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If you want to create ambient music, a reverb pedal is an absolute must. It can be difficult choosing a reverb pedal though, because many simply aren’t designed with ambience in mind.
Below you can find a list of some of the best ambient reverb pedals. It can be difficult to explain in words how a pedal sounds and it’s much better to hear it yourself. Therefore, I have provided an overview for each of the reverb pedals and included a demo so you can have a listen for yourself!
Table of Contents
Top 5 Ambient Reverb Pedals
1. TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2
One of the most popular reverb pedal for ambient guitar sounds is the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2. Despite its compact size and relatively low price tag, the Hall of Fame 2 packs plenty of features. (And not the gimmicky kind either!)
The Hall of Fame 2 features stereo inputs and outputs, a USB port to connect to your PC, and three TonePrint slots to create your own custom presets.
Two features which will appeal to guitarists looking for an ambient sound are the shimmer effect and Mash footswitch. The shimmer effect adds a higher octave to the reverb to create ethereal sounds and the Mash footswitch is effectively a built in expression pedal!
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2. Boss RV-6
Another great pedal for ambient guitar is the Boss RV-6. It’s very versatile, wallet-friendly and compact, however, it is quite basic and doesn’t give the user much control over each of the settings.
The RV-6 features stereo inputs and outputs, simple controls and 8 different reverb settings. The decay on this pedal can be set to quite a long time which is excellent for getting an ambient sound. One of the settings combines delay and reverb into one. This is a nice touch, however it does highlight a problem with this pedal. You get very little control. For example, on the delay and reverb setting, you can only control the delay and not the reverb.
Overall, the RV-6 sounds great, is very versatile, and it offers good value for money, but it could do with giving the player a little more control.
3. MXR M300
The MXR 300 is a great little reverb pedal with some awesome unique settings. Apart from a few problems with the design and layout, this is a good pedal for ambient sounds.
This pedal comes with all of the usual settings you would expect from a reverb pedal, but it also has a couple more unusual types of reverb, perfect for ambient sounds. Firstly, there is the pad setting which is like a shimmer but with an octave down as well as an octave up. There is also the epic setting which consists of multiple modulated delays.
There are a few downsides to this pedal in terms of its design and layout. Although the MXR M300 is a stereo pedal, you will need TRS cables because there are only single inputs and outputs. Also the switch to change between mono and stereo is inside the pedal which is a bit of a pain. Another potential problem is that the to change the reverb setting, you push the tone knob. It’s certainly not ideal when you’re fumbling around in a live setting and accidentally change the type of reverb!
Apart from the design issues, the MXR 300 is a great little pedal for ambient guitar sounds at a reasonable price.
4. Strymon blueSky
If you have the money to spend, the Strymon blueSky is a fantastic reverb pedal for ambient sounds. It offers lots of control over the sound and has a built in preset option.
There are three reverb modes and three reverb types for a total of nine different settings to play around with. The low damp and high damp knobs allow you to really define the perfect tone. For ambient sounds you will definetely want to check out the shimmer mode.
There is a preset or ‘favourite’ feature, however, this only saves one preset at a time and it would be nice to be able to save a few more. The blueSky is a fairly pricey pedal, but definitely worth it if you’re looking for a more high-end reverb.
5. Electro Harmonix Cathedral
The Electro Harmonix Cathedral is an incredibly versatile reverb pedal which allows a lot of customization for the sound. It’s easy to learn but will take a long time to master!
It features stereo in and out, and 8 different preset options (one for each reverb mode).
Because the Cathedral has so much to offer, it is a fairly large pedal.
Overall, the Electro Harmonix Cathedral is a very versatile reverb pedal for ambient sounds, but definitely not the most compact.