The riverside has a noise gate as a secondary function as well. Not that I am into that kind of thing but Strymon really thinks of every option. Definitely something to consider.
I loved seeing how guarded / cautiously optimistic Mick was. It looks like he was in a dangerous mood. Until 25:11 he was finally won over. The smile on his face was surprising and the best moment of the episode. :)
I literally bought both earlier this week, after trying them out and going "gosh, I need both of these." And then this video came out... #psychic It's worth pointing out: one thing that you can't do with the Strymon is stack these effects! I was sold on the pair of pedals when I realized I could boost the OCD with the Tube Screamer for a monster lead tone.
You know: The Most Beautiful Thing about Comparing & Contrasting - all of these PEDALS & EFFECTS ( means ) There really is . . . " No Wrong Choice " - It's all about personal preference, your musical vision & How each pedal interacts with your particular set-up. I love the way musicians ( myself being guilty ) are so passionate about Their Favorites. It is great that we have so many Choices & Options. I remember the days when we had only 3 choices for Dirt pedals: EHX Bug Muff, MXR Distortion + and DOD 250 Overdrive & Preamp. I can talk about music for days !!! Peace
Well I tried a bunch of pedals in the store I just had to go for the Riverside. It's a matter of taste of course but for me it was the best bang for the buck, with a little tweaking I can get some awesome drive sounds on any amp. The other pedals I tried were good but overall the quality and versatility of the Riverside as an amp in a box pedal is outstanding. Favorite drive pedal.
I have to agree. I played the Riverside and bought it on the spot. It's persuaded me that DSP is your best bet for accurate amp style distortion in a pedal. It actually starts to feel almost naive to think that diodes and transistors stand a better chance of replicating that sound. They are always ultimately going to sound like diodes and transistors. Riverside sounds like a fuckin Marshall. It pushes air like a 4x12.
Well still have to try it, and I never owned a Strymon pedal, but: - I fear most people are biased by analog/digital thing which in my opinion it has to be put into a specific context. Analog has its weaknesses, as vintage is not always good. - The fact that this pedal is compared to all these drives tells a lot about the voicing quality. Real tone can be discussed really playing it, not through a video (in my opinion). - This pedal offers features like favourites, noise gate, a full tonal control, presence switch etc.. Before drawing conclusions based only on: can I have all best pedals in the world conveniently packed in a box? I would recommend to look in depth all features of the pedal. - This pedal was not developed as "emulator", this is not Strymon's mission. Obviously it has its own voice, which is versatile enough to let you surf through some of the great tones that inspired most of us. Last but not least: here you have high quality recording focusing especially on trying to find potential/weaknesses of the pedal, but in a live mix, o even a studio mix, would you be able to tell the difference? Peace and rock on! Great job guys, I love your channel!
+Emiliano Bolesani That's a pretty fair viewpoint, we wouldn't disagree with any of your points. From our end, we've never done the 'this is better' approach, because everything is always so subjective. We're really just one part of a journey when people are interested in a product. We try and provide some commentary, context and opinion that should throw up the questions you need to ask (and answer for yourself). Never believe anything on the internet! We're just a sign post to help direct you. Cheers and thanks for watching!
+Emiliano Bolesani Actually, just to add to that (Mick here), the old 'can the audience tell the difference' chestnut is one of my favourites. Yes they can, but not because they can hear the difference between pedals. They sense a difference in your performance, depending on how inspired you are to play. It's the difference between a great gig and an average one. Does anybody care in a function band setting? Nope. They literally couldn't give a shit. But if people want to hear your music, not just some entertainment, that is a different game entirely. You being inspired is everything.
That Pedal Show Hey guys! Thanks for the answer, that's awesome! My comment isn't about arguing one over the other, it's more an attempt to set a 'clean ground' to dig this pedal. I felt a lot of hype around it even before first recordings were available..! Which lead to some confusion on the purpose of the pedal.. I really think this review is complete and thorough, like all your videos. As for the sound in the mix, I see what you mean :). To my very small experience many guitarist just like to say they have analog stuff, assuming it's just better. So in certain contexts it is still an argument, that's why I included it. It's a comment for the audience, not a critic!
I agree Emiliano. Given what this pedal sets out to do (which happens to be what I've been looking for), surely it has to be digital. How much that matters depends on the individual. How many people on this thread could draw a circuit diagram to demonstrate the difference between analogue & digital?....Dan & 10 others at a push! The question, as Mick rightly says, is whether you like it or not.
The thing I love about guitar is there is so many option to choose from as far a gear goes. You can go digital, solid state or tubes and they all make sounds, some good, some bad. I love reading the comments and seeing how the debate continues. I find myself always going back to tubes/analog just for the love of spinning the knobs and pulling up a tone I love. But on the other side digital technology has brought in some very cool products that give us great options. I guess it just comes down to what we love and what makes us want to create and play! Great show, as always and thanks for doing these videos!
I got Riverside. It is an absolute beast of a pedal. You guys forgot to mention one important and cool feature: expression pedal that can morph between two settings. Great vid (as usual) guys!!!
And one more thing: on high gain setting the sound is fatter and more fluid. With gain set at 0-1/4 it is relatively cleanish but fatter than on low gain setting.
Very surprised. To my ears the Riverside beat out the Tumnus and the Tube Screamer. Just sounded more open to me, which is personally what I look for in an OD pedal. The OCD with the treble booster in front blew it out of the water though.
Great video! The tweaking and tone matching you did with the Riverside to get it to sound similar to the other drive pedals was an excellent demo of the pedal, thanks. I think we've got to be more open minded about fully digital gear nowadays. I'm into tone (I bought 3 Kingsley valve pedals before That Pedal Show existed) BUT I've taken a big leap and just received a Source Audio Programmable EQ pedal for my board. This means that my hallowed analogue tone will be 100% digital at one point in the pedalboard. SHOCKING, eh? But you've gotta look at the specs of these modern digital pedals... the Source Audio EQ has 56-bit processing with 24 bit converters. Providing the A/D and D/A is done well, there is not a chance in hell of an audiophile being able to tell that the signal is digital at one point in the chain. And with a latency of 1mS on the Source Audio EQ, that is the equivalent of standing just an extra 30cm away from the speaker! I've no doubt that Strymon use state of the art conversion and processing, and it sounds good to me.
I compared one against the Tumnus, Euphoria and Fulltone 69. Same thing is my input. I have one now. theres hidden options like the noise gate (which is really good) and a +1- +6 Boost (the usual Strymon hidden goodies). I used it at rehearsal the first week and hated it. The next week I backed down on the beast and found that My Lester and SS22 took right to it. it has and expression pedal input (and a Boost input) as well and you can use any configuration of voicing (toe to heel from pure clean to way over the top Boosted Gains. One has to really sit down and work it. It really has alot of voicing. Im happy.
The Riverside is the 2nd best overdrive pedal I've listened to, played. It's best feature, as Dan points out, is the floating DSP sweetspot. One day, after watching one of the episodes, I decided that I wanted to get an Overdrive pedal and went on a crazy, cray-zee experiment to listen to and play as many Overdrive pedals as I could. I maxed out at 132. Had to put them in a spreadsheet with photos and recorded audio samples to keep track of all of the different characteristics. I found several that I really liked: Syrymon's Riverside (of course), Analogman's King Of Tone , Boss BD-2 Blues Driver Wazacraft Special, Fulltone's OCD (of course), JHS Crayon, Mentone's Red Snapper, Paul Cochrane's Timmy and the Way Huge Red Llama. After all that research, I finally decided on Blackstone Appliance's MOSFET Overdrive. It was not cheap. It's simple, it just works and it sounds beautiful with any amp.
