“A drum machine for dummies?” DigiTech SDRUM Strummable Drums review

DigiTech brings back the pedal that allows you to create drum sounds via your guitar

DigiTech SDRUM
(Image: © Future)

Guitar World Verdict

The DigiTech SDRUM takes the tedium out of programming drum parts that sound exactly the way you want them to by making it easy to perform kick and snare parts from a guitar’s strings – and the pedal itself makes it easy to control those patterns during live performance.

Pros

  • +

    Create drum patterns by strumming muted low and high strings.

  • +

    Automatically generates editable drum parts.

  • +

    Stores up to 36 songs each with 3 switchable sections.

  • +

    High-quality drum and percussion sounds.

Cons

  • -

    Operation/programming requires studying the manual.

  • -

    Reverb processing cannot be bypassed.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

DigiTech calls the SDRUM a “strummable drums” pedal, but that’s really only a small fraction of what this powerful device can do. The second sentence of the manual’s intro section offers the more accurate “intelligent drum machine” description, but DigiTech probably didn’t use that to avoid making drummers feel insulted by a device that possibly could be smarter than them. [Rimshot crash]

One could also call SDRUM a “drum machine for dummies” (hence its unique “strummable” programming feature for guitarists) as it automatically programs hi-hat, cymbal patterns or tom/percussion parts that complement the kick/snare patterns input either by using the pedal’s kick and snare pads or strumming muted low (kick) and high (snare) strings on an electric or acoustic-electric guitar or bass.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49