Chase Bliss Billy Strings Wombtone: Envelope Control in the Lab

Central to the Billy Strings Wombtone is the envelope switch, labelled ‘ENV’, which toggles the pedal between traditional LFO-driven modulation and envelope-responsive behaviour. With the switch off, the pedal operates in standard mode, using an internal LFO to drive phasing effects. Flicking the switch on disables the LFO and activates the envelope circuit, allowing the pedal to react to the strength of your input signal.

The video details how to set up the envelope’s sensitivity using a three-way toggle—high, medium, or low—tailoring the response to your instrument and playing style. Release time is also adjustable, from snappy to languid, letting you dial in how quickly the effect fades after each note or chord. This setup phase is all about matching the pedal’s behaviour to your rig, ensuring that the envelope follows your dynamics rather than dictating them.

Once the envelope is set, the Wombtone allows you to assign its control voltage to various parameters using dip switches—a nod to modular patching, but in pedal form. Joel demonstrates how to map the envelope to the rate parameter, effectively letting your playing intensity speed up or slow down the phaser. The top and bottom sweep options define which part of the knob’s range is modulated, offering further customisation.

The pedal’s logic is reminiscent of using an expression pedal, but here, your dynamics become the mod source. You can even invert the envelope’s effect, so harder playing either increases or decreases the chosen parameter, depending on your preference. This flexibility means the pedal can be tailored for subtle movement or dramatic sweeps, all under the control of your picking hand.

The demonstration makes it clear that this is not just envelope following in the classic sense, but a system for routing dynamic control to almost any parameter. The result is a pedal that feels as patchable as a small modular system, with the added immediacy of real-time performance.

The Wombtone’s envelope generator isn’t limited to a single destination. The video shows how multiple parameters—such as depth, rate, and even volume—can be controlled simultaneously, opening up a world of evolving, interactive effects. By stacking assignments, you can create sounds that morph organically as your playing changes, from subtle movement to full-on modulation chaos.

This approach encourages experimentation, with Joel suggesting that random combinations of dip switch settings and knob positions can yield entirely new textures. The pedal’s ethos is clear: treat it as a sonic laboratory, where unexpected results are part of the fun. For modular-minded users, this kind of flexibility is a rare find in a pedal format, blurring the line between stompbox and patchable processor.

In the final segment, the spotlight shifts to ‘slow mode’, a feature that reduces the modulation speed by a factor of four. This allows for ultra-slow phasing and movement, ideal for players who want their effects to breathe and evolve over longer stretches. Joel demonstrates how slow mode can be combined with envelope control, resulting in textures that drift and swell at glacial pace.

The addition of slow mode is presented as a response to real-world use, where players often want the slowest possible rates for ambient or textural work. It’s a thoughtful inclusion that rounds out the pedal’s capabilities, ensuring that the Wombtone can cover everything from snappy funk to deep, evolving soundscapes—all under the control of your fingers.