Strymon Brigadier Delay, Orbit Flanger, Blue Sky Reverberator, and Ola Chorus & Vibrato Pedal Reviews
Four new pedals from Strymon combine old and new technology to recreate vintage-style sounds without the pitfalls.
Most of us can remember the first piece of
gear that made a lasting impression—whether
it was an old Strat in a pawnshop or a
classic Marshall calling from across the room.
For me, it was an old Ibanez AD9 Analog
Delay—its warm sound and funky look drew
me in immediately. But it was a temperamental
beast, and that’s an understatement.
The delay time was way too short because
of its older “bucket brigade” chips, which
were also used in the other analog delays of
the period, like the Boss DM-2 and Electro-
Harmonix Memory Man. The bucket brigade
term came about because of how the echoed
signal was produced. The signal was passed
from one capacitor to another like buckets
being passed man to man in early firefighting
brigades. Even though these chips
sounded great, the delay time was usually
very short because, as the signal was passed
from one capacitor to another, clarity was
lost. Adding more capacitors would have alleviated
this issue, but at the cost of fidelity.
Strymon seeks to correct these headaches
with a combination of modern and old-school
technologies. Their aim was to design a
digital chip that recreates the entire analog
bucket-brigade chip—tonal nuances and
all—and that drastically increases delay time.
Strymon calls the technology dBucket, and
they’re using it in three of their five pedals in
an attempt to combine the best of the analog
and digital worlds. Here we’ll take a look
at all three dBucket pedals—the Brigadier
Delay, the Orbit Flanger, and the Ola Chorus
& Vibrato—as well as the gorgeous-sounding
Blue Sky Reverberator. Each features an
attractive, anodized-aluminum case, front
panel jacks, and a 9-volt DC adapter socket.
Brigadier dBucket Delay
Download Example 1 Long Delay, No Bucket Loss, Min Mod | |
Download Example 2 Short Delay, 3/4 Bucket Loss, Max Mod | |
Clips recorded with PRS McCarty DC245 20th Anniversary into a Matchless Avalon 35 combo. |
To test the Brigadier, I used a Nick Huber Orca singlecut and a Vox AC30 reissue with the reverb switched off. With all knobs at noon, Mode set to medium, and Tap set to quarter notes, the Brigadier immediately showed what it was capable of, tonally. The pedal’s delay tone isn’t a dead-on representation of an old analog delay, but it has strengths beyond its analog ancestors. One of the biggest frustrations of older analog delays is how dull they can sound in a mix. The Brigadier has that cool, lo-fi vibe, but with a much stronger, healthier projection in its repeats. Even with the Bucket Loss control cranked to maximum, the delay tone was much more vibrant than most vintage and vintage-reissue analog delays I’ve come across. In their quest to craft a delay that captures prized analog tones while remedying their faults, Strymon seems to have come across a distinctive new sound. And the more I dug into the strings to push the envelope of clean fidelity, the more I was convinced that was the case. There are lots of analog delay modelers on the market, but most of them don’t provide the feel of playing a true analog delay. The Brigadier nails it. you’re in the market for a fantastic digital delay with a unique analog voice.
Buy if...
you’re in the market for a fantastic digital delay with a unique analog voice.
Skip if...
you’re after a softer analog delay tone with a mushier voicing.
Rating...
Direct $299 - Strymon - strymon.net |
Orbit dBucket Flanger
Download Example 1 Half Regen, 3/4 Manual, Pos Feedback, Lin LFO | |
Download Example 2 Hi Regen, Max Manual, Neg Feedback, Log LFO | |
Clips recorded with PRS McCarty DC245 20th Anniversary into a Matchless Avalon 35 combo. |
But the three-position LFO switch is the Orbit’s coolest control. It selects between a logarithmic sweep (even frequencies), a linear sweep (which speeds up through the high bands and slows down through the lower ones), and Thru 0, which phases in and out of high and lower fidelities. Fittingly, you can save your favorite setting by holding down the Favorite footswitch, and you recall it by simply stomping on the switch again. You can also use the Favorite switch to assign the expression pedal. Hold it down while plugging in the pedal, and the first knob you turn is the one the expression pedal will govern. That means any control can be assigned to the expression pedal, which opens up the possibilities for morphing from subdued to wild even further.
