ElectroHarmonix
118 Guitarist March 2010
£179 & £140
EFFECTS
Electro-Harmonix
Cathedral Stereo
Reverb
£140
USA
Stereo digital reverb
Tap/Infinite and bypass
footswitches, blend, reverb time,
damping/tone, feedback, pre-delay,
push preset/mode
Eight programmable
memories
Dual 6.4mm jack
mono/stereo instrument inputs and
outputs
Supplied AC adaptor
155 (w) x 120 (d)
x 62mm (h)
0.56/1.23
None
Holy Grail Nano
(£80), Holy Grail Plus (£99)
Test results
reverse reverb algorithms.
Finally, according to Electro-
Harmonix, the Grail Flerb
mode (a flanging reverb) is the
Holy Grail Flerb with a greater
range of adjustability, while
Echo provides up to two
seconds of digital delay. One of
the most exciting features on
the Cathedral is the Infinite
Reverb. This effect is enabled
by holding down the tap/
infinite footswitch (indicated
by the green Beat LED) and
allows you to play over a reverb
wash without adding to it. The
tap tempo sets your pre-delay
section and the bypass
footswitch switches the effect
in or out of the signal chain,
indicated by a red status LED.
There are five extra controls,
including blend, reverb time,
damping/tone, feedback and
pre-delay.
Sounds
The eight reverb modes
encompass anything from
Spaghetti Western tones to
more experimental post-rock
reverb. Particular highlights
include the Grail Spring, which
produces ethereal and lush
sounding spring reverb tones
(think Jeff Buckley), while the
Accu Spring offers a much
tighter sound, suited to players
with a taste for more authentic
tones. Room mode presents a
nice and simple bluesy twist to
proceedings, while Reverse
provides weird backward
swooshes to create a spooky
like-you’ve-already-played-it
type of sound. Which leads us
nicely onto the ingenious
Infinite Reverb. The ability to
play over an infinite reverb note
and layer your own textures
over the top really opens up
new paths of experimentation
and leans towards the
soundscapes created by bands
such as Explosions In The Sky
and The Appleseed Cast.
Verdict
Hardware Vocoders are few
and far between, so the V256 is
a welcome addition and, as a
purely vocal effect, does its job
very well. Vocoding isn’t to all
tastes and is perhaps of limited
use, but the transposition
modes give the unit a broader
appeal. As a guitar effect, the
V256 takes a bit of getting used
to and requires you to sing or at
least speak into a mic, but if you
The Bottom Line
V256 Vocoder
We like: Weird vocal effects
and wah effects; harmonies
triggered from guitar chords
We dislike: Needs careful
juxtaposition of the controls
Guitarist says: Add a new
voice to your guitar with this
vocal effect stompbox
Cathedral Stereo
Reverb
We like: Array of reverbs;
sound quality; ease of use
We dislike: Flerb mode isn’t
for everyone and difficult to
apply in a live setting
Guitarist says: A well-priced
and unbelievably spec’d
digital stereo reverb that can
cater for a wide range of
playing and musical styles
Electro-Harmonix
V256 Vocoder
£179
USA
Vocoder pedal
Mic bypass footswitch,
preset footswitch, lo/hi mic gain
switch, phantom power switch, blend,
bands, tone, gender bender, pitch
and mode
Nine programmable
memories
6.4mm instrument
input and output, XLR mic input, MIDI
in, XLR effect output
Supplied AC adaptor
155 (w) x 120 (d)
x 62mm (h)
0.56/1.23
MIDI controller
Voice Box (£131),
Nano Iron Lung (£90)
Test results
don’t mind the hassle, it will
reward you with a new guitar
vocabulary to explore.
The Cathedral reverb is
much more guitar-friendly and
is packed to the hilt with great
sounding and highly usable
’verbs. This reasonably priced
and well-built unit enables you
to create anything from simple
room reverbs through to the
more experimental, enabling
you to build an array of
ethereal, engrossing sounds.
We had hours of reverb-fuelled
fun – and so will you.
You can store up to nine presets in the V256’s memoryThere are eight different reverb modes available
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