I got one of these a couple months ago, having been floored by the classic Strymons (El Capistan, Flint). I haven’t played a pedal yet that feels more like the actual tube preamp of a good master volume amp. I had a Friedman Dirty Shirley mini, and this pedal captures the same feel of playing that amp with the gain up and the master volume low. I haven’t had occasion to use it all louder volumes, but I’m sure it shines there too. It definitely has a unique voice of its own, but I’m able to get some very nice old school Marshall-esque sounds of it, though it doesn’t produce quite the top end sizzle. Very underrated
Yes! This sits it that Marshall midrange and feels/sounds very familiar within that classic HotRod Plexi JMP and JTM to JCM800 tones. It definitely works well at louder volumes which many pedals don't feel or sound the same at higher volume levels. Glad I'm not the only one rocking these!
Great demo. Thank you so much for demonstrating the clean-up with the guitar volume. That’s a huge factor for me that’s often overlooked in pedal demos.
this thing has been GLUED to my pedal board since I picked it up. Add in a midi control and a simple external switch for the boost setting and it's the perfect live use drive pedal: you can set up presets that can cover everything from transparent boost, all the way to screaming 80s metal, and all with a built in noise gate!
Excellent video and great performance and explanation! Love this pedal! It’s has a unique tone, personality and character. Super versatile overdrive tool for any guitarist! Marcelo from M&R.
Hey Collin, nice review! The Riverside looks excellent! My primary drive pedal on my board right now is the Strymon Sunset - incredible sound and versatility. It displaced all the others because I can do almost everything with it. I'm still intrigued by the Riverside though. Imagine having Sunset + Riverside on a board? Hmm...
Thanks Neil! I had both the Riverside and Sunset at one point, the sunset didnt do it for me with the rig I was running at the time but this makes me want to revisit it......now ive got to try it again!
Awesome demo and that guitar is so gorgeous!!! I think I gotta have that pedal! A big drive pedal for me is a hoof reaper fuzz. The tone bender brings great solo tone and the hoof is a Russian big muff pi and it is great for anything from cream style stuff and smooth rhythm fuzz up to warren Haynes style fuzzed out super tone. Then you have the Octavia that sends you into Hendrix land. I have a tube screamer but I want the riverside for the transparency plus it looks like I would wind up taking the tube screamer off my board if I get it
Thanks! The hoof reaper is an absolutely killer pedal! I might need to get my hands on one again now to demo on the channel! The Riverside could complement well alongside a tube screamer but it could definitely replace it as well depending on how you dial it in with your rig!
Try matching it up with the Compadre, it's boosts can be tweaked to push the Riverside into higher gain/sustain territory and nice open low gains. And conversely the volume and EQ on the Riverside can tame the Compadres more extreme settings Riverside also does a good job of goosing other ODs.and Fuzz.
I use it alongside my strymon Ob.1 (the older version of the compadre) and this is exactly how i use it! to push the riverside into more gain and saturation and the compression makes the more open lower gain settings more versatile!
@@CollinLittlejohn I'm kinda surprised Strymon haven't pushed this idea more. With midi you could arguably get away with just these 2. I do have other drives and a Cali 76 in my rig but... I've setup some banks where I use just the Compadre, Riverside TimeLine and BigSky only and you could defiantly live there.... I guess maybe a Mobius would complete the picture. The Cab Sim out of the BS is good enough too, for those who want to go ampless.
Hi Collin! Two intertwined questions here :) 1) Do you think the UAFX Woodrow '55 needs an OD pedal? 2) Do you think the Riverside would work with the UAFX Woodrow '55?
it really depends on what you are wanting out of the woodrow '55 and how you are using it. Since it is an amp and cab replacement I would definitely use an overdrive to run in front of it like you would if you were plugging into a tweed deluxe amp. The riverside i could see pairing really nicely with the Woodrow allowing you to have clean/dirty presets and two different drive presets from the riverside. That could be mighty versatile amounts and types of gain on tap with two relatively small pedals!
really nice sounding and explained demo! i'm thinking that this maybe can replace a BB preamp + jhs angry charlie (or wampler pinnacle) kind of combo. For cleanish/light cruch to high gain rythm kind of situation.. what do you think about that?
Thanks Javier! I would say this definitely sits in that BB preamp, JHS Angry Charlie, and Wampler Pinnacle levels of gain. the Wampler will get a bigger high gain sound than the riverside in some ways but it would cover that territory for sure!
Nice job with the review and subscribed! Couple of questions: what was the volume of your guitar cranked to 10 or backed off? Also, how do you view the Sunset pedal now vs back when you did this review? Thanks!
Thanks kind words and the sub! I was mostly all the way up on the volume, I did demonstrate back off the guitar's volumes at times to show its dynamic range and versatility. I definitely want to get my hands on a Sunset again. From what I remember when I had one on my board, it was much more unnatural feeling under the hands as far as compression and dynamics, a lot tighter sounding and feeling overall. its been several years and I guess it wasn't very memorable but who knows. I may try it now and feel totally different!
i really like how versatile this drive is because of the EQ and wide range of gain availble so it can be tailored to fit with many different amps. I lean more into the chimey Vox type amps or big fender-esq cleans and it does well in those type of amps
@@CollinLittlejohn hey, thank you for your suggestions. I will look into them. I actually just got back from the music store and rented a Roland JC-40 to try out. Wanted to try that amp for so long since I'm a looper pedal board guy. Cheers!
I have this wonderful pedal... cranked on full throttle my blackstar 20 sounds like a $2500 tube amp organic punchy alive.... on fire,,, yet sweet prs guitar used . very rich sound.... the presence adds alot of magic