Thanks guys ! Awesome show as usual! The eye roll at OCD and Treble Boost was classic Dan! I was gonna use Java Boost-Guv'Nor pedal-EVH Phase 90 and 71/72 EP-3 tape Echoplex with My 78 JMP and 71 4x12 cab but may throw OCD in there now and a Quartermaster! My Deluxe Reverb pedalboard has WayHuge Cameltoe- Fulltone Wah- vintage MXR Flanger- vintage DD-3 and Vibratone/Leslie controller but maybe Java and quartermaster there too...hhhhhmmmm! You guys are awesome but the G.A.S is Wired up now!!
Mick and Dan, thank you guys! Wonderful video, as usual!! It's always a pleasure to watch your videos. It's clear you know what your are talking about (not like so many video-makers on youtube). I just wait for them every Friday! Thanks again :)
I love your guys' willingness to give your opinions on various gear rather than playing it safe and offering no opinion whatsoever - nothing more frustrating in RUclips gearland than investing time in a video and then the guy disappears with no opinion given. After all, it's RUclips audio so we're not necessarily hearing it exactly the way you heard it. I want the benefit of hearing my reviewer/player's opinion and experience with various gear, etc. All gear is not created equal and I so appreciate your willingness to say so and plainly say what you like more. If I didn't trust you I wouldn't watch. Don't listen to the people that want you to be the Switzerland of gear reviewers...love you guys - Merry Christmas!
Strymon are the best, the Big Sky I own is more than just a reverb, it's an inspirational vehicle that makes me play differently and has gotten me writing and playing in a way I'd never thought I could. They've really nailed this... Other reviews on the pedal have been pretty underwhelming but hearing this in context with other pedals really shows the complexity of the tones it can create. I'll definitely be looking at trying one, then again maybe I'll just go ahead and order one even without ever trying it!!
Great comparison video. I agree the OCD just had some throatiness they didn't quite dial in with the Riverside. But I've owned all these pedals (as well as KOT and most of the Kingsley line) and the Riverside hangs with the bunch. Playing/tweaking one live would surprise many posters on the "sounds digital/shrill/pixelly" front.
Great show. I was thinking exactly what you guys concluded - the Riverside covers a lot of overdrive territory very well and could be used when you only want one overdrive pedal. Really like that favorite setting feature - kind of compensates for the amount of real estate the Riverside takes on the pedal board.
Thanks for getting hold of a Riverside and demo-ing it so quickly. I`m a little lost for words because it`s not what I expected. The ability to emulate other pedals so accurately was not something I anticipated but I`m sure that it must also have it`s own voice .... and likely with quite some variation. I listened to the video yesterday on speakers and today on my Beyer cans and really can`t say that the Riverside sounds `digital`. It`s obviously a very clever design and is going to merit a lot more investigation. Yet another great programme.
The lower gain comparisons of the Riverside were really good, but OCD sounded much fuller and sonically pleasing than the Riverside. The Riverside does it in one pedal though, which is really impressive. Good work gents!
Riverside does great job! It does have some characteristics of sound that make me think of what I dislike in sd-1 that are really hard for me to pinpoint. The colour and knobs don't help with that. But it does imitate all the pedals well considering they are from very different corners of spectrum. You guys got close even if it didn't do "the thing". It always had its own characteristics going on and I think that's its strong point and how it should be. Versatile pedal that has its own thing. Good job Strymon.
I don't know guys.... It doesn't suck but It still has a weird artifacty kind of top edge to the gain that doesn't sit nicely in my ears. Love Strymon gear (have a Timeline and BigSky welded to my board) but don't think i'd ever fork out for a Riverside.
... and here I was, thinking that RUclips audio was just a simple .wav file, like back in the good old 90s! Thank you for correcting me in a meaningless way! Point is, albeit lossy, the AAC-LC is deemed hi-fi transparent at 128 kbps for stereo, while YT does 384 kbps. You won't hear it, unless the uploader screws up the encoding, but that's not RUclips compression. That's the power of stupid.
6 years on, still using one. Regardless of what ever flavor of the month I'm running, this is the other drive because it covers so much territory in spectacular fashion...... Did I mention presets.......
Very nice demonstration, gentlemen! I appreciate the fact that you go to great lengths to dial them in to get each to sound as similar as possible to each other. I need to spend more time with my OCD!
I would love to see some Barber pedals here. For me and a couple of folks I know the Gain Changer is a great OCD alternative but better, the Direct Drive is my favourite 'Marshall n a box' and the Tone Press is a very cool comp.
"This digital pedal just sounds way too digital. I prefer it much better when you use analog equipment and THEN plug it all into a digital recording interface and upload it to a digital video hosting site. It's so much more organic sounding that way." :P
This is easily the best comment posted on this video and nobody has said anything. I love it. It's so true too, what is this shit about hearing digital artifacting? I'm listening through a set of high quality monitor headphones and I sure as hell hear nothing of the kind. Maybe some slight differences in voice but, it would be impossible for you to even notice that type of thing over youtube in the first place. My goodness.
I agree, I do think sometimes that it helps to have some valve warmth in a mix with valve compressors etc however with companies such as UAD, Waves and BIAS and stuff like that, very few companies would be able to tell the difference between digital and analog stuff.
Coincidence that most commentators who think it "sounds digital" don't seem to understand that it's not a DSP based or modeled digital distortion? I think not. The details that many seem to miss, even though Dan and Mick explained it quite clearly, is that It's analog distortion with DSP EQ tweaking going on. Most every analog distortion you hear on a recording has gone through digital EQ in a DAW and nobody complains about digital artifacts. Digitally created distortion is one thing. Having a DSP component to a JFET circuit is quite another.
Yeah Matty, you tell'em. Because we all know that a Gibson plugged on an JCM800 mic'ed by an SM57 is the exactly same thing as a Guitar Rig plugin. Because, you know, it all ends up as digital, right? Right!?
I have mine 2 weeks now and have gigged it many times. I'm sorry but it's just about THE best OD I've ever played or heard. right now I also have a Klon KTR, J Rockett Allen Holdsworth, Wampler Hot Wired. And this for me is in a league of its own..
That Pedal Show I'm mainly using a Gretsch Brian Setzer Nashville 6120 and a Gretsch County Classic into either a FX Amps Dr B head with a 1x12 cab loaded with a Jensen Blackbird or a Mesa Boogie 5:50 head into a Two Rock 2x12 cab. Absolutely love the show guys, a highlight of the week for me, every week
Also, I love analog pedals and I love tube amps but I got to say digital is serious these days!! That pedal sounds amazing and Kemper amps man, those things are amazing!!
Great Job guys ( as always ). I think that Strymon makes incredible stuff ( however ) I did not care for this pedal ( at all ) - but I am comparing it ( unfairly ) to a Fulltone OCD, Analogman KOT, & Kingsley Overdrive Pedals. It Sounded very harsh & Digital ( like a cheap modeling amp ).
Great show guys! But... in every demo of the Strymon I've heard it sounds like there's severe high frequency shelving and the bottom end farts out where on the other pedals you get a smoother more "natural sounding" compression from the lows to the low mids. There are nice sounds in there, and it does the job of a few pedals quite well and would probably be ok in a band mix but in isolation the demos don't do it for this bedroom guitarist.
Very cool! I already tried the Riverside and was very impressed, too. Such a versatile pedal! The big surprise for me in this video is (again) how good the Mini Tubescreamer sounds.
I have the riverside and I am happy with it. I does't care if it is digital, i tried it and i loved its sound. Even if it does not sound better that an analog pedal, it has a great versatility and you can get many sounds. Yes, it costs as three "normal" overdrive pedals, but you have three pedals in one shoot (pedal engaged, favourite, boost).
I don't know I prefer it to some analogue pedals. OCD and a TS9 do one sound, riverside you can have a light drive to boost your cleans and a dirtier sound all on one pedal with a click.
You got really close to the Tumnus and the Tube Screamer with the Riverside, but I thought there was more of a difference with OCD. I'm not saying one was better than the other, I'm just saying that I thought it didn't match the tone of the OCD as well.
I also find the change in contour as you go through the gain interesting. It like transforms the voice of the overdrive to be appropriate for each increasing amount of gain.
