Recommend A Reverb Pedal With Shimmer

[Puddleglum]

I'm looking for a reverb pedal that can do shimmer, swells, "trails," and all those haunting "ambient" sounds. I've noticed the Boss RV6, the MXR reverb, and recently saw a cheap one on eBay called M-VAVE that looks interesting (for around $30 and free shipping. I'm tempted to buy this one for the heck of it). I'm not interested in the Strymon stuff: it's not only too expensive but just too complicated from what I've seen online. I thought maybe you all could recommend some stuff that's skipped my notice. Thanks.

[YamahaGuy]

Keeley Caverns v2 has delay on one side and reverb on the other side. Great shimmer.

HOF2 from TC Electronics.

Without stepping up to Strymon those two, or the MXR digital one would be my recommendation.

[Joseph Hanna]

Little, if anything, will shimmer better than the Strymon Big Sky plug-in. Hardware a different bstory.

[Black Squirrel]

MXR is great or if you swing it the specular tempess (Sp?) GFI systems is amazing.

[abn556]

Perhaps its just my setup, but I think of shimmer as a function of the delay or echo set to a very quick response. I have a Echoplex and a Blue Sky that I run in tandem on amps without reverb.

[Bowie]

When you mention trails and ambiance, the first thing I think of is the chain and not so much the reverb itself. A compressor before the reverb will bring out the subtleties and ensure that the dynamically loud parts aren't dominating what you hear in the reverb. If you don't want the main signal compressed, then a send/return or splitter could be used.

[KevWind]

Not cheap but less than Strymon
Neunaber Imerse @ $249
Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 @ $179

[Chipotle]

I have a TC Electronics HOF2. Super customizable if you hook it up to your computer; you can dial in exactly what you're looking for. And the Mash button gives you live control to vary parameters during the performance, very handy.

[edward993]

Get the Boss RV6. There are others, but the Boss works well and sounds good.

Fwiw, I have two RV6 on my acoustic board: one for shimmer, then the other set for reverb after it. This gives me either/or/both options that work well IME. Inexpensive used, small footprint, and if you hate it easy to flip.

Edward

[Puddleglum]

These are some great recommendations - thanks! I find myself watching lots of demos of these pedals and there are many great choices. I have a "boutique" reverb pedal that I paid a lot of money for, but it doesn't do a shimmer thing or trails. It does produce some really great tones for my (mostly) clean playing, though. Honestly, the more I think about all this, the more I think one of these shimmer pedals might just end up distracting me more than anything. I love the sounds they make, but I don't have tons of time to devote to my electric rig, and I don't want to get get caught up in just making sounds rather than playing and learning new pieces of music. I need to think this over some more.

[edward993]

^^^Yessir, shimmer is cool but like any "effect" can be a distraction, or worse, sound cheesy if overused. I like it, and use it on bits like intros or outros, but I never want it to get in the way of the song and the music. So yeah, I getcha!

Edward