing to make sure I pressed the pedal at exactly the right time, otherwise I got a sound I couldn’t use and then I needed to focus on it again to silence it.

    The Freeze, by comparison, is a brute force, easy to use pedal. It does one thing without any fussing. Also, only older models make the loud clicking noise. They replaced the foot switch with a soft one a few years ago.

    I’m not advising you away from the Plus. It’s a great pedal and worth a try if you think it’s going to solve something for you.
    Thank you very much for detailed answer!

  7. #6

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    I have both. My freeze is clicky.

    I don’t think I’ve used the Plus enough to comment, quite honestly. It seems really good. I like how you can control the dynamics. But I can see where those who say it is too complicated are coming from. It has a lot of features.

    I might just get a new non clicky freeze.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I have both. My freeze is clicky.

    I don’t think I’ve used the Plus enough to comment, quite honestly. It seems really good. I like how you can control the dynamics. But I can see where those who say it is too complicated are coming from. It has a lot of features.

    I might just get a new non clicky freeze.
    I guess mod is easier and probably cheaper than getting a new one.
    It seems easy and cheap.

    I also saw a vid where a guy got synth piano style pedal... super quiet and very comfortable to control.
    But it takes two pedals then for a gig.

  9. #8
    It's cool - and original switch stays functional too


  10. #9
    I wonder how volume/expression pedal would work with EHX Freeze..
    for example Dunlop DVP4 mini...
    Will it work as a switchof and will you be able control volume/intensity too?

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonah
    I wonder how volume/expression pedal would work with EHX Freeze..
    for example Dunlop DVP4 mini...
    Will it work as a switchof and will you be able control volume/intensity too?
    I think it really depends on what you want from it. Both pedals are really two different use cases, hence why I still used the Freeze when I owned a Plus. You've described something closer to the Plus so if that's what you want to achieve, you should buy the Plus. It'll get you there with a lot less frustration and compromise than a multi-pedal workaround. Bear in mind that the Plus makes most sense with the additional Wet switch, so factor that into the eventual cost. Some stores do package deals though, so maybe you're lucky.

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by unfunfionn
    I think it really depends on what you want from it. Both pedals are really two different use cases, hence why I still used the Freeze when I owned a Plus. You've described something closer to the Plus so if that's what you want to achieve, you should buy the Plus. It'll get you there with a lot less frustration and compromise than a multi-pedal workaround. Bear in mind that the Plus makes most sense with the additional Wet switch, so factor that into the eventual cost. Some stores do package deals though, so maybe you're lucky.
    Thank you!

    I guess I'll make a mod with piano pedal first. It looks very simple.
    I bought a socket for usd2 today and I had somewhere old Yamaha synth sustain pedal to try it.
    If it works ok I will borrow expression pedal from a friend to see how it will work.

    I am usually very impatient when I get some mod idea)

    Later maybe I will get Audio Plus too... and I saw a package offers.
    it is to pricey for me right now (I'd rather buy x4 looper or L6 dl4 for that money ... or even both if I find used in good condition.)

  13. #12
    I think I can more or less formulate what I am after at the end of it all... Guys, do you think it is really possible with any of it?

    I wonder if the Gameplayer can do more or less 'real piano pedal effect'...

    what I hear from Freeze and what I see from Audio Plus demos are sort of synth pedal effect... it reminds me more of organ/synth sustained sound.

    i remember in my youth I experimented with acoustic piano recording sustained sound and cutting out the attack and decay and they sounded much like a synth or organ

    Also both pedals seem to pick the at the moment you press the button - not anything after that...

    So to me what makes a real pianistic sustain effect are

    1) high sensitivity to attack
    2) possibility to sustain the sounds that are played when the pedal is pressed
    3) more or less natural decay of the sounds like it happens on guitar when you can do not damp the string with the only difference that the sounds that I dropped keep sounding and dacaying in natural guitaristic way when I press the pedal



    So basically I looking for the same thing as acoustic piano pedal.

    I guess Gamechange can more or less do the 1) and 3) at least it seems quite variably adjustble, I also think it is possible to achive it with Freeze after mod and adding a some control pedals

    But 2) seems not possible on any... I saw Gamechange has layers mod but it is not quite the same thing

    I undestand that acoustic piano pedals have mechanical principle but it was quite succesfully transferred to the electric pianos.

    I wonder why not do it for electric guitars?
    Maybe because on e-pianos it is easier to register the moment on attack as a key is basically a button and with guitar it is more difficult to have control over sound input because it is just much more direct medium and guitars, strings and attack style and so on may vary too much?

  14. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonah
    It's cool - and original switch stays functional too

    I did that mod!
    3 dollars and 10 minutes (with my wife's father's skills in soldering)))

    Unfortunately i could not find my old Yamaha sustain pedal (I guess i sold it with a synth - I thought I had kept it).

    So today I went to a friend's studio nearby and tried it with Korg sutain pedal.
    It works!

    Anf it feels totally differnt.. and I guess changing button will not have this effect. You have very smooth and confortable pedal under your feet with no clicking at all and effect is being implied very naturally and this way application easily goes far beyond ambient sound... you just manipulate with it much more confortably in context, much quicker.

    Well.. I want to go further and get an expression/volume pedal and check how it will work with it - it is more expensive than piano sustain switch but it also gives more options.
    But I think it won't work... it is connected to the switch, but for expression or volume it should be connected to control pots I guess?
    Last edited by Jonah; 04-08-2021 at 07:55 AM.

  15. #14

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    Very cool! A demo would be quite interesting!

  16. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by guido5
    Very cool! A demo would be quite interesting!
    I'get a sus pedal at home today or tomorrow and will make a video for sure.

  17. #16
    Sorry, I can't make a proper video so far because of wiring problem at home (I can't feed pedals properly at the moment due to technical reasons) - I will make video a bit later.

    So far just the pics of it looks like

    (by the way I found that EHX is Made in NYC from outside and Made in China from inside))) I hope it is only the shell))))
    Attached Images Attached Images EHX Freeze and Gamechanger Audio Plus-20210412_190350-jpg EHX Freeze and Gamechanger Audio Plus-20210412_190343-jpg