Sure, this might be a little anti-climatic. We gave this pedal our Pedal of the Year award at the end of 2010, so of course we love it, right? Right?! Well, we’ll get to that towards the end of the review. This is the third Strymon pedal to come through WTDP? headquarters. The first was the excellent OB.1 compressor and boost and the second was the versatile and capable Ola Chorus. Today, it’s the El Capistan dTape Echo. With this offering, Strymon has attempted to use all of its DSP programming knowledge to create a digital pedal with a true tape echo feel. We had high hopes going in, so did the El Cap clear our formidable hurdle?

The Strymon El Capistan has plenty of bells and whistles packed in its brush steel shell, so let’s walk through some of those for the uninitiated. Knob controls on the El Cap include Time, Mix, Tape Age, Repeats and Wow & Flutter. Some are self-explanatory when dealing with echos, but let’s break down two of these – Tape Age and Wow & Flutter. The Tape Age knob dials in the bandwidth of the tape as it would change over time in a traditional tape delay machine. As regular tapes wear down, the bandwidth becomes more limited. This knob control recreates this effect. Rolled back full is like having a new, fresh tape bandwidth. As the knob is rolled right, the ‘tape’ gets progressively darker. Wow & Flutter controls the mechanically related tape speed fluctuations resulting in natural tape machine style modulation. Rolled off, it simulates a machine in tip-top shape. As you rotate right, you get more of that ‘this machine needs servicing’ sound.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, each knob control on the El Cap has secondary functions that can be accessed by holding both footswitches down at once. In this mode, the Time knob becomes a Spring Reverb control, Mix becomes a +/- 3dB boost, Tape Age becomes Low End Contour, Repeats becomes Tape Bias and Wow & Flutter becomes Tape Crinkle. These controls add even more tone shaping and flexibility to an already well-equipped toolbox.

Other controls on the El Cap include two, three-way toggles. The first – Tape Head – lets you choose between Fixed, Multi or Single. The other – Mode – switches between A, B and C. In Multi mode, this toggles the use of the ‘tape heads’ in the machine. Mode A selects Heads 1 and 2, B gets you 2 and 3 and C engages 1 and 3. In Single mode, A gives you the tape motor at double speed, B is normal speed and C is Sound on Sound mode. The El Cap also has a Tap footswitch. The rear of the pedal sports a 1/4″ input, expression pedal input, stereo outs and a standard 9V power input.

So let’s hear the El Cap in action with the Strat, bridge pick-up first. In single head mode on the El Cap, Time is set at 3 o’clock, Mix at 1 o’clock, Tape Age around 3 o’clock, Repeats at noon and Wow & Flutter at 3 o’clock, here is a little intro riff that 90s metal heads might remember. Clean first… then the Cap.

You can hear the ‘seasick’ sound of the ‘damage tape’ with the Tape Age and Wow & Flutter opened up a bit on that riff. Shifting up to the neck pickup, here’s a little chordal shimmer. In fixed head mode on the El Cap, Time is set at 10 o’clock, Mix at 11 o’clock, Tape Age around noon, Repeats at 10 o’clock and Wow & Flutter at 9 o’clock. Clean first, then a little echo.

The El Cap can give you that dreamy, otherworldly echo the fills a lot of space in the tonal spectrum without sounding overly processed or gimmicky. Over the Les Paul, we return to the 90s for another intro that some folks might remember. In multi mode and Mode C (1st and 3rd heads engaged), Time is set at 9 o’clock, Mix at 2 o’clock, Tape Age around noon, Repeats at 9 o’clock and Wow & Flutter at noon, here is the El Cap with humbuckers. First clean, then we do what we do…

The Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo is a great pedal. With a near infinite range of echo colorations available, the pedal is truly the next best thing to having a reel tape echo machine at your disposal… minus the kid gloves and maintenance regiment. And, we didn’t even get into the secondary functions! We’ll save that for another time. At $299, the price is definitely right. If you dig the spatial mood that tape echoes can create in your sound, but don’t have the scratch to plunk down on a true tape machine, think of the El Capistan is your 1/3-priced option. That’s our opinion anyway… your mileage may vary.

