Strymon vs Boss - Doctor Guitar

[@p2curtis]

I bought a Flint two or three years ago, it was "pricey" for me, but I would do it again. It has become a permanent fixture on my pedal board. Strymon does very well with their products, I've been very happy with mine. Oh, and before purchasing this I had tried all kinds of reverbs from pedals to rackmounted spring tanks, as well as some fancy Tremolo Pedals.. The Flint is better sounding (to me) and is all in one pedal.

[@champ1061]

Your clean tone is amazing. Nicely done. Incidentally, you can't go wrong with either of these.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot!!! They are actually two great options for reverb and tremolo

[@ericcross7863]

Plus you get three different trem's and three different reverbs with the Flint, I'll do an 80's verb with the decay turned way up on the Flint and it sounds heavenly I can't do without my Flint! Love your videos Budda! Keep up your hard work!

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot for your support my friend!

[@Lensman864]

I run a Flint and a BigSky on my board and that covers all bases.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Its a great pedal

[@john.parker65]

I have a large blanket that I put over my 4 string guitars - and that covers all basses 😂

[@sandroscapin8999]

La meilleure video pour la Flint ! Les sons sont juste sublime ! Tu m'a convaincu !

[@BuddaGuedes]

Merci! I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for your support

[@thealeons3179]

I'm a practicing Buddhist so I absolutely had to subscribe. I think we should add one more thing to Buddha's eight-fold path. Right guitar playing. Much love to the Buddha of Blues

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot

[@continentalaquatics2725]

As a Muslim I had to subscribe.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Eh! Ehh

[@mustakissa2221]

Have you tried using the boost/cut secondary reverb control on the Flint to get closer to the Boss reverb sound you like? That should add the distortion you're missing.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I’ll have to dig deep into it to figure it out

[@gerardleto2497]

I've watched a couple of your product demos, and love them! They're fun! I am a subscriber now!🍻

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot.

[@savanaviolenta]

I love my TR2 its all I need in a tremolo pedal. Kicking myself that didn't get the FRV1 while I could. Now are discontinued. And I want it new.

[@BuddaGuedes]

It’s a great reverb indeed

[@jinjxmusic]

I feel the same way. I wish I had grabbed all of those Boss "Fender" pedals - now they're ridiculous. People talked so much crap about the Boss pedals and it scared a lot of people off. A damn shame.

[@RambleTone]

I believe you can also change the input gain in the strymon as a hidden feature so you can make it more aggressive if you want to. I just got the strymon, it’s going to take the place of 3 pedals on my smaller pedalboard, reverb, tremelo, (obviously) but also to get a faux vibe sound with the harmonic tremelo. Thanks for the comparison 🙏

[@BuddaGuedes]

Great tip. I’ll have to investigate that

[@organjoe]

I had the Boss TR2 which was pretty decent but sold it. Had the FRV1 and did not like it at all, sold it. Several reverb and tremolo pedals later I just bought a Flint and I like it a lot. I like your demo vids! Thanks

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@jaguarsunburst1570]

Great Video, Thankyou 🎸🎶

[@BuddaGuedes]

🙏🙏

[@Joaomota87]

Love the Flint! But one of my absolute favourites it's the Hardwire Supernatural, hard to get one thought...

[@Saurondor]

One thing to point out is that the Strymon has a stereo path whereas the Boss pedals are mono. This is something the new Fender Tre-Verb pedal resolves by having a stereo path and also packing 3 reverb types and 3 tremolo types in a single pedal. Although I haven't checked this one out enough to know if it drips like the FRV-1. How important is stereo for you in this case? I know you have a very nice two speaker setup so I was wondering if you'd use this with it. I agree with you that the FRV-1 has a longer tail and drips more than the Strymon and many other spring reverbs. The way I've managed to recreate this dripping effect better with my Hall of Fame is to add an analog delay with a slapback right before the reverb. Maybe the trick can work on the Flint too, but as it is the Flint's warmth seems to me like a more all around sound to use and it's good enough for a lot of spaghetti songs.

