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GGJaguar

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Strymon! Details to follow once I play around with it.

Strymon.jpg
 

GAD

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I love Strymon! They were the first (and only for a while) manufacturer to get tape echo right in a pedal.
 

jp

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Whatcha get? Whatcha get?

I've been slowly building and modding my pedalboard, but no Strymon yet. I'm a big fan of Source Audio, however, who also make outstanding pedals in the digital realm.
 

GGJaguar

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There are a lot of good YouTube videos about the Strymon Flint if you want in depth reviews with sound samples, but I’ll give my thoughts here. Note – this pedal is Version 1. Version 2 was released in June ’22 (I think) and has more features (that are useless to me) such as MIDI controllability, extended range of some trem and reverb parameters and a USB-C port. Version 2 will probably appeal to players who want to use it for recording. It’s also $50 more expensive.

Pedals.jpg

The unit seems to be well made and has soft touch footswitches for reverb and tremolo. These take getting used to since my other pedals have “click” switches which take more effort to depress. I nearly crushed the pedal the first time I used it until I realized it had soft touch switches. It’s true bypass so no tone sucking here.

There are 3 reverb settings: 1960s (Fender outboard reverb unit), 1970s (not as drippy, more compressed) and 1980s (digital hall reverb). There are 3 reverb controls: Mix (reverb intensity), Decay (reverb depth) and Color (simple tone control). The 1960s setting provides and excellent rendition of the Fender Reverb Unit and takes it a step further in terms of Mix and Decay (where no Reverb Unit has gone before). I can’t say what I would use the “beyond” Fender Reverb Unit sound for, but it’s there for that over-the-top effect. The 1970s setting has a generic (but useful) on-board reverb sound. The 1980s setting is very 1980s and not something I’ll use often.

There are 3 tremolo settings: 63 harmonic (brownface Fender 6-tube type), 63 tube (power tube bias shifting type) and 65 photo (blackface Fender photoresistor type). There are 2 tremolo controls: Intensity (depth) and Speed (self-explanatory). The 61 setting does a credible job of reproducing the complexity of the Fender harmonic tremolo where the high and low frequencies are split. When I get a chance I’ll compare it to the tremolo on my ’60 Super (it has 5 tube instead of 6 tube so we’ll see). The 63 setting is smooth and silky like you’d find on an early 60s Ampeg, Guild, Supro, etc. I’ll probably use this one a lot. The 65 setting accentuates the clipped waveform of the photoresistor type tremolo a little too much for my taste (read: it’s irritating). My blackface Fenders have tremolo that is smoother.

The Flint has Left and Right outputs so you can run it in stereo. I might try that with the 61 Tremolo to see if I get dizzy and disoriented (or not). J

This pedal will work well for my reverb and trem needs and will help facilitate my downsizing (bye bye Fender Reverb Unit). I’m sure there are other pedals (separate or combo) that are just as good or perhaps better, but overall I’m pleased.
 

GAD

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You have a Mystery Brain! Do you know Tavo? I love his stuff!
 

Nuuska

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I downloaded the manual - very impressing. Only info missing was about stereo input mode. Does it split that box into two independent units? Like one guitar could use tremolo while other uses reverb?
 

GGJaguar

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Only info missing was about stereo input mode. Does it split that box into two independent units? Like one guitar could use tremolo while other uses reverb?
The manual doesn't say.
 

GAD

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Yeah, it's an insanely good pedal and very easy to use. Built like a tank, too.

I was supposed to write a review of the Mystery Brain when it came out and it just didn't happen. I feel bad about that but that was the beginning of me getting overwhelmed with reviews and it just fell through the cracks. Look how far I've come! LOL

I mentioned his Dyno Brain pedal in my How to Capture Brian Setzer's Tone article and it apparently caused everyone to want to buy one. That is the #1 hit article on my page and has been since I wrote it. I had actually written a review of that pedal and forgot to publish it, then when I was going to I asked about it and my pedal was one of the first he made and they're very different internally now. Mine is actually built on perfboard - all the new ones are actual PCBs.

DynoBrainInside-1.jpg

It's also signed on the inside with my name and stuff.

Tavo's a great guy. I almost bought one of his Blonde Bassman clones but never pulled the trigger. I have another one of his pedals in the closet somewhere. I don't use pedals much and I don't even remember what it is. LOL
 
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