Nice to hear that Victory V40 again, like some other comment said it's atleast partly Mick's fault I have V40 combo too :) and also Tumnus and Mini TS, OCD I already had before finding TPS. So thanks alot guys for constant pedal GAS. Keep up the good work.
Anthony Murphy it's not like the pedal was achieving something tonally when compared to other preferred pedals that you could hear in the video yourself, right? It must have been the name that did that. Not like they had Line6 gear in the show before and gave it credit. I would probably say Illuminati.
Joe Jenkins How's so? Had it been cheap people would have said "sounds cheap and digital, why are strymon releasing this line6 type bullshit bla bla bla".
To all the people shitting on this pedal, I dare you to do a blind test. All of this "not organic enough", "I can hear artifacts" business must not go unchallenged.
Aron Ortega TRUE. I bought it stupidly not realizing it was digital. I had been sick when I ordered it and didn't do my homework. As soon as I found out I was like oh no. I don't want digital. But it's fine. Too much $$$ but it's fine. At the end of the day they got all the pedals to sound alike. That OCD I'm not sure how u got any gain out of it. It's used to push an already driven amp. As far as gain it's very low. If u think ur going to use it for anything other than low gain well u won't be able to. Sold mine.
You are probably right. But I bet if I owned it for a month I could hear the difference. Even hot analog pedals have annoying flaws that you do not notice right away but after a month all your ear can do is pick them up and be annoyed. I had the Strymon Mobius for a year until it's plastic sounds drove me nuts and I sold it and got a few good analog pedals.
I got one wirh my Traynor YCV 80 I can get anything. With my expression pedal and boost. It's mental I have like 3 amp sounds x4 strymon saves... plus!! boost!! and all the sounds in the middle with my expression..I can go from sparkly SRV to deathmetal. It's mental...completely more than any ome would ever need
@@harrisfrankou2368 stupid question but does the expression pedal go into the strymon to control the gain, so you can set it on the fly with your foot?
@@jmacc9876 its usable in many ways...you can set volume. What I do is I set a sound NOT a Favorite. With the pedal you rock toe down and save the sound. You rock the toe up and save a new sound ... So you have TWO sounds. I set toe down for high gain. I set toe up for Malcolm Young Sorta Stones Gain. (In the middle low gain...so my single coils are almost clean.) Here's the kicker. You can then blend the TWO Sounds via the pedal! I use an EV 5. The Favorite you can save. Toe down. The pedal itself. (whatever the settings on the face is TOE UP. You can then blend those 2 saves. The software blends the various JFets via the pedal. The highest gain on it is around VH 1 sound maybe just under. You can even have low gain change the tones for modulation, HPF like affects. I can play a clean blues rock low gain and as the note fades go to toe down and build up the sustain/gain. It's near limitless. With my Traynor I get 24 different gains...with the EV5 and built in 6 DB boost. (its dialable as well!) Throw the exp pedal in its just nuts. Check JOE Kings review. I got all the hidden features from his video. Then there is the noise gate...dialable.
As an alternative to the Tumnus, you guys should check out the Fredrick Effects Golden Eagle on your own time. Yet another klone, but has the clean blended gain knob, buffered bypass and the internal charge pump, staying true to the original. Truly magic. Housed in an "MXR" enclosure, if you can spare a bit more room than the Tumnus, it is an exceptional option. Great show as always. Cheers
I picked one of these up about a month ago and it is the real deal. Will be selling lots of overdrive pedals very soon. Might even pick up the new Strymon Sunset with the proceeds of the sale...
Iv heard u guys play alot, to the point that when the show starts i can tell whos playin for the opening. It been a year ago now but seems that mick was having a really on day, reachin and finding licks id not heard anyway, almost to a higher level as they say. All im sayin is dam good stuff. Salute!
Thanks Glenn. As you can imagine, sat here on stools - while we LOVE making the show - doesn’t always allow the playing to flow free. So we ebb and flow. Glad you see the on days - hopefully they make up for the less on days. Thanks for watching and for the kind words! :0)
I feel like you guys aren't getting much love for this video, but honestly, in so many ways, you made me want to go out and try it for myself. Because, I absolutely love my King of Tone, but if it could do all of those pedals? What's to say it couldn't do that? What an awesome piece of gear for a starting musician. Or a studio guy who want's that versatility all in one pedal. I loved the way you did the video. I don't know how else you would prove that this weird digital thing could stand up to some of the best overdrive pedals of all time. Thanks.
+Brandon Higgins Cheers Brandon. We're not doing it for praise, we're doing it because it's an interesting question. Dan and I are also very sceptical that any digital drive will ever sound 'as good' as a decent analogue OD, but we're both keen to try and move the debate on from that. As you say it's a very versatile pedal, and a good potentially ice-breaker for all of us who shiver a bit whenever digital amps and overdrives are mentioned! It's always interesting, thank you for watching!
Holds up really well with the Tumnus and Screamer. The OCD edges it out in my opinion, but not by a ton and when you take into account the versatility of the Riverside, it's definitely an option for a lot of people. Great demo!
The only thing is the ocd sucks. It’s an old school hard clipping diode and it isn’t dynamic for players picking attacks. Yeah it has a grunge thing going. That’s about it. Proco Rat is better all day
After I purchased Riverside I have tried with 5 different amps set to very clean. Fender Stage 185, Hughes & Kettner Blonde Edition, Fender Drri 65 Blackface, Supro Titan 1x10 combo, Mesa Boogie Lonestar 1x12 combo. With these amps Riverside sounded very nice. I was about to buy EQD Palisades, and Palisades doesn't sound good with any amps. Maybe Riverside is not best sounding drive pedal but it sounds very good with any amp even amp is lame (Stage 185 was not in good condition, and it sounded very acceptable). It is very versatile and safe. You just get your pedalboard and plug into an amp. It never sounds digital.
Wow, high praise for a digital pedal. Thought at the beginning it had the typical digital sound but by the end I was unable to tell much of a difference. What would have sold it for me would be midi switching like on the timeline. Could you imagine the possibilities then. Make it happen strymon! Well done guys, great demo as usual 🤘🏻
I looked away when they're playing and when I hear a thin, fizzy sound I look back to see it's the Riverside - every time. However, that OCD and treble boost combo are thick and mean. I can't find any May treble boosters that look like theirs, though. Any help?
I've been using an AxeFX for about six years now and it has some great drive blocks that compare very well to my pedals, and all digital. Being digital doesn't automatically make an OD bad. We think of early digital units or cheap modern stuff that sounds thin and lifeless, but a well-done digital effects unit can be a think of beauty. Witness the Strymon Timeline and El Capistan.
+Ben Randolph Yeah, we'd like to see the debate move on as well. All sounds are usable at the end of the day. Your application is what matters. All that said and however impractical it is, Dan and I tend to prefer the analogue sounds in pretty much every example (e.g. EP-3 vs TimeLine, valve amps vs emulations etc etc etc).
I have to give it to Ibanez, they noticed that there was a lot of buzz about the Mooer Green Mile and decided to come out with the TS mini (and put it at the same price point)...brilliant! ...if you're into the sort of thing.
Great Video as always! Just a quick tip for your planned episode about bedroom tones: You HAVE to check and include the new boss katana 100 combo. Now that you`re into digital, that's on par with the "modeling" of the riverside. Try a blues driver (built-in effect) into the crunch channel with a little bit of reverb. Responsive like a tube amp, Sound like a pro on the "Zero Point Five Watt Setting"! This is a statement of me as a custom-shop-addicted, tube/analog-loving, SolidState/Digital - avoiding nerd.
This makes me think of... What about an episode for a going direct rig (or a backup rig for some people) in which you use preamp and cab sim pedals (Tech 21, AMT or similar stuff, or Kingsley type things but without an actual amp), use them with different drives, place them in different places on the signal chain etc. ?
