Visual Sound H2O Liquid Chorus & Echo

I'm talking about all three (Original Script V logo, New V over circles logo, and the New V2), one at a time below.

Overall fairly easy to use, but no two versions are the same. One minor complaint: delay settings drift. Found that when I used the battery clip rather than the AC barrel jack that was taken care of in version 1 and in version 2. I can't figure out V2 (version 3). After playing for hours, the delay becomes like the original. Long is long; short is short but usable. At first, short sounds like bad digital reverb, and long sounds similar to the original short. Time shift is very strange, especially considering that these are digital delays designed to sound analog.

Script V logo - the original (1999 to 2002 or so)

Great sound. Warm analogue chorus...noisier (hissy), but as good as just about any analogue chorus on the market.

Delay also sounds really good. (Just use the battery clip to power it in your pedal board)

Block V logo - the second version (2002 to 2007 or so)

Chorus sounds like a high pass filter was inserted at about 200-240Hz. Engaging it means the body of your sound (where the fullness and--sometimes--boominess comes from is gone). Not bad if you're playing a solid body and you're in a band with a rhythm section, but if you've got a jazz box or an acoustic and you're using it without a drummer or bassist around, you'll really notice it and not like it one bit. On the other side, a vibrato setting (fast and not too deep---rate at 1-3 o'clock/depth at 10-12 o'clock) is really cool. Much better than the original. This isn't enough for me to keep it though.

Delay is the same...same glitch too. The only thing I notice, just a little, is that the volume of the dry signal seems cut when you crank the delay level.

V2 - The new guy (2008-Present)

Chorus is interesting. Same as Block V logo (everything below 240 Hz or so goes bye bye when you engage it), but it has that 80s lush switch, which is kinda cool. Although I never have the need to sound like Alex Lifeson circa Presto. So, I'm not a fan...Don't like the new foot switches either. I like to know it's engaged by feel. With the new one, I have to do a quick visual confirmation...no pun intended.

The new delay takes the glitch to a whole new level. Unusable short...unless you like really bad digital reverb. The long isn't bad, but it has a noticeable drop in volume.

Overall, the history is this. The original was warm, but a little hissy. I used it for more than 10 years...live only. The second version is alright, but I probably won't be keeping it around too long. And the third one didn't last a week...couldn't stand it. Personally, I think Visual Sound is starting to get in the habit of shooting themselves in the foot.

The original one just died after 10 years of heavy use, (live, on the road use). Not too shabby.

I don't think I'll find out with the two new ones...

Starts with an 8, moves to a 6 and ends with a 2. Not too good.

I've been playing for 20+ years, and I'm kinda ticked off a Visual Sound. I really liked the original pedal. But, que sera sera...

The manual is ok - the suggested presets will get you started. After that, it's just a matter of tweaking the knobs a bit to get the sound you're looking for!

This is by far the best sounding chorus pedal I've ever owned! The Echo effect is just a bonus, in my opinion! The combination of these two effects is great! I have used other chorus pedals in the past, but found that they boosted the treble and volume of my amp when I kicked them in, so I found that I had to adapt to playing with the chorus on all the time. This pedal doesn't do that! For that reason alone it was worth the price, but throw in the fact that this is the most lush sounding chorus effect I've ever heard and it's a real winner!

Not sure about this, but it's built like a tank! I'm hoping that it's as rugged as it feels!

No opinion here - haven't had to use them!

I would recommend this to anyone who needs a chorus pedal that can produce a variety of useful sounds! Throw in that echo effect and this is a combination that will turn heads! Well worth the money!

Although all of the controls are quite simple, I did have to work a bit to get the sounds I was looking for especially out of the chorus side of the H2O. This is probably more a result of me looking for a very particular sound rather than problem with the design of the pedal. I was also coming from the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone whose single knob and switch had probably spoiled me!

I use a 1998 Godin LGXT, a 1995 Godin LG (with a SD Phat Nack in the neck and SD P-Rail in the bridge), and a newer Gretsch Country Classic through either a 60 watt Music Man with 2 tens or Vox AC30.

The chorus side of the H2O is pleasantly subtle, and the tone of your ax is not at all buried. It is also capable of producing a wide range of sounds thanks in part to the inclusion of a "lush" switch. With the lush switch off, you have access to a range of tones that are more flat and flanger-like--though not as overbearing. The lush settings are just that, fuller, warmer, and more what I think of as chorus. The sound quality is really rather high and the unit itself is pretty quiet, however it may be just a tad less warm sounding than I personally like. That said, this is part of my touring rig.

