Guitar Delay / Reverb pedal advice needed

[Old School Steve]

I just bought a Bogner Helios JB45 (thanks to input from this community) and now want to add high-quality, easy-to-use reverb and delay pedal(s) for both clean tones and Plexi/high gain to add a bit of depth and ambiance (think Doug Rappoport - although I can't play nearly as well).

I've done hours of reading (including a few threads on this site) and need to make two decisions for which I'm interested in your advice:

1. Combination pedal (reverb + delay), or individual pedals?
2. Highest quality, easiest to use pedals.

My situation/requirements:

• Setting: 100% home playing, no pedal boards to constrain space
• Budget: Willing to spend up to $500 for 2 pedals "if" they are worth the price. I am used to buying premium ($250-$400) boutique pedals and then I play them for 10-20 years (I rarely ever swap a pedal once I find something I like).
• Reverb type: Multiple (spring, hall, etc.)
• Delay type: Multiple (tape, digital, etc.)
• Ease of use: I get frustrated with complex menu's, software updates, and too many options. For instance, I don't have the patience to dive into the capability of a Strymon BlueSky or NightSky (I don't need a digital symphony of planetarium sounds). I don't use MIDI, Cakewalk, etc.
• Playing Style: Blues, Classic Rock, 90's gain tone (AIC, Creed, etc.) and some fusion

For a combo pedal, I am reading that a lot of guitarists are split between the following: Keeley Caverns v2, EarthQuaker Dispatch, and Source Audio Collider (although reviews of the new Encounter suggest its better). I worry if a combination pedal will sacrifice control over each effect (reverb, delay), so I'm leaning toward separate pedals.

INITIAL PEDAL RESEARCH
I've just discovered Strymon pedals and am very intrigued by their high-quality sounds.

> Reverb: I've watched videos of the Cloudburst and love the concept of ambient reverb and I think it would inspire me to explore more sounds and write more music. I think I read a Sweetwater review that said when the Ensemble switch is set to "off" you can still hear digital artifacts (not good, if true). Also, I think I read that the pedal does not sound great with medium/high gain amps (I hope that is wrong).

> Delay: the DIG pedal is intriguing as a possible first foray into owning a Strymon pedal. However, the Cloudburst & DIG total $600 -- so this path becomes pricey. If I were going to "splurge" on one of the pedals, I'm inclined to spent $300 on an ambient reverb (more flexible) as $150 can buy a good (enough) delay for guitar (e.g. MXR Carbon Copy, Boss DD-3T, TC Flashback)

I'd appreciate suggestions and a bit of explanation behind your thinking.
Steve

 

[Shask]

What about the Source Audio Collider?

 

[Old School Steve]

What about the Source Audio Collider?

You may not have seen it, but I had mentioned the Collider as one of the pedals that continually shows up in Reddit threads and other gear community sites. I have never seen the pedal, played it, or heard it.

If you have experience with the pedal, please share your thoughts.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I have a Strymon Timeline for my delay and absolutely love it - no regrets.

I would grab a Big Sky for the reverb and be done.

I use their Nightsky for my experimental reverb soundscapes and it has so much depth and vastness to it.....

For normal playing though - Big Sky all the way for verbs.


I slam gain through the TimeLine and NightSky with no issues and they do not color my dry sound whatsoever.

I would buy used.

Go cheaper on the verb if you want, but the TimeLine is a solid delay box.

 

[Shask]

You may not have seen it, but I had mentioned the Collider as one of the pedals that continually shows up in Reddit threads and other gear community sites. I have never seen the pedal, played it, or heard it.

If you have experience with the pedal, please share your thoughts.

If you install their Neuro 3 software, which is their editor for all their pedals, there is a mode in there called Soundcheck. It lets you hear presets and tweak any of their pedals in real-time with some pre-recorded tracks. I would recommend you install that and check it out to hear the sounds and ways you can tweak it.

I dont own it, but I have other Source Audio pedals. I have played with that app for hours thinking about buying the Collider. It is one of the few pedal Delay / Reverb combo pedals that can run both in parallel with analog dry through, with higher fidelity studio sounds.

Another pedal I would check out is the UAFX Delverb.

