Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Plus

Ben Tidy
March 3, 2009

Rating: 9/10

I am reviewing the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb.

This Reverb Pedal has 3 types of Reverb:
Spring-This Emulates a classic amp reverb.
Hall- This Emulates a Hall-like reverb.(Think playing in a big space)
Flerb-Basically, This is the spring reverb with a little bit of flanger thrown in. (With interesting results!)

As with All Electro-Harmonix Pedals, they are built with gigging in mind. The Reinforced, Steel Casing will survive even the toughest stomp. Obviously if you jump on it, it will probably make a dent but i havn\'t tried that! Overall the construction seems pretty sturdy.

The footswitch doesn\'t make a poping noise when engaged, and the volume/tone are not affected when the pedal is on.

Another thing to note is the pedal comes with an adapter which is usefull, considering reverb is something that people use all the time.

Now Let\'s review the settings:

Spring- This setting is probably the one I use the most. It can go from a light reverb, (10/11 o clock) heavier reverb,(1/2 o clock) to the extreme.(3 o clock +)
In the higher modes you can really get some nice surf sounds. Think The Ventures signature \'Twang\'.

Hall-This mode is a bit heavier than the \'spring\' mode. In this mode, it is less of a reverb and more of an echo effect & reverb blended together.Again it goes from a light echo(10/11 o clock) to a heavier echo. (1/2 o clock) When you get past 3 o clock, It sounds like you\'re playing inside a cave or something. It\'s really cool, but you wouldn\'t really use it as much as \'spring\' mode, especially if you gig.

Flerb-This setting is unique to the holy grail. It works in the same way as the \'Spring\' mode, except the more you turn the dial, the more flanger it adds as well. You can\'t really hear the flanger until you get past 12/1 o clock, but it has a nice sound. You can really get some interesting sounds with it. The unusual thing about this setting is, rather than having the reverb and flanger seperately in the mix, it fuses them together to create this otherwordly effect that I can\'t really describe. You will just have to try it out!

Overall, This is an exellent reverb Pedal. The other 2 setting are a nice touch(Especially \'Flerb\') but the \'spring\' mode is where this pedal really stands out.

The only reason I am not giving it 10/10 is that it is entireley Digital. THIS PEDAL IS NOT ANALOGUE!!!

I personally would have preferred if it was analogue, but it\'s such a good pedal, I\'m not really fussed.

I Highly Recommend it if your reverb tank has died, (Like Mine) or you just want more reverb than you amp can do.

I Hope This Review has helped anyone looking to buy this pedal.

-Ben-