All-analog and made with a genuine spring tank, Gamechanger Audio’s Light Pedal adds a wrinkle to the reverb equation in the form of optical sensors that move it beyond the everyday.

Without getting overly technical, the Light takes the incoming guitar signal (voltage) and converts it to mechanical vibrations that travel down the springs before being converted back to good ol’ voltage. The infrared optical sensors grab more overtones and harmonics from each spring’s vibration and add it to the overall picture, offering a broader palette of sounds. The Latch switch determines if the footswitch is on/off or just a “momentary” tap. It also has a groovy window that lets you peek at the springs – and changes colors as you hit different notes.

In use, the Light Pedal sounds way more esoteric than a generic reverb, mostly thanks to its big trails and overtones. The Light has six sound options (Optics, Sweep, Trem, Reflect, Feedback, and Harmonic), each offering a different nuance of ’verb. The Optical knob increases depth of the after-tones, while Gate will chop it to taste.

Suffice to say, the Gamechanger is radical and cool – custom made for spacey, psychedelic, modern, and shoegazer sounds that are out of this world. You can even give it a tiny kick to make its springs clank, bang, and shake like an old tube amp!

This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.