For my tone testing, I warmed up the Vox AC30 reissue once more and pulled out a Fender Road Worn Telecaster. With the knobs at noon, Feedback set to positive, and LFO set to logarithmic, I achieved a fairly convincing early-’80s flange tone. The Speed and Regen controls are highly sensitive, yet what really opens up the potential is the combination of the Width, Feedback, and LFO controls. Using the switches in tandem with moderate changes in Width can dramatically change the response, tone, and feel. I like my flange to have a lot of air and movement, but not be too overbearing. The negative position on the Feedback switch adds a lot of quack, which is perfect for funk styles, but I was able to quickly cut it out by flipping to the smoother sweep located in the positive position. For a wider tone, I liked setting LFO to the logarithmic position. When LFO is set to linear, the Orbit lends itself to more aggressive flanging tones, a la Smashing Pumpkins and early ’90s grunge. For players who like heavy distortion and a subtle flange sound (think My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, who is a master of using flangers and phasers to belch out a seasick wave of sound) the Thru 0 position is perfect.
Buy if...
you need an all-in-one device to satisfy your flanging jones.
Skip if...
you need something simple or your flanging needs are negligible.
Rating...
Direct $299 - Strymon - strymon.net |
Ola dBucket Chorus & Vibrato
Download Example 1 Half Tone, 3/4 Depth, Chorus Type, Normal Mode, Half Speed | |
Download Example 2 Half Tone, Half Depth, Max Mix, Vibrato Type, Norm Mode, Half Speed | |
Clips recorded with PRS McCarty DC245 20th Anniversary into a Matchless Avalon 35 combo. |
In addition to the chorus mode, two more modulation types can be selected with the Type switch: Multi is a three-phase multi-delay chorus (as opposed to the standard single delay) that avoids the warble associated with older analog chorus pedals, and the last is for vibrato. The Mode control is unique in that its effect varies depending on your playing style. In the envelope position, the circuit reacts to your pick attack. The lower you set the Ramp|Env knob, the harder you have to pick to hear the effect (kind of like how a noise gate’s Threshold knob works). In the ramp position, the effect is only activated when you hold down the footswitch. Imagine playing a solo or a single-note riff and throwing in a little fast vibrato for only one or two notes. It’s a useful feature that inspired some pretty creative moments when I was playing around with it. Mode’s ramp and env modes can be tailored with the Ramp|Env knob. With Mode set to ramp, the speed of the effect increases the further clockwise you turn Ramp|Env. With Mode set to env, the envelope opens with less pick attack the more you crank Ramp|Env. Because the pedal is so versatile, the Favorite footswitch is included here, too, so you can save your go-to setting.
Buy if...
you need a feature-laden chorus and vibrato pedal with classic tones.
Skip if...
you want the added versatility of having separate chorus and vibrato pedals
Rating...
Direct $299 - Strymon - strymon.net |
The Blue Sky Reverberator
Download Example 1 3/4 Low Damp, 3/4 High Damp, Norm Mode, Plate Type | |
Download Example 2 No Low Damp, Half High Damp, Shimmer Mode, Room Type | |
Clips recorded with PRS McCarty DC245 20th Anniversary into a Matchless Avalon 35 combo. |
Using a Nick Huber Orca into a Quidley 22 head and Quidley 2x12, I gave the spring reverb sound a run with Mode set to normal, Pre-Delay at minimum (so I could hear the reverb immediately after striking the strings), and all other knobs set at noon. I was pleased to hear that there were no latency issues, and even more pleased to hear how great the spring algorithm sounded. More importantly, I was astounded at how accurately the Reverberator interpreted my pick attack. Picking softly summoned a softer, subtler reverb than when I picked harder. The squeaking and squealing noises that a good spring reverb gives off when you dig in were also there, and they had a very authentic feel. I could hear the emulated springs shake and quiver louder and more violently the harder I picked, especially when palm muting.
After flipping to the room type, I turned Pre-Delay to 10 o’clock and dumped some of the low end using the Low Damp knob. This was especially useful when the Orca’s humbuckers pumped out some overbearing bass frequencies. What was really impressive about the room setting was its range. Using the Low Damp and High Damp controls in conjunction with the Decay and Pre-Delay knobs made it easy as pie to design a convincing emulated room, whether it was a carpeted basement or a concert hall.
The plate type is the darkest-sounding of the three, and it’s perfect for Ennio Morricone-style single-note riffs. When you use plate with the mod Mode setting, you get a much eerier mood. It would have been nice I could have altered the modulation, though. There are no controls for modulation speed or depth, so you’re pretty much stuck with one voicing. It’s a great, usable sound, but I would have liked to be able to slow the rate down a little.
Shimmer mode, on the other hand, leaves nothing to be desired. The upper octave crept in ever so slightly when I was playing either chords or single notes, and using it with the spring setting yielded my favorite sounds of all. Playing with the Mix and High Damp controls maxed out was ghostly soundscape heaven—just the thing for guitarists from the Robert Fripp school. The effect is almost like a volume swell. When used with the room reverb, it’s very reminiscent of the long-discontinued (but very coveted) Boss PS-3 Pitch Shifter in mode 7. In fact, I like the Blue Sky’s shimmer mode even because you can dial in just the right amount of highs and lows.
