Oceans 11 Reverb

108
Guitarist september 2018
Y
ou might have noticed it’s been a while
since EHX launched a new reverb pedal,
but last year’s release of the Canyon delay
paved the way for the Oceans 11, which follows the
same pedalboard-friendly compact form factor.
Eleven different types of reverb can be selected
using the rotary switch, some of those having up
to three variations on the theme, and accessed by
pressing the Mode button linked to an LED, which
will light up as green, red or orange to signify the
active mode.
Besides that, you get knobs to control the reverb
level (from totally dry to totally wet), the reverb
time (infinite reverb when fully clockwise on some
types) and the tone for a brighter or darker sound.
The Time and Tone knobs also have a secondary
function of controlling a stored hidden parameter,
different for each reverb type, like pre-delay time
and pre-delay feedback for the Hall and Plate
reverbs and Spring Length and preamp Drive for
the Spring reverb.
That Spring seems to be based on a vintage
Fender outboard unit and its authentic sound
will not disappoint surf guitarists in any way – it
has that ‘drip’ that you hear when palm muting.
There are, in fact, some very nice-sounding
reverbs here, covering just about all the options
you could wish for including modulated, pitch-
shifted and dynamic types plus a practical
combined reverb and delay. Reverb with tremolo
is another great addition, particularly the smooth
sine wave mode, and you can turn the reverb down
for just trem. There’s some cool performance
features too, including footswitch-operated
infinite reverb, which is really a ‘freeze’ type
function – play a chord, hold the footswitch and
it’ll hang in the background swathed in reverb
while you play normally over it, until you release
the switch.
VERDICT
This EHX take on the multiple-program reverb
pedal doesn’t have pre-set switching or stereo
operation, but how difficult is it to twiddle a few
knobs if you want a different sound for a particular
song, and how many of us use a stereo path
anyway? Fact is, this is a very efficient way to put
some reverb on your ’board both in terms of cost
and size. It would be worth it purely for that spring
to release your inner Dick Dale… but you’ll be
getting so much more than just that.
Oceans 11 Reverb
It might take its name from a heist movie but you
won’t need to rob a casino for this cool reverb
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Joby Sessions
Tech Spec
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Reverb pedal
FEATURES: Buffered
bypass, 11 reverb types
(Hall, Spring, Plate,
Reverse, Reverb plus
Delay, Reverb plus
Tremolo, Modulated,
Dynamic, Auto-Infinite,
Shimmer, Polyphonic),
Tap Tempo, Infinite
reverb
CONTROLS: Reverb
selector, FX Level, Time,
Tone, Mode button,
internal tails switch,
bypass footswitch
CONNECTIONS:
Standard input, standard
output, infinite (for
momentary footswitch)
POWER: Supplied 9V DC
adaptor
DIMENSIONS: 70 (w) x
115 (d) x 54mm (h)
9
MANUFACTUR ER
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
MODEL
OCEANS 11 REVERB
CONTACT
WWW.EHX.COM
PRICE
£130
PEDALBOARD
PROS Compact size, a variety of reverb types,
footswitchable performance options
CONS Remembering all the Modes and Secondary
Functions for each reverb type
Video & audio http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
ElEctro-Harmonix
GIT437.peds_electro.indd 108 8/8/18 11:05 AM