Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb

very easy to use, only one knob and 3 settings

i'm using it with a telecaster copy and a vox amp. when effect is on there is a sort of hissing noise, but this is quite quiet. its hard to get the right tone with the knob as theres either to little effect or too much, so it can sound weak. the effect is good for producing really weird noise, especially with the flerb setting, but for normal guitar playing these can be a bit off the wall. i wanted a bluesy, fender tone, but it doesnt seem to make any really guitar tones!

very reliable, always works, solid as a rock

dunno

i've been playing for 6 years and i bought it cos my amp had no reverb and i liked the tone for recorings, but then i got a fender blues deluxe, which is so much more my style- real tone, not just for weird sounds. i would be sad if it was stolen, but only cos i want to sell it!

this pedal is a MUST HAVE for any amp without an on board reverb. it is the most musical and deep sounding digital reverb cum stomp box. very easy to use.

i use it either in the fx loop of my marshall 6101 lm 100w head like an onboard reverb or at the end of a chain starting with EHX Big muff, Micro synth, electric mistress, memory man and ending with the holy grail. friends and partners, it really sounds very very pristine and creativity enhancing and inspiring(am i getting carried away or what)

i do not depend on any fx. if they work fine if not, back to the shelf they go. but it seems less toublesome than my otherwise really vintage e hx fx, which require "servicing" every three years. it is also much less noisy than the old e hx stuff. so vintage is not always better in every aspect.

still new.dunno.

experimental guitar music. check out www.azharkamal.de.

3 selector switch, one knob. if you can't figure this out, i would like to know how you manage to tune your guitar.

wonderful, the Hall, gets a little crazy if you crank it up all the way, but right in the middle is perfect. FLERB! Oh how i love thee

This is why I am posting this, I have been through 4 Holy Grails now. in 3 years. They have this habit of dying so no real reason. I've even sent them back to EH to get repaired and they still break. They are made like lightbulbs, they just break a lot.
DO NOT BUY THIS PEDAL! I AM SO FURIOUS ABOUT THIS MATTER, I FEEL COMPELLED TO WARN PEOPLE.
I am going to try to Holier Grail with the hopes that it last longer, because we use the Flerb in one of our songs, and the reverb a lot. It sounds great, but sound means nothing if i can't rely on it. Especially when it died at a gig last weekend. NOT COOL EH!

They will fix your pedal for you, but you have to wait about 2 months for it. But you shouldn't have to deal with crap like that. I've own at least 7 Boss pedals over the 8 years I've been playing. Even a Boss GT-7, and NONE of them ever broke! NEVER!
Pedals should not break, unless you're are jerk and you stomp all over them!

Sound = good
Reliability = NONE

don't buy gear you can't trust. Because you need that gear to work at a show and at practice, and if it doesn't, don't get it. Would you buy are car that you knew was going to stop working for no reason? NO!

Very easy. It has one knob that is basically a mixer: till 12 o'clock clean sound prevails and before 12 effect rules. Has one key that selects the 3 kinds of reverb/effect.

I've read many complains about the "noise" it produces. I think that it is caused by:

1. Bad ac adaptors and/or chain switches. I use only the stock alone.

2. Radio or other interferences. I've tryed it in the store and it had no noise. At home I've had some light "shhhh" noise. It was certainly caused by radio stations or machines working near my house. At the studios where I rehearse and record I've had NO NOISE at all.

By this experience I concluded that the noise problem depends on where are you playing. It appears in places surrounded by radio, TV or celular microwaves and/or eletroeletronic machines.

The sound is great. Really Fender spring verb like. So analog like that I could hardly believe it's digital.

Has REAL BYPASS.

Effects:

1. Spring: is as it says. After 2 o'clock its muddy (as a spring verb) and effect prevails over clean sound.

2. Hall: like analog reverb (great). After 1 o'clock its muddy (as a spring verb) and effect prevails over clean sound.

3. Flerb: flanger+ analog verb, totally trippy and great for creating psychodelic and/or dark ambiences. Sounds like 60's Pink Floyd strangethings.

I use this box with a Epiphone SG-400 w/ P-90 pickups, a Yamaha OD-10, a Dunlop Cry Baby, a Danelectro Dan Echo.

