Review Demo - Electro-Harmonix Blurst

Read the review: bit.ly/EHXBlurst
If your experiences with filter stompboxes extend only as far as the ones that go wacka-wacka, perhaps you should let Blurst introduce you to sheeeeeeeoooooo, cronk-uh cronk-uh, and whoosh-blurb-blurb-blubble.
Electro-Harmonix’s Blurst is an endlessly entertaining analog filter pedal packed with tone-shaping and modulation options. The filters that appear in wah pedals (your basic wacka-wacka sound) are band-pass, which means they emphasize a slice of frequencies while trimming frequencies above and below the slice. But Blurst employs a low-pass filter, which removes frequencies only above the cutoff point. It’s the quintessential analog-synth filter sound, capable of everything from slow, yawning sweeps to wet-sounding burbles and farts.
Burst is solidly built into a standard BB-sized enclosure. The controls include five large knobs, three 3-way toggles, and two footswitches. It requires a 9V power supply (included). Two knobs control the essential low-pass-filter parameters: cutoff frequency and filter resonance (the degree of intensity at the cutoff frequency). But it’s the remaining controls that make Blurst so versatile and fun.
Knobs labeled volume and blend may not sound terribly exciting, but they do important work here. At high resonance settings, Blurst can generate blisteringly loud screeches, moans, and rumbles. The cut-only volume control lets you dial in extreme effects without committing crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the blend control sets the balance between the dry and filtered sound. (As opposed to a wah sound, which is 100 percent filter.) That way, you can use sounds that might otherwise be too anarchic and over-the-top by mixing them with non-filtered signal.
Continue reading the review: bit.ly/EHXBlurst

[@aidanmouellic5919]

John Bohlinger is a cool, genuine and refreshing dude who has some wild chops. Keep up the great work John and stop making me want to buy stuff I can't afford.

[@johnbohlinger]

Thanks Aidan. Play on, amigo.

[@guitarandbass1995]

It was the best of times. It was the blurst of times.

[@chrisnagy1429]

I bought this pedal when it first came out. I really like it, but I think you gave it a disservice by your review. It's actually kind of subtle and you can tell, I think that it was designed by a keyboard player. It is not meant to be shrieked at least to me. I hooked up with an OCD and Csidman with some delay and reverb and this pedal is a space captain's musical artifact, not known and not found. Everybody is puzzled by this and that is why it's so great. A million combinations. The NAMM EHX guy didn't seem to know what was up. That is a great reason to buy this alien witch toy.

[@billypilgrim1]

The Timothy Olyphant of the guitar world

[@jeroenverbeeck7925]

0:15 that b bender. Gotta love John, such a rad dude with an amazing skill level!

[@MYGAS21]

fIRST of all I would like to express my compliments to John's son artwork on the guitar....it's truly stellar. The lines almost depict sound itself in some way. Amazing!. Now of course John Bolgers playing skills can not be refuted of course, BUT I think that as an artist he's stuck in his ways too much. This shows even in his use of words like "crazy" "wacky"....etc...these terms are highly relative and speak more about John's conservative mentality than about the pedal itself. I don't care what genre of music John Bolger is into: there are many ways to skin a cat, and a new tool can always be a way to expand the pre-existing musical vocabulary of whatever genre. Not to mention that it's healthy to go out of yourself from time to time and abandon your favorite genre ALL TOGETHER! and explore the unknown and feelings you never had before. SO I would have really liked it, if John with his skills as an artist was a little more playful and adventurous and had given some more quality time and attention to this expressive beast of a pedal and show us things it could do that is unique to it, without making such a big fuss, making subjective judgements like wacky or crazy that really don't mean anything. When the wha pedal first came out is was wacky for a allot of people (no I mean it was literally wha-cky, pun intended hehe!) but for John Bolger of today it's something normal. Why? Because it became a habit. But a professional critic like John should not be so subservient to habits. He's not a grandpa scratching strings on his private porch.

[@matsmithmikemartin3715]

"WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" love the videos John you always make me smile man!

[@asssscats]

Great great playing! Only ever seen you on big rig rundown. Didn't realize. Very nice. Hope you're well. Take care man

[@modelcitizen1977]

This thing would sound sick on a bass.

[@CNick75]

A lot better on bass than guitar.

[@petersokol1603]

That’s what it is made for…Bass.

[@misterknightowlandco]

Anyone else want this pedal on their board for the artwork alone? lol cool pedal EHX is awesome and so is JB!

[@Patzgtr]

LOVE that guitar!

[@LeviBulger]

John looked very unsure of how to use this pedal lol. It definitely sounds a hundred times better with fuzz before it.

