I had a Deco replica made by a local pedal builder. He build 12 of these replicas with 2 additional pots and a switch. The switch was a treble boost and the knobs act essentially as a subtle chorus and reverb. I will never let this pedal go, it will stay on my board indefinitely.
Curious about this as well : the Deco being a 100% digital pedal, an actual replica with add ons would likely mean having access to and possibly tweaking the source code, which I suppose is jealously guarded by Strymon
+1 on the UA Golden, all 3 reverbs are fantastic. No digital still can get 100% on spring - I grab my Surfy Bear if I really want spring but the Golden gets as close as I've heard and I still will play around with the spring mode
Really good overview, thanks! I have the Deco - love it, I came up recording to tape (including having 2 1/4 inch Studers in the studio to ADT with!) and I think Strymon have excelled themselves with this one. Also familiar with some of the later UA stuff - tasty reverb, indeed! That Chroma thing definitely looks like almost too much fun! Just a couple of my own personal favourites to throw into the loop in case you haven't tried them - Effectrode Blackbird 12AX7 Vacuum Tube Pre-Amp Pedal and the Crowther Double Hot Cake (Paul is a friend from way back, I've used Hot Cakes since he started making them in the late '70s). Cheers.
Have you played the Deco V2? I’m also slightly obsessed with that pedal but I’m in the mindset of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ so I haven’t upgraded but am I missing something?
The EHX Hot Tubes is great as a last-in-chain boost with a high headroom amp. Using it after a mid-heavy fuzz with the drive around 2 or 3 o'clock is the nastiest way to use it.
well, you got a point. most of em are expensive beauties. i dont mean to come across like that jerk know it all sales guy in a store who refused to sell me a polyphonic synth trying to force me to get a monophonic to learn proper synthesis but: having demoed pedals at trade shows my experience with noobs is: they dont yet hear the difference … chroma console is complex. fun. maybe turning a knob and shit happens is enuff, but id advise getting a 2 knob compressor, a pleasent medium drive (blues driver odr mini) , ge7 most importantly an analog delay first. line6 m5 for finding out wich mods are liked and exploring other fx. tc flashback ii. got mine for 80. some holy grail or hall of fame. if noobs spend half a year with that theyll approach chroma console in a whole other way. the deco too.
The whole point of the Chroma Console is that it's stupidly easy to dial in. It's effortless. I have one and have replaced everything except my amp sim pedal. For a noob especially it's great. IMO you'd only be missing a really wild analog fuzz and spring reverb, and those are situational for most people. A real noob should get a $100 amazon multifx pedal and a cheap tube amp, not any of that shit you mentioned, especially not an EQ. The Chroma Console is $400 and absolutely worth it.
@@pcurryii it was a run on sentence. Saying what inputs and outputs it has… including midi, and it’s also a stereo pedal… lol that’s the only the thing you took from this video?
@@MattKellyMusic People sometimes see or notice something that attracts their attention and forget about the rest. Even if its at the start of the video, they wont notice the rest. It's one of the struggles of being a youtuber i guess.
I don't have the UA pedal you chose, but I have another. Excellent quality. But, I have two Deco's. a V1 in front of the amp for Saturation and a V2 last in the loop for Double Tracking. One of the best pedals ever made. Nice video and choices.
I think it depends on your style. For me as a guitarist but also producer it’s definitely very interesting to get different sounds with the guitar that aren’t very orthodox. But I haven’t actually tried it so I can’t speak from experience.
@@MattKellyMusic Yea, I am sure you can....but not on Reverb right now! I think its a super popular pedal thats gonna hold its value. The Deco and Volante are tied for 1st for the favorite pedal I own.
@@dang48207 to my emberassment i took a second look at them 2 weeks ago and the quality is way better than i first anticipated.. although, i do find them too expansive. But alternatives really depend on your need and expectations.
Do any of these have programmable presets? The chroma is fine but if I get a sound I like but have to bounce away to get a useable sound can I get back to it? Same with the deca. I find I'm needing 4 different delays and not enough pedalboard real estate for 4 different delays.
The thing that always gives me trepidation about videos like this is the fear that if I buy all the pedals everyone else buys I’m gonna sound just like everyone else, which is my least favorite thing
@@Turtlpwr I totally get that and I had that mindset before too but it’s how YOU use the pedal. Ya know? Almost ALL of these effects have been around for a long long time. It’s just reused stuff that gives you sooo much more tonal options and can actually help you not sound like others!