The Strymon made my head hurt. The other three pedals gave it a good, old fashioned analog thrashing. Perhaps the moral of the video is " you can take a guitarist to the riverside but you can't make him drink ".
What was the treble boost you guys used in this video? I have a Mr Black limited treble boost, which I love, but I'm always wondering about the beano boost...
Great show as always guys. Unfortunately for Strymon the outcome for me was I now want an OCD. Riverside does a 'good job' (with a bit of tweaking) of the other pedals but still too fizzy for this old bloke. Watching the mail every day for my fuzz t-shirt.. epic!
Okay, I have to chime in on this one to address some of the digital bashing. I bought the Riverside the day it came out and have had some time to fiddle with it. Yes, it has some minor perceivable digital artifacts on its own - but in the mix, they are all but gone. What I’m left with is a VERY smooth and tweakable piece of gear. Let’s talk application. Few of us use pedals on a clean amp to get our drive sound. But I understand that this is the best way to demo the pedal to hear its character. I use OD’s as a push to a slightly breaking amp. My take on the amp/pedal relationship is 90/10. 90% of your tone should come from your amp - and the last 10% comes from a well mated pedal that pushes it into perfection. I’m running a Victory V-30 and pushing it with one of three drives - Kingsley Minstrel, Kingsley Harlot and the Riverside. All do a brilliant job for different reasons. In a head-to-head comparison, the Kingsleys walk away with the win for lush full tone and beautiful bloom. But the tightness of the Strymon has its place. Different colors for your palette. It’s like arguing over digital vs analog delay. Why pick one? Have both.
+DrProgNerd No big arguments from us. Our amps are we're //just// on the edge. Dan would use slightly more from the amp, Mick slightly less. So we went half way. Cheers!
My bad. I should have been more clear. I was addressing many of the comments below - not you guys. No complaints from me on how you demonstrated the pedal. In the comments, it seemed like the Strymon was being dismissed for not sounding perfectly analog. No arguments - it doesn't. There is a fullness to analog pedals that I don't think will ever be duplicated in the digital realm. But there are a few advantages to the Riverside that analogs can't duplicate: the range of drive available; the tightness of the drive; the ability to sculpt two completely different tones and switch between them. Then it throws in some extras like: option to choose true or buffered bypass; a noise gate; an expression and boost pedal input. This thing is deep and very usable. Just couldn't let all that goodness get overshadowed by the "it's expensive and doesn't sound analog" comments. Most of the time, I don't mind the Chocolate vs Vanilla debates - it gives me something to watch while I enjoy my Neapolitan. Cheers, guys. Great job as usual. Keep em coming.
Thanks for doing this. Knowing that people are finding that Kempers and Line 6 Helix, et al. have brought digital into the realm of quality that good valve amps give, it's only right that we look at the possibilities in this domain too. Would you consider looking at the Source Audio LA Lady overdrive/Kingmaker fuzz (both essentially the same pedal)? It is also a digital overdrive/fuzz/distortion pedal but only £150 and uses a 56bit DSP. It also has 2 drive engines allowing for multiple options including stereo into two amps with different drive settings, cascaded gain, parallel drive, clean mix, etc.
Idea for a show- I know its that pedal show, but how about an episode on the controls on your guitar, how you use them, popular mods like the treble bleed, different wirings (50's wiring?) and how the guitar controls might work with your pedals, like how you've mentioned Andy Timmons getting his clean sound with a BD-2 and the volume turned down.
I think the Riverside can certainly cover all the bases the other pedals do. In fact, it sometimes manages to sound even more present and open than, say, the Tumnus or TS, but there's something about it's clipping characteristic that is unappealing. I'd rather rock the other 3 pedals in my board than the do-all Strymon.
Great demo! Quick question. I was looking for a dirt pedal, but also one I could leave on at all times as a clean boost/eq control for my overall tone. I have an amp with only treble and bass controls, and I really would like more control over the mids. Would I be barking up the wrong tree with the Strymon Riverside? Thanks again for the great work! Your videos have been so helpful and inspiring.
Sounds great. A comparison between Riverside and predecessors like Boss OD-20 would be interesting. Question: When Mick says "just", talking about the amp settings, is that clean channel "edge of break up" or drive channel?
In general application, the gain and the overdrive pedals, the reverb and chorus and the flange all represent the basic voicing of the guitar. The modulation of course defines the character of the tone and its time representation. I ve always followed the guise that you set up your strength of tone first, then the quality of reverb, flange chorus and then the modulation timing for the note and character of the chord on the board. Finally the variations to the musical effort. Respectively this was handed to me 4 decades ago. In the modern day there are many more applications and abilities of pedal and modeling capability that I would only say that your choice is bassed upon your knowledge. So get deep with it.
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Yeah, so almost the same. In a live situation no-one in the audience would notice any difference whichever it was. EXCELLENT playing as always guys.
True
Best guitar show, period!
LuckyLicks best.
The riverside has a noise gate as a secondary function as well. Not that I am into that kind of thing but Strymon really thinks of every option. Definitely something to consider.
This is hands down THE BEST guitar show on youtube! Keep it up - always makes my Friday...
Still all about the OCD, the thickest and warmest of the bunch. There was something shrill about the strymon in my opinion. Great demo as usual guys.
I loved seeing how guarded / cautiously optimistic Mick was. It looks like he was in a dangerous mood. Until 25:11 he was finally won over. The smile on his face was surprising and the best moment of the episode. :)
You know you've made it when you get a toot on That Pedal Show
Congrats Bea 🤘🏻😎
Actually made me want a mini tubescreamer and OCD
I literally bought both earlier this week, after trying them out and going "gosh, I need both of these." And then this video came out... #psychic
It's worth pointing out: one thing that you can't do with the Strymon is stack these effects! I was sold on the pair of pedals when I realized I could boost the OCD with the Tube Screamer for a monster lead tone.
That's my set-up, mate. Not a mini, a modded TS9.
Dang Dan! That comment was spot on about digital distortion... "They sound like a recorded guitar"... YES! That's what it is!
The best thing about Friday!!!! 🤘
Friday means two things: That Pedal Show and ToneReport www.magazine.tonereport.com/
LuckyLicks Ah yes! Forgive my insolence. The Tone Report aswell. 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Major Seven Of course. We are stating the obvious now.
The best thing about everyday on repeat! lol.
You know: The Most Beautiful Thing about Comparing & Contrasting - all of these PEDALS & EFFECTS ( means ) There really is . . . " No Wrong Choice " - It's all about personal preference, your musical vision & How each pedal interacts with your particular set-up. I love the way musicians ( myself being guilty ) are so passionate about Their Favorites. It is great that we have so many Choices & Options. I remember the days when we had only 3 choices for Dirt pedals: EHX Bug Muff, MXR Distortion + and DOD 250 Overdrive & Preamp. I can talk about music for days !!! Peace
+Michael Caz Absolutely Michael - we agree 100 per cent! Thanks for watching.
You guys are Amazing. So Informative & Entertaining. Love your show guys. Happy Holidays from NYC.
Well I tried a bunch of pedals in the store I just had to go for the Riverside. It's a matter of taste of course but for me it was the best bang for the buck, with a little tweaking I can get some awesome drive sounds on any amp. The other pedals I tried were good but overall the quality and versatility of the Riverside as an amp in a box pedal is outstanding. Favorite drive pedal.
I have to agree. I played the Riverside and bought it on the spot. It's persuaded me that DSP is your best bet for accurate amp style distortion in a pedal. It actually starts to feel almost naive to think that diodes and transistors stand a better chance of replicating that sound. They are always ultimately going to sound like diodes and transistors. Riverside sounds like a fuckin Marshall. It pushes air like a 4x12.
Well still have to try it, and I never owned a Strymon pedal, but:
- I fear most people are biased by analog/digital thing which in my opinion it has to be put into a specific context. Analog has its weaknesses, as vintage is not always good.
- The fact that this pedal is compared to all these drives tells a lot about the voicing quality. Real tone can be discussed really playing it, not through a video (in my opinion).