[@gusdupree9076]

"for when some weirdo wants something weird like that" haha nice and concise , these are fun reviews

[@henriquecorreia9917]

best demo of this pedal, congratulations

[@MrUltraworld]

I like it. EH makes some of the greatest FX on the market. It's all reasonably priced and well made too. My first pedals were a Big Muff and a Small Stone that I bought in 1977 for $85.00 total. I still have them and they're still on my board.

[@liamtahaney713]

It's crazy to think you can pick those two pedals up for around the same price today, albeit used. I picked up my small stone for forty bucks and I'm sure you could grab a big muff too. Such great effects. Totally timeless.

[@ModestEgg]

Man, EHX are practically a modular synth company

[@squirelova1815]

"For a session or whatever when some weirdo ants some weird sounds like that..." Well said. Even so, I'll buy it since it does do something usefully unique and with versatility too.

[@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf]

Franken Tele Baritone? Missed opportunity. Franken-"berry"-tone Tele.

[@MisterGuitarItalia]

Sounds neat until the band kicks in... then you're gone

[@WheartyC]

TheTRUTH turn your amp up? Filter pedals tend to up volumes unless it's a high pass

[@1maggan]

Exactly, at the end of the day it comes down to what will get thru the mix . But in a recording situation things are different. Nice to have control over these sounds.

[@tomas7730]

I use this very subtle before a reverb , to an aux , for dub reggae style

[@papasmamas1]

John, do you have albums , EPs, or something edited ? Would be really good to hear.

[@7Roeth]

3:25 time to play Lightning Crashes by Live, lol.

[@paulsimmons5726]

Dang cool guitar!

[@dennisyebba2978]

I would like to see a rig rundown of johns gear.

[@Cinnemax77]

and he shall cleanse us with his stripes- nice touch John!

[@bongload1052]

Nice review, informative

[@Eric1396]

It seems like the quality of the video in terms of filming has drop compared to what i am used to with Premier Guitar.

[@arpadrosta8006]

I couldn't believe the intro was actually a guitar.

[@arpadrosta8006]

Ah a baritone...ok

[@kierenmoore3236]

JB could be going through water torture, and still be able to make it look as though he was 'digging it'/feeling the 'mojo' ... :P

[@JesseLeeKing]

I like your son's art work

[@JIMJAMSC]

I knew the day would arrive but they are running out of ideas for pedals. Now they are simply mixing them, giving them cool paint jobs and catchy names.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

I have s suggestion for them... Maybe another totally unusable gimic pedal called 'Fart Attack'.... The settings would be wet, dry and rasping. There would be a follow through boost mode which would give you that brown sound.

[@420DamienDarkblade]

will a Morley Expression pedal work with this Blurst pedal??

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

I see you're using the 'devil's lighting' set-up today

[@chrishorton615]

Hide this pedal from Bob Weir.

[@cleftturnip7774]

I hope you draw on fenders and gibson aswell.

[@Saldawgfilms]

i had excited outblurst when i heard it.

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

I love the artwork. It's great. Kudos to your son.

[@angelamaran2257]

chin chin chin.... chinchinchin.... chin.......chin X'D

[@Heka41]

beats that clown Paul Riario

[@jeroenverbeeck7925]

lol

[@markferguson3745]

This has a steep learning curve, and sometimes,- maybe even often,- you hear reviewers ,- of unquestionable ability,- reject potentials and possibilities because they feel overwhelmed.They think that it's like recreating a wheel, instead of highlighting or supplementing skills.Pedals like this are not for the faint of heart, but also,- they're really not as complicated as they might first appear.Just stay calm...it will be fine .

[@danitz56]

I kinda wish they'd find some great settings first before making the video and show a few gig worthy settings, then show the extremes of the knobs. John is great, but watching somebody randomly twist knobs to see what they do is kinda unimpressive. I'd rather watch him play with no pedals at all

[@JIMJAMSC]

Thats really what most of these are for. They are just mixing pedals,giving cool paint jobs and wacky names. Use a few times and its pedal board candy then shortly a dust collector.

[@petersokol1603]

You that lazy and unimaginative.

[@SalimSalim-xv5xq]

Where I can buy this?

[@petersokol1603]

Everywhere

[@michellegriffith113]

I got one before I heard it, lol. Too cool to let go of, but it is sort of useless.

[@carloslozada2121]

this makes a guitar sound like a bass

[@JohnDoe-dh8xc]

Carlos Lozada No he's playing a baritone guitar

[@crystalclaycomb5492]

I thought that was Timothy Olympia something the actor

[@tommysserpents]

It's Olyphant.

[@jubyerhashin8214]

Buy a bass guitar bro

[@universalmanchild]

Very gimmicky, but cool.