Strymon Riverside Is INCREDIBLE

[SavageRiffer]

I'll admit being was skeptical about Strymon overdrives at first, but man was I wrong. After going to buy a Blue Sky reverb, I ended up walking out with a Blue Sky AND a Riverside. What a heavenly pedal. I did not care for the red one that much, the Sunset drive or something like that, but the Riverside is unbelievable. I played it through some cheap amps and cheap guitars but WOW! I brought it home and boy does it get along with my amps so well. Keep in mind that I'm kind of an overdrive collector, and have some amazing boutique pedals including a Klon and a Landgraff. The Riverside stays on my board. If you haven't tried one out yet then I highly recommend it.

 

[Starman22]

I was also sh!t talking the Riverside when they announced it last year but it is getting so many top shelf reviews that it’s hard to ignore. When peeps are selling off Klon’s and OCD’s and using only the Riverside that says a lot.

 

[SavageRiffer]

I was also sh!t talking the Riverside when they announced it last year but it is getting so many top shelf reviews that it’s hard to ignore. When peeps are selling off Klon’s and OCD’s and using only the Riverside that says a lot.

Well I wouldn't say it's going to knock your favorite pedals off of your board, but it's definitely a badass pedal. It has it's own thing going. It has a great feel to it; responds so nicely to your pick attack. Maximum gain gets you almost anything you want on a clean amp. The Sunset is a different sound, a little more compressed, and a little fuzzier. I wouldn't say there's an overlap in the two. You can't buy one of the pedals and get the sounds of the other pedal.

I've never liked any DSP overdrive until this one. It knows how to interact with every amp. So far I've tried it with a number of clean and high-gain amps. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe has kind of an irritating distortion on its own, but the Riverside makes it sound like a much better amp. It can make a cheap amp sound great so that could be a game changer for some people I suppose. I just like having one in my arsenal.

 

[stratjacket]

I’ve started to pull the trigger on one of them many times, but never have. Every time I start seriously thinking about it, I start questioning if I really need another OD pedal and back off. They sound great though, congrats.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

I had this experience wih the SA LA lady. Crazy good for DSP.

 

[errrrrl]

I’ve started to pull the trigger on one of them many times, but never have. Every time I start seriously thinking about it, I start questioning if I really need another OD pedal and back off. They sound great though, congrats.

That's exactly how I am about the Dirty Shirley pedal... still want one though, absolutely don't need it.

 

[SavageRiffer]

I had this experience wih the SA LA lady. Crazy good for DSP.

I hadn't heard of that one yet. Source Audio is good. I checked out that pedal on their website. Looks cool, sounds great.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

I had this experience wih the SA LA lady. Crazy good for DSP.

I hadn't heard of that one yet. Source Audio is good. I checked out that pedal on their website. Looks cool, sounds great.

Is it an imperceptible difference compared to analog? No. I can tell, still sounds great though. Has like 40 engines. Add in the fact that it is TEO drives at once, has four band eq, filters, noise gate, and more all for $150.

The Aftershock became the cornerstone of my Bass rig, I use it as the main preamp, boost, EQ and gate.

Check them out!

 

[katsumura78]

I agree it’s a very versatile pedal and I doubt I’d ever sell mine. Got to compare the sunset at the same time and riverside blew it away. So many great sounds in that box can’t imagine someone not liking it.

 

[SavageRiffer]

I agree it’s a very versatile pedal and I doubt I’d ever sell mine. Got to compare the sunset at the same time and riverside blew it away. So many great sounds in that box can’t imagine someone not liking it.

Yep, that was my experience with the Sunset as well. The Sunset is a good pedal no doubt, but it's not the sound I was going for. The Riverside had that X-factor. I'm going to give the Sunset another try soon though because I feel like there are some great tones in that box somewhere.

 

[ejecta]

I've had one for about a year and it's not going anywhere. I've even run it as a preamp and still sounded pretty dang good. Great fuckin pedal.

 

[Ventura]

I'm glad Strymon is getting such a killer name for themselves - tough market to get into; even tougher to succeed in.

