Shimmer Shootout: Verbzilla Octo vs. Superdelay Reverse submode C vs. blueSky Shimmer

[briankillebrew]

the empress sounded the coolest, to me. 

[seagullssuck2]

so i want a reverb that does the octave thing but i dont think i can afford the blue sky. should i just go with the line 6 or is it that much more worth it to wait and get the blue sky?

[TheResonating]

@tubescreamer hey how much tone suckage did the verbzilla give? Was it a great difference or was there little tone suckage?

[directorgtr]

what would be ur set up... You have a POG on your regular board so verbzilla in Oct mode and POG together? I'm thinking that could get messy. So when you use the POG, do you not use the Oct setting on Verbzilla or do you?

[QuamCelerrime]

At what point would it be a good idea to mention that the BlueSky costs twice as much as a Verbzilla and the Superdelay costs three times as much? The Verbzilla gets my vote for its value.

[tomiclav]

sounds like heaven! 

[jmarcano180]

what happened to the RV5? is not a good option for shimmer?

[PhilsenLasVegas]

I have the Verbzilla soley for the shimmer setting and it's amazing.

[hibbohibbo]

i have the verbzilla but am new to the strymon. looks like i will be upgrading..

[tootone76]

Can't think of a use? Have you ever heard of The Edge - guitarist in U2?

[tubescreamer]

@tootone76 who?

[tootone76]

@tubescreamer - lol - gimme some U2 goodness

[luit13]

@tubescreamer I think they did the song 'Do they know it's Christmastime", didn't they?

[tom113324]

so what outputs do you use on the blue sky and where do they go into?

[bettsdn]

I actually really like the empress VMSD shimmer sound.

[fendertwin777]

your using voodoo on the empress! how does it pitch shift?

[fendertwin777]

VerbZ sounds very artificial and grainy. Empress is cool, but sounds as though it is stressing from the processing, Blue sky is best at not displaying the grainy element, but sacrifices clarity on the top to disguise itself.

I say go back to the source either digitech or eventide.

cheers

[demon2645]

Are these analog or digital, because they seem to reproduce every sound without running into each other and sounding bad. Thats what happens on my BOSS me-70 because its digital :s PLEASE REPLY!

[tubescreamer]

@demon2645 they are all digital.

[snowypetrel]

Absorbed in nice pedals and an advert pops into it, 'Want a girlfriend?' and I'm thinking maybe I do?

[soulvibe2007]

@snowypetrel Lol I would get a girlfriend like you said, while your doing that I would get some Ad-Blocking software like Ad Block Plus :)

[snowypetrel]

@soulvibe2007 Girlfriends are nice, but pedals are better! I'll look at Ad Block Plus, ta.

[TheResonating]

@snowypetrel um.....lol what? :P

[snowypetrel]

@TheResonating If you work in a book shop and someone asks you where the Conspiracy Theory books are, go up close to their face and whisper,"They're behind you!"

[TheResonating]

@snowypetrel lol your good or maybe im not having a good day, but either ur trying to trick me or im just not getting it, by the way did you know you could save ten dollars on car insurance when you switch to JoJo's auto coverage, I know it sounds great doesnt it

[snowypetrel]

@TheResonating JoJo's auto coverage, hey man can I have the tabs for that?

[TheResonating]

@snowypetrel haha thanks for subscribing

[777jordan]

I like the superdelay the best. It's not a shimmer, but it's unique and lovely.

[Theseventhknight]

now if you ran the empress Superdelay's effect through the Strymon... that'd be a wonderful sound right there.

[SundanceHAJ]

The funny thing is...people find the BlueSky sounding in this vid extraordinary...but in this vid you can barely even hear how good it sounds in real life! Got it a few days ago and I'm totally in love with it

[Blairsden]

@SundanceHAJ

I just picked up the blueSky and it is perhaps one of the most musical reverb pedals I’ve ever used. Great Pedal!!!

[mewsic156]

What about the cave mode? I wanna hear Dx

[theinck]

Finally a video without any dislikes. Well done sir. The blue one sounds like it's good at being a reverb.

