A lot of hating going on in the comments. I don't have any experience with the Sunset ... BUT ...my two cents on the Riverside is that it is the best overdrive pedal I've owned. I've owned most of the big boutique pedals. I had a handful of them on my board when I got the Riverside - I ended up selling them all. First - the range of useable gain is great. Next- the favorite switch gives you the possibility of two vastly different sounds from one pedal. The expression pedal function is the icing on the cake. I have mine set for slight breakup in the heal position to heavy crunch in toe position - on one channel. Then on the other channel (Favorite switch), I have medium rock drive in the heal position to scorching hard rock drive in the toe position. That's slight breakup to scorching drive tones in the sweep of an expression pedal. Add to that a very good buffer and a noise gate - and a boost switch option - and a very sensitive EQ - I can't imagine not liking this pedal. But ..... to each his own. Been playing for a few decades now - owned dozens - and dozens -of drives. The Strymon Riverside is hands down my favorite. Of course it's all subjective and your mileage may vary. Just one guys take on this great pedal.
I think the riverside sounds better and all your reasons is just even more validation. I really want it so bad lol. I want a suhr shiba drive and lightning boy overdrive and the riverside and my overdive tones will be about set to my liking
youtube does not do the riverside justice. I thought it was ok sounding until I played it live, and found out how great this pedal is. I ran it up against my Angry Charlie, OCD, Whampler hot Wired , Jetter Gold Standard and Marvel Drive and it killed them all. sounds even better playing out with the band
Funny. I just pulled this video up - because I'm thinking of getting a Sunset in addition to my Riverside. I'm running my Riverside into a Kingsley Squire D. My name is coming up on the list soon for a Kingsley Constable - and I want another drive to push THAT preamp - hence my search for an additional drive. I started reading the comment above and I thought "Man, I couldn't agree more with the guy who wrote that" - not realizing that I wrote it. Lol !!! I forgot that I'd seen this video - let alone commented on it. My point to this is that - 6 months later - I love the Riverside just as much - if not more. Many times we buy pedals and love them ....... then our ears lock into something that we don't like about it - and the honeymoon comes to an abrupt end. I thought it was important to state that - this is not the case with the Riverside. It is such a crucial part of my sound. Still loving this pedal.
I still hear that hint of digifuzz in all modellers compared to tube amps, but then again another year from now that will be solved too. AI is scaryyyy. Human voice modelling next, we can all sing like Beyonce with a plug in.
I’ve been contemplating the same thing. I already have Mobius, Big Sky and Timeline. I also have the EQD Palisades which is incredible. Plus a few FuzzFaces so I wasn’t sure if I needed the Sunset or the Riverside but I think the Sunset might be the best drive with all 3 of my favorite tones, Germanium, TS, and Treble Booster/Range Master. Did you wind up buying the Sunset? I’d be curious to know what you thought...
This was one of the best demonstrations videos that I have seen in a long time! You are a great guitar player, very versatile and thorough. I still can't decide between the two. I have a lot of pedals but I have just started by Strymon pedal (Timeline & Big Sky) and they are worth the extra money. Of the two I can't decide which one is more versatile.
Thanks so much! I think it comes down to tone preferences here. The Riverside sounds much more like amp distortion and the Sunset is a collection of awesome pedal drive tones. I'd use them very differently and they (obviously) work really well together if you put the Sunset in front of the Riverside. Cheers //Kris
I own the Riverside and several other Strymons - they are all the best pedals I've ever owned, in every category. But after listening to this comparison, I don't see that the Sunset is that much different than the Riverside I already own, so I don't know that I need both. Does anyone agree or disagree? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I agree. I own the Riverside and really love it. I was originally going to buy the Sunset until I realized the Riverside is more for me and how I play. Recently I sold a bunch of pedals and thought maybe I should give the Sunset a try but like you said, I’m not sure if it’s really much different than the Riverside,. The Sunset ( on high gain stacked mode ) does remind me of my JHS AT + which has the best JCM 800 high gain tone.