Looks ok, medium reliability. Fragile than Boss tanks, harder than Danelectro plastics. Think it's good to have a backup on the stage.

Have good assistence here in Sao Paulo/Brazil. A quite rare thing 'round here where most foreighn companies sell lots but fix nothing.

The only thing I regret is the high price of the EH products in Brazil.

I bought it because my 70's tube amp has no reverb and I needed some verb to play my blues and R&R.

I play since the early 80's.

Yeah, if stolen I would need another one. Have never seen any verb like this but spring verbs.

I like the most the analog taste, the "real" springness and the psycho sounds of the HG.

plug it in and play-simple-turn the dial til u find a sound u like n play-fx are always this simpe but ppl always like to complicate stuff

ok i use this in two contexts really

1) my rig when i can be arsed shipping it round everywhere
peavey wolfgang->peavey 5150mk1[FX loop out-boss NS-2->holy grail loop in]

i have a custom footswitch which allows me to turn the FX loop and the channel change on at the same time-so i get rhythm->one switch-> lead+FX and the NS2 kills all te hiss off the lead and runs nice smooth tone into my holy grail-sounds sweet ass....no hiss or anything off the holy grail-mits always on in this case and sounds amazing to me-and i play metal.....so those surfer ppl tha say it aint for metal heads are wrong-problem being to compenstae for the pedal seemingly turning my signal into reverb to get the amout of reverb i like i have t have the lead a fair bitlouder than the rhythm with out the Holy Grail-so if i switched the HG off my lead would be hell louder but coz of the way it is when its on it sjust right boost level

2) cant be arsed luggin gear round...someones put on a show wit house gear (usually them p.o.s marshall MG100 stacks)then it goes
Peavey Wolfgang->Hughes and kettner tube factor->boss ns2->nobels preamp booster->HG-> amp i always stick the NS2 after OD t ensure i get the best signal runnin into the HG coz mine is pretty much noiseless anyways and in ths application i actually use the HG footswitch-switching seems effortless and noiseless.....prob is because of the turning of ur signal into reverb effec rather than adding it over i have to do a funny kinda full foot sideways effort to hit the nobels (whichi use as a fixed volume boost) and the HG otherwise the signal just dies really in the mix live-without a boost faciity this pedal realy sucks ass but ive found with the boost it works really well................dnot really one for caring about daisy chaning-my HK needs a supply all of its own anyways so i just use a 4/6 way extention-it doesnt make that much difference to me tbh, cant see why someone would mark it down coz they cant daisy chain it....

um spring is ace but it masks ur guitar really fookin badly-hall is way too much live (we play big venues and it makes no sense to use that muc verb) an flerb.....hahhahahaha turn it right up-get a wah and a violin bow or take the bar off ur geet and use that as a slide...leave ur amp on clean and see what u can do with that-i always play withit just aint had the balls to use it live yet......

id give it a 10 if it didnt kill your guitar sound and turn it into reverb and because of the general kinda fiddlin u have to do to get an ace sound live (i.e boost facility etc) it could e seen as too much hassle-but the spring verb is well worth it

i gig regularly and anything will go eventually so gigging without a backup is insane......as it happens i have a fender twin reverb also and so my backup for this pedal is actually a twin reverb with the HK preamp into it to give me the OD i like so much-and as the reverb is footswitchable and doesnt override ur sound (seems to boost it for solos for some reason live and i have it o verb 2.5-3 nowhere past 3 thats insane) its actually a much easier rig to work with-i just love my 5150

N/A

ok well i play metal and i always want a good powerful rhythm channel then a single switch and i want vol boost-uber gain boost and a nice chunk of verb on it-HG delivers quite nicely on the verb front-think kirk hammett at the beginning of fade to black on cunnng stunts stood on that bridge playin that first solo-THATS the sort of tone i like (but without the mesa uck....)and it delivers on that front-i couldnt stop playin the likes of fade to black and hot for teacher when i firs bought it and even malmsteen esque stuff sounds pretty awesome thru this in terms of verb-i still get up onstage during soundchecks and when i hit that magic button on my footswitch to get that solo channel and i play a solo i still cant believe that that kinda tone is coming from a little verb unit that cost me 60quid.....awesome

9 coz it hasnt broke yet and so im not sure of its reliability thus yet and i havent had to dea with customer services yet-so its a-it cant be that god sorta score

if it was lost or some little shit robbed it at a gig id def have to go out and buy another

I think this is still allowed. I didn't buy the pedal, I did spend hours with it, and others in the music store, and I went in intending to buy the HG. I just didn't walk out with it.

