The EarthQuaker Devices Towers is a stereo reverb pedal that EarthQuaker calls a "Stereo Reverberant Filter". It is aimed at guitarists and bassists building ambient and experimental soundscapes. The signal passes through a chain of endlessly repeating micro-echoes into a large, cathedral-style reverb, with a resonant low-pass filter feeding into the delay and reverb paths at several points.
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Three filter modes: Manual, Envelope and LFO, selected with a 3-position toggle
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Stretch footswitch: slows the whole digital system, doubling reverb length and bending pitch, either instantly or as a gradual morph
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8 user presets: storing Length, Frequency, Filter, Mix, the expression assignment and the Stretch speed
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Expression and CV: TRS expression input assignable to Filter, Length, Frequency or Mix, also accepting 0–3.3 V control voltage
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Flexible routing: stereo in/stereo out, mono in/stereo out or mono only
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Selectable bypass: buffered, with Tails or Full Bypass
The filter is the core of the pedal. EarthQuaker likens its warm, ringing character to the filters on vintage synthesizers, and the Filter knob sets how much of it is blended into the reverb paths. In Manual mode the Frequency knob sets the cutoff, with the left channel moving opposite to the right. Envelope mode lets picking dynamics drive the filter, with Frequency setting sensitivity. In LFO mode a slow LFO sweeps the filter across the stereo field for a slowly panning effect, and Frequency sets the rate.
Length controls decay time and reflection density, and also sets the morph speed of the Stretch footswitch when you hold Stretch and turn it. That speed is remembered after power-down. Holding Activate for two seconds switches between Live and Preset modes, and the LED shows when a preset has been edited. Tails mode lets the reverb decay naturally after the pedal is switched off.
Note that Towers does not use EarthQuaker's Flexi-Switch, and because of its buffered bypass it needs power to pass any signal. It is made in Akron, Ohio, with artwork by Dave Neeson.