the versatility of this pedal as seen through this excellent demo proves that reverb is a multi-faceted effect with endless possibilities, from subtle to ethereal, and everything in between. Well done!
Terrific review. I appreciate how much you went into detail about the way the pedal functions and why certain sounds come out the way they do, not just showing us what noises come out of each setting. Now if only I could find a spare $300. :)
Dear strymon. . I Love you :) so does my amp. thanks again folks for the help with settings. . once i figure out my rivera RCR ill post some results. . really helped a lot.. respect. . and again many many thanks. you care about your customers and that matters a lot to me.. cheers!
Best demo I have seen on guitar pedals so far, it´s good to hear people with real knowledge on sound design! Sweet pedal to, got to get my hands on one. I wonder how it works with some driver or fuzz sounds! Best regards from Portugal!
Very helpful tutorial, thanks! I own my BlueSky for about a year now and it's still my favorite pedal, would never give it away. It sounds awesome, it is versatile and creates beautiful worlds of ambient sound. The BlueSky is not the cheapest pedal to get but it's worth every Cent.
strymon Hi Pete, sorrowly I don't have the opportunity to make videos (in addition to my yet quite limited guitar skills as an intermediate player). But thanks for your kind asking. By the way: even though I am very happy with the Blue Sky, I am thinking about purchasing a BigSky, due to its enlarged versatility. The only thing that makes me hesitate is its handling. I already own a Mobius (which has a similar buildup) and I find it hard to really use all its possibilities. Therefore it'ld be very helpful if there was some kind of additional display - or at least some lights over the knobs - to give one an optical hint and overlook about what settings are active right now, which parameters are adjusted in what way. Using a pedal should not demand a masters degree in abstract imagination or engineering. So some additional display (maybe an external solution in a separate box) would be a good help, telling you and listing up "you are using the following settings right now:…Want to save them?" No idea if this is doable from a technical point of view - but it'ld ease the usage of the pedals significantly and would cut some reservations when it comes to buy one or not. At least, as far as I am concerned.
Steffen Pfau Thanks for the feedback on the BigSky. The pedal does have the ability to show you what the knob settings are by turning them back and forth. The green light on the preset switch will change to orange to show that the preset has changed and go back to green when you have moved the knob or parameter back to the preset setting. Other than that, the display should be used to name the presets in a manner that will help you remember what is saved for each preset.
Just purchased a blue sky today. It sounds amazing. Extremely happy. Got it from Guitar factory in Gladesville Sydney. Those guys are fantastic to deal with :)
just got mine in the mail. The shimmer mode is just magic. Also, little detail, but thumbs up to the way you guys implemented the favorite LED - it's definitely key having the LED pulse or light solid for each individual knob, so you can re-dial in a saved reverb.
This is a great pedal - had mine for a year and no regrets - I was using a Rocktron Intellifex LTD, but couldn't tweak it easily, so then went for an EH Holier Grail Plus - which was OK - but added little warmth - the Bluesky is superb - I would recommend it to anyone.
Sweetwater is sold out of them again. A new order is forth coming . After I buy this pedal, the Brigadier delay could be next as a second delay to my Vapor Trails delay. You guys make awesome pedals and they are worth every penny
This has to be the best emulation of a spring reverb in a digital stomp box I've ever heard ! The only thing missing is knocking the pedal and hearing the springs vibrate on their own... lol !
fantastic, best reverb demo i heard so far.. and i love the sophisticated way of explaning it and turning the knobs on purpose.. not just randomly like most people do reviews... great pedal, i hope it won't cost thousand dollars... how much is it and where can i get it?
@damanizyo There is more versatility in the BigSky pedal over the blueSky. The one main difference about the effects on the blueSky is that you can apply the shimmer effect to the Spring ,Plate, and Room reverbs, where on the BigSky, the Shimmer effect is its own reverb machine and cannot be used with the Spring, Plate, or Room reverb machines.
We use a Damage Control preamp to warm up the sounds but we really don't do anything other than that IE: no plug ins in Pro Tools etc. We do record in stereo.