- This pedal offers features like favourites, noise gate, a full tonal control, presence switch etc.. Before drawing conclusions based only on: can I have all best pedals in the world conveniently packed in a box? I would recommend to look in depth all features of the pedal.
- This pedal was not developed as "emulator", this is not Strymon's mission. Obviously it has its own voice, which is versatile enough to let you surf through some of the great tones that inspired most of us.
Last but not least: here you have high quality recording focusing especially on trying to find potential/weaknesses of the pedal, but in a live mix, o even a studio mix, would you be able to tell the difference?
Peace and rock on!
Great job guys, I love your channel!
+Emiliano Bolesani That's a pretty fair viewpoint, we wouldn't disagree with any of your points.
From our end, we've never done the 'this is better' approach, because everything is always so subjective. We're really just one part of a journey when people are interested in a product. We try and provide some commentary, context and opinion that should throw up the questions you need to ask (and answer for yourself).
Never believe anything on the internet! We're just a sign post to help direct you.
Cheers and thanks for watching!
+Emiliano Bolesani Actually, just to add to that (Mick here), the old 'can the audience tell the difference' chestnut is one of my favourites.
Yes they can, but not because they can hear the difference between pedals. They sense a difference in your performance, depending on how inspired you are to play. It's the difference between a great gig and an average one.
Does anybody care in a function band setting? Nope. They literally couldn't give a shit. But if people want to hear your music, not just some entertainment, that is a different game entirely. You being inspired is everything.
That Pedal Show Hey guys! Thanks for the answer, that's awesome! My comment isn't about arguing one over the other, it's more an attempt to set a 'clean ground' to dig this pedal. I felt a lot of hype around it even before first recordings were available..! Which lead to some confusion on the purpose of the pedal.. I really think this review is complete and thorough, like all your videos. As for the sound in the mix, I see what you mean :). To my very small experience many guitarist just like to say they have analog stuff, assuming it's just better. So in certain contexts it is still an argument, that's why I included it. It's a comment for the audience, not a critic!
That Pedal Show off topic: Mick there is a v40 head in my house thanks to you :)
I agree Emiliano. Given what this pedal sets out to do (which happens to be what I've been looking for), surely it has to be digital. How much that matters depends on the individual. How many people on this thread could draw a circuit diagram to demonstrate the difference between analogue & digital?....Dan & 10 others at a push! The question, as Mick rightly says, is whether you like it or not.
The thing I love about guitar is there is so many option to choose from as far a gear goes. You can go digital, solid state or tubes and they all make sounds, some good, some bad. I love reading the comments and seeing how the debate continues. I find myself always going back to tubes/analog just for the love of spinning the knobs and pulling up a tone I love. But on the other side digital technology has brought in some very cool products that give us great options. I guess it just comes down to what we love and what makes us want to create and play! Great show, as always and thanks for doing these videos!
I got Riverside. It is an absolute beast of a pedal. You guys forgot to mention one important and cool feature: expression pedal that can morph between two settings. Great vid (as usual) guys!!!
And one more thing: on high gain setting the sound is fatter and more fluid. With gain set at 0-1/4 it is relatively cleanish but fatter than on low gain setting.
A new That Pedal Show, just in time for my coffee! Awesome!
The riverside sounds great to my ears!
So much versatility out of one pedal!
Very surprised. To my ears the Riverside beat out the Tumnus and the Tube Screamer. Just sounded more open to me, which is personally what I look for in an OD pedal. The OCD with the treble booster in front blew it out of the water though.
Great video! The tweaking and tone matching you did with the Riverside to get it to sound similar to the other drive pedals was an excellent demo of the pedal, thanks. I think we've got to be more open minded about fully digital gear nowadays. I'm into tone (I bought 3 Kingsley valve pedals before That Pedal Show existed) BUT I've taken a big leap and just received a Source Audio Programmable EQ pedal for my board. This means that my hallowed analogue tone will be 100% digital at one point in the pedalboard. SHOCKING, eh? But you've gotta look at the specs of these modern digital pedals... the Source Audio EQ has 56-bit processing with 24 bit converters. Providing the A/D and D/A is done well, there is not a chance in hell of an audiophile being able to tell that the signal is digital at one point in the chain. And with a latency of 1mS on the Source Audio EQ, that is the equivalent of standing just an extra 30cm away from the speaker! I've no doubt that Strymon use state of the art conversion and processing, and it sounds good to me.
I compared one against the Tumnus, Euphoria and Fulltone 69. Same thing is my input. I have one now. theres hidden options like the noise gate (which is really good) and a +1- +6 Boost (the usual Strymon hidden goodies). I used it at rehearsal the first week and hated it. The next week I backed down on the beast and found that My Lester and SS22 took right to it. it has and expression pedal input (and a Boost input) as well and you can use any configuration of voicing (toe to heel from pure clean to way over the top Boosted Gains. One has to really sit down and work it. It really has alot of voicing. Im happy.
DAMN, Dan... you have one FINE ear. It's a treat to watch you hear, identify, then mimic the tones you're hearing.
+Gary Stackhouse cheers Gary :)
Whenever I watch this show I can't stop drooling over the chase bliss pedals right between them on the wall.
You guys have great ears! It's impressive to see how close you get things to match going back and forth. Thanks for the immaculate attention!
Got mine waiting for Christmas Day, and now I've got the settings I need! Thanks guys, great vid. 👍
The Riverside is the 2nd best overdrive pedal I've listened to, played. It's best feature, as Dan points out, is the floating DSP sweetspot. One day, after watching one of the episodes, I decided that I wanted to get an Overdrive pedal and went on a crazy, cray-zee experiment to listen to and play as many Overdrive pedals as I could. I maxed out at 132. Had to put them in a spreadsheet with photos and recorded audio samples to keep track of all of the different characteristics. I found several that I really liked: Syrymon's Riverside (of course), Analogman's King Of Tone , Boss BD-2 Blues Driver Wazacraft Special, Fulltone's OCD (of course), JHS Crayon, Mentone's Red Snapper, Paul Cochrane's Timmy and the Way Huge Red Llama. After all that research, I finally decided on Blackstone Appliance's MOSFET Overdrive. It was not cheap. It's simple, it just works and it sounds beautiful with any amp.
Thanks guys ! Awesome show as usual! The eye roll at OCD and Treble Boost was classic Dan! I was gonna use Java Boost-Guv'Nor pedal-EVH Phase 90 and 71/72 EP-3 tape Echoplex with My 78 JMP and 71 4x12 cab but may throw OCD in there now and a Quartermaster! My Deluxe Reverb pedalboard has WayHuge Cameltoe- Fulltone Wah- vintage MXR Flanger- vintage DD-3 and Vibratone/Leslie controller but maybe Java and quartermaster there too...hhhhhmmmm! You guys are awesome but the G.A.S is Wired up now!!
Mick and Dan, thank you guys! Wonderful video, as usual!!
It's always a pleasure to watch your videos. It's clear you know what your are talking about (not like so many video-makers on youtube). I just wait for them every Friday!
Thanks again :)
So crazy that you guys can seem to coax identical tones from four totally different pedals. Nice job!
I love your guys' willingness to give your opinions on various gear rather than playing it safe and offering no opinion whatsoever - nothing more frustrating in RUclips gearland than investing time in a video and then the guy disappears with no opinion given. After all, it's RUclips audio so we're not necessarily hearing it exactly the way you heard it. I want the benefit of hearing my reviewer/player's opinion and experience with various gear, etc. All gear is not created equal and I so appreciate your willingness to say so and plainly say what you like more. If I didn't trust you I wouldn't watch. Don't listen to the people that want you to be the Switzerland of gear reviewers...love you guys - Merry Christmas!
