This is a magnificent reverb pedal. There, I said what you all were thinking, so now that that’s out of the way, we can discuss the pedal in a calm and rational manner, ok? Strymon continues their absolute assault on the effects pedal world with one of the sweetest reverb pedals you’ll ever play: the blueSky Reverberator (I even dig the spelling, don’t you?).
There are a boatload of options to this pedal, so let’s just move left-to-right, shall we? The first knob controls the Decay time, short for tiny room echoes, long for huge rooms and massive venues. The Low Damp and High Damp control knobs work together (and individually as well) to control the overall EQ of the reverb signal, beefing up the lows for a boomier decay, or sprucing up the high end to add a bit of brightness and power to your trails. The Pre-Delay is an awesome knob, as it sets the amount of delay time before your reverb signal, and with a wide range of tones, this is a great knob to mix with the other controls to dial in your personal reverb sound. The Mix knob is all-analog, and blends the Wet and Dry signals of your guitar and the blueSky, allowing you to adjust how much or how little reverb you want infringing on your tone.
Now comes the fun part: the 2 toggle switches. First up, we’ve got the Mode switch. Normal Mode is all well and good on its own, as it should be, and provides and nice, lovely, straightforward reverb signal. The Mod Mode, however, bumps it up a notch, adding some sweet modulation to your reverb, which can be subtle or take your tone to the next level, depending on what your needs happen to be that day. The real shining moment of the blueSky, in my and many others’ opinions, is the Shimmer Mode, which basically acts as an up-octave pitch-shifter for your reverberated sound, and adds a layer of depth and clarity that is second to none in the reverb community. This pedal is worth buying just for this function alone, and many players have done it simply based on that reputation.
The second toggle switch controls the Type of reverb you want to use. Plate emulates the old reverb sounds from the 60’s and 70’s, providing lush, roomy reverb sounds cascading through your amplifier. Room has the ability to go from a small, pint-sized room sound to a huge, vast, echoing arena-type sonic boom. The Spring setting also emulates reverbs of old, but in a different way, as Spring and Plate reverbs use differing techniques, and thus produce very different sounds. Spring reverbs originally used actual metal springs to produce their unique sound, and these are exquisitely emulated in this setting of the blueSky.
No matter what you’re going to use it for, or how you want to try and copy your guitar heroes’ sounds from back in the day, the blueSky reverberator from Strymon has all of your needs covered. Plus, it’s not as huge as a certain other Sky-related reverb pedal from a certain company who shall remain nameless, so if you’re looking to save real estate on your pedalboard, this is the one for you. Plus, it has stereo Ins and Outs, providing the awesome ping-pong and slap back sounds you’ve always wanted, but were never able to achieve. Add in the ability to use Strymon’s famous “Favorite” switch for your best setting on the fly, and you’ve got yourself one of the greatest modern reverb pedals on the market today.
Submitted by Mike B, Website
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