Well bro you just pick and choose what you want from each person's rig. You can also take the pedal one person has and do something totally different with it. The only time you're gonna sound exactly the same is if you use the entire exact chain with the exact same guitar. I can promise you this same pedalboard through a different amp with a different guitar is gonna be different enough. That's not even getting into amp settings/speakers/tubes/captures, guitar settings/pickups/strings, and pedal settings. There's only so many pedals out there, and only so many ways to be "different". Don't stress about being different, don't stress about copying someone, just do what you think sounds good. No one is gonna say "wow you sound exactly like that one youtuber who did that one video on pedals". You'll be fine brother
Some interesting picks you got there. Except for the Strymon. It is ridicilous overpriced like all their pedals imo. The quality does not match. GOod stuff but not nearly worth what they ask for it. There are many better alternatives to Strymon pedals who sound better and are even cheaper.
Like what? I’m honestly curious. I can do basically everything I can with the deco on my hc stomp but then it’s using up all the dsp and at that point it’s a more expensive option for the same effects. You would need 4 separate pedals to achieve the same thing the deco does and if you do that it’s also more expensive. Love to hear your thoughts. If there’s a better option I’m all for it. Been itching to switch things up.
@user-yo9vp6kc3d for the Deco alone, i'd recommend replacing it with a boss ir200. Much more options and flexibility. Lets also not forget the deco has no Bass IR's. But afcourse you dont have the tape related options. There are tons of free plugins who do just that and more. Or just pair it with a cheap flanger and/or eq pedal. And you'd still have spend less money than a Deco. If you're really into the whole glitchy Lofi thing and want it in pedal form i'd recommend buying a GL. It is still cheaper than a deco but you dont have the Boss IR200. If you add it to the GL, it will cost you more, obviously.. But then again, if you do, you have tons of options more on the table. That is the thing with Strymon for me, it is so much money.. and I could never be statisfied by it in terms of options and quality. They are good, but by far not those ridicilous prices worth.
@@Legitimatenobody It seems like there’s a misunderstanding about the Deco. It’s not an amp cab sim; it’s primarily a tape saturation and double-tracking pedal. A standard flanger would only get you a fraction of the way to what the Deco’s double-tracking feature achieves. The Generation Loss would be awesome and more tweakable, but it’s harder to adjust on the fly. For a live musician like me, the Deco’s quick, intuitive controls are invaluable. I’m not in a studio tweaking sounds; I need gear that’s simple and reliable on stage. While I could potentially replace the tape saturation with something like an EP Boost, combining an EP Boost with a Generation Loss would be more costly-probably double the Deco’s price-and more complex to dial in. I play gigs regularly, and my gear takes a beating. The Deco has never let me down, unlike my HX Stomp, Boss Delay, and Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe, which have all required repairs.
@@TyrannosaurusTone Ah, right. I never play live actually. Maybe for live experience Strymon would be the better pick, i honestly wouldn't know. As for amp sims, you're right, but i have seen it used as one. But since it is not meant for it i understand the lack of controls for such. Still, my opinion on the pricing of Strymon doesn't change. Specifically the overdrive and reverb pedals. The only Strymon exception for me would be the Zelzah, but i think i wont do it.
@ The Zelzah is the least appealing to me. The Lex and Brigadier are the only other Strymon pedals I’d like to try. Strymon pedals are fantastic for musicians in bands-they’re easy to tweak, and every sound you dial in is top-notch. I owned the Iridium amp and cab sim for a while, and it sounded noticeably better than my HX Stomp, likely because it was simpler to adjust. The HX Stomp can sound just as good, but it’s harder to dial in.
@@MattKellyMusic tinfoil hat? Dude- it’s all blatant consumerism No need for idiotic conspiracy theories UA-cam gear channels are just modern day infomercials. The gear companies get a tremendous marketing reach and penetration for a paltry outlay of money. Pre UA-cam they had to have an expensive marketing budget- with UA-cam infomercials their expenses are just units of gear. The UA-cam influencers benefit by getting free gear, making a living from clicks/ads, and generally the audience benefits by being exposed to new gear But usually it’s all just feeding blind consumerism and encouraging endless GAS We are all entertained by these infomercials and is suspect that for many people their guitar life is spent more lusting after gear than playing But hey- you have to feed the algorithm so get back on the video treadmill and churn out the videos!!!!!
