Pedal Review: Totally Wicked Audio - The Great Divide

The Great Divide  from Totally Wicked Audio has arrived, and it’s a “must-have” pedal for bassists (but sounds insane on guitar too!)!  This pedal is part synth, part octave-meets-sub-pedal with the ability to turn your bass into the “bassiest” Moog synth you have ever heard.

Photo Credit: Premier Guitar

The Great Divide combines classic analog octave division with proprietary synth technology to make the most realistically synth-sounding pedal! The Great Divide features five independent voices that can be continuously blended for a limitless array of sounds that have never been heard in any other pedal. It is astonishing how many tones and sounds you can get from this one pedal.

The Great Divide is 100% analog – the circuit tracks incoming audio and subdivides the waveforms to create lower notes at varying intervals.  The lower voices are monophonic, but can sometimes be coaxed into tracking double-stops and virtual ground moving tones.  The GD’s Upper Octave voice is a form of harmonic distortion that can track polyphonically with insane precision and often unpredictable results hinting at ring modulator voicings.

For even more tonal options, patch in an external pedal via the TRS effects loop and control it with the Great Divide.  You can also use an expression pedal to control the Great Divide’s output level for musical synth pad volume swells and other assorted electronic soundscapes.

I first heard about the Great Divide back in 2011 while at the NAMM Show. Kevin at TWA showed me the first version and I was blown away.  Kevin has created a pedal that really transforms your instrument into a low, subby synthesizer.  It gives the bass a grindy but synthetic quality that fills the low end like subs do in electronic music.  Get this pedal and get down into the subs!

The Great Divide has a limited run, and the most recent run is currently sold out! You can sign up for the next run here, and you can also try your luck at Reverb.com