Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb

This thing is idiot-proof...nuff said

I play a myriad of guitars through the worlds largest rig and into a Matchless Chieftan. I bought this pedal because the reverb on the Matchless just doesn't do it for me. I like a fairly saturated sound and tend to use a lot of delay. In an attempt to reduce my use of delay I thought the Holy Grail would fit the bill for providing the nice full sound I look for...it did. While I wish this pedal had a bit more flexibility and a wider range of sounds it definitely gave me what I was looking for. If I'd popped for the Holier Grail I guess I would have gotten more, but I didn't feel like paying for one.

This pedal stays on all the time, so I guess that sums up how well it works. It does color the sound some, but I've compensated for the change in other areas to keep my general tone sounding the way I demand.

Seems pretty tough, but I don't like the switch. It does that really hard clunk when you step on it, and every time I get a pedal with one of those on it I end up replacing it with a good Switchcraft switch.

No idea what these people are like to deal with...

I've been playing for a long time and have a ton of boutique pedals. This is one of the few "mainstream can buy it off Musicians Friend" units I own, and I feel completely comfortable with its performance.

If someone took it I'd get another one. You can't beat it for $100.

I replaced the round knob with an old chicken head knob. Its a touchy-feely thing with me.

I just use the "spring" setting. Its close enough to the real thing through my Pro Junior.

As someone else noted below, I wish I could set the tail or decay a little shorter, especially on the 12 o'clock settings. The tail end seems to get in the way of subsequent notes. However, for surf settings (3 o'clock), it doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for noise, its quieter than my Fender amps with spring reverb. I've heard others say the newer Holy Grails have eliminated the hissing and would agree. I got this new in December '05.

So far, used at home only. I might try it at a jam for playing surf.

Overall, I'd say its a decent pedal for the money.

One Toggle Switch for the 3 modes

One Knob for the Effect Level

Very Easy

Rig: Ibanez PGM301, Mesa Solo Rectifier Head, Black Shadow 1x12 Wideboy Cab. I used the Holy Grail as the first in the Effects loop followed by a Digitech Digidelay, Digitech Multichorus, Korg DT-10 Tuner and a Dunlop Zakk Wah.

To start, i used the Effect on its own on the Spring Mode. This is a very good Reverb Effect adding a Rich Sound to the Clean Channel that cant be done with a Boss or Digitech. Next i moved the the Hall Mode and that was when the great sounds started. It added a great atmosphere to the sound keeping the Tone perfect without interfering at all. I added Chorus to the Hall Mode and i couldent believe my ears. All the Tone was there with loads of Clean punch and a great 'Angel' style sound. My Clean Channel is perfect now. I still use Delay for Channel 2 on the Amp because thats just the way it is...lol but i tried the Reverb in Channel 2 anyway and got the same great Sound without losing any Tone.

A few other Reviews on here have bashed this little Pedal and said it makes horrible noise. I assure you that these people are FOOLS with dodgy Cables or a bad Sound in the first place. This unit, with a decent Effects loop and good Monster, Planet Waves or Venom cables will give you NO unwanted noise at all and when turned off, the Bypass is as clean as a whistle with not a whisper

I will add this after a couple of months

not needed

I cant give it perfect untill i know how road worthy it is but for Sound alone, this unit reaches 8

If you don't mind a constant hiss, then it is very easy to get a good sound. If you're looking for that vintage obnoxious hiss coming through your amp, then this is the pedal for you.

Except for the hiss, it was great. No wait, it was terrible - unless you want hiss... then it is great. I can't think straight with all the hissing.

As long as you don't step on it it will hold up to almost anything. No wait, it's a stomp right? I guess I have to give it a bad score then because this thing is about as daintily constructed as anything I've ever seen. But if you want to bend it into an ashtray or something you probably won't need tools - you can do it with your bare hands. A piece of junk.

Overall rating - it is great unless you care about quality.. in which case it is junk.

Seriously, I cannot believe that an organization with as much name recognition and as much "at stake" with their reputation would put out a complete piece of crap like this. Just appalling - it is the worst money I've ever spent on gear in my life.

Get a digiverb.

Easy to use.

Has a little hiss but not that bad.
It will color your sound even when turned off.
Quality of reverb is good and very natural sounding.

reliable during the 6 months I owned it.

One thing to watch out for: If you plan to use a line mixer to run this pedal 100% wet, you may not like the result. The mix knob has the dual function of increasing the size and space of the reverb as you turn the knob clockwise. At 100% the reverb is deep with lots of feedback.