[discospring]

'Undulator' mode on Eventide Modfactor isn't quite shimmer AFAIK (and isn't as cliched) but can certainly shimmer things up tastefully - or chop your ears into tiny shimmer fishes and wash them downstream. I love it.

Both Eventide's Pitchfactor and Space pedals do the actual Shimmer and a whole lot more. That said, I would love a Blue Sky and Verbzilla is great value. Thanks for the demo.

[thenoiseking]

Wow, I've never heard of the blueSky until I saw this. Sounds really good, thinking about getting one now. :P

[mikyj139]

did you connect the white power cord to the voodoo lab power supply ac outlet? just to be sure, have you got any problems because i can't power my whammy pedal to the voodo lab, hope to hear from you, thanks again for you videos

[redwhitegray748]

@mikyj139

On the Voodoo Lab forums, they said you can plug the whammy into the courtesy outlet.

[HeartOfAllThings]

Fuckin awesoooome <3 <3 <3

[mewsic156]

what happends when you activate all the pedals?

[jamarwright]

did you have a ceiling fan when you recorded this? i hear ceiling fan warble or something. nice demo!

[tubescreamer]

@jamarwright i don't think so... it was recorded direct to my computer anyway.

[davidbrucemusicvideo]

@jamarwright

Its weird, but l hear it too. Plus, l see what looks like a fan reflecting off of the middle pedal. But he said he recorded direct to computer, so l don't know what it could be.

Great demo, Andrew. I just got turned on to the Strymon stuff recently and was thinking about getting some of their stuff, so this was cool to see the difference between all these. The Line6 sounded great, but l'm sorry-those pedals are so ugly. At least their larger pedals look better.

[destChaos]

Aaah, bluesky. Beautiful.

[Razwithz]

how do you adjust the volume in the verbzilla and the bluesky? .-.

[selibucaz]

wow, this makes me want to get both the blue sky and the empress.

[ejyuhas]

Your boards are always so neat! BTW, what are those two wallwarts in this video? I though you had all of your pedals plugged into the (2) PP2s? Or isn't there enough amperage to drive everything on your board? For instance, how do you power the Empress, your Eventide and your Whetstone (and DL-4 when you use it) simultaneously, aren't they amp(ere)-intensive?

[brandonberg]

what do the high damp and low damp knobs do

[35rammstein]

@brandonberg you are able to create better volume swells

[DownSouthable]

I like themall haha

[markbauzon]

Very nice! I've been trying to nail that low damping feature of the Strymon by adding up an effect similar to EHX's MicroPOG in front of my Verbzilla. Although, what i got was a hammond-like sound when i do swells instead; it's still awesome on its own.

Anyway, on the last part of the demo, you used the Strymon's Shimmer+Spring feature. Can you further demo on that one? 'coz it reminds me of U2's City Of Blinding Lights intro. Thanks in advance. :)

[LexovichUkraine]

Damn... just as I settled with buying Verbzilla I realize now I want nothing than a blueSky...... Great demo besides! Thanks a lot!

[Dunnization]

Basically I'd like to hook it up to the floor pod and use headphones because it sounds better.

[Dunnization]

Maybe you could help me, I have a amp and floor pod and I just got a bluesky but I am having trouble hooking it up. Maybe you could help me.

[Danthehorse]

This Blue Sky is the most amazing pedal i have ever heard, a texturist's dream come true.

[trippingchris]

my pedal world just exploded. Awesome example videos!

[SmallFish616]

i wish youd show us more of the modulated mode on each of the three reverb types on the bluesky pedal. I got a verbzilla a few days ago and im really happy with it btw :)

[coooorey]

What reasonably priced delay pedal can get these types of sounds?

[Olithar]

@coooorey I use an RV-5 in the modulate mode. Andy used it a while back, so you can hear some good sounds. I personally like it more than the Verbzilla, but less than the Wetstone. I don't have any videos of it up yet, but I'm sure you can find them.

[metalcore929]

Shame about the volume drop on the Verbzilla.

Loobs.

[PutItAway101]

Nice demo. I preferred the blue sky. I tried the verbzilla once and the octo sounded interesting for about 5 minutes but I quickly found it was a bit gimmicky sounding and not really useable.