+Guit Aural cheers matey ;)
Strymon are the best, the Big Sky I own is more than just a reverb, it's an inspirational vehicle that makes me play differently and has gotten me writing and playing in a way I'd never thought I could. They've really nailed this... Other reviews on the pedal have been pretty underwhelming but hearing this in context with other pedals really shows the complexity of the tones it can create. I'll definitely be looking at trying one, then again maybe I'll just go ahead and order one even without ever trying it!!
Most. exciting. Pedal. Released. Ever. Sounds divine and I must have one!! Great vid guys as usual and was waiting for this one!!
Was waiting for a video like this to stack the riverside up with the other heavy hitters. Great video as usual guys!
Ocd is my fave, sounds the fullest and thickest
Great comparison video. I agree the OCD just had some throatiness they didn't quite dial in with the Riverside. But I've owned all these pedals (as well as KOT and most of the Kingsley line) and the Riverside hangs with the bunch. Playing/tweaking one live would surprise many posters on the "sounds digital/shrill/pixelly" front.
Great show. I was thinking exactly what you guys concluded - the Riverside covers a lot of overdrive territory very well and could be used when you only want one overdrive pedal. Really like that favorite setting feature - kind of compensates for the amount of real estate the Riverside takes on the pedal board.
Thanks for getting hold of a Riverside and demo-ing it so quickly. I`m a little lost for words because it`s not what I expected. The ability to emulate other pedals so accurately was not something I anticipated but I`m sure that it must also have it`s own voice .... and likely with quite some variation. I listened to the video yesterday on speakers and today on my Beyer cans and really can`t say that the Riverside sounds `digital`. It`s obviously a very clever design and is going to merit a lot more investigation. Yet another great programme.
The lower gain comparisons of the Riverside were really good, but OCD sounded much fuller and sonically pleasing than the Riverside. The Riverside does it in one pedal though, which is really impressive. Good work gents!
With these two amps, those guitars, and that wonderful selection of overdrives. It's seeming really easy to find some divine sounds!
Riverside does great job! It does have some characteristics of sound that make me think of what I dislike in sd-1 that are really hard for me to pinpoint. The colour and knobs don't help with that. But it does imitate all the pedals well considering they are from very different corners of spectrum. You guys got close even if it didn't do "the thing". It always had its own characteristics going on and I think that's its strong point and how it should be. Versatile pedal that has its own thing. Good job Strymon.
I don't know guys.... It doesn't suck but It still has a weird artifacty kind of top edge to the gain that doesn't sit nicely in my ears. Love Strymon gear (have a Timeline and BigSky welded to my board) but don't think i'd ever fork out for a Riverside.
Know I'd be interested to know how much of that is being exasperated/covered up by RUclips's file compression.
Totally agree.
None of it. There is no RUclips compression in 2016.
Not true. RUclips uses AAC compression:
support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en
... and here I was, thinking that RUclips audio was just a simple .wav file, like back in the good old 90s! Thank you for correcting me in a meaningless way!
Point is, albeit lossy, the AAC-LC is deemed hi-fi transparent at 128 kbps for stereo, while YT does 384 kbps. You won't hear it, unless the uploader screws up the encoding, but that's not RUclips compression. That's the power of stupid.
6 years on, still using one.
Regardless of what ever flavor of the month I'm running, this is the other drive because it covers so much territory in spectacular fashion......
Did I mention presets.......
Very nice demonstration, gentlemen! I appreciate the fact that you go to great lengths to dial them in to get each to sound as similar as possible to each other. I need to spend more time with my OCD!
I would love to see some Barber pedals here. For me and a couple of folks I know the Gain Changer is a great OCD alternative but better, the Direct Drive is my favourite 'Marshall n a box' and the Tone Press is a very cool comp.
Mick and Dan - You guys would have a field day with the palisades by EQD. I think you'd love it and find it extremely versatile.
have come back to this video as considering a riverside. Since I first saw this video I realise I've acquired the other 3 pedals! lol
"This digital pedal just sounds way too digital. I prefer it much better when you use analog equipment and THEN plug it all into a digital recording interface and upload it to a digital video hosting site. It's so much more organic sounding that way." :P
This is easily the best comment posted on this video and nobody has said anything. I love it. It's so true too, what is this shit about hearing digital artifacting? I'm listening through a set of high quality monitor headphones and I sure as hell hear nothing of the kind. Maybe some slight differences in voice but, it would be impossible for you to even notice that type of thing over youtube in the first place. My goodness.
Lol I agree. I don't notice what they are hearing either.
I agree, I do think sometimes that it helps to have some valve warmth in a mix with valve compressors etc however with companies such as UAD, Waves and BIAS and stuff like that, very few companies would be able to tell the difference between digital and analog stuff.
Coincidence that most commentators who think it "sounds digital" don't seem to understand that it's not a DSP based or modeled digital distortion? I think not. The details that many seem to miss, even though Dan and Mick explained it quite clearly, is that It's analog distortion with DSP EQ tweaking going on. Most every analog distortion you hear on a recording has gone through digital EQ in a DAW and nobody complains about digital artifacts. Digitally created distortion is one thing. Having a DSP component to a JFET circuit is quite another.
Yeah Matty, you tell'em. Because we all know that a Gibson plugged on an JCM800 mic'ed by an SM57 is the exactly same thing as a Guitar Rig plugin. Because, you know, it all ends up as digital, right? Right!?
I have mine 2 weeks now and have gigged it many times. I'm sorry but it's just about THE best OD I've ever played or heard. right now I also have a Klon KTR, J Rockett Allen Holdsworth, Wampler Hot Wired. And this for me is in a league of its own..
+Clive Barnes Don't say sorry Clive, that's great news that it's working for you! What are you running it into?
That Pedal Show I'm mainly using a Gretsch Brian Setzer Nashville 6120 and a Gretsch County Classic into either a FX Amps Dr B head with a 1x12 cab loaded with a Jensen Blackbird or a Mesa Boogie 5:50 head into a Two Rock 2x12 cab. Absolutely love the show guys, a highlight of the week for me, every week
Also, I love analog pedals and I love tube amps but I got to say digital is serious these days!! That pedal sounds amazing and Kemper amps man, those things are amazing!!
Great Job guys ( as always ). I think that Strymon makes incredible stuff ( however ) I did not care for this pedal ( at all ) - but I am comparing it ( unfairly ) to a Fulltone OCD, Analogman KOT, & Kingsley Overdrive Pedals. It Sounded very harsh & Digital ( like a cheap modeling amp ).
Great show guys!
But... in every demo of the Strymon I've heard it sounds like there's severe high frequency shelving and the bottom end farts out where on the other pedals you get a smoother more "natural sounding" compression from the lows to the low mids. There are nice sounds in there, and it does the job of a few pedals quite well and would probably be ok in a band mix but in isolation the demos don't do it for this bedroom guitarist.
Very cool! I already tried the Riverside and was very impressed, too. Such a versatile pedal!
The big surprise for me in this video is (again) how good the Mini Tubescreamer sounds.
Christmas comes early, been waiting for this. Thank you, @thatpedalshow
"Not going to do an in depth video". Uploads a 33 min video. Love these guys! :)
I have the riverside and I am happy with it. I does't care if it is digital, i tried it and i loved its sound. Even if it does not sound better that an analog pedal, it has a great versatility and you can get many sounds. Yes, it costs as three "normal" overdrive pedals, but you have three pedals in one shoot (pedal engaged, favourite, boost).
I don't know I prefer it to some analogue pedals. OCD and a TS9 do one sound, riverside you can have a light drive to boost your cleans and a dirtier sound all on one pedal with a click.
@@drdre4397 after playing and knowing better Riverside (and after 4 years), I can say: “yes I agree with you”
This review was very timely. I've been deliberating this purchase for a few weeks......Jury is out until the end of the video.
Very bright....
+simon french It has a presence switch on the back. We had it in the centre for most of the vid.
Understood. The DGT normally sounds dark, but was really bright. Makes sense now.