Ease of use: Dead easy. This was smart of them, they kept it simple. I actually wanted simple. I wanted as simple as built-in verb usually is on an amp. It is easy to get "the best sound this pedal can give" right out of the box. Verb is subjective, and this is only my opinion, but right off the bat (like MANY pedals) I liked the sound. I had done lots of research here and other places, and was prepared to go with this if it was OK. Seemed to be the best in review. Was aware of noise hissing issues with some units, so I wanted to try out the exact unit I was going to take home. For the record, THIS unit I tried was completely silent. NO noise added at all!

It is REALLY easy to dial in sound. Only thing, the actual "mix" knob...seeemed pretty unuseable anything over about 2 o'clock (which would be almost no dry and only verb)...it's always an issue though, if you have a range it has to be on the edge. I just wished they had made the range wider and kept it more in the useable area...with finer adjusting.

BAD THING: But understandable. They use a non-standard plug for DC power in. This thing draws like ~500mA (that's a LOT!!) so I am guessing they didn't want folks just adding it on a daisy chain with their little 200mA power supplies, so this was to stop them from frying they power sup. So they shouldn't be dinged for that, but it is an annoyance. Luckily (the sales guy didn't know this til I made an issue while asking about price, etc.) the power supply is included.

I tried this out for some time in a music store. I borrowed a Strat and a Fender Hot Rod DeVille to use. Also I was using this (and all verbs I tested) in the effects-loop since this is where I was intending to use whichever pedal I ended up with) Four or five times while trying out the pedal I did something (sharp attack low, high, ringing chord, etc.) closed my eyes and listened, then turned off the pedal and turned on the built-in reverb on the amp. It isn't that I thought the DeVilles reverb was the best (I don't...really) but it was a real reverb. Then quickly turned off and tried again. I did this, but also simply played a range of styles on the HG without jumping back and forth. Some pedals, and definitely reverb when it is "right", make me jam with myself...I mean I can get a real mood going, and it sort of leads me to a style of playing. Hard to describe, but it's the same with all the "natural" effects like reverb, tremolo.

At the very first, I liked the sound. This is common for us guitarists...we like ANYTHING different right away. We also are a hopeful bunch, so we tend to WANT to like it, see what we can do with THIS sound and try it out. That's why you have to play with a pedal for at least an hour before even deciding if you like it, and have to always consider if the effect will cut through and sound as good with the band or in a mix, or if the utlra-cool effect will wash out with any other instrument near it.

Here's the thing. After only a short time, the reverb tail was starting to get on my nerves. It is WAY too long for me and my style (blues, R&B, rock). The worst thing with it is, as it took forever to decay out, it sounded more and more artificial. In the end sounding a little delay-ey. I STILL would have bought this pedal if EH had included either a knob for cutting the tail short, or even a "long/short" rocker switch for picking between the default or a much shorter one. They kept it TOO simple.

This might have not mattered in a band situation. I couldn't test that. But I did know that it wasn't doing it for me. I went back up to the desk, and asked the guy for any other recommendations for reverb that was NOT a Boss rv-"anything but 2"...

He handed me an EBS Dynaverb. I knew of it, having read reviews here. I wasn't sure this was for me, but thought "why not try it?".

Stopping here, I gotta say, I've been playing since the 70's. I have always had reverb built-in on my amps, and never gave it much thought. Some were better than others, but they all were spring reverbs, and sounded okay. Just now bought a Prosonic head, no reverb. Since reverb has always been a kind of taken-for-granted thing with me, I just figured "reverb is easy...I'll just buy a pedal".

Then I started researching here and on forums. Found that verb is actually HARD to please folks with. Maybe when you get it with the amp you just accept, but when you are going to BUY it you get all critical. I don't know, but I do know there was no clear "best".
Many liked the HG, but complained of noise on some units...and some mentioned the tail...though I really wasn't looking for that problem, I figured out pretty fast it was just unuseable for me.

