STRYMON V2 PEDALS FROM £329
In a revamp of some of its most popular but older pedals, Strymon has come up with new V2 versions of six effects to replace the original versions (which are incidentally still available until they’ve all sold out). Under the hood, each pedal has had a processing upgrade and now features an ARM processor that not only has more power but also consumes less energy than previous versions. Also changed is the interaction between guitar and pedal via a JFET input circuit that’s designed to offer improved sound and touch response. There’s easy access to full stereo input and output, if desired, as all of the pedals now have a TRS input that’s configured by a rear‑panel Mono/Stereo switch, rather than messing around inside the pedal with an internal jumper.
If you’re a MIDI user perhaps the most welcome change is that all the pedals now have full MIDI control with synchronisation to MIDI clock for any features that would benefit from that
– and access to 300 presets. This is all facilitated by a TRS MIDI jack and a USB-C connection that allows bi-directional MIDI communication with a single cable using Strymon’s Conduit interface. Editor/ librarian software is coming soon.
The obvious visual difference between these new pedals and the older versions is that each now has a consistent six knobs and two toggle-switches on the front panel – with the exception of the Flint, which retains the same layout as before. In the past, Strymon pedals’ secondary functions were accessed by holding down footswitches while turning the relevant knob, a somewhat frustrating experience when you need to make adjustments. On the new layouts, some of the more crucial of those secondary functions now have dedicated top-panel knobs. The overall effect is a huge upgrade that gives easier control of an increased – and perhaps more relevant – range of parameters.
With easier and deeper control of important parameters, dialling in sounds is much faster
Ambience Advanced
The oldest Strymon pedal, the BlueSky reverb, now faces much more competition than when it was originally released in 2009, not least from the company’s own BigSky, from which the V2 takes some cues to bring it up to date. First off, there are tweaked Plate and Room algorithms, while the Spring algorithm has been completely changed to the one you’d find in the BigSky – a superb rendition of the real electro-mechanical thing. You can now add variable shimmer to any of the reverbs via a dedicated knob, with high shimmers for the Plate and Room, and the Spring gets a quirky-but-cool low octave with pulsing tremolo. You also now get a choice of adding Light or Deep chorus-like modulation.
The two delay pedals – El Capistan and DIG – have had one change to their control surfaces. The most obvious change is to the El Capistan in that, rather than being a hidden secondary function, its spring reverb is now instantly adjustable via its own top-panel knob, meaning that combined vintage tape delay and reverb sounds can be conjured up instantly. The DIG digital delay now gets a top-panel Tone knob for high- or low-cut on the repeats.
To anyone that’s longed for a vintage Fender amp, the idea of independently switchable tremolo and spring reverb together in one pedal was always going to be a winner, and the Flint presented those options in such a perfect top-panel layout that Strymon felt no need to change it. The designers have, however, provided something for those players who could never get the tremolo to run as slow as they would like – the range has been adjusted to go much slower, down to almost 1Hz. Also new is adjustable reverb pre-delay as a secondary function.
It’s probably fair to say that the Deco has always been something of a niche pedal, rooted in vintage studio technology that few players will have used, though all would have heard the sounds resulting from that technology on many recordings. Based on the sound produced by analogue tape machines, it’s a pedal of two halves: one footswitchable side delivering tape saturation, the other providing doubletracking. The changes in V2 are an added Tone knob in the Saturation section, which can set the top-end just where you need it, plus there are also now two modes, one for the classic tape sound and a new cassette algorithm that includes a sweet amount of compression.
The Lex is one of the six pedals that has benefitted most from a control surface revamp; there are essential functions available now from the front panel that were not there in the previous four-knob configuration, conferring a real flexibility in getting the sound just right. There’s now an output Volume knob that you can use in conjunction with the Preamp Drive, so you can set up a dirtier sound without having unnecessary increase in volume, and there’s also a Dry knob to set the balance between the effect and the
dry guitar sound for subtle blends or to replicate the Gilmour-ish use of a straight cab combined with a rotary speaker. You also get the option of setting the actual slow and fast speeds separately, plus three toggle-switched options for the speed of the ramp between the two when using the second footswitch for a speed change. In terms of the actual sound, Horn Level and Mic Distance remain as knobs, but you have the option of setting whether the mic is at the front or rear of the cab.
Verdict
There’s a reason you’ll find Strymon pedals on professional players’ ’boards and that’s because they are great-sounding, high-quality effects that can do the clearly delineated task. These new versions are still recognisable but with easier and deeper control of important parameters they make dialling in the sound to do those tasks much faster, while opening up a whole world of possibility to anyone who uses MIDI, not least the ability to save and recall your carefully dialled-in sounds. Okay, the price has gone up by around 20 to 25 per cent, but we think the extra is worth it.
PROS Sound quality; compact size for twin-footswitch pedals; improved control surfaces; MIDI control; 300 presets; mono/stereo configurations
CONS No operational or sonic complaints, but not everybody will be able to afford them