Posted this on TGP, figured it would be useful to post here too

Kind of on the fence about it. Great, but not blown away by it.

Reverb: Sounds almost exactly like the Hardwire RV-7!

Spring = Spring
70's = Plate
80's = Hall

I was really surprised by how close they sounded. The RV-7 has a nicer spring mode by a hair to the point where I feel there's no noticable compromise. The RV-7 sounds a little sweeter with chords on spring mode but that's about the only real difference. The core algorithm (?) it uses has a little more of the spring splash going on, and higher frequencies seem to be coming out, but there's very, very little to discern them to the point where I couldn't tell which one I had on sometimes. Like the RV-7 it has a touch of pre-delay, probably a little more so, which I'm so glad about, as that was the one thing I was hoping it would have so that's a relief. And unlike the RV-7 it can go 100% wet.

Tremolo: Is comparable to the Analogman TR-2

tube = (Boss wave shape) at about noon
photo = a little back from full. About five o' clock?

Doesn't quite compare tonally to optical trems like the Mad Prof and Diamond that I also use. It has more in common with the TR-2, but as someone stated earlier in the thread, it accentuates the highs a little, (or whatever) and so it sounds a shade better. I've tried the C'bread Paredolia in the past, and IRRC that had a little more of a syrupy phase sound to it compared to the Flint's Harmonic trem, but I had trouble dialling in the right speed, whereas with the Flint I don't. I'm liking it more than I thought I would. There's a little background hiss, more than my optical tremolo pedals, but a little less than the TR-2.

So, overall I'm happy, but not blown away, but I think that's more to do with high expectations given the amount of hype, especially here on TGP. There's legitimate praise of course, but to be honest, it's sometimes hard to find out what's legitimate and what's just foaming honey-moon hype satisfaction, especially when in the same breathe, people slate Boss/Hardwire pedals and that something like the Flint "smokes the competition" lol. No it doesn't. The "competition" can be just as good. It's fine. It's just a digital effects pedal.

Beyond tone, I guess there's the extras to consider; the stereo, expression pedal or favorite option so all told, I guess it justifies the price, though I bought this used, and to be honest I feel the new price is a maybe little bit OTT, but if you're going to use all the features then maybe not.

Ultimately, I'll probably keep the Flint over those two pedals, as I can boost the reverb and if needed I can get it 100% wet. I actually really like the harmonic tremolo, and prefer the tremolo a little bit anyway. Plus it's compact, and I'm thinking of putting together a PT nano-sized pedalboard, and in that case, the Flint will be a keeper. If I was thinking of something bigger I'd probably let it go in favour of my Diamond tremolo and Solid Gold Super Surf or RV-7 for reverb, though it'd be a difficult choice.

TL;DR version: Really good digital pedal I'll probably keep. Some mass-produced digital pedals really aren't so bad. Strymon is a mass-produced digital pedal. Please deal with it.

Last month I saw Jimmie Vaughan and he had the Flint. I think he just used the tremolo off it. Sounded pretty rich almost Leslie like on how he was using it.

I agree on versatility, that's where the Strymon excels. If I keep it I might try out the favourite switch, or more likely an expression pedal. The comparison was more from a 'tone' point of view, and honestly the reverbs in the RV-7 are so, so close to the Strymon I was really surprised. I did prefer the tremolo on the Flint to the TR-2, but I did feel it was closer to that in terms of tone than an optical tremolo sound, though it was kind of in between to be honest. Shame it had a little background noise (that I don't get with optical tremolos) but not enough to really bother me, and it's definitely got a nice sound to it in all three modes.

I think I was expecting to be more impresed due to the hype Strymon receives, (especially on the The Gear Page forum, lol) but the reality is, it's just another digital pedal, done to a high standard, and that perhaps other pedal brands are of higher standard than most people think.

I guess this place has less obsessive gear people than TGP, which is the main board for cork sniffing, and some pedals and brands get so hyped it's ridiculous. IRRC someone commented about how the RV_7 had awful 'digital artifacts' in it's reverb and that the Flint was much better. That made me smile when I plugged them in side by side to find they're pretty much 95% the same, more like 99% in plate/hall modes, and that I kind of actually prefer the RV-7's spring mode by a hair.

I'm playing a Strat and Tele through a super-clean, and simple tube amp that takes pedals really well so I hope I'm being objective in my views as possible. I tend to post rambling reviews simply to remedy the short, uninformative ones out there.

So yeah, Is should also say I've found it great for surf!