Correction- only specific people who are interested in guitar pedals will get any kind of kick out of this channel. I use pedals for drum machines, guitars, etc if I was interested in handbags and or yachting then this content would not be interesting at all for you. It’s weird comment to make actually.
you nailed it with these pics.
I had a Deco replica made by a local pedal builder. He build 12 of these replicas with 2 additional pots and a switch. The switch was a treble boost and the knobs act essentially as a subtle chorus and reverb. I will never let this pedal go, it will stay on my board indefinitely.
Do you have a contact for this guy?
What was the name of the pedal?
Curious about this as well : the Deco being a 100% digital pedal, an actual replica with add ons would likely mean having access to and possibly tweaking the source code, which I suppose is jealously guarded by Strymon
Great choices! That forth Pedal is a real sleeper pick !!!
+1 on the UA Golden, all 3 reverbs are fantastic. No digital still can get 100% on spring - I grab my Surfy Bear if I really want spring but the Golden gets as close as I've heard and I still will play around with the spring mode
Thank You for this precious video!🎸
great video! its amazing how the chroma console can really (do) get close to the rest of the list!
Did you know that if you hold the doubletrack bypass switch on the Deco, it will do like a phase effect. Its a neat feature.
Great video, some solid recommendations i am going to check out here
Nice! Picked up the boost to try.
Great video!!
Really good overview, thanks! I have the Deco - love it, I came up recording to tape (including having 2 1/4 inch Studers in the studio to ADT with!) and I think Strymon have excelled themselves with this one. Also familiar with some of the later UA stuff - tasty reverb, indeed! That Chroma thing definitely looks like almost too much fun! Just a couple of my own personal favourites to throw into the loop in case you haven't tried them - Effectrode Blackbird 12AX7 Vacuum Tube Pre-Amp Pedal and the Crowther Double Hot Cake (Paul is a friend from way back, I've used Hot Cakes since he started making them in the late '70s). Cheers.
cool add ons man! thanks for watching!
Love this! Subbed
Never heard of some of these. Great vid!
@@81realtime glad you enjoyed 👌👌
I want all of the Hologram pedals. I have the Dream Sequencer right now.
Have you played the Deco V2? I’m also slightly obsessed with that pedal but I’m in the mindset of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ so I haven’t upgraded but am I missing something?
@@BounceChord it’s basically the same I believe but has extra controls I believe
It also has midi which if I ever figure out midi could be super useful since you can save a bunch of presets
Love that Farm pedal. I use it same way B always on buffer up!
Dude you sold me on the Chroma already haha
@@nickguitarfiorentino 😂😂😂
And the alphabet culture too? 😉
Could you tell us where console is in your board? Because I can’t understand where to put it in my board with different drives, boosters and delay.
@@Sea_Dove after my drives, but before my reverbs and delays
For drives I feel I would prefer a hot tubes or walrus 385 for a more unique sounding drive.
The EHX Hot Tubes is great as a last-in-chain boost with a high headroom amp. Using it after a mid-heavy fuzz with the drive around 2 or 3 o'clock is the nastiest way to use it.
well, you got a point. most of em are expensive beauties.
i dont mean to come across like that jerk know it all sales guy in a store who refused to sell me a polyphonic synth trying to force me to get a monophonic to learn proper synthesis but:
having demoed pedals at trade shows my experience with noobs is: they dont yet hear the difference … chroma console is complex. fun. maybe turning a knob and shit happens is enuff, but id advise getting a 2 knob compressor, a pleasent medium drive (blues driver odr mini) , ge7 most importantly an analog delay first. line6 m5 for finding out wich mods are liked and exploring other fx. tc flashback ii. got mine for 80. some holy grail or hall of fame. if noobs spend half a year with that theyll approach chroma console in a whole other way. the deco too.
@@dasczwo nah I love this input! Thanks for watching!
The whole point of the Chroma Console is that it's stupidly easy to dial in. It's effortless. I have one and have replaced everything except my amp sim pedal. For a noob especially it's great. IMO you'd only be missing a really wild analog fuzz and spring reverb, and those are situational for most people.
A real noob should get a $100 amazon multifx pedal and a cheap tube amp, not any of that shit you mentioned, especially not an EQ. The Chroma Console is $400 and absolutely worth it.
4:11 "it has midi in and out so you can run it stereo"
Not sure I follow what midi has to do with stereo?
@@pcurryii it was a run on sentence. Saying what inputs and outputs it has… including midi, and it’s also a stereo pedal… lol that’s the only the thing you took from this video?
