The Strymon Riverside was an amazing success for Strymon so it's no surprise that they decided to expand the range with another drive pedal.
It's got all of the functions that you'd expect from Strymon including the ability to connect a Favourite switch to recall your best settings and an expression pedal input to control volume or to control different parts of the drive. This will allow you to explore new sonic territory with the drive sounds because you can increase gain or volume with the pedal.
In order to make the most versatile drive pedal possible, they studied 6 different circuit topologies and captured them on 2 different channels. You can switch through these with a mini toggle at the top of the pedal for each channel.
Channel A
- Germanium - The Ge overdrive combines the softer response of germanium diodes with a parallel path that blends in the dry signal as the Drive is lowered. At higher gains the lower-midrange frequencies are emphasized to create a tight, thick response. This overdrive really fattens up single coil pickups, and responds with a bold push when paired with humbuckers.
- Texas - The Texas overdrive employs a single stage soft-clipper configuration that is filtered before and after the gain stage to create a smooth and dynamic overdrive. The original signal dynamics are retained as the gain is increased – perfect for playing the blues or just fattening up your sound with a signature midrange bump.
- Treble (Boost circuit) - The Treble type is a treble booster that removes the low frequencies as the Tone knob is turned up – great for tightening up an overdriven amp, or driving another gain pedal that’s a bit looser on the low end. Turning the Tone knob down brings in the low end, making for a versatile all-around boost.
Channel B
- 2 Stage - The 2 stage overdrive combines a soft-clipping stage followed by a hard-clipping stage, creating a complex overdrive with a wide range of gain. Its EQ structure preserves the low end while adding some muscle to push your amp. This overdrive can easily take you from lightly clipped to beefy saturation.
- Hard - The Hard overdrive uses a single-stage hard-clipping circuit that has a ton of available gain, approaching fuzz territory with the Drive knob maxed. At lower gains, mildly clipped transparent tones are achieved with this versatile drive. The wide-ranging Tone knob lets you shape the top end from smooth to buzzy
- JFET (Boost circuit) - The JFET type is a clean boost that subtly beefs up your signal with the dynamics and responsiveness created from the JFET front end. As you turn up the drive, the signal gets rounded and warmer. The is a great option when your amp just “needs a little extra.”
The best way to think of the sunset is as 2 separate drive pedals in one box. You can stack the drives or use them separately with loads of different outcomes. And with a small toggle right on the back of the pedal, you can switch the order that they go in like A>B or B>A or even run two circuits in parallel!
Specifications
Sound Design
- Six drive circuit topologies with custom tuned voicing for each drive type
- Precision crafted drive circuits stackable in multiple combinations for a wide variety of complex, responsive tones.
- Analog class A JFET input gain stage maximizes headroom while adding up to 20dB of pure analog gain
- Drive and Tone control ranges optimized for each circuit topology
- Series, reverse series, and parallel drive circuit stacking via Config switch
- Bright switch to tailor the sound for use with all amplifiers from dark to bright
- Optional variable-threshold noise reduction for taming noisy guitar pickups
Ins, Outs, Switches
- High impedance mono input
- Mono output
- Favorite input to connect an external MiniSwitch to recall a Favorite preset
- Expression pedal input allows the connection an expression pedal for simultaneous morphing control over multiple parameters (Expression mode), or logarithmic taper for smooth volume control (Volume mode)