[@BuddaGuedes]

The Flint is a great reverb and when used in stereo, specially on the 70's and 80's modes it is very wide and beautifull. I love it. The slap is a good idea but the flint already has a predelay on the reverb that makes it great.

[@Saurondor]

Hi Budda. I've found that the pre delay isn't quite the same as a slapback. The HOF has pre delay too and it doesn't quite work the same as a slapback. The main difference being response to my playing. The pre delay does: TOC TOC while the slapback does: TOC TOc Toc toc (the lower case letters represent lower volume repeats set by the repeats or feedback knob) In normal play you hear only the first TOc thus the name slapback. But as you dig into the guitar or increase the gain knob(dwell) the other echoes become more audible creating the drip. Yesterday I managed to get a pretty convincing drip with the Volante spring reverb. I used the record level knob as dwell and set playback head to half volume, playback head two to full volume and engaged the third record head with a short delay, low feedback and a head spacing on golden ratio. The pedal then drips when I increase the record level beyond one o'clock as the feedback begins to become perceivable. I'll post a video if I can get a less than mediocre audio with my cellphone so you can see the setup.

[@aintnothinbutdablues]

Really prefer the 63' reverb to the Strymon. Anyway, bought a Mr Black Redmoon reverb recently and it sounds very smooth with my Fender Princeton 68

[@floatinspaceboy]

dude you're awesome.. love the enthusiasm

[@simongroot5246]

Very nice video! I was looking for this comparison

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks

[@KipCount]

Good overview. My opinions follow yours. The Flint does it all for most folks, and does it great. But if you're into surfy aggressive reverb, I just don't think it's in there. You need to throw another specialized reverb on your board to cover that. I used to have an FRV-1 and found it really harsh in the high frequencies. At the time, I found the Catalinbread Topanga as a nice solid option. But I revisited it and I don't like it as much. The Source Audio True Spring pedal is an awesome surf reverb, but the controls and app/computer editing aren't for everyone.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions! Great to know

[@Johnsalad]

Looking for this comparison for long time. Thank you.

[@BuddaGuedes]

You’re welcome

[@jinjxmusic]

I actually prefer the Boss verb... but that TR-2, while sounding good, doesn't touch the Flint.

[@BuddaGuedes]

That’s right.

[@johnnyconga9811]

great sound in your video, thank you. Flint tremolo indeed is awsome and though I have a FRV I need a Tremolo and having them in one pedal is a game changer

[@BuddaGuedes]

That’s the main thing of this pedal!!!

[@markferguson3745]

This is why I like this channel; only here would you find a dead on shoot out between the vaunted, very pricey ,Strymon, and the lowly Boss.(though I know that the Boss "Fender" pedal fetches some stupid prices, and has a following). So often, actual APPLICATION defeats whatever the expectation and intention.LIVE is a very different environment than bedroom or studio, and often , what might seem so vital and significant just gets washed away in the mix. As Troy Van Leuwen said,- " I like things that WORK".- meaning, if it's fussy, confusing, or unreliable, who has the time or energy? Spring, Tremelo, and Vibe are the trickiest effects to capture, and individual players hear and seek varied qualities.I eventually settled on the Supro Trem, and the True Spring verb, holding on to a Topanga for driven springs.Lesson is, regardless of price and name, @the end of the day it's the applied result, and moreover, how it helps you play and feel,and if it inspires YOU.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I agree 100%. What matters the most is hope it inspires you!!! Thanks for your comment

[@RPSartre01]

It’s not very pricey - it’s two pedals in one for $300. That’s about the same for the two Boss Pedals, I think.

[@markferguson3745]

@@RPSartre01They have come down a bit, I thought, anyway.Seems I remembered closer to $400? I get your point, but many wouldn't care much about the 2 in 1 aspect,- generally speaking, I see people calling it a wrap after $ 200.