Imagine Walt teaching Jesse how to use this pedal haha. Walt- "Well Jesse, what do you think?" Jesse- "Uhh, it's great. I mean, yeah, sounds really wide and atmospheric." I just can't get enough of Breaking Bad and now, I can't get enough of this pedal lol
@dantahoua Hey there, we have a lavalier mic for the voice. In this case we went direct into a Damage Control Demonizer tube preamp > blueSky Reverberator > stereo into mac audio interface. Thanks!
@strymon Ain't that true? When you have a good guitar, with good pickups, and a good amp, you lest leave it flat and cranck the volume up!! And I bet it sounds superb already!! The same thing with high end pedals like yours. The El Capistan is already my dream delay... Keep up the excelent work, guys!!
Does anyone know where to find the scales and chord's he's playing in this? I'm pretty new but i love the sound of the scales he's playing here, thanks heaps! I just bought this pedal and he's got the sound i'm looking for!
Hi Joseph, thanks for the kind words and feedback. We don't talk about what we may or may not have in development but I'll be sure to pass your feedback on to the rest of the team!
+Hayden Godfrey We are actually using a Damage Control Womanizer pedal as a tube preamp with cab simulation before the blueSky and recorded stereo into an audio interface.
I played with one at my local shop for a while.... ended up going with the T.C. Hall of Fame, which sounded great, and is half the size and price. TC also seems to be going in a cool direction with their software editor and TonePrint thing. Honestly, all of the fancy new reverb pedals sound pretty digital to me. I see them more as sound effects for gigging. In the studio I'd just assume use a plugin or patch into some top-shelf hardware. $300 is a lot for a device that is so limited in use.
OK ..... I can't be the only one that wants this kind of user interface with MIDI programmability. The first companies to combine intuitive UI, high caliber fx and MIDI presets are going to dominate the market. This is a hot topic among all of my musician friends, yet I seem to be the only one commenting on these videos! Anyone else feel the same way?
I got this pedal the other day, and boy what a fantastic sound it produces really happy. Though having played with it for a few hours, I found that the case gets slightly warm. Is this suppose to happen or is it a fault?.
I'm glad that you enjoy the blueSky pedal! It does get a little warm but not burning hot when it is powered up so your pedal sounds like it is working normally.
Phew! that's a relief :) I was worried that I would have to send it back and wait. It's by far the best pedal that I've bought in awhile, you can be really creative with it. Thank you!.
hi strymon guys, your pedals are really brilliant with the guitar! i wonder if you could make a couple of demos of your pedals with a bass guitar, this could be very useful because there's nothing on youtube about that.. thank you
Glad you like it! That is actually a franken-Telecaster using a Gibson mini-humbucker in the neck position going through a Damage Control Womanizer pedal with the direct output feeding the blueSky pedal going stereo straight into a recording audio interface. So there is no real amp in use for this video!
Pete, Eventide just came out with Space Reverb. I think the Blue Sky from all the You Tube videos sound better. Thank you for doing this video that is not over processed. You are dialing in usable sounds, but you just need a midi with user presets model. They said the Space reverb is derived from the Eclipes and H8000. The Blue Skys sound more like the Eclipe to me. Maybe it is the way they are recording the videos. Is there a reverb midi model in the works?
Hey! Just a quick question. Is this pedal good for use with other delay pedals? Or would a delayed signal running into the Blue Sky completely screw the 'verb up? I've got some delay pedals, and I think it would be interesting to combine them with some of this shimmering...!
when using it live can you use that method as well or preamps are only good when recording like this situation?i guess you can hook your set up to a pre amp - pc - amp/pa system?
so i bought one of these just wanting cleaner deeper and subtle settings. lookin for that robben ford to jimi page range of verb pretty much.. totaly lost trying to use it till i tryed the presets from the manual and finally have something inwas looking for.. is there a list of "vintage " settings?
+Scott McLennan We do not have a list of vintage settings, however, if you provide an example of what you are looking for, we can help with trying to get that sound.