@@jordandangelo180 I am also a riverside owner, had the same thoughts, drew the same conclusion. The main benefit of the sunset seems to be higher gain stuff. I don't play enough of it to switch, the riverside does the boost/light drive sound incredibly well for the stuff I like to play, paired with a deco it's amazing. Strymon pedals are expensive yes but I don't regret a single purchase.
Choose the pedal that is most suitable and versatile for you. Sound wise in a live situation the audience wont care in the slightest and I doubt you would notice either. They are both more extremely capable of great sounds.
Everyone is picking their favorite & I'm over here like, "Why not both?". I think he described it best as Riverside = amp emulation, Sunset = Pedal emulation. Sunset into Riverside +an IR = tonal bliss.
I got both just in case ;) I predict a big box Strymon pedal in the future, much like the BigSky or Timeline, to feature lots of different type of overdrive types in one low cost of $450. Preferably in white.
I just bought the Timeline and Bigsky for not a low cost but I traded a lot in and got one for “ free” with trades. I also have a Mobius and it’s incredible. The Autoswell is capable of serious Uni-Vibe tones. The Tremolo engine of the Mobius is exactly the same as the Flint which imho has the best Tremolo in the game.
I think crunch wise, the Riverside its more my flavor, but they both sound great. One thing I don't care for as much is a mix of clean and fuzz. That setting was too muddled, or like a trebly tele grafted onto a noise wall, where I'm more a one or the other guy. Thanks for doing the review! I was just made aware of Strymons
I play the sunset here I’m nashville and I’ve always used a nobels and the great thing is I can dial up a very good nobels tone as well as taking care of all the goodness on the germanium side
Sunset seems way more versatile for me! you can get 6 classic overdrive sounds with the ability to stack as well and a noise gate! But the Riverside is great too!! I'd just go with the Sunset because it suits my needs for more swiss army tone shaper with lots of options...
Great playing Kris! Do you have any experience with using the Riverside as a preamp and stacking it with other pedals? The Sunset gives me more GAS, but my pedalboard is my sound and I never quite know what amp I gonna plug in to. This makes me think the Riverside would be the best option because it has better tone shaping capabilities. Plug into the effects return of the amp, or set the amp to clean and plug in directly to the front, adjust presence to taste and off you go...
Hello ! I play blues and classic rock cover ( Gilmour, ZZ Top , AC/DC etc..) in a Fender deluxe 65. I look for a double OD pedal , warm, smooth and rough sounding if needed ! Which one pile the job ? JHS double barrel, sweet tea, this supreme ? Jam pedal ? Let me know please which one is awesome sounding ...kind regards from France,
brilliant demo as usual. i liked the sunset better. also now they both have midi with a gazillion (300) presets. its already in my thomann shopping basket :)
fabrocal I own both the Riverside and Sunset pedals. What are you referring to about 300 presets? I have not heard this. Can you explain so I can use as well ? Thanks!
Which one did you decide on +atk326? I myself went with the riverside. I love my amp sound, but sometimes I need to play with a different amp, so I can now have a more high gain distortion that I love whenever.
Sunset for simply awesome riverside for slightly more complicated awesome. Id say Sunset if you constantly gig riverside if you constantly record. But both are great for both
I think Sunset is more like a tube screamer, you add that to an already driven amp to push it harder, and the Riverside is an amp in a box style of pedal. I'm not sure, but isn't that what he's going for?
Not at all. The Sunset's Hard and 2 Stage modes on the B side are full-on distortion and fuzz. The Treble and JFET modes are overdrives that can be used in TS-9 style. So you can run the Sunset into a clean amp and get high-gain tones without any extra help. Much like the BE-OD and the 5150 OD that are distortion pedals despite being called overdrives.
how this favorite works ? its like i have 1 configuration in the pedal with low gain and i press the favorite and i can use a high gain sound ? so its like 2 pedals in one ??
Pretty much yes. Imagine taking a screenshot of your current settings and saving that screenshot with the favourite switch. Then you can dial in a new tone on the pedal itself and swap between settings as you please. The favourite setting can be low, mid or high gain - as you want it to be. //Philipp
My experience through life (not even with all my guitar gear): Thee who buys cheap, buys twice! Better to buy something with a better quality and a step above what you actually need. You will make your way and get better... then you have the gear which matches perfectly your skills.