[@RPSartre01]

Mark Ferguson I have about 40 pedals and this is my favorite right now. The different tremolos are just beautiful. It’s a real pleasure playing through this pedal. I play mostly 50s and 60s style music. I have that new Supro tremolo too that I paid $200. It doesn’t hold up against the Flint and I never use it.

[@BuddaGuedes]

The flint is really great specially the tremolo

[@grosebud4554]

Got the stymon just for the harmonic trem. Was about to buy a Victoria reverberammo or reverberatto.. but saved almost a grand! The strymon is a pedal version of the victoria

[@BuddaGuedes]

Steve Rosebud it’s a great pedal!!!!

[@stefan3775]

hey budda , good video , a quiestion , i have a topanga spring reverb , bat i like the spaghetti sounds , is the boss frv 1 the best for that sound , or witsch pedal ,gr from belgium. nb sorry for my englisch .

[@BuddaGuedes]

The best reverb for that is the surfy bear by surfy industries

[@grahamyoung5179]

I Really like your guitar playing, especially with that boss reverb. Your strat sounds really good.. What is it/what are the pickups?

[@BuddaGuedes]

Hey Thanks a lot. This is a Mexican Strat special ordered by Musicstore in 2004. it go Texas special pickups, and I also love it.

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

8:00...what a wonderful reverb. Was the 80s setting?? 🙃

[@BuddaGuedes]

I’m not sure. I must say what it is a little before

[@BuddaGuedes]

I’ve just checked and it’s the 80’s reverb

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

@@BuddaGuedes thank you very much! That sound is awesome...

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks a lot

[@Alberto-Carreto]

Thanks a lot Budda for this marvelous video! IMO the Strymon' reverb is more versatile than the Boss, no doubt about it. By the way, yesterday I found online a brand new FRV-1 in a south american country for USD 160. I spoke to them on the phone as soon as I could, but these guys told me only domestic shipments. OMG holy cow....

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks for your comment

[@troywm1016]

Strymon IMO

[@yobhsiFehT]

I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard someone say Boss pedals make their overall tone BRIGHTER lol I’ve generally found it to be the opposite, but nbd. Thanks for posting!

[@BuddaGuedes]

Boss pedals have a buffer that brightens the tone a little.

[@yobhsiFehT]

@@BuddaGuedes Sure sure. I’ve just found their buffers to vary, and while some may add a little high end, I feel like my main impression is still that everything sounds a tiny bit duller through most all of their stuff 🤷🏼‍♂️😊 Still considering a modded TR-2 again, tho! lol Thanks again!

[@BuddaGuedes]

Ive never felt it!!!

[@LeviBulger]

Boss buffers always make my tone brighter when using long cables. But for the most part, with short cables I don't hear any significant changes one way or the other. I always try to use at least one Boss pedal in my chain for their buffer tho, just to be safe. The TR2 has always been perfect for that end of chain, or a GE7/TU2 up in front.

[@yobhsiFehT]

@@LeviBulger Brighter compared to lots of capacitance, sure, fair enough. I’ve just generally experienced them being duller as compared to higher-quality buffers 🤷🏼‍♂️ (Which, also to be fair, some Boss pedals’ bypass tones do sound better than others! Not trying to spread Boss hate! 😄)

[@24ZEPACDC]

Which pickups are in that Strat? And which amp are you using?

[@BuddaGuedes]

The pickups are Texas special and the amp is the lonestar

[@7Miralas]

Great review Budda! I think the missing point in your perfect studio is a tube drivern harmonic tremolo plus reverb and compare all of them! :)

[@brayanfloresramirez8764]

I have an EQD The Depths Univibe, a Big Sky and a Walrus Audio Lillian Phaser. I'm pretty sure the strymon sounds amazing but i'm starting to think that my other pedals can cover those vibe-ish and reverb grounds way better. Is it ok for me to get the Boss TR2? I'm torn between the tr2 and the Walrus Audio monument but i find that the monument has(again) way too many options. Is the sound good enough?

[@BuddaGuedes]

The Boss is a great tremolo. But if you want a simple tremolo go with the surfy industries surfy trem. It's just super!!!