Snuf, I did not mean to insult you. Sorry if I got the wrong tone here.
You are right, Strymon is hyped like no other pedal manufacturer at the moment and while being really outstanding pedals, there are others that do the job just as well. For me one really huge advantage was:
1x 9V from the power supply. I had a FRV-1 and MXR Tremolo before. The MXR needs 18V, so that was 3x9V usage from my power supply. The favorite switch does not need an additional power supply.
Oh, and Ralf and the Kilaueas only use the Flint IIRC. They leave the tank at home, as the audience does not notice anyway.
My favorite setting is the '70s reverb with a slow pulsing '61harm tremolo...sweet!

The Hicadoolas

Turns out the tone of the tremolo is closer to the Diamond tremolo than I thought! Really close. To be fair, this is literally splitting hairs, but I can get the Flint and Diamond to sound identical. Might keep the Diamond and my RV-7 as backup and sell my other reverb and tremolo pedals.

Snufkino, I am curious. When you demo'd the Flint, was it solo or with a band or backing tracks?
I ask this because it seems a lot of people compare the sound of reverb pedals solo against classic sounds from recordings, not taking into account the effect that the drums bass, rhythm guitars have on the reverb sound. I know when I try out a new reverb pedal, I am not convinced one way or the other until I use it in a full band setting.

I've owned the Flint since March and have been knocked out by the sound and versatility of both effects. When comparing it against the Boss FRV-1, the Digitech Digeverb, Hardwire Supernatural rReverb and the Tech 21 Boost RVB, it blows them away. I never tried the RV-7.

It does not do the ultra drippy sound, but I found that if I feed the Boss FRV-1 set low into the Flint, I can get the ultra drippy sound.

The tremolo setting are ultra flexible. My favorite being the '63 tube setting and then the '61 harmonic tremolo.

I've used it at 5 gigs so far and I was actually a little distracted the first time by how good it sounded.

Considering it has 2 great effects, $300 is not that much for what you get. I'd also like to point out that while Strymon effects seeem like there are hyped, it is because they have SHARQ processor chips in them.
They are the only company using them in pedals right now and they are much more powerful than the processor chips the other digital effects companies are using.

TarantinosNYC
TarantinosNYC FB page
The WrayCyclers FB page
Rockaway Beach Surf Music Festival

Thanks for this thread too guys...Flint is my next pedal, one box to trick out any little amp like a classic Fender combo.

http://blueruins.bandcamp.com

Reverb17 wrote:

Snufkino, I am curious. When you demo'd the Flint, was it solo or with a band or backing tracks?

Just solo, with a Strat and Tele through a tube amp.

Reverb17 wrote:

I've owned the Flint since March and have been knocked out by the sound and versatility of both effects. When comparing it against the Boss FRV-1, the Digitech Digeverb, Hardwire Supernatural rReverb and the Tech 21 Boost RVB, it blows them away. I never tried the RV-7.

I wouldn't say it "blows away" the RV-7 or other reverbs. I think it's great, but a digital reverb can only be so good.

For example, I found the Boss FRV-1 very 'flat' and (funnily enough) 'metallic', with no real ambience to it, and while I didn't like that, I have no idea if that's actually what a Fender tank sounds like, so if it does, then in a way it's a great reverb pedal for some people. I also found the lack of pre-delay off-putting as I'm really used to it (so, so, so glad the Flint has a touch!) and it didn't work well with fuzz.

The Flint is more versatile than the RV-7, but the actual tones are pretty much the same, so I'm happy. Maybe what I find ever so slightly 'lacking' is actually what will make it sound great in a live mix?

My first impression of the Flint was "it's great, but it's not blowing me away" but then I thought what would blow me away? I'm sat with a digital effects pedal, what could I possibly want from it? Some kind of "perfect" tone that exists only in my head, most likely. The hype made me think it was somehow lacklustre, when in fact, it's totally fine.

Having spent time with it, it's honestly great. The reverb is just like the RV-7, which, after going through about a dozen reverb pedals has been the one I've settled on, especially for Spring. The tremolo isn't optical, and the wave/bias isn't quite what I'd like, but I can deal with it, and I was really, really surprised by how it nailed the Diamond tremolo's bias/shape and importantly, tone. A tiny bit of background hiss, but that's managable too. It doesn't match my Mad Prof tremolo, but that's a slightly different beast. So, for me, those two things are excellent, and the compact form and the little extras, like being able to boost the reverb volume, and get 100% wet reverb are what's making it a keeper for me.

Reverb17 wrote:

It does not do the ultra drippy sound, but I found that if I feed the Boss FRV-1 set low into the Flint, I can get the ultra drippy sound.

No, it doesn't get like the reverb in this track for example, on it's own, ( I guess the FRV-1 + Flint would do the trick like you say) but it's fine for the most part for 'obvious' spring surf sounds. I'm happy with it anyway.

Last edited: Jun 28, 2013 17:45:59