Buy if...
you’re looking for an extraordinary, compact reverb.
Skip if...
your reverb needs are simple or your amp’s built-in reverb gets the job done.
Rating...
Direct $299 - Strymon - strymon.net |
Stompboxtober is rolling on! Enter below for your chance to WIN today's featured pedal from Peterson Tuners! Come back each day during the month of October for more chances to win!
Peterson StroboStomp Mini Pedal Tuner
The StroboStomp Mini delivers the unmatched 0.1 cent tuning accuracy of all authentic Peterson Strobe Tuners in a mini pedal tuner format. We designed StroboStomp Mini around the most requested features from our customers: a mini form factor, and top mounted jacks. |
Many listeners and musicians can tell if a bass player is really a guitarist in disguise. Here’s how you can brush up on your bass chops.
Was bass your first instrument, or did you start out on guitar? Some of the world’s best bass players started off as guitar players, sometimes by chance. When Stuart Sutcliffe—originally a guitarist himself—left the Beatles in 1961, bass duties fell to rhythm guitarist Paul McCartney, who fully adopted the role and soon became one of the undeniable bass greats.
Since there are so many more guitarists than bassists—think of it as a supply and demand issue—odds are that if you’re a guitarist, you’ve at least dabbled in bass or have picked up the instrument to fill in or facilitate a home recording.
But there’s a difference between a guitarist who plays bass and one who becomes a bass player. Part of what’s different is how you approach the music, but part of it is attitude.
Many listeners and musicians can tell if a bass player is really a guitarist in disguise. They simply play differently than someone who spends most of their musical time embodying the low end. But if you’re really trying to put down some bass, you don’t want to sound like a bass tourist. Real bassists think differently about the rhythm, the groove, and the harmony happening in each moment.
And who knows … if you, as a guitarist, thoroughly adopt the bassist mindset, you might just find your true calling on the mightiest of instruments. Now, I’m not exactly recruiting, but if you have the interest, the aptitude, and—perhaps most of all—the necessity, here are some ways you can be less like a guitarist who plays bass, and more like a bona fide bass player.
Start by playing fewer notes. Yes, everybody can see that you’ve practiced your scales. But at least until you get locked in rhythmically, use your ears more than your fingers and get a sense of how your bass parts mesh with the other musical elements. You are the glue that holds everything together. Recognize that you’re at the intersection of rhythm and harmony, and you’ll realize foundation beats flash every time.“If Larry Graham, one of the baddest bassists there has ever been, could stick to the same note throughout Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘Everyday People,’ then you too can deliver a repetitive figure when it’s called for.”
Focus on that kick drum. Make sure you’re locked in with the drummer. That doesn’t mean you have to play a note with every kick, but there should be some synchronicity. You and the drummer should be working together to create the rhythmic drive. Laying down a solid bass line is no time for expressive rubato phrasing. Lock it up—and have fun with it.
Don’t sleep on the snare. What does it feel like to leave a perfect hole for the snare drum’s hits on two and four? What if you just leave space for half of them? Try locking the ends of your notes to the snare’s backbeat. This is just one of the ways to create a rhythmic feel together with the drummer, so you produce a pocket that everyone else can groove to.
Relish your newfound harmonic power. Move that major chord root down a third, and now you have a minor 7 chord. Play the fifth under a IV chord and you have a IV/V (“four over five,” which fancy folks sometimes call an 11 chord). The point is to realize that the bottom note defines the harmony. Sting put it like this: “It’s not a C chord until I play a C. You can change harmony very subtly but very effectively as a bass player. That’s one of the great privileges of our role and why I love playing bass. I enjoy the sound of it, I enjoy its harmonic power, and it’s a sort of subtle heroism.”
Embrace the ostinato. If the song calls for playing the same motif over and over, don’t think of it as boring. Think of it as hypnotic, tension-building, relentless, and an exercise in restraint. Countless James Brown songs bear this out, but my current favorite example is the bass line on the Pointer Sisters’ swampy cover of Allen Toussaint “Yes We Can Can,” which was played by Richard Greene of the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, aka Dexter C. Plates. Think about it: If Larry Graham, one of the baddest bassists there has ever been, could stick to the same note throughout Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People,” then you too can deliver a repetitive figure when it’s called for.
Be supportive. Though you may stretch out from time to time, your main job is to support the song and your fellow musicians. Consider how you can make your bandmates sound better using your phrasing, your dynamics, and note choices. For example, you could gradually raise the energy during guitar solos. Keep that supportive mindset when you’re offstage, too. Some guitarists have an attitude of competitiveness and even scrutiny when checking out other players, but bassists tend to offer mutual support and encouragement. Share those good vibes with enthusiasm.
