Guitar Delay / Reverb pedal advice needed

[Old School Steve]

I’d check out V2’s of Strymons, personally. There’s something I always notice with the bypass/buffer in the v1 Strymons (except the Volante). The ones with the jfet front ends seem to respond better to my playing. I’m in the minority here as some don’t hear that difference. I’m sure a small jfet boost would solve that issue. I will say after using the timeline and big sky live quite a bit, I don’t care about the buffers and nuances all that much - but at home I’m more of an analytical listener (to a fault). Wish they would quit dragging ass and launch the timeline 2 already.

- Collider: wouldn’t sleep on the Collider, as I see it mentioned a ton here. Had the Nemesis for a while and it’s very cool.

- Dig V2: if you’re primarily wanting digital it’s a beautiful sounding delay. I was able to get some cool Billy Howerdel Mer De Noms tones out of a V1.

- Big Sky: it’s cool and I played one for a lot of live stuff for a few years. Everyone uses cloud so I would typically go with a different engine. It’s all good for special effects but I prefer my reverb post amp and not so much special effects cinematic sounds.

- Flint: 80’s mode sounds wonderful.

- FTT Flight Time & Future Factory: both are on my shortlist. Something about the way these sound reminds me the most of the 90’s era.

- Volante: pretty flexible in studio mode for a clean digital-esque sound.

- Timeline: it’s a classic. I’m waiting for a V2 to come out. I’ve bought and sold it multiple times.

I will say I recently scored a blackface Intellifex for $100 and it’s killed all my delay/reverb gas.

What do you think of pairing a Flint (I love its Reverb + Tremelo voicing sounds) with a DIG or a Halo delay?

I just know that I won't have the patience to deal with dozens/hundreds of preset banks and large instruction manuals for the Big Sky.

 

[Shask]

After hours of YouTube videos and articles, I really like the tonal quality of the UA Del Verb and it simplicity (3 reverb settings, 3 delay settings) -- what could be easier? Pairing the Del Verb with a Cloudburst would give me the best of both worlds (classic reverb/delay plus modern ambient reverb/synth sounds).

Where this plan falls apart is the number of online posts (Reddit, The Gear Page, Rig-Talk, etc.) of Del Verb owners complaining about poor UA customer support and build quality compared to the Starlight and Golden. The Golden sounds superior to the Strymon BlueSky in terms of pure/weighty tone (great Anderton's video comparing them side-by-side) as the BlueSky sounds like it's adding digital tones that shadow the guitar notes behind the reverb.

I am trying to like the Collider, but the sonic tone quality seems (to my ears) a step under Strymon and Universal Audio.

Anyone had good luck with the UA Golden for reverb?

Looks like I'll keep searching & evaluating.

I have been debating on grabbing a Collier or Golden for like the last year, lol. In clips, I think the Golden sounds better, but I like the idea of having delay and reverb in parallel with the Collider. Don't know if I love the idea of the Golden needing Bluetooth to get more features.

I still haven't got the Golden, but I did buy the Heavenly and Evermore. Those are great sounding pedals also. They are basically mono versions of 1 mode of the Golden.

 

[heinz_57]

I have the v1 Dig and Blue Sky. They are easy to use and sound great to me. But if you are hearing a digital artifact, in the demos I think you will still hear it in your rig too.

I like the demos for the empress reverb. That might be worth checking out. No soft menus just knobs

 

[Sixstringflannel]

What do you think of pairing a Flint (I love its Reverb + Tremelo voicing sounds) with a DIG or a Halo delay?

I just know that I won't have the patience to deal with dozens/hundreds of preset banks and large instruction manuals for the Big Sky.

I ran that combo for a bit and it’s great. The dig’s secondary controls can be a PITA for some. Flints secondary are little extras that you can be fine without engaging and just stick to what’s in front of you. It’s worth it to learn the Dig’s secondary controls though. I don’t believe the V1 Dig’s have line level, if that matters to you, V2 does though. Haven’t tried the Halo but seems to get raving reviews, but no demo of it really interests me. With the bigger boxes I usually just lean on the presets and tweak slightly. On the timeline I actually used the Digital engine the most but that one doesn’t sound the same as the Dig and vice versa. These days I just use a DD-3 into the front end and I recently got a blackface Intellifex that killed my delay/reverb/chorus gas.

I saw you mentioned the UA stuff and I have to say I really loved the sounds of the Golden and the Starlight, but UA kind of pisses me off in general with their support. I had an Ox Box before and loved the cab emulations and fx but didn’t love the response curve, and their support has been minimal on pushing anything new to it or updating it and it’s been out a long while now. Not to mention connectivity, which is what a lot of folks get frustrated with on the UA pedals. If you’re not on IOS I’d put those on the back burner or make sure you’ve at least got a good return policy.

 

[Old School Steve]

I ran that combo for a bit and it’s great. The dig’s secondary controls can be a PITA for some. Flints secondary are little extras that you can be fine without engaging and just stick to what’s in front of you. It’s worth it to learn the Dig’s secondary controls though. I don’t believe the V1 Dig’s have line level, if that matters to you, V2 does though. Haven’t tried the Halo but seems to get raving reviews, but no demo of it really interests me. With the bigger boxes I usually just lean on the presets and tweak slightly. On the timeline I actually used the Digital engine the most but that one doesn’t sound the same as the Dig and vice versa. These days I just use a DD-3 into the front end and I recently got a blackface Intellifex that killed my delay/reverb/chorus gas.

