RatingsPros:Three excellent amp models. Simple amp-style interface. Supports third-party IRs. Cons: No XLR outputs. Stores only one favorite setting without optional footswitch or MIDI. Street: $399 Strymon Iridium strymon.net
| Tones:  Ease of Use:  Build/Design: Value:  |
Today's guitarist can choose from a dizzying array of amp replacement tools, from freeware software plug-ins to gargantuan modelers and profilers. Meanwhile, Strymon slips through the side door with Iridium, an amp modeler in pedal form that melds a simple stompbox interface with a small but superb collection of amp models.
Iridium only does a few things, but it does them extraordinarily well. It offers three amp models based on a blackface Fender Deluxe, a top-boost Vox AC30, and a Marshall plexi. It has no effects other than a short room reverb. It comes with nine cabinet impulse responses and includes software for loading third-party IRs. The controls mimic those on simple analog amps, with a few useful extras. But there's nothing approaching the deep editing of, say, a top-shelf device from Fractal, Line 6, Kemper, or HeadRush.
Streamlined Scenarios
While Iridium has modest user options relative to flagship modelers costing two to four times its price, its core tones rank with the best. The pedal's heart is a super-powerful SHARC chip—the same processor used in many full-featured modelers. The programming is uniformly excellent. Modeling is a surprisingly subjective art, and tastes vary. But to my ear, Iridium's Fender, Vox, and Marshall models can hold their own against any rival products.
That makes Iridium a superb solution for many studio and stage scenarios, especially if a big modeler is overkill for your needs. If you do most tone creation on your pedalboard, these simple but excellent amp emulations may be all you need. It's an obvious choice for travelling-light tours and backline gigs. Hey, if I were playing a big festival with shared backline, I'd opt for a direct Iridium signal over “take your chances" in a heartbeat.
Scoop, Sparkle, and Slam
One switch chooses from three amp models, while another selects between three cabinet IRs per model. The three amps share the same controls: drive, treble/mid/bass, and master volume, though their behavior varies from model to model. You can also add varying amounts of simulated tracking-room reverb. The results sound like real amps in real rooms. But it's not a do-it-all 'verb, and it probably won't replace any of your other ambient effects.
In Fender Deluxe mode, the bass and treble knobs perform as on the original amp, which has no mid control. So the mid pot at noon replicates the original spectrum. Raising it brings mids forward for more tweed-like tones, while dialing it back further deepens the amp's signature mid-scoop. In Vox mode, the mid control is a low-pass filter directly before the simulated power amp, replicating the topology of a top-boost AC30. (Nice detail: When you max out the gain, the model automatically siphons off some lows, maintaining bite and definition at the dirtiest settings.) In plexi mode, the available gain range exceeds the original, providing hot-rodded grind when cranked.
In short, the models are nuanced and authentic. Their dynamic response is convincingly amp-like, and they respond realistically to upstream effects, as heard in my demo clips. The first clip features only guitar and Iridium, with no additional processing. In the second clip, I introduce a grab-bag of effects.
The nine included IRs are excellent. The choices are straightforward. (For example, plexi mode offers IRs from Marshall 4x12, 2x12, and 8x12 cabs.) The bundled Strymon Impulse Manager software (for Mac and PC) can load third-party IRs. You can even select different cabs for the left and right outputs for double-miked stereo effects.
The Ins and Outs
Iridium's rear panel isn't quite as simple as it seems. There's a mono input jack and 1/4" stereo outs, but the input jack accepts stereo signals via a TRS cable, so you can preserve the stereo imaging of upstream effects. Nearby is a USB jack for loading IRs.
There are three ways to use the 1/4" expression-in jack. A standard expression pedal becomes a volume pedal when connected, trimming level either before the amp/cab modeling, or after. It can also morph between a stored favorite patch and an alternate set of parameters. The jack is also a MIDI input for remote program changes. With Strymon's $129 MultiSwitch Plus connected (not tested), you can toggle between three favorite settings. (Iridium can also recall up to 300 patches via MIDI.) There's also a 1/8" headphone jack on the front/side panel. You can definitely have a satisfying practice session with just your guitar, an Iridium-equipped pedalboard, and headphones. Iridium runs on standard 9V power, but requires 500 mA (adapter included). There is no battery compartment.
Many users will master Iridium in minutes without cracking the manual. But it's still worth reading, because of some welcome secondary-function tools when you boot up in “Live Edit" mode. These include adjustable input/output levels and reverb room size, and the specifics of MIDI and controller behavior.
The Verdict
To my ears, Iridium's tones hold their own against any current amp modelers. Yeah, the tone menu may be restricted to vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, but it's still damn good ice cream. There's little to no learning curve—it works like an amp. Iridium's cost isn't crazy, given the R&D it required and the presence of a spiffy SHARC processor. Still, for nearly 400 clams, I'd have liked XLR output jacks (for, say, playing clubs without needing two direct boxes or ¼" adapters). It would also be nice to have access to more than one saved sound without connecting additional hardware. Still, Iridium will be a perfect faux-amp solution for many players.
Watch the First Look:
Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.
Phat Machine
The Phat Machine
The Phat Machine is designed to deliver the tone and responsiveness of a vintage germanium fuzz with improved temperature stability with no weird powering issues. Loaded with both a germanium and a silicon transistor, the Phat Machine offers the warmth and cleanup of a germanium fuzz but with the bite of a silicon pedal. It utilizes classic Volume and Fuzz control knobs, as well as a four-position Thickness control to dial-in any guitar and amp combo. Also included is a Bias trim pot and a Kill switch that allows battery lovers to shut off the battery without pulling the input cord.
Silk Worm Deluxe Overdrive
The Silk Worm Deluxe -- along with its standard Volume/Gain/Tone controls -- has a Bottom trim pot to dial in "just the right amount of thud with no mud at all: it’s felt more than heard." It also offers a Studio/Stage diode switch that allows you to select three levels of compression.
Both pedals offer the following features:
- 9-volt operation via standard DC external supply or internal battery compartment
- True bypass switching with LED indicator
- Pedalboard-friendly top mount jacks
- Rugged, tour-ready construction and super durable powder coated finish
- Made in the USA
Static Effectors’ Street Series pedals carry a street price of $149 each. They are available at select retailers and can also be purchased directly from the Static Effectors online store at www.staticeffectors.com.