@@pcurryii and I never said “so” it’s like, “it has midi ins and outs, you can run it stereo, etc…
@@MattKellyMusic People sometimes see or notice something that attracts their attention and forget about the rest. Even if its at the start of the video, they wont notice the rest.
It's one of the struggles of being a youtuber i guess.
I don't have the UA pedal you chose, but I have another. Excellent quality. But, I have two Deco's. a V1 in front of the amp for Saturation and a V2 last in the loop for Double Tracking. One of the best pedals ever made. Nice video and choices.
@@rustyl.6358 TWO Decos?!? You’re leaving the dream my friend 👌 thanks for watching 🙌
I don’t have any of these. What a bummer. Guess I’ll have to make wonderful sounds with “2nd best”. . . or maybe even third best. LOL. . .
Check out the Meraki by Walrus Audio.
The Deco is a great pedal. I use it on my bass board for the double tracking feature.
@@Musicislife668 love it 👌👌
I'm not a fan of The Chroma Console. I think it sounds better on a synth than a guitar.
I think it depends on your style. For me as a guitarist but also producer it’s definitely very interesting to get different sounds with the guitar that aren’t very orthodox. But I haven’t actually tried it so I can’t speak from experience.
5:17 there's no such thing as too much reverb
FINALLY someone who understands me...
@@MattKellyMusic *puts a huge nasty fuzz BETWEEN a long delay and a shimmer reverb and dissapears for 4 days*
This guy reminds of Jack Fossett. He reviews gear also. Their facial expressions are the same.
3:54 Nope, still gonna run you $400 unless you find a deal local. Solid group of pedals, especially the best pedal ever made (Deco v2).
@@masterofreality230 I was saying a used one might be less than $400! But the deco rules!
@@MattKellyMusic Yea, I am sure you can....but not on Reverb right now! I think its a super popular pedal thats gonna hold its value. The Deco and Volante are tied for 1st for the favorite pedal I own.
@@masterofreality230 Strymon are overrated and ridicilously overpriced.
Its "good" at best in terms of options and quality..
@@LegitimatenobodyWhat is better in the reverb department?
@@dang48207 to my emberassment i took a second look at them 2 weeks ago and the quality is way better than i first anticipated.. although, i do find them too expansive. But alternatives really depend on your need and expectations.
Do any of these have programmable presets? The chroma is fine but if I get a sound I like but have to bounce away to get a useable sound can I get back to it? Same with the deca. I find I'm needing 4 different delays and not enough pedalboard real estate for 4 different delays.
The chroma has saveable presets.
I see a farm pedal, I click
You’re very funny! “you can get it cheaper on Reverb or whatever”. Good one!
@@HugoArgentina I thought you could 😭
@@MattKellyMusic Great video! by the way. I should have lead with that, very informative and enjoyable
The thing that always gives me trepidation about videos like this is the fear that if I buy all the pedals everyone else buys I’m gonna sound just like everyone else, which is my least favorite thing
@@Turtlpwr I totally get that and I had that mindset before too but it’s how YOU use the pedal. Ya know? Almost ALL of these effects have been around for a long long time. It’s just reused stuff that gives you sooo much more tonal options and can actually help you not sound like others!
Well bro you just pick and choose what you want from each person's rig. You can also take the pedal one person has and do something totally different with it. The only time you're gonna sound exactly the same is if you use the entire exact chain with the exact same guitar. I can promise you this same pedalboard through a different amp with a different guitar is gonna be different enough. That's not even getting into amp settings/speakers/tubes/captures, guitar settings/pickups/strings, and pedal settings. There's only so many pedals out there, and only so many ways to be "different". Don't stress about being different, don't stress about copying someone, just do what you think sounds good. No one is gonna say "wow you sound exactly like that one youtuber who did that one video on pedals". You'll be fine brother
@MattKellyMusic agreed; and besides, tone is all in the hands anyway, amirite?
@spawn302 hey, thanks bro.
I hate to hurt your feelings but you couldn’t give it to me
@@bruzzgravely3470 what lmao
Yeah….what?! Lol
Which one or all of them?
if that's how you dial a ts no wonder you hate em
Some interesting picks you got there. Except for the Strymon. It is ridicilous overpriced like all their pedals imo. The quality does not match. GOod stuff but not nearly worth what they ask for it. There are many better alternatives to Strymon pedals who sound better and are even cheaper.
