So there I was back in January 2012 reading the reports of the 2012 NAMM show in Premier Guitar magazine online. One of the products launched there was the Intellitouch Freedom One combined guitar wireless and tuner stompbox.
What a great idea – not only does a tuner invariably sit at the front of an effects setup or pedalboard, but hiding a wireless receiver inside a tuner also makes for one less unit on most peoples’ already crowded pedalboards.
So I got straight in touch with the makers and asked them to keep me posted as to a release date. Needless to say, they didn’t. I chased several times and eventually a July launch date emerged – six months after the NAMM announcement.
It then took a further 2½ months for the product to get released here, allegedly because of getting the necessary clearances from the European telecomms regulators. By now, I had ascertained the UK distributor (Summerhill), and had determined that one of my regular dealers would be carrying the line and had placed my pre-order with him.
The dealer duly emailed me to say the shipment was imminent, but then called back to say that he wouldn’t be selling me one. On inspecting their first consignment, they had rejected the product as substandard, too flimsy and poor-sounding. Disappointing, but honest.
A few months later, I threw caution to the wind and bought one anyway. It was only £84. My impressions are here.