
A simple and straightforward atmosphere machine spans deep, orchestral ambient reverbs and colorful room sounds.
Great range of sounds from small room and plate reverbs to expansive, orchestral, and ambient tones. Organic edge to many sounds and fewer digital artifacts. Small size.
No presets without external switches. And only a single preset available without MIDI.
$279
Strymon Cloudburst
strymon.net
Harmonizing ambient reverbs are tricky stuff. Tilt too much to the heavy-handed side and you can easily have a box of schmaltz on your hands. And from an operational standpoint, a lot of harmonizing reverbs tend to be complex and thick with secondary, hidden controls. That’s great for sound designers. Maybe less so for performing guitarists that would rather play and write than tinker with a pedal’s deeper secrets.
Strymon’s Cloudburst does a classy, clever job of inhabiting the simplicity side of the spectrum. It’s still deep and rich with ambient sounds that can stretch to extra-expansive. But it also produces very rich sound pictures of small spaces. And while it won’t effectively replace a spring sound—there’s a little too much harmonizing at most voices for that—it can be modest, a little lo-fi, imperfect, and less than pristine in really cool ways. With a WYSIWYG control set, it’s also a lot of fun to use in fast-moving, intuitive fashion.
Shrunken, Streamlined, Simple
Strymon pedals have taken on a few forms over their history. The near-uniform, relatively economical layouts of pedals like the Flint, El Capistan, and Deco, or bigger pedals like the BigSky or TimeLine, have an almost Boss-like way of engendering familiarity and ease. The Cloudburst feels every bit as inviting, and perhaps more so for its small size and relatively spare control array.
“Short decay, bright tone, spanky pre-delay, and a strong dose of mod, to simulate tape drift, can evoke skanky Exile on Main Street ambience.”
The controls are de rigueur for an ambient reverb. Mix, decay, pre-delay, tone, and modulation make up the knobs. A single toggle called “ensemble” switches between the three levels of harmonics that are added to the input signal: off, mezzo piano, or forte, which effectively increase the intensity of the harmonic effect
Each of the controls, and the pedal in general, have a lot of range, so you have to pay close attention to how the knobs relate to each other at very specific settings, with just a single preset at your disposal (called a “favorite” setting here), which unfortunately requires an outboard switch that can also be configured to work as a freeze switch (not included). If you have a MIDI controller, the pedal can be set up for 300 presets. The lack of many easily accessible presets is bound to turn off some users, and that’s a shame given the pedal’s range. But that makes it no less fun to work with on the fly, and the expression-pedal jack means you can create dramatic variations in mix level while you play. Cloudburst also comes with a full stereo TRS in/out, TRS MIDI, USB C and a discrete JFET front end.
Summon the Cumulus
The Cloudburst really can move through a lot of spaces, and many voices and capabilities will surprise. In the no-ensemble setting, and at a low mix level (as heard in Clip 1 of the audio included with the online version of this review), you get a taste of how rangy the Cloudburst can be in even small amounts. For starters, the pedal can offer a dollop of brightness and punch to a clean signal. Short decay, bright tone, spanky predelay, and a strong dose of mod, to simulate tape drift, can evoke skanky Exile on Main Street ambience, or a more controlled ’70s room environment. Stack on the decay time, a washy pre-decay, plus doses of tone and modulation, and you’re in ringing harmony-heavy surfgaze spaces. Advancing the mix just to noon significantly changes the size of the no-ensemble setting. And here, as heard in Clip 2, you’ll find much dreamier colors as you advance the mix.
One thing that’s cool about themezzo piano and forte settings is that both modes can generate high-harmonic or orchestral textures that straddle the strange and organic. Depending on tone, modulation, and pre-delay settings, they can take on husky, almost dirty overtones or can be soft—almost like a synth with a slow attack setting. They can also easily be tuned to eliminate much of the cloying, hyper-angelic sound that colors other high harmonic reverbs, and can embellish simple melodies in very dramatic ways (Clip 3).
One thing that’s cool about themezzo piano and forte settings is that both modes can generate high-harmonic or orchestral textures that straddle the strange and organic. Depending on tone, modulation, and pre-delay settings, they can take on husky, almost dirty overtones or can be soft—almost like a synth with a slow attack setting. They can also easily be tuned to eliminate much of the cloying, hyper-angelic sound that colors other high harmonic reverbs, and can embellish simple melodies in very dramatic ways (Clip 3).
The Verdict
Strymon’s simple but expansive Cloudburst pays a cost for its streamlined functionality and compact enclosure. Primarily, there are not enough presets for how many cool sounds there are here, unless you introduce other hardware and use MIDI. But that problem aside, Cloudburst is fun and stimulates musical thought. It’s also intuitive to use—as long as you’re willing to take the time to study the expansive ranges in the controls and get a sense for how interactive they can be. Still, even minor mastery of Cloudburst’s capabilities can open up opportunities and musical directions. At $279, it’s a pricey little machine. But it’s not hard to see getting many tunes, hooks, licks, and sparks of inspiration from the Cloudburst. And you can rack up a few hundred bucks worth of that stuff pretty quickly.