[@brayanfloresramirez8764]

@@BuddaGuedes Thanks of your reply Budda! I got the Boss, here in Perú we struggle to get pedals from small pedal makers, and I always wanted to get myself a Boss pedal for the first time anyway. Amazing vid :)

[@BuddaGuedes]

Brayan Flores Ramírez is a great one.

[@markferguson3745]

Supro make an outstanding Trem.Try it, and you'll forget about the others.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Surfy Industries makes a great tremolo too. Look for my review here kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqK3qYubrcmIgrM

[@rodzamm]

Thanks for a great video!!!

[@BuddaGuedes]

You’re welcome

[@primalia712]

Hey man what kind of tubes are you running in your Mesa Lonestar ?

[@BuddaGuedes]

Factory stock. 6l6

[@cmin7b9]

Awesome video. thanks🤙

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks

[@ussrantiquehunt7164]

Esse reverb da boss é foda pra encontrar. Não entendo porque descontinuaram... Um dos melhores reverbs por aí

[@BuddaGuedes]

É verdade

[@markferguson3745]

There are a few Boss pedals that are hard to slag; the Trem is definitely one of these.Their attempts at Fender emulations represent a specific era of technology, and though certainly recognizable, they are seriously flawed.Having said that, they are also good fun; the Reverb,Trem, Vibrato and a BD2? Should provide many hours of territory to explore. Strymon pedals in general were engineered to be " musical", from the ground up, and there lies their single weakness.It's a challenge to get them to sound truly ugly.

[@BuddaGuedes]

🙏🙏

[@RPSartre01]

I have most of the Strymon pedals, but my favorite right now is the Flint. It’s an incredible sounding pedal. I think the Flint spring reverb handles surf guitar sounds well, but for that I mostly use my Solid Gold FX Surf Rider.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I don’t know that oneZ have to look it up

[@RPSartre01]

@@BuddaGuedes yup, Canadian company. There are some good reviews on KZbin - version III. Check out the one review by RJ Ronquillo.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks. I’ll be looking for it.

[@Doug5524]

Really prefer the 63 reverb to the Strymon

[@BuddaGuedes]

On the reverb setting I also love the Boss FRV1

[@arnaupericas8626]

​@@BuddaGuedes check out the EHX oceans 11, both of you won't be disappointed. Cheaper, than all of these, great drip and many more. Budda, as a gear addicted, you'll end to buy it haha.

[@metrakos]

I have that boss combo rehoused in a single dual pedal....have had the strymon flint which I didn't dig

[@BuddaGuedes]

Great idea

[@pierrem.7682]

love the plate and the 80"s verb on the flint. the spring is meh, if it had the topanga spring in it it would be perfect imo. great demo

[@BuddaGuedes]

Thanks for your comment

[@brunomartinho7145]

Which amp are you using?

[@BuddaGuedes]

I think it was the Mesa Boogie Lonestar

[@brunomartinho7145]

Great sounding gear man!!!

[@marcosmarques982]

what is your guitar?

[@BuddaGuedes]

Marcos Marques this is a made in Mexico Strat with Texas special. There’s a full episode on this guitar.

[@klauswhitedreamer]

Great video, I watched it several times along the years - in the last comparison, for the western spaghetti settings Boss clearly wins ... I have both pedals, I love them a lot, each reverb pedal has its unique quality, I would never give up for one in spite if the other one, but I must admit, the Strymon Flint is really superb ! ♥️😽🙏

[@BuddaGuedes]

🙏🙏🙏

[@fredlepan72]

J'ai possédé la frv 1. Elle fonctionne très bien pour un son surf, mais garde toujours un côté très brillant, agressif dans les hautes frequences, qui finit par être un peu fatigant... la tr2 est excellente, mais la flint possède en plus un boost de volume très utile, qui manque à la boss. Enfin le bias trem et les 2 autres types de rvb font de la flint une grande réussite.