Yep, it's awesome. Very versatile. And with the treble booter........wow
22:42... I was going nuts wanting to reach in and turn up the treble until this part! Haha! Awesome stuff -- as always!
You got really close to the Tumnus and the Tube Screamer with the Riverside, but I thought there was more of a difference with OCD. I'm not saying one was better than the other, I'm just saying that I thought it didn't match the tone of the OCD as well.
I also find the change in contour as you go through the gain interesting. It like transforms the voice of the overdrive to be appropriate for each increasing amount of gain.
Lol scrolling through the comments, and I read yours exactly when he said the same thing.
Tumnus, Prince of Tone, Zendrive, Timmy! Thank you! Goodnight!
Nice to hear that Victory V40 again, like some other comment said it's atleast partly Mick's fault I have V40 combo too :) and also Tumnus and Mini TS, OCD I already had before finding TPS. So thanks alot guys for constant pedal GAS. Keep up the good work.
+Tuomas Mustaniemi Cheers Tuomas! Hope you're enjoying her V40 - such a good amp!
All members below are proud members of the OCD Fan Club and have voted unanimously that all Riverside pedals be smashed!!!!
The top end on the Strymon sounds the way pixels look.
HumbuckerGuy that’s actually a good way of putting it
I wonder how much is the name...If it said Line6 on the front I doubt the reviews would be as positive even if the sounds were exactly the same
And I doubt anyone would complain about "digital artefacts" if no one told them it was digital. The amount of bias is surreal
TheSphericalGuy It's $300. I'm sure that has something to do with the "bias"
Anthony Murphy it's not like the pedal was achieving something tonally when compared to other preferred pedals that you could hear in the video yourself, right? It must have been the name that did that. Not like they had Line6 gear in the show before and gave it credit. I would probably say Illuminati.
Joe Jenkins How's so? Had it been cheap people would have said "sounds cheap and digital, why are strymon releasing this line6 type bullshit bla bla bla".
If it said Behringer, Dod or Joyo, they'd be laughing out of contempt. "Pffff, it doesn't cost 300".
To all the people shitting on this pedal, I dare you to do a blind test. All of this "not organic enough", "I can hear artifacts" business must not go unchallenged.
Aron Ortega TRUE. I bought it stupidly not realizing it was digital. I had been sick when I ordered it and didn't do my homework. As soon as I found out I was like oh no. I don't want digital. But it's fine. Too much $$$ but it's fine. At the end of the day they got all the pedals to sound alike. That OCD I'm not sure how u got any gain out of it. It's used to push an already driven amp. As far as gain it's very low. If u think ur going to use it for anything other than low gain well u won't be able to. Sold mine.
You are probably right. But I bet if I owned it for a month I could hear the difference. Even hot analog pedals have annoying flaws that you do not notice right away but after a month all your ear can do is pick them up and be annoyed. I had the Strymon Mobius for a year until it's plastic sounds drove me nuts and I sold it and got a few good analog pedals.
Love the treble booster into the OCD!!! Which Treble booster is it? Couldn't find it in the write up
+Bill Sherrington it's an old Plosive Electronics May Boost, my favourite treble booster ever
Bill Sherrington ...this video push me into a tr booster + OCD pursuit!!! Hand down to the Strymon Riverside tough!! Amazing pedal!
@ Daniel & Mick: Where can I find such a treble booster!? Screaming for this pedal here...!!!
We're kidding ourselves if that Riverside doesn't cover all the low to medium drive gain sounds most folks would need. And very convincingly.
I got one wirh my Traynor YCV 80 I can get anything.
With my expression pedal and boost.
It's mental I have like 3 amp sounds x4 strymon saves... plus!! boost!! and all the sounds in the middle with my expression..I can go from sparkly SRV to deathmetal.
It's mental...completely more than any ome would ever need
@@harrisfrankou2368 stupid question but does the expression pedal go into the strymon to control the gain, so you can set it on the fly with your foot?
@@jmacc9876 its usable in many ways...you can set volume.
What I do is I set a sound NOT a Favorite.
With the pedal you rock toe down and save the sound.
You rock the toe up and save a new sound ...
So you have TWO sounds.
I set toe down for high gain.
I set toe up for Malcolm Young Sorta Stones Gain.
(In the middle low gain...so my single coils are almost clean.)
Here's the kicker.
You can then blend the TWO
Sounds via the pedal!
I use an EV 5.
The Favorite you can save.
Toe down.
The pedal itself.
(whatever the settings on the face is TOE UP.
You can then blend those 2 saves.
The software blends the various JFets via the pedal.
The highest gain on it is around VH 1 sound maybe just under.
You can even have low gain change the tones for modulation, HPF like affects.
I can play a clean blues rock low gain and as the note fades go to toe down and build up the sustain/gain.
It's near limitless.
With my Traynor I get 24 different gains...with the EV5 and built in 6 DB boost.
(its dialable as well!)
Throw the exp pedal in its just nuts.
Check JOE Kings review.
I got all the hidden features from his video.
Then there is the noise gate...dialable.
@@jmacc9876 short answer yes.
Check Joe King review
As an alternative to the Tumnus, you guys should check out the Fredrick Effects Golden Eagle on your own time. Yet another klone, but has the clean blended gain knob, buffered bypass and the internal charge pump, staying true to the original. Truly magic. Housed in an "MXR" enclosure, if you can spare a bit more room than the Tumnus, it is an exceptional option. Great show as always. Cheers
I picked one of these up about a month ago and it is the real deal. Will be selling lots of overdrive pedals very soon. Might even pick up the new Strymon Sunset with the proceeds of the sale...
Iv heard u guys play alot, to the point that when the show starts i can tell whos playin for the opening. It been a year ago now but seems that mick was having a really on day, reachin and finding licks id not heard anyway, almost to a higher level as they say. All im sayin is dam good stuff. Salute!
Thanks Glenn. As you can imagine, sat here on stools - while we LOVE making the show - doesn’t always allow the playing to flow free. So we ebb and flow. Glad you see the on days - hopefully they make up for the less on days. Thanks for watching and for the kind words! :0)
I feel like you guys aren't getting much love for this video, but honestly, in so many ways, you made me want to go out and try it for myself. Because, I absolutely love my King of Tone, but if it could do all of those pedals? What's to say it couldn't do that? What an awesome piece of gear for a starting musician. Or a studio guy who want's that versatility all in one pedal. I loved the way you did the video. I don't know how else you would prove that this weird digital thing could stand up to some of the best overdrive pedals of all time. Thanks.
+Brandon Higgins Cheers Brandon. We're not doing it for praise, we're doing it because it's an interesting question. Dan and I are also very sceptical that any digital drive will ever sound 'as good' as a decent analogue OD, but we're both keen to try and move the debate on from that. As you say it's a very versatile pedal, and a good potentially ice-breaker for all of us who shiver a bit whenever digital amps and overdrives are mentioned! It's always interesting, thank you for watching!
Love it when Dan plays metal stuff and when Mick plays Oh Well!
Holds up really well with the Tumnus and Screamer. The OCD edges it out in my opinion, but not by a ton and when you take into account the versatility of the Riverside, it's definitely an option for a lot of people. Great demo!
The only thing is the ocd sucks. It’s an old school hard clipping diode and it isn’t dynamic for players picking attacks. Yeah it has a grunge thing going. That’s about it. Proco Rat is better all day
After I purchased Riverside I have tried with 5 different amps set to very clean. Fender Stage 185, Hughes & Kettner Blonde Edition, Fender Drri 65 Blackface, Supro Titan 1x10 combo, Mesa Boogie Lonestar 1x12 combo. With these amps Riverside sounded very nice. I was about to buy EQD Palisades, and Palisades doesn't sound good with any amps.
Maybe Riverside is not best sounding drive pedal but it sounds very good with any amp even amp is lame (Stage 185 was not in good condition, and it sounded very acceptable). It is very versatile and safe. You just get your pedalboard and plug into an amp. It never sounds digital.