How come Strymon so bad at Making Dist pedals? So disappointed but FX pedal is still top of the edge though The idea using high quality DSP was so good expecting AXE FX kinda sound but came to be muddy digital
Wonder you have experience with AXE FX. It has DSP and DIST sound is Amaing Feels like Alanog's Warmth Combined with Digital's Precision. Since this pedal came out, i ran to guitar shop with high pleasure. Deep Tested both for like 3 hours, but Could not get even to close to AXE FX DIST sounding worse, Muddy and Screaming no Warmth. (Sounding is matter of personal taste, i hate muddy, Screaming pedal ex) RAT etc.. i would rather use analog OD out there.
Difference? The DIFFERENCE is, now you gotta buy TWO pedals, for the price that I used to buy AUTOMOBILES for. '65 Volkswagon - took me two YEARS to blow that one up. '68 Buick - THER-EEEE years.
Strymon should stay out of dirt boxes, unless they want to present something more akin to WMD's Geiger Counter in terms of digital distortions. I'd be far more interested in seeing them making a Pitch Shifter/Whamy with all the goodies than this.
@Luke You know somebody is an amateur loser (i don't mean you personaly btw) when he is using a drive with attention to detail on specific parameters on a pedal he's going to get rid of anyway. Enough with this "high end line of products". Good companies make sh!t, ridiculous priced products and this is a classic example.
Please Thomann, get someone who can speak English to do these videos. This: we have.... öööö... you know... so... and... ummmmm... you know... is just painful to listen and watch.
Sexy Enska Nah... And wut? I'm here for pedals, not for language courses and plus, Kris is not native speaker. For the most important, he understand gear, play great and seems a really cool Dude to hang out with! :)
![ปฏิเสธไม่ไหว (Crush on you) - LIPTA feat. No One Else [TEASER MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VC689EgdSIw/mqdefault.jpg)
A lot of hating going on in the comments. I don't have any experience with the Sunset ... BUT ...my two cents on the Riverside is that it is the best overdrive pedal I've owned. I've owned most of the big boutique pedals. I had a handful of them on my board when I got the Riverside - I ended up selling them all. First - the range of useable gain is great. Next- the favorite switch gives you the possibility of two vastly different sounds from one pedal. The expression pedal function is the icing on the cake. I have mine set for slight breakup in the heal position to heavy crunch in toe position - on one channel. Then on the other channel (Favorite switch), I have medium rock drive in the heal position to scorching hard rock drive in the toe position. That's slight breakup to scorching drive tones in the sweep of an expression pedal. Add to that a very good buffer and a noise gate - and a boost switch option - and a very sensitive EQ - I can't imagine not liking this pedal. But ..... to each his own. Been playing for a few decades now - owned dozens - and dozens -of drives. The Strymon Riverside is hands down my favorite. Of course it's all subjective and your mileage may vary. Just one guys take on this great pedal.
I think the riverside sounds better and all your reasons is just even more validation. I really want it so bad lol. I want a suhr shiba drive and lightning boy overdrive and the riverside and my overdive tones will be about set to my liking
Also a lightning boy soul drive 3 as an always on type.of thing
youtube does not do the riverside justice. I thought it was ok sounding until I played it live, and found out how great this pedal is. I ran it up against my Angry Charlie, OCD, Whampler hot Wired , Jetter Gold Standard and Marvel Drive and it killed them all. sounds even better playing out with the band
Funny. I just pulled this video up - because I'm thinking of getting a Sunset in addition to my Riverside. I'm running my Riverside into a Kingsley Squire D. My name is coming up on the list soon for a Kingsley Constable - and I want another drive to push THAT preamp - hence my search for an additional drive. I started reading the comment above and I thought "Man, I couldn't agree more with the guy who wrote that" - not realizing that I wrote it. Lol !!! I forgot that I'd seen this video - let alone commented on it. My point to this is that - 6 months later - I love the Riverside just as much - if not more. Many times we buy pedals and love them ....... then our ears lock into something that we don't like about it - and the honeymoon comes to an abrupt end. I thought it was important to state that - this is not the case with the Riverside. It is such a crucial part of my sound. Still loving this pedal.
