We knew the minute we walked into the private test drive suite Strymon set up at this year’s Winter NAMM show that we were in for a treat. The company – a semi-unknown having only offered one pedal (the OB.1 compressor) at the time – had four new offerings to show to prospective dealers. The sweet sounds and extreme versatility of the Strymon digital stomps was enough to put a smile on the face of even the most steadfast analog snob. While hype for the Brigadier delay and blueSky reverb ran fairly rampant after their release, there was less buzz about the Ola chorus/vibrato. We took that as a hint that we need to investigate the pedal further.

After a few days of teaser shots we can finally reveal the unfuzzed, untaped version of the new Strymon pedal – the El Capistan dTape Echo. The new pedal is set up just like all the other Strymon offerings – with five knob controls and two mini-toggles. The knob controls on the El Capistan are Time, Tape Age, Repeats, Wow & Flutter and Mix. One toggle allows the user to chose between fixed, multi or single Tape Head positions, while the other can put you in different Modes – simply labeled A, B and C. The Mode definitions should be made known shortly. The pedal also has a tap tempo footswitch. So… what do you think? Can pay day come soon enough? Stay tuned!

First there was the ubiquitous workbench photo with an out-of-focus tease of what appeared to be a new Strymon pedal near the top. Then, confirming all suspicions, the Strymon crew offered up a solo – but equally blurry – shot of the pedal in question on their website. The lettering on the pedal appears read ‘El Capitan’… so that’s what we’re calling it until we hear different. What do you think it is? The current Strymon line lacks dirt, or fuzz… (is the ‘fuzzy’ pic a clue itself?) or maybe something more exotic? The left footswitch appears to be labeled TAP (and not FAVORITE), which weighs the argument towards the latter. Eye the pic after the jump and let us know your thoughts!

The effects gurus at Damage Control – fresh off discontinuing its successful tube pedal line – has posted a teaser pic of a project it is currently working on. But what is it? Well, it’s hard to tell. Obviously a pedal… no sign of tubes anywhere… and what appears to be a lot of knobs. At NAMM in January, the DC crew said they were going to pursue more of the high-end market with its future gear. The top prediction so far is that it is a delay, but seeing that their brethren at Strymon just released the Brigadier – which is going to get a Favorite switch starting later this month – we’re not sure that’s it. Any guesses? Let us know… and stay tuned!

The pedal gurus at Strymon Engineering have posted a pair of brief demo videos on YouTube showcasing their Brigadier dBucket delay and blueSky reverb pedals. The Brigadier video shows off the pedal’s Bucket Loss and Filter controls. The blueSky reverberator features three reverb types: plate, room and spring. Its video is a demonstration of the plate reverb. First is a medium-large sized plate and then a plate with virtually infinite decay. Both of these pedals are in production, but tend to sell out very fast. As of this post, both are sold out. While you wait, why not check out Strymon’s Ola Chorus or Orbit Flanger… or at least hit the demo clips after the jump!

The gurus at Strymon Engineering have launched the sale of its Ola Chorus/Vibrato pedal – the last of the four new Strymon’s shown off at the Winter NAMM show to hit the streets. Like the Orbit Flanger and Brigadier Delay, the Ola employs Strymon’s dBucket technology to bring a true analog feel to a digital pedal. The pedal boasts three modulation types (chorus, muti-mode chorus, vibrato) and three dynamic modes (normal, ramp, envelope). It has controls for ramp speed and envelope sensitivity, a global Tone control for the overall color of your modulation and a Mix control for dialing in various modulation intensities. The Ola is $299.

The fine folks at Strymon Engineering are on a roll! First the Orbit Flanger earlier this month, followed by the Brigadier dBucket delay… and now the Blue Sky reverb pedal is ready to go. The Blue Sky Reverberator boasts high and low damping controls for uber-flexible reverb tone shaping, a Mod mode for a beautifully modulated spring, room or plate reverb and a Shimmer mode for infinite pitch effects in the tank. The Blue Sky retails for $299. The release of the Blue Sky means all the pedals revealed at Winter NAMM are out save the Ola chorus/vibrato. Given the company’s recent pace, that could be coming pretty darn quick! Stay tuned!