And finally, give and take criticism with ease. This one’s for all musicians: Humility and a sense of helpfulness can go a long way. Ideally, everyone should be working toward the common goal of what’s good for the song. As the bass player, you might find yourself leading the way.Fuchs Audio introduces the ODH Hybrid amp, featuring a True High Voltage all-tube preamp and Ice Power module for high-powered tones in a compact size. With D-Style overdrive, Spin reverb, and versatile controls, the ODH offers exceptional tone shaping and flexibility at an affordable price point.
Fuchs Audio has introduced their latest amp the ODH © Hybrid. Assembled in USA.
Featuring an ODS-style all-tube preamp, operating at True High Voltage into a fan-cooled Ice power module, the ODH brings high-powered clean and overdrive tones to an extremely compact size and a truly affordable price point.
Like the Fuchs ODS amps, the ODH clean preamp features 3-position brite switch, amid-boost switch, an EQ switch, high, mid and low controls. The clean preamp drives theoverdrive section in D-Style fashion. The OD channel has an input gain and outputmaster with an overdrive tone control. This ensures perfect tuning of both the clean andoverdrive channels. A unique tube limiter circuit controls the Ice Power module input.Any signal clipping is (intentionally) non-linear so it responds just like a real tube amp.
The ODH includes a two-way footswitch for channels and gain boost. A 30-second mute timer ensures the tubes are warmed up before the power amp goes live. The ODH features our lush and warm Spin reverb. A subsonic filter eliminates out-of-band low frequencies which would normally waste amplifier power, which assures tons of clean headroom. The amp also features Accent and Depth controls, allowing contouring of the high and low response of the power amp section, to match speakers, cabinets andenvironments. The ODH features a front panel fully buffered series effects loop and aline out jack, allowing for home recording or feeding a slave amp. A three-position muteswitch mutes the amp, the line out or mute neither.
Built on the same solid steel chassis platform as the Fuchs FB series bass amps, the amps feature a steel chassis and aluminum front and rear panels, Alpha potentiometers, ceramic tube sockets, high-grade circuit boards and Neutrik jacks. The ICE power amp is 150 watts into 8 ohms and 300 watts into 4 ohms, and nearly 500 watts into 2.65 ohms (4 and8 ohms in parallel) and operates on universal AC voltage, so it’s fully globallycompatible. The chassis is fan-cooled to ensure hours of cool operation under any circumstances. The all-tube preamp uses dual-selected 12AX7 tubes and a 6AL5 limiter tube.
MAP: $ 1,299
For more information, please visit fuchsaudiotechnology.com.
Jackson Guitars announces its first female signature artist model, the Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe guitar.
“I‘m so excited about this new venture with the Jackson family. This is a historic collaboration - as I am the first female in the history of Jackson with a signature guitar and the first female African American signature Jackson artist. I feel so honored to have now joined such an elite group of players that are a part of this club. Many who have inspired me along this journey to get here. It’s truly humbling.” says Diamond.
Diamond Rowe is the co-founder and lead guitarist for the metal/hard rock band Tetrarch. Since co-founding the band in high school, Tetrarch has become one of the most talked about up-and-coming bands in the world - with several press outlets such as Metal Hammer, Kerrang, Revolver, Guitar World and many others boldly naming Diamond Rowe the world’s next guitar hero. Tetrarch has connected with many fans while performing on some of the world's biggest stages garnering spots alongside several of the heavy music world’s biggest names such as Guns N’ Roses, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Sevendust, Rob Zombie, Trivium, and many many others. The Jackson Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe DR12MG EVTN6 is based on Jackson’s single-cut Monarkh platform and is a premium guitar designed for progressive metal players seeking precision and accuracy.
Crafted in partnership with Diamond, this model boasts a 25.5 “ scale, Monarkh-styled nyatoh body draped with a gorgeous poplar burl top, three-piece nyatoh set-neck with graphite reinforcement, and 12˝ radius bound ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets. The black chrome-covered active EMG® 81/85 humbucking bridge and neck pickups, three-way toggle switch, single volume control, and tone control provide a range of tonal options. The Evertune® bridge ensures excellent tuning stability, while the Dark Rose finish with a new custom 3+3 color-matched Jackson headstock and black hardware looks simply stunning.
To showcase the Pro Plus Signature Diamond Rowe DR12MG EVTN6, Diamond shares her journey as a guitarist, delving into the inspiration behind her unique design specifications and the influential artists who shaped her sound within a captivating demo video. This video prominently features powerful performances of Tetrarch’s latest release, “Live Not Fantasize,” and “I’m Not Right” showcasing the DR12MG EVTN6’s unparalleled tonal versatility and performance capabilities.
MSRP $1699.99
For more information, please visit jacksonguitars.com.