This roundup is a highlight of our favorite Strymon pedals. Strymon is one of the best guitar pedal manufacturers, doing particularly well with ambient effects like delay and reverb. Most of their pedals run off digital circuits and are not analog, which makes the tones and sounds they produce even more impressive. These pedals sound great and give you a ton of customization options, usually with multiple modes in each pedal. But what are the best Strymon pedals?
In most cases we would need to base that on effects category. But Strymon focuses so heavily on ambience that we don't necessarily need to address the other categories. We'll make three recommendations with two ambient and one modulation/ambience pedal, then a fourth recommendation that is a type of preamp overdrive. Let's jump into the comparison table first.
The Contributors
Best Strymon Pedals Overall
Before we get into each pedal, we'll list them here in a comparison table that will allow you to look at pricing and basic specs side by side.
Pedal | Name | Rate | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Strymon BigSky | n/a | |
 | Strymon TimeLine | n/a | |
 | Strymon Flint | 93.2 | |
 | Strymon Iridium | 92.9 |
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Our disclosure↬
1. Strymon BigSky
The Strymon BigSky is one of the most complete and comprehensive digital reverb pedals on the market. Don't think of it just as a reverb pedal, but more like a digital soundscape and ambience generator. It's just way more versatile than what we are used to from other reverb pedals, even some of the more complex options. It's a good fit for any situation, but definitely if you want to layer clean tones and expand your creativity in that area.
Read the full review: Strymon BigSky
BEST FOR: Ambience, versatile effects use, clean tones, church/worship
TONE
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
CONTROL
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- 12 types of reverb
- Tons of control
- 300 presets
- MIDI controllable
- Great for soundscapes and ambient layering
- One of the most complete reverb pedals on the market
- Also one of the most expensive reverb pedals on the market
- A bit of a learning curve
2. Strymon TimeLine
The TimeLine is essentially the delay version of the BigSky, with a ton of control (including a tap tempo) and 12 different delay modes. It seems like every delay you could conjure up is programmed into this pedal, especially given such a wide range of control. If you use a lot of delay and you want something with flexibility, this is one of your most ideal options.
BEST FOR: Lead guitar players, percussive delay, recording, advanced use of the delay effect, soundscapes and general ambience.
TONE
n/a
VERSATILITY
n/a
CONTROL
n/a
COST/VALUE
n/a
- 12 unique delay algorithms, all stereo
- 200 factory presets
- Exceptionally good for live performance and recording
- Gives you a lot more than what we're used to in a delay pedal
- Powerful SHARC DSP processor
- Still expensive
- Learning curve is a bit high, similar to the BigSky, but not a deal breaker
3. Strymon Flint
The Flint combines tremolo and reverb, allowing you to use either effect by itself or both simultaneously. From there, you have three modes for each and the ability to mix the two. Once again, ambience and layering are the most ideal fit, and a good down-shift option if you don't want to mess with the BigSky.
Read the full review: Strymon Flint Tremolo
BEST FOR: Simpler setups, unique blend of ambience and modulation, live performances, clean tone layering, church/worship
TONE
93
VERSATILITY
93
CONTROL
90
COST/VALUE
77
- Use each effect separate or two at once
- Three modes for both tremolo and reverb
- JFET circuit and ARM DSP chip
- Made to mimic an amp-style reverb and tremolo
- Lots of cool vintage vibes between the modes (60s, 70s, 80s)
- MIDI compatible
- Nothing really to complain about
4. Strymon Iridium
The Iridium is a popular amp and cab IR simulator with onboard room reverb. It's essentially a pedal amp replacement, with a single favorite preset switch, and an additional 300 presets via MIDI (though I doubt you'll ever need anywhere close to that many). It has some really fantastic vintage amp models, similar to a VOX and Marshall sound. I don't love it for more modern sounds, but it creates a beautiful clean base tone that can be used for just about any style, and complimented by a flexible pedalboard.
Read the full review: Strymon Iridium
BEST FOR: Backup amp, clean tones, vintage styles, pedalboard pairing.
TONE
99
VERSATILITY
95
CONTROL
82
COST/VALUE
78
- Single onboard preset is probably all you need
- Great for vintage amp fans
- Nine total onboard speaker cabs
- Very good with base clean tones and bluesy breakup
- Nice chime on clean high-end with some subtle room reverb
- Definitely not a gain monster or modern tone profile
- Very pricey
Conclusion and Questions
There are - of course - other Strymon pedals for different effects categories that are excellent. For example, the Sunset and Mobius are great options if you're looking for overdrive or modulation. To be honest, there's nothing Strymon makes that I would not recommend, in the right context.
They're one of the strongest pedal companies out there right now, managing to capture a ton of the authenticity we like about analog circuits, and put them into DSPs.
I think the improvement in the quality of digital effects over the past 10 or so years is largely thanks to their work.
And their pedals aren't cheap, but given how good they are, I wouldn't say any of them are overpriced.
You can't go wrong with Strymon.
If you have questions about the pedals we've recommended here or other Strymon effects, let me know in the comments section below and I'll do my best to help out.
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Written by GC Editorial on Effects & Comparisons
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Effects & Reviews
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