I still hear that hint of digifuzz in all modellers compared to tube amps, but then again another year from now that will be solved too. AI is scaryyyy. Human voice modelling next, we can all sing like Beyonce with a plug in.
I think I may go all Strymon now that the Sunset is here. Great video!
I’ve been contemplating the same thing. I already have Mobius, Big Sky and Timeline. I also have the EQD Palisades which is incredible. Plus a few FuzzFaces so I wasn’t sure if I needed the Sunset or the Riverside but I think the Sunset might be the best drive with all 3 of my favorite tones, Germanium, TS, and Treble Booster/Range Master. Did you wind up buying the Sunset? I’d be curious to know what you thought...
This was one of the best demonstrations videos that I have seen in a long time! You are a great guitar player, very versatile and thorough. I still can't decide between the two. I have a lot of pedals but I have just started by Strymon pedal (Timeline & Big Sky) and they are worth the extra money. Of the two I can't decide which one is more versatile.
Thanks so much! I think it comes down to tone preferences here. The Riverside sounds much more like amp distortion and the Sunset is a collection of awesome pedal drive tones. I'd use them very differently and they (obviously) work really well together if you put the Sunset in front of the Riverside. Cheers //Kris
The sunset takes the cake hands down. Honestly that has the perfect fuzz as well IMO. So many options
i use the riverside. even at very high gain it is quiet, even without the built in noise suppressor. best drive i ever used by far
same I gotta get my Traynor loop modded to Series and I'm good to go
Your description with Riverside = "OD Ampish" et Sunset = OD "Pedalish" is very clever !
Informative and great playing as always Kris 🤘
I own the Riverside and several other Strymons - they are all the best pedals I've ever owned, in every category. But after listening to this comparison, I don't see that the Sunset is that much different than the Riverside I already own, so I don't know that I need both. Does anyone agree or disagree? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I agree. I own the Riverside and really love it. I was originally going to buy the Sunset until I realized the Riverside is more for me and how I play. Recently I sold a bunch of pedals and thought maybe I should give the Sunset a try but like you said, I’m not sure if it’s really much different than the Riverside,. The Sunset ( on high gain stacked mode ) does remind me of my JHS AT + which has the best JCM 800 high gain tone.
@@jordandangelo180 I am also a riverside owner, had the same thoughts, drew the same conclusion. The main benefit of the sunset seems to be higher gain stuff. I don't play enough of it to switch, the riverside does the boost/light drive sound incredibly well for the stuff I like to play, paired with a deco it's amazing. Strymon pedals are expensive yes but I don't regret a single purchase.
Choose the pedal that is most suitable and versatile for you. Sound wise in a live situation the audience wont care in the slightest and I doubt you would notice either. They are both more extremely capable of great sounds.
Everyone is picking their favorite & I'm over here like, "Why not both?". I think he described it best as Riverside = amp emulation, Sunset = Pedal emulation.
Sunset into Riverside +an IR = tonal bliss.
Totally agree. Too hard to choose and they are two pretty different pedals.
The perfect rig? What you described + Iridium (takes care of the IRs) + H90.
Gut gemacht. Ein sehr hilfreiches video. Bitte mehr davon. Kein nur sinnloses Highgain geschredder wie bei der Konkurrenz
I got both just in case ;)
I predict a big box Strymon pedal in the future, much like the BigSky or Timeline, to feature lots of different type of overdrive types in one low cost of $450. Preferably in white.
I disagree, No need, too much competition
"low cost of 450"
Ricardo Del Toro you were close, but it’s black and called the Iridium 🤪
I just bought the Timeline and Bigsky for not a low cost but I traded a lot in and got one for “ free” with trades. I also have a Mobius and it’s incredible. The Autoswell is capable of serious Uni-Vibe tones. The Tremolo engine of the Mobius is exactly the same as the Flint which imho has the best Tremolo in the game.