 

[sandman]

I have a source audio collider and very happy with it

 

[DanTravis62]

If it was me, judging by your parameters, budget, and needs there are two paths i would consider

1. I would get a FTT future factory or flight time for the delay
2. I would get a more bare bones reverb that has ambient sounds in spades - like the Walrus SLO or Fundamental

or

1. I would go all the way with the reverb and get something like a strymon big sky
2. Then I would get a delay that's a little more bare bones but sounds good - The alter ego and flashback are both great

 

[Shask]

1. I would go all the way with the reverb and get something like a strymon big sky
2. Then I would get a delay that's a little more bare bones but sounds good - The alter ego and flashback are both great

Yeah, on the cheaper end, I love the Flashback 2 and Hall of Fame 2 combo. I think they sound great. Only thing I dont like about them individually is running them in series instead of parallel.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yeah, on the cheaper end, I love the Flashback 2 and Hall of Fame 2 combo. I think they sound great. Only thing I dont like about them individually is running them in series instead of parallel.

Yep they are a great (and really versatile because of the toneprint stuff) shout

I personally would part with my flight time from my cold, dead hands, but if i had to start over on a budget or something the TC combo is hard to beat, especially for the $$$

 

[Shask]

Yep they are a great (and really versatile because of the toneprint stuff) shout

I personally would part with my flight time from my cold, dead hands, but if i had to start over on a budget or something the TC combo is hard to beat, especially for the $$$

Yeah, I even got 2 of the Plethora X1s, so I am mostly using those now, but mostly on the Flashback and HoF settings. I think all the Toneprint pedals sound good. Very similar in tone to my old G Major 2.

 

[Wetordry]

Flint+El Capistan thru an effects loop is pretty good

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

My fave is the TC2290P:

Everything I've ever bought from tc has been not just good, but excellent.

There are tons of options (including simultaneous reverb, delay, and chorus, etc), but what really separates this from the pack for me is the quality and musicality of the sound itself. Quality > Quantity for me, but this has plenty of both.

 

[Old School Steve]

Yeah, on the cheaper end, I love the Flashback 2 and Hall of Fame 2 combo. I think they sound great. Only thing I dont like about them individually is running them in series instead of parallel.

I bought the Flashback X4 for my son a couple years ago. Lots of delay options and a decent looper.

 

[Jccobb2]

H9 is a chameleon and can be had dirt cheap now the h90 is out. It has world class reverbs and delays and can be switched to use which ever one you want.

 

[Music&Chaos]

How complicated are the Big Sky and Timeline to use?

Where do you think the Cloudburst would come up short?

I am someone who hates complicated pedals, and I find the TimeLine extremely easy to use and dial in Tones.

The Big sky is something I have not gotten mess with much in person, primarily my TimeLine and NightSky.

The BigSky V2 has the cloud algorithm in it but damn is that one pricey pedal!!!

Like most pedals, I see myself using at least 2-3 different types of delays.

I think if I only had the cloudburst, I would only use it some of the time, and even then, it has a very specific sound.

I would have to push for some other options overall that offer more flexibility/usage.

I grabbed the TL for like $300 shipped to my door and have been very happy with it.

If I could get a BigSky used for the same, I probably would, if a V2 came up for around that price, I would definitely grab it up.

 

[Sixstringflannel]

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.

 

[Old School Steve]

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.

 

[The~Kid]

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

 

[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.

Really good write-up (thanks).

One thing I'm noticing about all Strymon pedals is they tend to add what I call "shadow tones" (added synth tones that shouldn't be there) to fatten the sound and give it their signature dreamy/ambient sound. However, that undermines a faithful reproduction of the original reverb & delay sounds.

Do all of the Strymon pedals do this? For instance, if I wanted to pair a DIG v2 + Flint, are they still going to have that hint of BigSky/Cloudburst digital overtones?

 

[CoreyW]

The strymons are not hard to use, you dont need an outboard editor everything can be done on the pedal. There are reasons the Stryfecta was and is so popular.

Ive heard a lot of positive reviews of the Keeley Halo too, and If I were on the hunt for another delay thats what I would be looking to check out first.