I've been following the various reverb threads here because I knew I'd eventually want one for my pedal board. I'd pretty much narrowed it down to the Nova Reverb (I have the Nova Delay and love it to pieces) and the Verbzilla (mostly based on Spanky's video demo/review). I was leaning towards the 'Zilla because of the lower price, its smaller size, and the CHORUS reverb.
So I was at my local shop today picking up a JJ replacement tube for my Shuttle (purely out of curiousity - the amp is fine as is). and thought I'd see what reverb pedals they had. Lo and behold, there's a Nova Reverb. When they pulled it out for me to try I was psyched to see that it was used (in fine shape) and was going for $168!! WHOO HOO!!
I took it for a spin and liked what I heard. It didn't bowl me over but it's a pretty deep pedal with lots of tweakability, so I knew we'd need some quality time together.
I went back up to the counter ready to buy it when the guy helping me mentioned a new option they'd gotten in. He pulled out the Digitech RV-7 Stereo Reverb.
30 minutes and $150 later I was on my way home with it.
This is part of their new "Hardware" series and seems like a real step up for Digitech.
Here's a quick rundown:
-All-metal construction
-True bypass
-4 knobs - Level, Liveliness, Decay, and Type
-Can run off my Pedal Power brick (unlike the TC Nova)
-7 reverbs - Room, Plate, Reverse, Modulated, Gated, Hall, Spring
-Blue LED matches my Shuttle!
The thing is built like a tank. Knobs have a great, solid feel to them with mini-detents all the way through their range (like the Shuttle). The stomp switch will still be the weak point, but it feels sturdy enough for my use (I don't gig out); certainly more substantial than my old DOD pedals ever felt.
The sounds are very usable. Tweaking the three parameter knobs (
Level = level of 'verb in the mix,
Liveliness cuts high end out of the reverb response,
Decay basically functions as a "size" adjustment) allows for easy dialing in of sounds. For me, this was a case where less is more. I'm usually the guy who wants as many otions and features as possible, but here, Eno's "intimacy over options" (take a limited tool and become thouroughly intimate with it) applies.
You can check out sound clips (played on guitar, I'm afraid) and read more from the proud parents here:
http://www.digitech.com/products/Har...ereoReverb.php
BTW, the box contains a couple of cute bonus features. One is a pre-cut velcro sheet for attaching the pedal to your board. Unfortunately for me, it's the scratchy hook side which is what's on my board. The other bonus is called the "Stomplock." It's a heavy rubber cap for the knobs. If you've found a setting you like and don't want your knobs jostled, you snuggle the Stomplock down over the knobs and they can't be messed with. (A four-pronged knob condom!!)
Bottom line: This pedal won't make me forget the rackmount Lexicon in my studio (even though the RV-7 does have "Lexicon" printed right on it) but it does everything I need a reverb *pedal* to do and does it very well. At $150 street, it's definitely worth a look.