[bahady30]

Good job man !! This is called compairing !! I like the blue sky . I ope they sell them n europe.....Keep on rockin

[ItsA6StringThing]

@bahady30 You can get it at Thomann.

[ryancrl]

ZEPHYR SONG.

[WhiskeyTango12]

empress kicks ass

[AzaelVI]

Great comparison. I keep hoping that Eventide will come out with a Verbfactor that includes a shimmer mode.

[BodybuildAlex]

@AzaelVI I like crystals on the pitchfactor, but I also use a verbzilla. Almost wanna buy the empress for its reverse delay

[AzaelVI]

@BodybuildAlex The Hardwire Reverb pedal has some really decent sounds including a reverse mode.

[Dunnization]

Maybe you could help me, I'm not sure if this is your kind of music but the guitarist for the band Cory Asbury, his name is Srth Yates. I'm not sure what kind of sound he produces but it insane, if you could go and listen to the song Faithful to the end and listen to his guitar. It literally sounds like it's crying... so if you could get back to me and let me know, I like the BlueSky the best.

[Razwithz]

@Dunnization checked it out and it doesn't sound at all like that, any reverb or delay should do it

[Dunnization]

@Razwithz

You hear how high it is though at the end when he solos and the very last riff it sounds like the guitar is crying. How do you like the Verbzilla? Do you think I should buy the Berhinger RV600 or the Verbzilla?

[ZachDRUMMOND]

1:25 and 6:27 is where the difference is. 

[omar5777]

Verbzilla FTW!

[papernicolas3]

the empress sounds AMAZING.

[ruk777]

do you have any problems with coloration or loss of signal with so many pedals? I love my Verbzilla too but even that one with just one more pedal will compromise my clean tone? Any ways to azoid that? Wondering. .... GREAT set up & vids

[insaneinthebrain1978]

you make great videos dude!

keep em comin!

greetings from austria...max

[omo3tetia4]

what does the pre-delay knob is used for ?

[tubescreamer]

@omo3tetia4 It delays the reverb effect... so it won't come in until a little after you play. helps to keep it from getting muddy sounding.

[ebeatworld]

@tubescreamer Thanks for explaining that. I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about pedals and stuff, And I just never understood the pre-delay thing for some reason.

[j2072]

Fella!

Cheers for doing a straight ahead side by side test.... with NO deviation...

The Strymon is the clear winner to my ears and apparently it cycles up a 5th as well on the shimmer(?)

Great job!

J.

[theinck]

@omo3tetia4 . In real life, if you clap or make a noise, there is a gap between the sound of your hands clapping and the sound bouncing off the walls around you. That gap is the pre-delay gap. Makes the reverb sound more natural:)

[RadiatorBoy]

MARSHALL FUCKIN ROCKS!

[YT747]

Hey Andrew, great demos and videos!

I dunno if you've tried it out or not, but the EHX POG2 with +1 and +2 octaves up running into a Boss RV-5 on either the 'hall' or 'modulation' setting gives an incredible sounding shimmer. It seems you like messing with guitar effects, so I figured I'd throw in my two cents. =)

Keep the videos coming!

[rwagenaa]

Andy, Why are you using so many different delays? do you buy them or are they freely rented by musicians friend. I have a Line6 DL4, a BOSS RV-5 an FR-2 a EH nano holy grail and a line6 echopark, but everytime you come up with a new video I feel tempted to buy your new pedals, the blue sky sounds like heaven and i'm so curious to how it sounds in real. So tell me....

[rootvalue]

@rwagenaa Different pedals have totally different sounds and applications, just like you know. Sometimes you won't need more than one delay pedal, but sometimes to get a sea of sounds, you need as many as you can get.

[tubescreamer]

@rwagenaa I buy them, I sell pedals I stop using... and as @rootvalue said, different delays for different sounds!

[jmacsyodaddy]

tubescreamer have you tried the Catherdral Reverb from EH ??

It's a part of my rig and I like it..

[tubescreamer]

@jmacsyodaddy I haven't...

[Tomurow]

Brilliant BRILLIANT video Andrew!!! Well presented and thorough!!! Lots of food for thought here. The Blue Sky is lovely!!! So far have been using my Hardwire Reverb through to my RV-5 (with the tone up on modulate) for a kind of shimmer effect but this is where it's really at!!! Wonder what shimmer sounds like in swells? Hmmm...?

