The Pigtronix Constellator is a real analog delay in a very compact enclosure.
Its circuit is based on two MN3005 chips that run on 15 volts. Easily, the legendary Deluxe Memory Man comes to my mind by reading this. But we will start one by one.
Construction
The mini enclosure is far a tiny heavyweight. This weight avoids a wobbling of the pedal on the pedalboard. But the manufacturer also considered the pedalboard fixing and added an appropriate piece of Velcro. The manual can be read environmentally friendly online.
The status is displayed via a bright LED.
The Constellator has a time pot (which covers the range from slapback up to 600ms delay time), a pot for repeats (from single repeat to oscillation), a mod pot (that controls the depth of the modulation), and a mix pot. The mix pot allows louder delays for its range covers more than a 50/50 mix.
The knobs are made of aluminum, the outside is slightly rounded and ribbed and thereby offer a comfortable haptic.
The pot for “feel” changes the modulation between chorus and vibrato. The status is displayed by a blue or rather a red LED.
The jack for the 9V power supply (the pedal needs 100Ma) is located at the front. The jacks for in- and output can be found at both sides and are screwed to the enclosure. Because of the size of the enclosure, you will have to dispense with space for a battery.
The hallmark of the Pigtronix stompboxes is the extraordinary design. Thus, the creators garnished the small enclosure with a purple planet that builds a stellar constellation by firing a cannon.
Sound
I have already used several Pigtronix pedals but again and again I am impressed and inspired of the tonal quality of these pedals.
Right from the start, it is a pleasure to create an own sonic constellation.
The striking headroom of the repeats present itself with the first attack of the strings and I really enjoyed the MN3005 that run on 15V. The warm delays fit perfect into the mix and become – as customary for analog delays – darker with every single repeat.
The delay has a marvelous attack and the first repeats have a brilliant clearness which still offer a wide frequency range. In other words: they have a lot of capacity.
They really remind me of a Deluxe Memory Man. Although the first repeats are a bit darker than the repeats of my reference unit (but the parts of the old devices vary sometimes).
I can imagine, that the Constellator might replace one or the other of the big Deluxe Memory Man on the pedalboard.
Delays, delays, delays
The headroom leaves enough space for breezy delays. Regarding this aspect, other delays sometimes sound a bit too compressed, but here you can even feel the liveliness.
With up to 600ms, this analog delay provides a lot of delay time. You can use it for short and percussive slap backs to rhythmical repeats up to long delays as well. Not until you max the pot, you can perceive a slight delay aliasing.
With long delay times, this adds a beautiful lo fi/ vintage character to the sound. And by maxing the repeats, you will become able to create a marvelous soundscape that never gets too undifferentiated or booming.
The modulation can be adjusted quite sophisticated from a slight shimmer and drifting to a strong and loud modulation. The speed of the modulation is fixed but it has been adjusted pretty well and I really like it a lot to add even more movement to the delay signal.
By maxing the mix pot and adjusting a short delay, it can also be used as a chorus/vibrato pedal.
Something special
An interesting fact is, that the pedal constantly “listens” to the played signal. This means, it continuously leads the guitar signal through the delay circuit, what gets perceivable while the pedal is active. Especially when you play a part without delay and activate the pedal with the last note or chord, this is really nice. Thereby, you will get a floating transition and with more repeats you will get a real soundscape. We already know the “always listening” function from the EHX 16 Seconds Delay, the Pigtronix Echolution 2 and the TC 2290. Numerous guitarists used it in a very creative way.
So, you can easily get along with the fact that the Constellator does not provide trails.
Conclusion
A great analog delay sound in a compact enclosure might be the perfect conclusion of this review. Or: less needed space on the pedalboard but more tonal room.
Because of their construction, it is pretty hard to find bright analog delays like this without sounding too thin.
The repeats are beautiful and by adding modulation, become very spheric.
The pots are easy to handle and it is nice to play around with the percussive attacks and the sonically rich repeats.
The “listening” function makes this tiny wonder really special and the price of about 179€ is a real bargain.
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