+strymon thankyou very much for the response, what im hoping to learn is to get reverbs that sound like for example, Led Zepp since ive been loving you a robben ford clean reverb (play anything it sounds the same to me with him just perfect) and hendrix burning of the midnight lamp. i think im getting close with spring mode.. i think? lol i am starting to narrow down the modes i like. just fyi im running hot handmade dominger single coils into an OR 100. reverb is in the loop and i only have delay and phase on the front. amp does everything else. its amazing :).. anyways these are likely silly questions to many but i just got this pedal and yeh its kind of my first reverb ever. thanks again for answering to my post. didnt expect that.. yet another good thing bout strymon methinks. cheers from victoria BC
+Scott McLennan Here are 2 settings from the artists you requested as it was hard to decipher the Hendrix reverb, but sounded a little close to the Robben Ford setting. Since I've Been Loving You: Type - ROOM MODE - NORM DECAY - 2 o'clock MIX - just above 9 o'clock LOW DAMP - 2 o'clock PRE-DELAY - O% (off) HIDH DAMP - around 12 o'clock noon Robben Ford: Type - ROOM MODE - NORM DECAY - 12 o'clock noon MIX - around 11 o'clock LOW DAMP - 12 o'clock PRE-DELAY - 10 o'clock HIDH DAMP - around 2 o'clock for the Hendrix sound, try the Robben Ford setting but with 0% PRE-DELAY.
Thanks for demoing the bluesky! Instead of using womanizer, could I simply go from my fender deluxe's "preamp out" straight into the bluesky and then to my audio interface?
I really want to get a new reverb and delay pedal, Ive decided on the blue sky for reverb, however, I am very stuck between getting the dig or the el capistan for delay, I want a delay that can be used for basic applications, but can also be used for more specialized things like ambience, but I also want to get a delay that will work well with the blue sky, but will hold its own by itself, which pedal would most likely be the best fit? I play ambient, atmospheric music, but also play alot of classic rock, blues when Im not writing my own songs
Hi Judson, The DIG is a dual digital delay, that allows you to configure both delays either in series, parallel, or ping pong. Delay 2 can be set to track all of Delay 1's parameters, or it can be set for each control to be a standalone value (and any combination; IE track repeats, different MIX, non-quantized time). This, in combination of three different conversion schemes and light or deep modulation can make the DIG excel at ambient delays or for tight dual delay lines. You can also turn one MIX all the way off, and get only one delay, for basic digital delays. The El Capistan is a Tape delay machine, with a mode for a single sliding head, fixed head with variable motor speed, and multi-head where 2 of the 3 heads can be engaged at once for different playback patterns. Single and fixed modes will give you a very simple vintage feel, and multi will be a bit more complex with different patterns and ambiance. The El Cap also has controls for adjusting the age, headroom, crinkle, and defects in the tape that can shape the tone of the repeats from brand new tape machine to thrashed unit with repaired/spliced tapes. It also has sound on sounds mode which can be used as a degrading tape looper.
strymon wow, thank you for the in depth description, I am thoroughly impressed by the amount of dedication put in to customer service, even If I'm not a customer yet, thanks so much, I think I've decided on the el cap, thank you so much
No actual amplifier. We use a Damage Control Womanizer preamp directly into an audio interface. This is a telecaster that Pete put together out of a bunch of spare parts. FrankenTele!! :)
have you ever hooked up this pedal to other instruments besides guitar or bass? I'm interested in how it might sound with a keyboard or microphone(for vocals) but not sure if that would work out very well
Just saw someone on eBay pay more for a used one than they could pay for a factory one shipped to their door with a return policy and warranty.. So i would say resale value is very good.
did you guys thought about second "small" reverb pedal? something like blue sky, but for another stuff. without shimmer, and mod, but with something new. i would be also usefull to have a hold switch instead of favourite, which still could be accessible by exp pedal input(ala el cap). just thoughts.
Daniel Ivanov Hi Daniel, We don't usually talk about what is in the works or isn't in the works. But love the feedback and enjoy hearing it. Thanks so much :D
i tried flint, but thought that it wasn't for me. i have seperate tremolo/verb pedals right now and couldn't be happier. really enjoy el capistan though.
I have the same question as connerandmariosho. How does this pedal handle OD/Dist/Fuzz? All the demos on youtube seem to be through a crystal clear signal which scares me. It does clean exceptionally well though. Please answer Strymon, I have a birthday coming up this month!
