New Reverb pedal: Fender Marine Layer

[syscokid]

I'm seriously trying to downsize my pedal count. I had 2 reverb pedals, and I want to have only one. So what to do? Hmmm.... I'll just buy another one... that should help, right? And now I have 3... ugh!

Anyways, this year Fender introduced a new line of pedals. There are 9 of them. All of them seem to be getting very nice reviews, and are competing at BOSS pedal's price levels. Solid construction, nice features, and excellent performance as it should be.

Here's my new reverb pedal, the Fender Marine Layer ($149.99 plus some Tea):






Fender's new line of pedals all feature a magnetic door for the battery compartment:




Did I say the construction looks solid?




The LEDs On/Off switch activates the illuminated markers on the knobs. This could be useful to preserve battery life. The DRY KILL switch kills the dry signal, and only allows the wet signal to go thru. This is intended for parallel effects loops: Dry signal goes thru the amp, and wet signal gets blended in thru the parallel effects loop:




Another feature in common with all the new Fender pedals is the jewel lights. These things are hilariously bright:


I think Fender should have added another switch for controlling the intensity of the jewel light... MELLOW and BLINDING would be good titles!


A pedal size comparison:



All 3 of the above pedals are excellent performers, and all at mid-level pricing when new. I will be selling the HardWire (Digitech) and the BOSS. I'm very comfortable with the Fender Marine Layer. I'm not going to miss the fact that the Fender pedal does not have a second output like the HardWire and the BOSS. And oddly... the Fender Marine Layer does not offer a "Spring" model as a voicing.

 

[RVA]

Looks nice. I have not watched the video yet, so tell me what the special settihg is please

 

[CabanaBoy]

Better three reverb pedals than no reverb pedal...

 

[Sp8ctre]

I've been waiting for someone to buy some of these Fender pedals so I can get an honest review from a fellow forumite...

...so, how do you like it?

 

[syscokid]

Looks nice. I have not watched the video yet, so tell me what the special settihg is please

Interesting that Fender called the 3rd algorithm: "Special". When the Variation switch is at position 1, you can dial in a "shimmering" (droning, pitch-shifting craziness) type of verb. Position 2, depending on how other controls are set of coarse, conjures up some heavy modulation... verb! My BOSS has a shimmer algorithm, and a separate modulated algo, but the Fender can produce it more dramatically! The HardWire does everything real nice, but it doesn't have a shimmer mode.

 

[syscokid]

I've been waiting for someone to buy some of these Fender pedals so I can get an honest review from a fellow forumite...

...so, how do you like it?

So far, I'm impressed... but then again, I get pretty exited over anything! ...What? ...T.M.I.?

Last couple of days I've tried the Marine Layer for the first time in the front of my Chihuahua amp (6 watt Blackface Champ on Steroids style), and into the added effects loop of my old JCM800. The pedal is capable of producing some decent quality verbs. At first, the 4 rotary controls and the 3 topside switches reminded me of the dreaded The Learning Curve! But after an hour of fumbling around, the controls became more intuitive and some nice and surprising sounds are coming out. The Fender's Pre-Delay control is a feature that my other 2 verb pedals don't have as a separate control. The Fender's reverb tone shaping uses a "Damping" control and a on/off filter switch for control of the highs.

This is also a cool and classy looking pedal. Even though this Fender pedal is made in China, it physically feels righteous and solid. Hell, I'm a sucky old guitar player and if the pedal looks and feels good, then that's half the battle in dictating if I'm going to like it.

 

[BlackSG91]

That pedal sure does look classy & fancy...I really dig it with the variety of controls on it.



;>)/