Like what? I’m honestly curious. I can do basically everything I can with the deco on my hc stomp but then it’s using up all the dsp and at that point it’s a more expensive option for the same effects. You would need 4 separate pedals to achieve the same thing the deco does and if you do that it’s also more expensive. Love to hear your thoughts. If there’s a better option I’m all for it. Been itching to switch things up.
@user-yo9vp6kc3d for the Deco alone, i'd recommend replacing it with a boss ir200. Much more options and flexibility. Lets also not forget the deco has no Bass IR's.
But afcourse you dont have the tape related options. There are tons of free plugins who do just that and more. Or just pair it with a cheap flanger and/or eq pedal.
And you'd still have spend less money than a Deco.
If you're really into the whole glitchy Lofi thing and want it in pedal form i'd recommend buying a GL. It is still cheaper than a deco but you dont have the Boss IR200. If you add it to the GL, it will cost you more, obviously..
But then again, if you do, you have tons of options more on the table.
That is the thing with Strymon for me, it is so much money.. and I could never be statisfied by it in terms of options and quality.
They are good, but by far not those ridicilous prices worth.
@@Legitimatenobody It seems like there’s a misunderstanding about the Deco. It’s not an amp cab sim; it’s primarily a tape saturation and double-tracking pedal. A standard flanger would only get you a fraction of the way to what the Deco’s double-tracking feature achieves. The Generation Loss would be awesome and more tweakable, but it’s harder to adjust on the fly.
For a live musician like me, the Deco’s quick, intuitive controls are invaluable. I’m not in a studio tweaking sounds; I need gear that’s simple and reliable on stage. While I could potentially replace the tape saturation with something like an EP Boost, combining an EP Boost with a Generation Loss would be more costly-probably double the Deco’s price-and more complex to dial in.
I play gigs regularly, and my gear takes a beating. The Deco has never let me down, unlike my HX Stomp, Boss Delay, and Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe, which have all required repairs.
@@TyrannosaurusTone Ah, right. I never play live actually. Maybe for live experience Strymon would be the better pick, i honestly wouldn't know.
As for amp sims, you're right, but i have seen it used as one. But since it is not meant for it i understand the lack of controls for such.
Still, my opinion on the pricing of Strymon doesn't change. Specifically the overdrive and reverb pedals. The only Strymon exception for me would be the Zelzah, but i think i wont do it.
@ The Zelzah is the least appealing to me. The Lex and Brigadier are the only other Strymon pedals I’d like to try. Strymon pedals are fantastic for musicians in bands-they’re easy to tweak, and every sound you dial in is top-notch. I owned the Iridium amp and cab sim for a while, and it sounded noticeably better than my HX Stomp, likely because it was simpler to adjust. The HX Stomp can sound just as good, but it’s harder to dial in.
You don’t need any of these
Guys is all GAS fueled infomercials
Videos like this are just poking your dopamine reward systems
@@Lomoholga2 all the videos you say that on this one? Lmao don’t forget your tinfoil hat on the way out 😂😂
@@MattKellyMusic tinfoil hat? Dude- it’s all blatant consumerism
No need for idiotic conspiracy theories
UA-cam gear channels are just modern day infomercials.
The gear companies get a tremendous marketing reach and penetration for a paltry outlay of money.
Pre UA-cam they had to have an expensive marketing budget- with UA-cam infomercials their expenses are just units of gear.
The UA-cam influencers benefit by getting free gear, making a living from clicks/ads, and generally the audience benefits by being exposed to new gear
But usually it’s all just feeding blind consumerism and encouraging endless GAS
We are all entertained by these infomercials and is suspect that for many people their guitar life is spent more lusting after gear than playing
But hey- you have to feed the algorithm so get back on the video treadmill and churn out the videos!!!!!
Correction- only specific people who are interested in guitar pedals will get any kind of kick out of this channel. I use pedals for drum machines, guitars, etc if I was interested in handbags and or yachting then this content would not be interesting at all for you. It’s weird comment to make actually.
A Rainbow Pedal 🌈, how appropriate for you…🙄
@@jamiemorgan4146 care to explain?
Wtf?
@@MattKellyMusicLMFAO out of literally nowhere 😂
What a dick comment.
Your audio is clipping pretty hard! But these pedals are awesome!!
Yeaaaah I messed up on that for this video ahaha, pushed the mic to hard. Thanks for watching!
@@MattKellyMusicyou should record the guitar direct to an interface/DAW. It’s underselling the quality of your video and playing!
@@LP-123 I do that, I just had it cranked on accident on the interface ahaha