I saw you mentioned the UA stuff and I have to say I really loved the sounds of the Golden and the Starlight, but UA kind of pisses me off in general with their support. I had an Ox Box before and loved the cab emulations and fx but didn’t love the response curve, and their support has been minimal on pushing anything new to it or updating it and it’s been out a long while now. Not to mention connectivity, which is what a lot of folks get frustrated with on the UA pedals. If you’re not on IOS I’d put those on the back burner or make sure you’ve at least got a good return policy.

Great write up.

I decided to buy a new Del Verb from a good guitar shop that I hope will be my advocate with UA if I run into trouble with the unit. I plan to buy a Cloudburst to pair with it for ambient sounds and a slightly different digital reverb.

If the DelVerb craps out, I will buy a Flint v2 and a delay (maybe just a TC Flashback 2) for my basic needs.

 

[Old School Steve]

Guys - thanks for all of the thoughtful advice and write-ups. Lots of good information that was informative.

I decided to pull the trigger and buy a UA Del-Verb (despite most of you thinking I'm nuts) but its simplicity and authentic/pure simulations really nailed what I'm looking for. I simply don't need all of the additional functionality of the Collider, Timeline, etc. as I'm not playing live -- only screwing around in my guitar room at home. Therefore, MIDI controls, presets, etc. simply don't matter to me.

I am fully aware that I may live to regret buying a UA pedal given their poor customer service, but it is only $300 at risk. I'm going to buy a Cloudburst to pair with the Del-Verb so that I have both classic reverb/delay covered, plus an ambient ensemble pedal for some more creative/inspirational tones. If the Del-Verb turns out to be crap, I'll return it to the guitar shop where I bought it and swap it out for a Strymon Flint v2, and then probably add a Keeley Halo or TC Flashback 2 as my combo.

I'll keep you guys posted on the Del-Verb owner experience.

 

[Old School Steve]

What are your thoughts about Flint v2 and El Cap v2?

 

[PDC]

Lots of great recommendations and suggestions in this thread. For a 'Set It and Forget It' type of 'always on' effect, I always some back to the Earthquaker Dispatch Master. I swear, the signal from this pedal is SO clean, you could use it in any recording studio for vocals. The only drawback is that you cannot turn the delay / reverb effects on and off independently. You CAN set the pedal to provide verb only or delay only with the level controls - but once set, you cannot just step on the pedal to cycle either effect in or out. So - as a 'set it and forget it / always on' effect, its hard to beat.

I went overboard and put a UA Golden Reverberator and a UA Starlight Echo on my 'Big Board.' That allows me all of the deep(er) dive settings on both the reverb and the delay and punch them both in and out of the signal chain independently.

I have been curious about the sound quality from the UA Del-Verb as other have already suggested in this thread. It does look to me as though you CAN turn each effect - verb and delay - on and off independently with this pedal which may nudge it ahead of the EQ Dispatch Master, as long as the sound quality is there. I will say, the UA Starlight Echo and Golden Reverberator are true studio quality sounding effects. VERY eager to hear your thoughts after test driving the Del Verb!

 

[cobrahead1030]

About two years ago I was in a similar place.

I ended up with a used Timeline ($300) & Bluesky ($200) from Strymon. That was more than I wanted to spend, but the tone per dollar ratio is honestly hard to beat. I mainly use a few basic delays on the timeline, but occasionally I’ll scroll the presets and find some sounds that are truly inspiring.

I also wouldn’t count out the DL4 mkii. It has built in reverbs that are actually quite nice, though setting them can be a bit tricky.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

This guy!

 

[Geo]

 

[romanianreaper]

When it comes to time, quality and value look at Keeley

Yep, and I was going to recommend the Keeley Halo. My absolute favorite pedal.

 

[The~Kid]

View attachment 425008

So where on the pedal board do I put this on?!?!


Fucking awesome *_*

 

[Jdub]

I like my UA Del Verb. very easy to use and sounds great imo.

 

[The~Kid]

Yep, and I was going to recommend the Keeley Halo. My absolute favorite pedal.

That's a good one too and they are all excellent IMO.....


If I did get one for me it would be this one *_*

 

[The~Kid]

This guy!View attachment 425006

These are fucking great too as well as their Oceans pedals.

 

[Old School Steve]

That's a good one too and they are all excellent IMO.....


If I did get one for me it would be this one *_*


View attachment 425046

Never heard/seen this.

I will research it.

 

[ewill52]

This guy!View attachment 425006

Did you by chance shave your pubes over your pedalboard?

 

[ewill52]

+1 for the Collider ( although I'm excited to hear about the UA pedal and how it sounds!). I've had great luck with the Collider. the editor is great, full midi, and has some really solid sounding verbs and delays.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Did you by chance shave your pubes over your pedalboard?

Tools of the trade on the dusty floor of the garage. My stuff gets used. It’s not all clean and unplayed…it goes to gigs almost weekly.
Probably many unknown pubes of mysterious origin.