I think crunch wise, the Riverside its more my flavor, but they both sound great. One thing I don't care for as much is a mix of clean and fuzz. That setting was too muddled, or like a trebly tele grafted onto a noise wall, where I'm more a one or the other guy. Thanks for doing the review! I was just made aware of Strymons
Love both sound better than all I've had before.
OK, this demo just cost me $299 since I now have to add the riverside to my Sunset. Was hoping to only "have" to have the one OD...THANKS!
392Firepower you’re welcome!
What do you like better?
I Have and love them both. Strymon is great on all there pedals.
I play the sunset here I’m nashville and I’ve always used a nobels and the great thing is I can dial up a very good nobels tone as well as taking care of all the goodness on the germanium side
Sunset seems way more versatile for me! you can get 6 classic overdrive sounds with the ability to stack as well and a noise gate! But the Riverside is great too!! I'd just go with the Sunset because it suits my needs for more swiss army tone shaper with lots of options...
Thanks, I enjoyed this review, great job
Very informative great review and comparison.
I will get both and see how if they bump something off the pedalboard.
Into this amplifier, the Sunset is the clear winner for me.
Great playing Kris! Do you have any experience with using the Riverside as a preamp and stacking it with other pedals? The Sunset gives me more GAS, but my pedalboard is my sound and I never quite know what amp I gonna plug in to. This makes me think the Riverside would be the best option because it has better tone shaping capabilities. Plug into the effects return of the amp, or set the amp to clean and plug in directly to the front, adjust presence to taste and off you go...
Hello ! I play blues and classic rock cover ( Gilmour, ZZ Top , AC/DC etc..) in a Fender deluxe 65. I look for a double OD pedal , warm, smooth and rough sounding if needed ! Which one pile the job ? JHS double barrel, sweet tea, this supreme ? Jam pedal ? Let me know please which one is awesome sounding ...kind regards from France,
Sunset has been a great clean and distortion overdrive for me in one pedal.
brilliant demo as usual. i liked the sunset better. also now they both have midi with a gazillion (300) presets. its already in my thomann shopping basket :)
fabrocal I own both the Riverside and Sunset pedals. What are you referring to about 300 presets? I have not heard this. Can you explain so I can use as well ? Thanks!
@@jeremygueringerguitarandsa9826 sunset, riverside, iridium... You can connect a midi switcher and save 300 presets.
And now these have 300 MIDI accessible presets per pedal. how bou dat?!
Can you help me understand the 300 presets? I have the Riverside and Sunset. Thanks and I love your channel!
As I understand it, you really need MIDI functionality to take advantage of that
Excellent descriptions! Thank you.
The Knaggs showed both pedals off beautifully, the tell not so much
Jazzy Maggot Brain loop up top… nice🤘🏾
Fantastic demo, thank you
Still have no idea which one to get.
atk326 get riverside
Which one did you decide on +atk326? I myself went with the riverside. I love my amp sound, but sometimes I need to play with a different amp, so I can now have a more high gain distortion that I love whenever.
Sunset for simply awesome
riverside for slightly more complicated awesome.
Id say Sunset if you constantly gig
riverside if you constantly record.
But both are great for both
This video felt more like this guy was trying to prove his point of view rather than actually testing out the different features and sounds.
Hi! Great review, thank you so much! Which one would you recomend for an hi-gain setting with Drop C tuning?
Excellent review, thanks!
I think Sunset is more like a tube screamer, you add that to an already driven amp to push it harder, and the Riverside is an amp in a box style of pedal. I'm not sure, but isn't that what he's going for?
Not at all. The Sunset's Hard and 2 Stage modes on the B side are full-on distortion and fuzz. The Treble and JFET modes are overdrives that can be used in TS-9 style. So you can run the Sunset into a clean amp and get high-gain tones without any extra help. Much like the BE-OD and the 5150 OD that are distortion pedals despite being called overdrives.
how this favorite works ? its like i have 1 configuration in the pedal with low gain and i press the favorite and i can use a high gain sound ? so its like 2 pedals in one ??