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.

The Ola comes in the double-wide standard white pedal box with a logo sticker affixed to the lid. Inside the box you will find the Ola pedal, a power supply for the stomp and four rubber foot pads to outfit the stomp with should you choose. In an effort to save a tree or two, instructions for the Strymon stomps are available online in pdf form at the pedalmaker’s website. Like other Strymons, the Ola utilizes the company’s dBucket technology. The pedal’s DSP is entirely dedicated to and focused on providing the most lush and organic chorus and vibrato sounds available, according to the builder.

The pedal itself looks very similar to the all the other Strymon stomps. It sports five knob controls – Speed, Mix, Ramp/Env, Tone and Depth. Two toggle switches allow the user to shift between three effects types – Chorus, Multi and Vibrato… and three modes – Norm, Env and Ramp. The Ola also has two footswitches – one functioning as the On/Off bypass while the other allows the user to store a favorite setting for quick recall.

The Speed knob adjusts the chorus LFO speed, while Depth dials in the chorus LFO depth. Mix adjusts the wet/dry signal blend. Tone adjusts treble frequencies of the wet signal with treble boost at max, treble cut at min and flat at noon. Ramp/Env is a little more involved. In Ramp mode, the knob adjusts the rate of the ramping effect. The effect will ramp more quickly as you turn the knob right. In Env mode, the knob adjusts the sensitivity to your playing. The effect will react more strongly as you turn the knob right. The Type toggle lets you choose between a traditional single-delay line chorus, a studio three-phase multi delay line and a vintage vibrato. The Mode toggle switches from normal off/on operation, envelope-controlled operation and ramp operation, where the effect ramps in while the Bypass footswitch is held down. The Favorite footswitch can store a favorite setting. When the Favorite setting is engaged, the LED will indicate the ‘saved’ setting for each knob as it is turned. Push and hold the footswitch to save a new favorite.

The back of the Ola sports high impedance stereo inputs (Left In, Right In) as will as stereo outputs (Left Out, Right Out) where the Left Out is used for mono signal output. The back panel also has the 9v DC center negative power input.

So let’s dive in, shall we. First with the Strat, neck pick-up, we dial in a bit of choral shimmer. With the Type toggle on Chorus, the Mode toggle on Norm, Speed knob at 9 o’clock, Mix and Ramp/Env at noon, Tone at 3 o’clock and Depth at noon, here is a riff from a long list of incomplete original tunes. First dry, then wet.

The Ola gives a nice, bright waver to that chordal riff, adding a bit of body to an otherwise simple strum. Shifting down to the bridge pick-up, we demonstrate the Ramp effect of the Ola. The Ramp allows the user to introduce the effect into the dry sound over time… either slowly or quickly depending on the Ramp knob setting. With the Type toggle on Multi, the Mode toggle on Ramp, Speed knob at 3 o’clock, Mix at 3 o’clock, Ramp/Env, Tone and Depth at noon, listen after the effect is engaged for the steady build up of chorus in the riff.

Over to the Les Paul, we give the Ola’s vibrato voicing a try. With the Type toggle on Vibrato, the Mode toggle on Norm, Speed knob at 8 o’clock, Mix, Ramp/Env, Tone at noon and Depth at 4 o’clock, here is a riff written by a friend almost 20 years ago. First clean, then the plunge!

The Strymon Ola is another great pedal from this up and coming company. Fairly compact and uber-versatile, with many more sounds tucked away than we could ever get to in this review, the Ola is a worthy addition to Strymon’s line of dBucket offerings. At $300, the price might scare casual buyers away, but for the pedal board real estate conscious wanting a smooth, chorus/vibrato combo stomp that can deliver a multitude of shimmer and shine with a few knob and/or toggle tweaks, the Ola is well worth consideration. That’s our opinion anyway… your mileage may vary.

PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb RI using Lava Clear Connect cables. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.