Fresh off the release of their Orbit flanger, the gurus at Strymon Engineering are now shipping their highly-anticipated Brigadier dBucket delay pedal. The Brigadier’s brains are made up of a hand-crafted dBucket algorithm for accurate reproduction of every stage of an analog bucket brigade chip and associated clock driver circuitry. The pedal has three delay time modes – short, medium, long and tap tempo modes for quarter, dotted eighth, and eighth note triplets. The Brigadier also has +/-3dB adjustable boost/cut when the effect is engaged, stereo output, and an expression pedal input with selectable control over any knob parameter. Got $299? Get a Brigadier!

The fine folks at Strymon Engineering have gone live with the order process for their new Orbit dBucket Flanger. The pedal is in stock and ready to ship. The Orbit is based around the company’s dBucket algorithm – like the forthcoming Brigadier delay pedal – for accurate reproduction of every stage of an analog bucket brigade chip. The true bypass pedal sports three LFO types (log, lin, through zero) and three feedback types (positive, negative, pos/neg), stereo output, expression pedal input with selectable control over any knob parameter, favorite footswitch for saving your favorite setting and more. The Orbit dBucket Flanger sells for $299.

WTDP? had a private viewing/demo session of three new pedals from Strymon Engineering. The new pedals included the previously announced Orbit Flanger and two totally new stomps – the BlueSky Reverbulator and Ola Chorus/Vibrato. Both the Flanger and Chorus utilize the same dBucket technology Strymon has put in its upcoming Brigadier Delay. The BlueSky boasts three reverb types – Spring, Room and Plate, and three modes – Norm, Mod(ulation) and Shimmer. The Ola also has three types – Chorus, Multi and Vibrato, and three modes – Norm, Env(elope) and Ramp. All three pedals, along with the Brigadier will be available in February and will run $299.

Strymon Engineering burst onto the pedal scene a little earlier this year with an unique-looking brushed aluminum golden box dubbed the OB.1 – an optical compressor and boost pedal that promised studio quality effects in a compact, dynamic package. Intrigued, we sought out Strymon and a chance to put the OB.1 to the test. Since that time, we’ve come to learn the company is working in concert with the minds at Damage Control to bring a new line of effects to market starting with a delay and phaser offering. The OB.1 has garnered praise among the forum and magazine crowds, so we were eager to see if it would live up to its tone enhancing rep or not.

Here is your first look at the first offering from the combined forces of Strymon Engineering and Damage Control – the Brigadier dBucket delay pedal. The Brigadier takes the compact aluminum chassis and form factor developed for the Strymon OB.1 and crams in a ‘ton of DSP horsepower’. According to Strymon, the team took a super powerful SHARC DSP and dedicated to doing one thing only – delivering the ‘best analog bucket brigade delay sound ever’. The pedal boasts tap tempo, modulation and true bypass as well. No word on pricing just yet, but the Brigadier is expected to be available sometime in the next six weeks or so. Stay tuned!

The fine folks at Strymon are at it again with a little audio stimulation based around one of its upcoming pedals – the 0rbit flanger. According to the company, the dBucket technology they are plowing into their upcoming delay is being transfered to the new flanger pedal. What does that mean? An entire SHARC DSP is dedicated to doing only one thing… the ultimate flanger. The new pedal is design to cover the same territory as the famous ADA and MXR flangers. The new pedal will also boast a ‘through zero’ mode. Head on over to Strymon’s website and listen to some teaser clips of the upcoming flanger.

The crew at Strymon teamed up with the minds from Damage Control – makers of the TimeLine, Glass Nexus and other effects units – to create a new delay stomp codenamed the BBD. The BBD takes the compact aluminum chassis and form factor developed for the Strymon OB.1 and crams in a ‘ton of DSP horsepower’. According to Strymon, the team took a super powerful SHARC DSP and dedicated to doing one thing only – delivering the ‘best analog bucket brigade delay sound ever’. The pedal boasts tap tempo, modulation and true bypass as well. More info as it becomes available. Stay tuned!

US-based Strymon Engineering is offering up a new, dual featured effects pedal that offers a studio optical compressor and boost all in one – the OB-1 Optical Compressor and Clean Boost, to be exact! The true bypass pedal can give you everything from beautifully subtle and transparent compression to vintage squash plus a handy, integrated foot-switchable Clean, Treble and Mid boost. Internal DIP switches allow the user to fine tune the Treble and Mid boost frequencies to his/her liking. You can power the OB-1 via a 9V battery or DC power supply. The pedal carries a $199 price tag and is available now via Strymon’s website.