Strymon Cloudburst Ambient Reverb Demo | First Look
PG contributor Tom Butwin reveals his favorite songwriting secret weapon: the partial capo. Watch how the Shubb C7 and C8 can simulate alternate tunings without retuning your guitar—and spark fresh creative ideas instantly.
Shubb C8b Partial Capo for Drop-D Tuning - Brass
The C8 covers five of the six strings, leaving either the low E or high E string open, depending on how it's positioned.
- Standard setup: Placed on the 2nd fret while leaving the low E string open, it simulates Drop D-style sounds—except you're still in standard tuning (key of E). You get that big, droning bass feel without retuning.
- Reverse setup: Flipping the capo allows the high E string to ring, giving you shimmering drones and new melodic options across familiar chord shapes.
- A flexible tool that lets you simulate alternate tunings and create rich sonic textures—all while keeping your guitar in standard tuning.
Shubb C7b Partial Capo for DADGAD Tuning - Brass
The C7 covers three of the six strings—either D, G, and B or A, D, and G—depending on how it's flipped.
- Typical setup (D, G, B): Creates an open A chord shape at the 2nd fret without needing your fingers. This frees you up for new voicings and droning notes in the key of A.
- Reversed setup (A, D, G): Gets you close to a DADGAD-style tuning vibe, but still keeps you in standard tuning—great for modal, spacious textures often found in folk or cinematic guitar parts.
Use it alone or stack it with the C8 for wild, layered effects and truly out-of-the-box inspiration.
The Future Impact V4 is an incredibly versatile pedal with an exceptional range of sounds. In addition to producing synthesizer sounds such as basses, leads and pads, it can function as an octaver, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion, envelope filter, traditional wah-wah, tremolo, reverb, etc., and even has a built-in tuner. It can potentially replace an entire pedalboard of dedicated single-effect pedals.
The very powerful signal processor of the Future Impact V4 is able to replicate the various oscillator, filter, amplifier and envelope generator blocks found in classic synthesizers. In addition, it contains signal processing blocks more traditionally used for processing the sound of an instrument such as a harmonizer block and audio effects such as chorus, distortion and EQ. These architectures complement each other in a very flexible way.
Setting the standard for the bass guitar synth pedals since 2015, together with an enthusiastic community and long line of great artists, the Future Impact V4 is the guitar synth platform for the next decade.
Belltone Guitars has partnered Brickhouse Toneworks to create a one-of-a-kind, truly noiseless Strat/Tele-tone pickup in a standard Filter’Tron size format: the Single-Bell pickup.
The Single-Bell by Brickhouse Toneworks delivers bonafide single-coil Strat and Tele tones with the power of a P-90 and no 60-cycle hum. Unlike typical stacked hum-cancelling designs, Brickhouse Toneworks uses a proprietary ‘sidewind’ approach that cancels the 60-cycle hum without sacrificing any of the dynamics or top-end sparkle of a Fender-style single coil.
Get the best of both worlds with clear bell-like tones on the neck pickup, signature quack when combining the neck and bridge pickups, and pristine twang in the bridge position backed with the fullness and power of a P-90. Push these into overdrive and experience the hallmark blues tone with plenty of grit and harmonic sustain — all with completely noiseless performance.
Key Features of the Single-Bell:
- Cast Alnico 5 Magnet, designed to be used with 500k pots
- Voiced to capture that signature Fender-style single coil tone without the 60-cycle hum
- Lightly potted to minimize squeal
- Made in the USA with premium quality materials
The retail price for a Bridge and Neck matching set is $340.00 and they’re available directly and exclusively through Belltone® Guitars / Brickhouse Toneworks at belltoneguitars.com.
Designed for players who demand flexibility without sacrificing tone, the Aquanaut fuses the rich warmth of classic analog delay with the extended range and clarity of modern digital designs. Featuring up to 600 milliseconds of delay time, the Aquanaut easily covers everything from tight slapback echoes to lush, ambient textures and rhythmic soundscapes – all with a simple, intuitive control layout.
Unlike many digital delays that can sound sterile and detached, the Aquanaut retains an organic, analog-inspired voice. Repeats are smooth and musical, gently fading into the mix to create depth and dimension without overwhelming your dry signal. Whether you’re chasing vintage tape echo, adding subtle space to your solos, or building massive atmospheric layers, the Aquanaut keeps your tone clear, present, and inspiring.
Berserker Electronics Aquanaut Delay/Echo
Key features include:
- Up to 600ms of delay time for expanded creative possibilities
- Analog-voiced digital architecture for warm, natural-sounding repeats
- Ambient-style echo that enhances, not distracts from, your core tone
- Simple, intuitive controls for delay time, feedback, and blend
The Aquanaut is available direct at www.berserkerpedals.com and Reverb at a $149 street price.