EHX Freeze Sound Retainer Settings Guide
The EHX Freeze captures and sustains the current guitar sound indefinitely when the footswitch is pressed — the note or chord played at the moment of engagement is frozen and held as a sustained layer beneath continued playing. Three modes: Fast (immediate freeze), Slow (gradual swell into the frozen sound), and Latch (freeze until footswitch is pressed again). Used for self-harmonisation, creating pedal tones beneath solos, and instant ambient pads.
The best EHX Freeze Sound Retainer settings start with: Mode at 1/10, Effect at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Ambient / Drone: Mode 2/10, Effect 7/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | 1/10 | Fast → Latch |
| Effect | 6/10 | None → Full |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
Slow mode — the frozen sound swells in gradually, creating a smooth ambient pad. Capturing a major or suspended chord in Slow mode while playing over it produces an automatic pad layer. Effect at 7 makes the frozen layer clearly audible as a sustaining bed.
Fast mode — instant freeze for capturing a pedal tone beneath lead playing. Pressing in Fast mode instantly locks the current note; playing lead lines over the locked root note creates the drone-and-melody effect.
Latch mode — freeze a chord, then play the melody over it for a self-harmonising effect. The frozen chord sustains until the footswitch is pressed again; the Effect level balances the frozen layer against the live playing.
Fast mode with moderate Effect gives a quick, low-commitment way to hold a single note or chord as a backing texture without setting up a full looper, useful for brief solo transitions.
Slow mode at maximum Effect exaggerates the swell and blend into the frozen texture, useful for building slowly evolving drones from unconventional or noisy source material.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The Freeze captures whatever sound is passing through it at the moment of activation — this means other pedals that come before it, such as reverb, delay or chorus, will have their output captured in the frozen layer. Placing it after those effects captures the ambient wash; placing it before captures a drier signal.
- The swell time in Slow mode is fixed and relatively short — the frozen sound blooms in over approximately 1-2 seconds. For a longer, more gradual swell, apply a volume pedal before the Freeze to gradually raise the level, then freeze the result.
- Latch mode is the most practically useful for live performance, since it does not require holding the footswitch down — Fast and Slow modes on some units require sustained footswitch contact depending on configuration.
- Freezing a note or chord and then adjusting the guitar volume or tone knob does not affect the already-frozen layer, since it has been captured independently of further changes to the live signal — useful for isolating a specific texture cleanly.
- Combining this pedal with a second, independent effects chain for the live playing on top of the frozen layer (rather than sharing the same reverb or delay) keeps the frozen pad and the live melody more distinct from each other.
FAQ
EHX Freeze Sound Retainer — Common Questions
Best starting settings for EHX Freeze Sound Retainer: Mode at 1/10, Effect at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Ambient / Drone: Mode 2/10, Effect 7/10. Slow mode — the frozen sound swells in gradually, creating a smooth ambient pad. Capturing a major or suspended chord in Slow mode while playing over it produces an automatic pad layer. Effect at 7 makes the frozen layer clearly audible as a sustaining bed.
For Lead (pedal tones): Mode 0/10, Effect 6/10. Fast mode — instant freeze for capturing a pedal tone beneath lead playing. Pressing in Fast mode instantly locks the current note; playing lead lines over the locked root note creates the drone-and-melody effect.
Mode: Fast = instant freeze; Slow = gradual swell; Latch = hold until re-pressed (Fast to Latch). Effect: Level of the frozen sustained layer (None to Full)
The Freeze captures whatever sound is passing through it at the moment of activation — this means other pedals that come before it, such as reverb, delay or chorus, will have their output captured in the frozen layer. Placing it after those effects captures the ambient wash; placing it before captures a drier signal. The swell time in Slow mode is fixed and relatively short — the frozen sound blooms in over approximately 1-2 seconds. For a longer, more gradual swell, apply a volume pedal before the Freeze to gradually raise the level, then freeze the result. Latch mode is the most practically useful for live performance, since it does not require holding the footswitch down — Fast and Slow modes on some units require sustained footswitch contact depending on configuration. Freezing a note or chord and then adjusting the guitar volume or tone knob does not affect the already-frozen layer, since it has been captured independently of further changes to the live signal — useful for isolating a specific texture cleanly. Combining this pedal with a second, independent effects chain for the live playing on top of the frozen layer (rather than sharing the same reverb or delay) keeps the frozen pad and the live melody more distinct from each other.
Got the EHX Freeze Sound Retainer? Build the rest of your rig.
Use the Rig Builder to find matching guitars, pedals and cables for your genre and budget.