Very easy to use - 1 knob simply labeled "Reverb." 1 main critique: PLEASE, WOULD ALL EFFECTS MANUFCTURERS USE THE BOSS NEGATIVE CENTER TYPE POWER ADAPTOR???? THIS ONE DOES NOT, SO IT IS A REAL PAIN WHEN ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE DOES.

I've tried the Danelectro Spring King and Little Lanelie, but this Reverb has wider range than the Little Lanelie and overall better tone than the Danno. With this said, no pedal will EVER compare to a real tube Fender outboard (or built in Blackface style) Reverb. But, if you don't want to lug around a Fender outboard for gigs, this would be your best choice for everything from mild to surf IMO. Keep your tube outboard for recording though.

So far so good.

The best plug in and play Reverb pedal I've tried for Spring reverb. Better tone than the Danelectro, wider range than the the Little Lanelei (the Little Lanelei has good tone but very limited Reverb intensity - not suitable for surf).

one Knop for intens.
one for mode

I m not sure why people tread this littel Grail so bad.
I got mine 3 years and the sound is amazing and just simple, I dont like pedals and amps with hundred of knops... sure you can pay a tube tape echo for 1000bucks and suck yourself or you put it on "HALL" and alway at 9 - 11 Oclock for distortio - clean sounds.

I play professionell since 12 years and i earn my money with this.
So you need a good and simple reverb with a great sound..take this.
If you want sound like Hendrix, Johnson, Page or Pink Floyd, practise playing, its in youre fingers and not in your equipment.

Sometimes it does not work so i must put the ac adapter out for a second an put it in again then it works, so 5

I dont care

Like I said Im a pro, and for a good sound you dont need many things.
A reverb, a delay, one overdrive and one distortion, a fuzz and a wah. a Gibson a Fender A Marshall a twin and go on.

This pedal is very straightforward. You've read the previous reviews.

This pedal is NOT bad, like some of the naysayers would have you think. Is there some hiss? Yes - In a quiet room with no other instruments or a full mix. There is literally nothing you will notice when playing live, and I use this thing on at all my shows.

I live room, flerb can be cool, but the hall is just too much. Set the knob low, nothing at all. Turn it uo just a little too much, a booming, muddy explosion.

No problems yet.

I play jangly brit style, and use this reverb to smooth out my tone.. I works very well, and I've had no complaints, except for the limited use of the hall setting.

Would I buy another one? Probably not - not because I don't like it', I'd probably invest in a high-end reverb, or buy a Fender Twin.

The HG is totally idiot proof.One knob for the wet/dry mix, one slide switch for"spring,hall or flerb".This makes dialing in your fave verb a piece o cake.

I use this unit with a '62 strat,Blackfinger compressor,Uni-vibe,whatever OD/DIST feels good at the time and finally,the Holy Grail into a THD Bi-Valve with any of several open back 12" Jensens or a 15" JBL.The Bi-Valve offers a tonal rainbow and this set-up sounds superb!I got a quiet unit with none of the hiss that some HG's have.

This one worked perfectly for six months,then no sound whatsoever!The LED was on,but that's all.

I took my dead HG to the store I bought it from and they sent it to the E-H service dept..One month later I had my HG back,working perfectly.Now (about 5 months later),the unit is starting to die on me AGAIN!!

I have been playing GTR for 20-ish years and my style is "wanna-be jazzer" along with the three Kings,Jimi,Jeff Beck,SRV,JRV,and Robben Ford as stylistic guideposts.A WORKING Holy Grail is very a useful tool for me.I am blessed with lots of low wattage tube amps as well as a blackface Super Reverb and Concert.Silvertones,Valco's and my handwired,AB763 based 2-6V6,2-6L6 & KT66 amp built by yours truly.If my HG were stolen,the thief would experience INSTANT KARMA as it is a piece -o- crap.Electro-Harmonix should buy full page ads in the gtr mags apologizing to those of us that spent our hard earned money on inferior junk!

Easy to use.

Reverb was great. However way too much digital hissing when turned up.

Seems built well

The digital hissing made me crazy. Sounded like a cheap Zoom pedal.
That's a shame too because the verb really has great potential. But I can't put up with all the background noise. The spring reverb on my amp is far from the best but it doesn't add all the noise!
It was sealed and brand new when I got it one week ago, today it's going back.