Poly Effects fully merges Digit and Beebo into one super pedal

The Poly Effects Digit and Beebo are two of the more interesting guitar pedals to come out in the last few years. They feature large touchscreens and incredible depth for designing your own effects and instruments. They’re basically virtual modular synths in a pedal format. While Digit and Beebo have different strengths, they are built on the exact same hardware platform and their firmware are completely interchangeable. That meant that, if you bought a Digit you could turn it into a Beebo with the push of a button, and vice versa. Now the company is taking the next logical step, and simply combining them into a single firmware and single pedal under the Beebo name.

As a refresher, both pedals had the same modular format. But Digit was focused on things like cab simulations, convolution reverbs and delays modeled using impulse responses. Where as Beebo focused on modulation effects and synthesis modules. Switching between the two was never particularly difficult. There was an option in the settings menu to switch firmware — you didn’t even have to power off the pedal. But now you can use all of the modules simultaneously.

That means you can combine the port of Mutable Instruments Plaits with a convolution reverb modeled on the Pool of the Black Star in Winnipeg. Or, pair some of the sequencing modules with a delay plugin to get rhythmically shifting repeats. Poly Effects also says a new looper module will be added in the coming months. And, considering the breakneck pace at which the company has been rolling out firmware updates (roughly 50 in the last year), I wouldn’t be shocked if there were a few more surprises in store as well.

There is some slightly bad news, however. Rising costs of production mean that the price of Beebo (which will be available in blue and pink) is going up slightly to $449. Still, considering the breadth of effects it puts literally at your fingertips, that’s not a bad price.