Strymon has posted some shots of their demo pedalboard from the 2010 NAMM show last week. Looks like there is a previously unannounced reverb and also a chorus on there. From the site: “Introducing the Strymon blueSky reverberator and the Ola dBucket chorus / vibrato. We are swamped trying to get these done but we promise we’ll have more details, pictures, videos in the days to come. Please stay tuned and check this section of the website often!”

Also, here is a closeup of their upcoming Orbit flanger which will feature thru zero flanging among other things.

Strymon has just announced their new Orbit flanger in the news section of their site:

“We’ve already previewed the dBucket technology that is going to debut in our new delay pedal. Here’s another taste of things to come. Just as in the delay, an entire SHARC DSP is dedicated to doing only one thing … the ultimate flanger. We own and love our ADA flanger so naturally that was some of the first sonic territory we wanted to cover … “

Strymon has just announced a preview of a new delay pedal on their web site blog. It’s called the BBD and is a DSP based implementation of an analog delay with true bypass and tap tempo.

from the site: “BBD takes the compact aluminum chassis and form factor developed for the OB.1 and crams in a TON of DSP horsepower … more than has ever existed in such a compact pedal. We love analog delays but at the same time they pose some serious limitations. So, we decided to take a super powerful SHARC DSP and dedicate to doing one thing and one thing only … delivering the best analog bucket brigade delay sound ever.”

Click here for the strymon blog

Moog has combined the guitar and bass MuRF pedals and added a full midi implementation in the new MF-105M. At $479 it’s definitely not cheap but it is very cool sounding.

The new Strymon OB.1 compressor is quiter, more transparent and better sounding than my old compressor pedals, which have included an old MXR Dynacomp, a Boss compressor, and a couple of BYOC (Build Your Own Clone) compressors.

Here’s the signal path: Strymon OB.1 > Korg Pitchblack tuner > Fulltone Deja-Vibe > Xotic BB preamp > Xotic AC Booster > Loop-Master > Xotic X-Blender > Fender 65 RI Twin Reverb.

The Loop-Master has a master bypass that eliminates all of the other pedals and wiring attached to it.  Loop one has an Electro-Harmonix micro POG, and loop two has a Boss CE-5 chorus.

The Xotic X-Blender has the Boss DD-20 delay in the loop.  The DD-20 is set to 100% wet, and the echos are added back in to direct signal path with the mix knob.

The whole thing runs off of a single 1-Spot power supply.  The other power supplies are for other pedals (such as a Digitech Talker or a Boss GT-6) that I sometimes add and switch with the Loop-Master.

The OB.1 gets along great with the BB preamp and the AC Booster.  There is less hiss than I had with my old compressor pedals, and the the boost is great.  I can use the flat boost for more gain, or I can use the treble boost for a Brian May kind of tone.  I’m loving this new Strymon OB.1 compressor!

This new pedal features an opto compressor fashioned after vintage circuits. The OB.1 also has and integrated clean boost with selectable frequency shaping if you are wanting a mid or treble boost as well.

From the site: “Everything you love about studio optical compressors … right at your feet … From beautifully subtle and transparent compression to vintage squash … Integrated foot-switchable Clean, Treble and Mid boost … TRUE BYPASS … Crafted with love in the USA”

The Line6 Tonecore SDK is paying dividends today. PsiKTrOn from Belgium did some really creative work to develop a custom tonecore module using the Tonecore software development kit. It’s quite impressive … check out the video below.

Damage Control has posted a new demo video for 2009 of the Glass Nexus multi-effect pedal. The video doesn’t show everything the unit is capable of by any means but nonetheless a nice sampling of sounds.

Line6 Echo Park delay pedal in a custom enclosure. The pedal has been modified to include “true bypass” and a carling tap tempo footswitch. The power supply was also modified to accept either 9VAC or 9VDC …and it also has BIG KNOBS!

I’ve been using it this way for a few years with no labeling (I finally memorized the controls after a while) and no switch for the analog and tape emulation modes. It has been permanently set to “digital” for a long time.

The picture below shows an added toggle for delay mode select (analog/digital/tape). Finished this yesterday.

After I added the toggle, I decided to finish the job and label everything. Done!

Looks like Damage Control has re-launched their website and are now selling their pedals direct to customers. Good news for those eagerly awaiting the TimeLine and Glass Nexus pedals as they have been unavailable for some time.