Anyway, I tried the EBS Dynaverb, and it was BEAUTIFUL. It was, in my opinion, WAY better than the Fenders' built.in verb. It also is super-simple to get a good sound out of, I haven't gotten a bad one out of it yet as a matter of fact. The tails can be adjusted by adjusting the room type and verb type (9 different adjsutable verbs in one small package) and the mix worked great and it has a TONE control too!

This thing made me want to play...and I didn't think it sounded artificial at all. I got the EBS home, and it sounded fantastic. Played all yesterday with it as a matter of fact.

In the end, I just did not like the HG. Again, it is possible it would sound better in a mix, but even intros and such alone, it just...the only way around was to mix it so down in the mix it was like not having verb.

Gotta go low on this one.

No idea. Seemed solid enough, thought that doesn't mean anything.
For the record, the EBS was heavy and screamed workmanship to me.

Play blues, r&b, rock...Hendrix, SRV, BB King, T-bone Walker, Freddie King, Clapton, etc.

Been playing since the 70's (and boy are my arms tired),
didn't buy the unit. If you are thinking about this one, do yourself a favor and try the EBS alongside it.

Very easy to get a good sound, as this pedal is simplicity itself. It only has one big knob to adjust the dry/wet mix and a 3 position switch to select from spring, hall and flerb. The manual is OK, nothing special. AFAIK, this unit has been upgraded some time ago, by the addition of an expensive true bypass switch, in order to preserve your tonal integrity when off.

My setup is the following: Ibanez RG 470 L with a Duncan TB-6 in the bridge position > Shure UT-14 The Guitarist wireless system > Keeley Mod Plus TS-9 > Tech 21 NYC Sans Amp TRI-A.C. > Holy Grail > Fulltone Fat-Boost > Ernie Ball VPJR 6181 (with a Boss TU-12 H slaved out) > Tech 21 NYC Power Engine 60. All pedals are velcroed on a Rockcase pedalboard and, except the Holy Grail, are powered by a Cioks Baby power supply.
As stated below, the Holy Grail has a noise problem: it can only work quiet if powered by a dedicated power supply (not necessarily the EHX that comes along with it). If you try to power it from a power supply, together with other pedals, prepare yourself for the hiss/whine city. It might be a design flaw, but, other than creating the discomfort of needing a dedicate PS, I don't see this as a real problem. I think the low ratings given by other reviewers below for noise issues are not deserved. They simply didn't power up the pedal as recommended by EHX, they tried to power it daisy chained, noticed the noise issue and looked no further.

The spring setting is just perfect. It doesn't sound metallic or sterile, as in other reverb pedals. It's very much like a real tank reverb. Very natural feeling. Before 12 o'clock, the clean tone is just slightly blended with the effect, so that you can keep the pedal on all the time. I have it set at 12 o'clock and it doesn't muddy my sound. Beyond 12 o'clock, the blend increases dramatically.

The hall setting is lush, spacious and natural, again. Some people might complain a decay time set too long here, but EHX pedals are made so that you know they're on :-). It's a matter of taste. The blend is, however, subtle only until 9-10 o'clock in this setting, after that it increases dramatically, again.

Finally, the flerb setting is...intersting, but I don't see a lot of use for it. It's a sort of a mix between spring and flanger.

If there is one thing I don't like it's the fact that all three setting have the sweet spot in different positions (spring at 12 o'clock, hall at 10 o'clock and flerb at 1 o'clock), so if I want to change the mode mid song (by an acrobatic foot action), I am forced to adjust the blend knob too, which is, definitely, too much of a hassle.

The unit seems to be dependable, although I read a lot of horror storries (switches crapping out, etc.) It's, definitely, no "bullet proof" boutique construction, the aluminium enclosure feels kinda tiny, but I baby my gear and I can't give a low rating here only for the issues I am yet to meet, nor for what other people went through.

I sent EHX a couple of e-mails, they responded quick and were helpful enough. I don't want to find anything more :-)

I play rock, since 1996, ranging from indie stuff to heavy metal. I was playing 100% dry and felt the need for something to add just a bit of ambience. I was torn between the Digiverb and the Holy Grail, but I value simplicity over versatility, so I went with this one. Glad I did. If there's something I wish it had, it is a decay time knob and a stereo output (or, at least, a dual, wet-dry output). But I'm happy with the way it is.

