Strymon unveils the Cloudburst Ambient Reverb, its most affordable and compact pedal yet
The soundscape-friendly stompbox takes shimmer reverb to new heights, all with a fresh form factor and wallet-friendlier price tag
Strymon has unveiled its latest reverb pedal, the Cloudburst Ambient Reverb, which introduces a new form factor for the company, along with a new price tag.
As the name suggests, the pedal builds on the Cloud algorithm – one of the standouts from the company’s flagship BigSky – but adapts it to cover a wider array of sounds, from rooms and halls to its trademark ambient pads.
Despite its downsized chassis, the Cloudburst adds a new feature that sets it apart from its forebears: its newly developed Ensemble processing essentially takes the longstanding shimmer reverb to the next level, adding a wealth of new harmonics for an almost orchestral effect.
Seriously, listen to the demo – we’re expecting this to crop up on a lot of ambient pedalboards in the coming months.
Controls include a three-way switch for the amount of Ensemble effect, as well as the usual Decay, Mix, Pre-Delay, Tone and Mod knobs.
The Cloudburst’s top-mounted jacks include TRS inputs and outputs for stereo operation, as well as an EXP/MIDI jack, which can be set for Expression Pedal, Favorite, Freeze, Infinite or MIDI control. There’s also USB connectivity, a mono/stereo switch and the industry-standard 9V power supply in (you’ll need at least 250mA of juice for this one).
And, of course, there’s the $279 price tag, which makes this the most affordable pedal in the Strymon catalog.
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For more info on the Cloudburst, hit up Strymon.
It’s been a big year for Strymon reverbs: back in October, the BigSky was launched as a plugin, while the blueSky reverb was revamped with new features in June, along with five other dual-footswitched Strymon classics.
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.