Pretty much yes. Imagine taking a screenshot of your current settings and saving that screenshot with the favourite switch. Then you can dial in a new tone on the pedal itself and swap between settings as you please. The favourite setting can be low, mid or high gain - as you want it to be. //Philipp
oh my god thats amazing!! i will by one strymon riverside this week here in brazil thanks for the help man !
PS: Sorry for my bad english hahahaha
I want them both ! ... :)
Can you please tell us which mics were used to record the amp?
Thanks in advance!
Hey Markus, here are the two mics we always use:
-Sennheiser e906: bit.ly/2PnkIHE
-sE Electronics VR2 Voodoo: bit.ly/2G1q3VH
//cheers, Kris
What scale was that run from at 0:25?
Hello Kris. Would you be so kind as to demo the Harley Benton GuitarBass VS [the Fender VI wannabe]? Thank you.
That's the tele not so much!
why strymon pedals are so expensive?
Andre Viana Because they kick all kinds of ass. 😀
And MIDI. Insane amount of control when gigging
My experience through life (not even with all my guitar gear):
Thee who buys cheap, buys twice!
Better to buy something with a better quality and a step above what you actually need. You will make your way and get better... then you have the gear which matches perfectly your skills.
@@jaysigma yeah i agree, i changed my mind in the past 3 years =P
MASTER
I'm getting both.
How come Strymon so bad at Making Dist pedals?
So disappointed but FX pedal is still top of the edge though
The idea using high quality DSP was so good expecting AXE FX kinda sound
but came to be muddy digital
Sihoon I like them both, what dont u like about them?
Wonder you have experience with AXE FX. It has DSP and DIST sound is Amaing
Feels like Alanog's Warmth Combined with Digital's Precision.
Since this pedal came out, i ran to guitar shop with high pleasure. Deep Tested both for like 3 hours, but
Could not get even to close to AXE FX DIST sounding worse, Muddy and Screaming no Warmth.
(Sounding is matter of personal taste, i hate muddy, Screaming pedal ex) RAT etc..
i would rather use analog OD out there.
"Easy peasy"; are you sure you're not British?!?!? :-)
vielleicht hättest du das Video besser in Deutsch gemacht sooo viel Blabla, gefrickel und doch keine Info das können die in Frankfurt besser. Sorry
Difference? The DIFFERENCE is, now you gotta buy TWO pedals, for the price that I used to buy AUTOMOBILES for. '65 Volkswagon - took me two YEARS to blow that one up. '68 Buick - THER-EEEE years.
DogFaced Boy you’re so cool and old
Strymon should stay out of dirt boxes, unless they want to present something more akin to WMD's Geiger Counter in terms of digital distortions. I'd be far more interested in seeing them making a Pitch Shifter/Whamy with all the goodies than this.
3:50, already, blah, blah blah
ugh. Blues licks.
happyhappy85 love blues licks. Shut it and you’re free to leave go play if you even can your useless, annoying djent power chord all 2 of them. AH.
@@robertwellington2616 I like blues licks man. I also don't like Djent. But change it up a bit. Every review ever is blues lick 101
You eat drugs?
Yeah why buying one or even two great sounding overdrive pedals when you can waste your money buying a shiny piece of sh!t?
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke.
@Luke You know somebody is an amateur loser (i don't mean you personaly btw) when he is using a drive with attention to detail on specific parameters on a pedal he's going to get rid of anyway. Enough with this "high end line of products". Good companies make sh!t, ridiculous priced products and this is a classic example.
versuch mal mit Feeling Gitarre zu spielen....oder hör auf damit....ist ja nicht auszuhalten, steck die Hände lieber in die Tasche
Please Thomann, get someone who can speak English to do these videos. This: we have.... öööö... you know... so... and... ummmmm... you know... is just painful to listen and watch.
Sexy Enska I think Kris does a great Job! His English is very fine and apart from that he's a nice Dude!
Sexy Enska Nah... And wut? I'm here for pedals, not for language courses and plus, Kris is not native speaker. For the most important, he understand gear, play great and seems a really cool Dude to hang out with! :)
I wish I could speak German lingo as well as Kris can speak English. Great video.
Enska there is nothing wrong with his English.
Steve Redenbaugh "That makes fun" is a bit weird though... 😅