Thanks for taking the time to make such a comprehensive vid!!! Cheers. :-)

[tubescreamer]

@Tomurow Thanks! It does sound great with swells... it also sounds great paired with the RV-5 :)

[stephendumas]

87.31 you jokester you :)

[johntbd]

Nice show and tell.

[scorpguitar79]

overall, I liked the blue sky the best. You were definitely reaching by including the empress in this comparison-it did not even remotely sound like shimmer. The blue sky was the best-but maybe not after you consider the price. Great vid man.

[tubescreamer]

@scorpguitar79 I don't think I was reaching that much.

[FXHP]

@tubescreamer

The Blue Sky and Line 6 are based on the Eventide shimmer algorithm.

The empress is affecting an emulation of another Eventide algorithm called crystals.

Shimmer is based on reverb whilst crystals is based on delay, hence it's not really an exercise in comparison for the empress.

I like 'em all anyway.

[GuitarHero2790]

@scorpguitar79

In the words of someone who had the means. "You get what you pay for"

[aachafin]

wow, i have been waiting forever for a video like this, shimmer rocks

[DelayFreak]

I really like the Strymon, great buy and cool demo!

[cassiokweik]

Wonderful tone!!!!

[malakianice]

hahaha "Mix at 87.31%"

[redwhitegray748]

@malakianice

of course

[Mushman34]

The blue sky sounds fantastic! I'm guessing it's a touch more expensive than the verbzilla though. I've been toying with the idea of picking up a verbzilla for a while.

The superdelay sounds like something completely different, I suppose being a reverse delay running at 2x speed it IS something completely different, perhaps better suited to other applications. I don't think I could justify getting one just for that one function. It seems quite similair to a BOSS PS-3 mode 7.

[Hellad00d]

@Mushman34 I just read about the Blue Sky in a guitar magazine and they said $300 street.

[rootvalue]

The Verbzilla is definitely my favorite of the three, but it's a matter of my desires. I don't like the Reverse of the Superdelay too much, but I like it's versatility. For some reason, the Verbzilla just sounds most attractive to me. Thank you so much for this demonstration, I really enjoyed watching it. Honestly, all your videos are of superb quality and maintain my interest very well. Thanks!

[DemoColorScheme]

You know what's a shame? The BSR on the Plate setting really sounds like a room, a small room. It's the way it's voiced. It has this hollow sound to it. I'm not bashing on you or the pedal - I'm just trying to find reasons why I should get one because the features are awesome for a pedal, but every time I find stuff I don't like about it.

[cosmogang]

@DemoColorScheme Dude, the plate is totally plate, and it can get HUGE. The only problems I had with the pedal were that the Plate/modulation was very "additive" and it wasn't very subtle. The modulation on the RV5 is a little bit more pleasant to me. I like it to be a little more crystalline (RV5) and not so watery (bluesky). BUT - when you put the modulation on the room, it undulates heavily and sounds cool. LOVE: Plate - decay @ ~ 85%- both damps @ ~60% - predelay @ ~25% - mix @ ~45%

[Antestor]

Damn. All awesome sounding pedals from what I can hear. If you run an overdrive pedal before the reverbs, how is the Verbzilla buffer in comparison to the Strymon? I'm thinking of getting the Verbzilla but I'm worried that it will really affect my overdrive tone.

[AlwaysRendering]

The Empress superdelay makes my day

[mysocalledchaos]

haha at mix at 87.31%

[herald9]

wooooooow you have soo much pedals!!!

[Smoothtlknwhtboi]

yes im diggin the blueSky!

[The1970sInfatuate]

Reminds me of "Stairway to Heaven" because of the Am key. This style of sound seems somewhat similar to The Edge guy from U2. The 2008 "It Might Get Loud Movie" was great! Hope you saw it! Jack White sucks though. I'm just a huge fan of Jimmy Page :).

[GuitarLessonSarasota]

the Empress

[cosmogang]

BTW what a super cool idea for a video! Great job!

[cosmogang]

Dude, do we even have to cast our vote? I mean, duh.

Bluesky!!!!!