[@candlemasus]

Can you do a comparison of the Boss Frv-1 VS Boss RE-20

[@BuddaGuedes]

They are very different indeed. the RE20 is a delay pedal with a bonus reverb. But the reverb is not that great (at least to me)

[@DavidMorales008]

Amazing Dr Budda

[@BuddaGuedes]

🙏🙏🙏

[@flyjohnson711]

Strymon all the way it’s not close for me. The reverbs on the boss have a thing in the top end of the reflections that I don’t like. Sounds artificial. Strymon is fully warm and real. When it comes to Delay and Reverb-Strymon are aeons ahead of everyone else IMO

[@BuddaGuedes]

That thing on the top end you talk is the surf spring reverb emulation. The strings is going for the tube amp spring reverb tank like the Twin Reverb. The boss is going for the tube reverb unit that fender used to have. Different beats, but I also love the Flint. Thanks for sharing

[@flyjohnson711]

@@BuddaGuedes No I know what they are both attempting to emulate, I just do not like how the Boss is doing it. It is not on the same level in the 10k as the Strymon. Not much is. I like Boss stuff and some is better than others, but Strymon is on a completely different level. That said, those that hear it know, those that do not will be happy regardless. YMMV

[@BuddaGuedes]

In this case I just think they are different. For the surf reverb I prefer the Boss. I use the flint on my board, though, because I don’t play surf music and the reverb on the flint sounds as lot more like my Super Reverb or my Twin. Thanks again for your opinion. This is the beauty of music. There’s no universal truth

[@luxhrock87]

BOSS reverb it is amazing , the Boss Tremolo need a upgrade

[@BuddaGuedes]

I also love the boss TR-2, but the strymon has a magic thing!!! I love the boss FRV1 a lot!!!

[@untartelette7545]

Yeah the FRV1 really has that surf sound. Hoping for a Waza TR-2 now.

[@BuddaGuedes]

That would be cool too

[@savanaviolenta]

Nah. TR2 is perfect as it is. No need for tap tempo input or whatever. If Boss wanted to put it, they would have done it already.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I don’t find it perfect. It’s a good tremolo, but not the best

[@DirtyMikeTM]

No wat the FRV1 can compete with the Flint's reverb choices

[@BuddaGuedes]

🙏

[@nuno3tavares]

És o maior Guedes!!!!

[@BuddaGuedes]

Eh! Eh!

[@univox_guitar]

I like that the Fender reverb didn’t color the sound so much. When I was younger, I would have preferred the Strymon....but these days I want to hear my guitar and amp and not a pedal.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Great point

[@vinceball355]

There is no contest. Strymon Flint is by far the best for the professional.

[@fredlepan72]

The flint is more transparent than the frv! I had the boss, wich always adds too many high frequencies.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I like that high treble on the frv

[@Trewqgtt]

If u don’t wanna hear the pedals, play acoustic...

[@6stringstrum]

Strymon.

[@BuddaGuedes]

thanks

[@jameselliano1203]

Boss has a few good pedals but most are NOT to my liking.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Horses for courses

[@davidluna3209]

The FRV is fantastic. The only thing is it doesn't play well with overdrives.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I haven’t had a problem with that, but many people ask that!

[@LeviBulger]

The Flint is so overrated. Sounds incredibly processed and artificial. Couldn't sell mine fast enough. I so like tgeir El Capistan pedal tho.

[@BuddaGuedes]

I actually like it a lot

[@Skoora]

Just sold mine too. The Harmonic tremolo I didn’t think was strong enough and its Spring Reverb had zero drip and life to it. I will say I thought the 70’s plate setting was very nice. I tried the fender pedal recently and thought it sounded too harsh. So it’s not a replacement for the Flint either.

[@LeviBulger]

@@Skoora Have you tried the Keeley Hydra? I think it smokes the Flint, especially in the spring reverb and harmonic trem sounds. The Harmonious Monk and the MXR Tremolo both have really good harmonic tones but of course they don't have reverb.

[@andygump724]

Tr-2 drains all life out of signal.

[@BuddaGuedes]

Mine doesn’t