But that said, I've got no business buying a $500 pedal when my amps ought to be delivering damn near every nickel I've paid for in tone - and they ain't cheap. If I was a "one amp" guy and needed variety, and likely rocked a combo amp 24/7, home - studio - gig - jam - noodling - everything, I'd buy into pedals more. But I have my amps, and aside from some delay and reverb, I rarely find myself using any stomps.

But again - Strymon seems to be making exceptionally awesome kit. I'm an Eventide cat; but I'd have a hard time choosing between the 2 brands had it not been for my historical precedent with Eventide.

 

[SavageRiffer]

I've had one for about a year and it's not going anywhere. I've even run it as a preamp and still wounded pretty dang good. Great fuckin pedal.

Yeah I've noticed that too. It sounds good going through a cheap DI box.

 

[dirtyfunkg]

I'm glad Strymon is getting such a killer name for themselves - tough market to get into; even tougher to succeed in.

But that said, I've got no business buying a $500 pedal when my amps ought to be delivering damn near every nickel I've paid for in tone - and they ain't cheap. If I was a "one amp" guy and needed variety, and likely rocked a combo amp 24/7, home - studio - gig - jam - noodling - everything, I'd buy into pedals more. But I have my amps, and aside from some delay and reverb, I rarely find myself using any stomps.

But again - Strymon seems to be making exceptionally awesome kit. I'm an Eventide cat; but I'd have a hard time choosing between the 2 brands had it not been for my historical precedent with Eventide.

I've considered getting a good OD/Distortion pedal for jams where I don't get to use my own amp. I barely gig anymore, but it would have also come in handy when I had to play the occasional show where a back line was provided or I had to share someone else's amp.

 

[BSRIAudio]

I bought the Sunset because I wanted the various overdrives and stacking options and it works really well for boosting my amps in various ways or running quiet into a clean channel for late night playing. The Riverside is essentially supposed to be a high gain amp channel in a box.

 

[JerEvil]

I had this experience wih the SA LA lady. Crazy good for DSP.

I hadn't heard of that one yet. Source Audio is good. I checked out that pedal on their website. Looks cool, sounds great.

I have the Kingmaker which is the Fuzz version. It is amazing. It will load all the same drives as the LA Lady. I got it because the logo looked better and liked the purple..

 

[SavageRiffer]

I bought the Sunset because I wanted the various overdrives and stacking options and it works really well for boosting my amps in various ways or running quiet into a clean channel for late night playing. The Riverside is essentially supposed to be a high gain amp channel in a box.

Well I just got back home from the store. I had to go back and play the Sunset -- convinced that it could sound better. The first time, the guy at the store was dialing in the pedal for me. I wasn't digging the tones it was getting, then I dialed in the Riverside myself and ended up buying it. Today, it was back to the same setup; a cheap dual humbucker guitar and a Fender Hot Rod. The Sunset sounded better this time around on half of the settings. The Texas setting on A is to my liking, not the treble setting. On B, the Z setting was best. I didn't care for the other two settings that much.

What really made the difference was the A<->B switch. I think it was combining the Texas with the Z setting had a tighter kind of bass response; not so fuzzy. I was digging it a lot. It still has a flatter kind of feel to it than the Riverside, but what I noticed is that when you switch to a spongier feeling amp, it helps a lot. With Fender, notes give easily. They're very touch responsive. On an amp with a chewier feel, like this Blackstar Artist they had, it responded nicely.

Overall I think the Sunset has some great tones to offer. My preference is still for the Riverside, but to tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind owning both. In fact, maybe that's the genius of Strymon. Now I own 4 Strymon pedals. They have a brilliant way of making you want more of their stuff. I also upgraded my power supply from a daisy-chained Ojai to a Zuma... soooo much better man. I love the Zuma.

 

[Starman22]

Multiple color anodized aluminum anything is to men what diamond jewelry are to a woman.

 

[SavageRiffer]

Multiple color anodized aluminum anything is to men what diamond jewelry are to a woman.

Ha ha... especially if it's on top of an engine.

 

[JerEvil]

Multiple color anodized aluminum anything is to men what diamond jewelry are to a woman.

Damn straight it is!