I never thought I'd see the day that Dan would be seen in the same room as an overdrive pedal with a digital side.
Wow, high praise for a digital pedal. Thought at the beginning it had the typical digital sound but by the end I was unable to tell much of a difference. What would have sold it for me would be midi switching like on the timeline. Could you imagine the possibilities then. Make it happen strymon! Well done guys, great demo as usual 🤘🏻
+Ed Parker Who knows what NAMM will bring? Seems a logical next step....
I looked away when they're playing and when I hear a thin, fizzy sound I look back to see it's the Riverside - every time. However, that OCD and treble boost combo are thick and mean. I can't find any May treble boosters that look like theirs, though. Any help?
I'm glad I have my OCD. I always wanted a Tumnus but now I'm happier with my OCD. I run a Tone City Bad Horse into it, and it's awesome.
I've been using an AxeFX for about six years now and it has some great drive blocks that compare very well to my pedals, and all digital. Being digital doesn't automatically make an OD bad. We think of early digital units or cheap modern stuff that sounds thin and lifeless, but a well-done digital effects unit can be a think of beauty. Witness the Strymon Timeline and El Capistan.
+Ben Randolph Yeah, we'd like to see the debate move on as well. All sounds are usable at the end of the day. Your application is what matters.
All that said and however impractical it is, Dan and I tend to prefer the analogue sounds in pretty much every example (e.g. EP-3 vs TimeLine, valve amps vs emulations etc etc etc).
I have to give it to Ibanez, they noticed that there was a lot of buzz about the Mooer Green Mile and decided to come out with the TS mini (and put it at the same price point)...brilliant! ...if you're into the sort of thing.
Great Video as always! Just a quick tip for your planned episode about bedroom tones: You HAVE to check and include the new boss katana 100 combo. Now that you`re into digital, that's on par with the "modeling" of the riverside. Try a blues driver (built-in effect) into the crunch channel with a little bit of reverb. Responsive like a tube amp, Sound like a pro on the "Zero Point Five Watt Setting"! This is a statement of me as a custom-shop-addicted, tube/analog-loving, SolidState/Digital - avoiding nerd.
This makes me think of... What about an episode for a going direct rig (or a backup rig for some people) in which you use preamp and cab sim pedals (Tech 21, AMT or similar stuff, or Kingsley type things but without an actual amp), use them with different drives, place them in different places on the signal chain etc. ?
The Strymon made my head hurt. The other three pedals gave it a good, old fashioned analog thrashing. Perhaps the moral of the video is " you can take a guitarist to the riverside but you can't make him drink ".
What was the treble boost you guys used in this video? I have a Mr Black limited treble boost, which I love, but I'm always wondering about the beano boost...
you should put together a pedal board of all the best mini pedals
Great show as always guys. Unfortunately for Strymon the outcome for me was I now want an OCD. Riverside does a 'good job' (with a bit of tweaking) of the other pedals but still too fizzy for this old bloke. Watching the mail every day for my fuzz t-shirt.. epic!
Okay, I have to chime in on this one to address some of the digital bashing. I bought the Riverside the day it came out and have had some time to fiddle with it. Yes, it has some minor perceivable digital artifacts on its own - but in the mix, they are all but gone. What I’m left with is a VERY smooth and tweakable piece of gear. Let’s talk application. Few of us use pedals on a clean amp to get our drive sound. But I understand that this is the best way to demo the pedal to hear its character. I use OD’s as a push to a slightly breaking amp. My take on the amp/pedal relationship is 90/10. 90% of your tone should come from your amp - and the last 10% comes from a well mated pedal that pushes it into perfection. I’m running a Victory V-30 and pushing it with one of three drives - Kingsley Minstrel, Kingsley Harlot and the Riverside. All do a brilliant job for different reasons. In a head-to-head comparison, the Kingsleys walk away with the win for lush full tone and beautiful bloom. But the tightness of the Strymon has its place. Different colors for your palette. It’s like arguing over digital vs analog delay. Why pick one? Have both.
+DrProgNerd No big arguments from us. Our amps are we're //just// on the edge. Dan would use slightly more from the amp, Mick slightly less. So we went half way. Cheers!
My bad. I should have been more clear. I was addressing many of the comments below - not you guys. No complaints from me on how you demonstrated the pedal. In the comments, it seemed like the Strymon was being dismissed for not sounding perfectly analog. No arguments - it doesn't. There is a fullness to analog pedals that I don't think will ever be duplicated in the digital realm. But there are a few advantages to the Riverside that analogs can't duplicate: the range of drive available; the tightness of the drive; the ability to sculpt two completely different tones and switch between them. Then it throws in some extras like: option to choose true or buffered bypass; a noise gate; an expression and boost pedal input. This thing is deep and very usable. Just couldn't let all that goodness get overshadowed by the "it's expensive and doesn't sound analog" comments. Most of the time, I don't mind the Chocolate vs Vanilla debates - it gives me something to watch while I enjoy my Neapolitan. Cheers, guys. Great job as usual. Keep em coming.
Awesome... What model of Treble Booster was it? ... That sound driving the OCD is HEAVEN! 🤘
Thanks for doing this. Knowing that people are finding that Kempers and Line 6 Helix, et al. have brought digital into the realm of quality that good valve amps give, it's only right that we look at the possibilities in this domain too.
Would you consider looking at the Source Audio LA Lady overdrive/Kingmaker fuzz (both essentially the same pedal)? It is also a digital overdrive/fuzz/distortion pedal but only £150 and uses a 56bit DSP. It also has 2 drive engines allowing for multiple options including stereo into two amps with different drive settings, cascaded gain, parallel drive, clean mix, etc.
greatt video guysss as alwaysss , and please dont forget the new J-Rockett 45 caliber for the plexi video ITS FREAKING AWESOME
Idea for a show- I know its that pedal show, but how about an episode on the controls on your guitar, how you use them, popular mods like the treble bleed, different wirings (50's wiring?) and how the guitar controls might work with your pedals, like how you've mentioned Andy Timmons getting his clean sound with a BD-2 and the volume turned down.
I think the Riverside can certainly cover all the bases the other pedals do. In fact, it sometimes manages to sound even more present and open than, say, the Tumnus or TS, but there's something about it's clipping characteristic that is unappealing. I'd rather rock the other 3 pedals in my board than the do-all Strymon.
I have a Strymon Flint and El Cap but I won't be springing for this. Is it different? Well, the Strymon Rivierside samples made my dog cry!
Preferred the seperate pedals. Thanks guys!
Great demo! Quick question. I was looking for a dirt pedal, but also one I could leave on at all times as a clean boost/eq control for my overall tone. I have an amp with only treble and bass controls, and I really would like more control over the mids. Would I be barking up the wrong tree with the Strymon Riverside? Thanks again for the great work! Your videos have been so helpful and inspiring.
For an A/B video, then: Strymon Riverside and Source Audio LA Lady. Battle of the best respected digital ODs.
Couldn't make me mind up about the riverside then I thought oh well !!
Sounds great. A comparison between Riverside and predecessors like Boss OD-20 would be interesting. Question: When Mick says "just", talking about the amp settings, is that clean channel "edge of break up" or drive channel?
In general application, the gain and the overdrive pedals, the reverb and chorus and the flange all represent the basic voicing of the guitar. The modulation of course defines the character of the tone and its time representation. I ve always followed the guise that you set up your strength of tone first, then the quality of reverb, flange chorus and then the modulation timing for the note and character of the chord on the board. Finally the variations to the musical effort. Respectively this was handed to me 4 decades ago. In the modern day there are many more applications and abilities of pedal and modeling capability that I would only say that your choice is bassed upon your knowledge. So get deep with it.
Could you do some Zvex fuzz pedals and experiment with some of the weird sounds they can make?
I'd love to see you guys demo the Hudson Electronics Broadcast, my favorite drive pedal of all time, and from the UK to boot!
+Jacob Prestidge We have one... we'll get on to it in the new year. Cheers!