The Chase Bliss Big Time is a collaboration between John Snyder at Electronic Audio Experiments and the experimental folks over at Chase Bliss. It’s glitchy, it’s weird, and I want one.
At its core, Big Time is a study in hybrid imperfection. A Stereo Analog Preamp hits your signal right at the front end, adding harmonic richness, saturation, and enough unpredictability to keep things alive. From there, echoes spiral through a Stereo Analog Limiter embedded directly in the feedback loop. So basically things get real nuts, real quick.
The control layout is also pretty interesting. I’ll give it to you in a list, or else this turns into a nightmare paragraph:
- The Color fader drives the gain of the preamp, and as you push it higher, saturation blooms while the limiter digs in harder, reshaping your repeats with increasing intensity.
- Time operates as a clock control, thouygh its interaction with Mode and Scale determines whether your delays glide smoothly or snap into musical subdivisions, opening the door to pitch-shifting tricks and sequenced timing shifts.
- Cluster gradually introduces additional delay taps and diffusion, thickening your sound into dense, swirling layers
- Tilt EQ slices the frequency spectrum in half, letting you sculpt tone by cutting either lows or highs depending on its position.
- Feedback governs the regeneration of repeats, but thanks to the limiter, it’s pretty controlled.
- Wet sets the overall output of the effect, while Scale dictates whether Time and Motion behave in fluid sweeps or quantized steps.
- Motion itself unlocks modulation, with Depth and Rate available as alternate controls to shape everything from subtle movement to chaotic pitch drift.
- Mode defines the delay range and footswitch behavior, while Voicing selects the core tonal character independent of the EQ section.
- State determines how the limiter behaves, dramatically influencing the pedal’s response and feel.
Big Time’s gain structure is particularly unique, built around the interaction of Color, Feedback, and Wet. This triad forms a dynamic ecosystem where boosting one parameter affects the behavior of the others, encouraging players to think less in terms of static settings and more in terms of evolving signal flow.
Stereo functionality is deeply integrated. Spread offers multiple widening options, from subtle offsets in Cluster and Motion to full ping-pong delays that bounce across the stereo field.
A dedicated 0.5X mode drops bit depth from 32 to 12 and halves the sample rate, injecting gritty, lo-fi character straight out of early digital hardware. Diffuse Type enhances the smearing effect of echoes, while a +12dB boost pushes the preamp into even richer saturation territory.
Under the hood, alternate controls expand the sonic palette even further. Texture shapes unique characteristics tied to each State. Rate and Depth refine modulation behavior, with glide and harmonic intervals coming into play depending on settings.
Crossover determines where Tilt EQ splits the spectrum, and Diffuse gradually melts echoes into ambient washes. Dry allows independent control of your unaffected signal, making it easy to dial in parallel textures.
Looping is equally adventurous. In Loop Mode, Play/Dub decides whether Big Time moves into playback or immediate overdubbing after recording.
Footswitch behavior shifts depending on Mode, offering controls like Hold for freezing and layering sound, Delete for clearing loops, and Overload for maxing out Color and Feedback in an instant burst of chaos. Tap Tempo handles delay timing, while Motion Toggle and preset access keep everything within reach during performance.
Get the Chase Bliss Big Time here for $999, grab a used Chase Bliss pedal here if you don’t wanna break the bank, and check out all our Chase Bliss coverage right here!