Very easy to use. Single switch to switch between Spring reverb, Hall reverb, and the very cool "Flerb" reverb. Single knob to turn the level of the selected reverb. Very easy to use, just step on the button and it turns on, step on it again and it turns off. Simple stuff.

My setup is pretty simple. Ibanez GRX with DiMarzio p/u's >Holy Grail Reverb>Dunlop CryBaby Wah>Line 6 Spider II. The Line 6 amp gives me a really crisp clean tone, and compounded with the fluid reverb pedal it gives it an amazing texture. The reverb sounds pretty strong if turned up high, but can be a light reverb with the knob turned lower. I've heard that this pedal has a problem with noise, but I have not experienced this on my amp or a Marshall amp I tried at Guitar Center. For a great example of the "Flerb" effect listen to the intro to the song "Reality" by Staind. Mike Mushok uses the pedal throughout the song, and it sounds really cool.

I would definitely depend on it. I would use it without a backup in a heartbeat

Not sure, haven't had to get ahold of customer support yet.

I play everything from progressive rock like Rush and Dream Theater to hardcore bands like Lamb of God and Trivium. I'll play whatever I like to hear. I've been playing for 2 and half years. I have a Line 6 Spider II 30w combo, Crybaby wah, and an Ibanez GRX (with Air Norton and D-Sonic pickups). If it were lost I would most definitely buy a new one in a heartbeat. I tried the other reverb pedals but none sounded as smooth and rich as this one.

very easy as there's just one knob to use.. but it would be useful to have another knob to adjust the decay time and flerb rate.

fender american strat with bridge emg pickup->engl tube toner preamp (with mxr 6 band eq in the fx loop)->ehx holy grail->fender pro junior amp. In my setup there's absolutely no noise coming from from this pedal. Always use it in the effects loop or with a clean amp setting, it might be noisy and it will definitely sound bad if used before distortion. The reverb trail is very realistic, but just a bit long to my taste, and there's no way to adjust it. It would be perfect if there were a room setting or decay time knob. Flerb setting sounds good but would be much more useable if there were a rate knob.. Anyway, the Holy Grail reverb is better than any reverb pedal or rack Boss has made.

I play all kinds of rock, indie and fusion. Play for 15 years. I would buy it again. I really like the sound quality and noiseless operation. My Pro junior doesn't have built-in reverb and I think this pedal sounds better than many amps' built-in reverbs, my former amp had a reverb but it always hissed and was unusable to me. I really think this is a pro quality pedal sound-wise, forget the weak boss reverb pedals, I had a Boss GX-700 rack and it had a much more artificial and weaker reverb when compared to the holy grail.

As everyone here has said, it doesnt get much easier. Just remember, less is more! (dont crank the knob all the way) The milder settings sound the best, especially at volume.

I havent owned an Electro-Harmonics pedal since the seventies...
Funny thing...I got a chance to see Albert Cummings a few weeks ago,and was blown away! (for those who have seen or heard this guy, I immagine like me, you're still picking your jaws off the ground!) I was sitting less than 3 feet from his pedal board, and got a good look at it. Very simple! Boss TU-2, Klon Centaur, HOLY GRAIL, Boss digital delay,TS-808,vox wah, straight into a Fender Vibro King. He was basically only using the KLON,the HOLY GRAIL,the TS-808 (for boost), and the wah. The Holy Grail was on all the time!
I have since put the same chain together, and have the same sound comming from my strat! (too bad I'll never play like this guy).
I asked him if the Holy Grail was important to his sound, or just an add-on, and He was very adament about it being essential! Hey, good enough for me.

Cant say as yet, havent had it long enough, but even all the rankers here seem to agree that the company is responsive concerning problems.
If you havent heard this guy yet, dont worrie, YOU WILL SOON! (I'm sure!) www.albertcummings.com (think: Stevie Ray meets Billy Gibbons meets Pat Travers meets Johnnie Winter!

see above

Put this chain through a Fender "65" Super, and both of my Marshall "59 SLP plexis (one with loop, one without)
Sounds great, minimal noise....but as stated earlier,use the lower settings.