The echo side is slightly less impressive. The short/long switch is great in that I have been able to find a balance setting for the overall pedal that allows me to choose between slap-back and spacy-echos with one flip. This is great for the application I am using for since I need to keep my pedal board small enough to fit in an overhead. While the sounds are very usable, they are not overly impressive. In short, it is 'good enough.' It is not harsh, cold, or sterile, but it could be warmer and more analogue sounding. Also, I would love it is VS added the trailing off feature that my old delay pedal had which meant that, after you turned the pedal off, the sound naturally faded away rather that suddenly disappearing.

In all, the pedal does everything I need it to do and sounds just a tad short of fantastic. It is its versatility that has earned a permanent spot on pedal board, but my I will be keeping my eyes out for other chorus and delay pedals that I can fall in love with for recording situations.

After a year of use, I did have to have VS replace my H2O. I lost all control of the speed setting intermitantly.

Great. The above mentioned problem was handled fast and no questions asked which made up for the unit's failure in my mind.

After using this pedal for well over a year, I can say that, for the price, this pedal is hard to beat. I sounds very good, has lots of options, and is not noisy. I am glad I purchased it.

I do have to say that having this pedal made in China does bother me, and I was unaware of this fact when I first bought it.

Dead Simple - no need for a manual. Even my mum could get a good sound out of this pedal!

Chorus a bit swishy on unsubtle settings, but I'm only using this live and it ain't an issue for me - it's quiet enough.

I like the chorus and the echo sounds a lot - very natural sounding to my ears

I've only recently bought this - the Mk One version, second hand. I've gigged it twice including last night and on the spur of the moment I used the chorus and echo with a Line 6 Distortion Modeler (the Chandler Tube Drive sound) and I swear it was the sound Alex Lifeson uses on Red Alert. Knocked out by it. Only used that particular sound on one song though.

My set up currently is a PRS Standard 24 Satin 20th Anniversary and a Clapton Signature Strat into:

Boss Tuner - Cry Baby Wah - Line 6 Distortion Modeler - Tube Screamer - Boss Graphic EQ (primarily to boost solos) - H20 - Boss DD3 Delay - Boss Pitch Shifter

All the effects are on a Pedal Pad (MKS) and go into a Cornford Roadhouse 30W head, with a Marshall 2 x 12 and a separate 1 x 12, running in mono (the second cab used just to provide more spread)

Very happy with it - the H20 had added a lot to my sound

no reason to question it's reliability. built like the proverbial brick **** house too.

no dealings heard good stuff about them though

I play 70's & 80's covers. I like this pedal coz it sounds a wee bit different with the chorus (it doesn't sound generic)and gives a pretty warm analog sounding echo too

Typical configuration for a chorus and delay pedal.

guitar: Charvel San Dimas Model 1-2H
amp: Mesa Boogie Express 5:25

Inserted in the effects loop of my amp - very quiet with a slight boost in volume. Full bodied tone, very lush - this one's a keeper.

As far as I can tell - should be fairly reliable.

Haven't used it - can't say...

I own chorus pedals made by Boss, Digitech, Guyatone and Rocktron - I now have a new favorite. I also own a Boss and Digitech delay. I've never been satisfied with their tone. The short delay setting on the H2O is very organic in tone compared to the others. The long delay setting is more digital in tone but still pretty good.

Its a no-brainer pedal (or really, two). The controls are obvious. I haven't read the manual, I rarely do unless it's some new digital thing. It's the latest model (purchased mid 08) I had an older version which I sold.

I have several strats, a tele, a Jazzmaster and a Gretsch Roundup. A Fender Twin amp, a Vibroverb (old black face with Altec 15" speaker) and a Blues Jr.

It's a quiet pedal, no noise to mention. I use a regulated AC adaptor with it, I don't trust batteries !!

The chorus is rich but not too thick. I like the addition of the normal/lush switch, the Lush setting allows the natural sound of the guitar to come thru, where the normal sounds alters it around the mid and low end. This was the reason I sold my old one and I'm glad they added this switch.

The echo/delay is the best I've heard of any pedal I owned before. It doesn't have buckets of effect volume when you crank it up all the way, but I've never had a need to go this crazy setting. why ??

Although it's not a full bypass, I haven't noticed any loss of signal like others have reported, maybe they're really picky. I think they've done a really good job of this.

This new model is a rock solid diecast box, the upper ridge offers some protection from stomping the knobs or even knocking them, where the previous model was made from sheet metal. Still good, this I feel is better. I would feel confident in not taking a backup with me. If it failed, I would just unplug it. My life don't depend on it.

nope, nope.

I've played on and off for around 40 odd years, play rock/covers, funk, jazz (old and new), bass (when I really have to). I like to be able to recreate the original sound and feel and I also like to improvise my solos ALWAYS !! I don't like to play the same thing twice. I don't go for effect pedals too much apart from distortion and overdrive, only use chorus and echo when really needed. My other pedals are MI Audio crunch box and Tube zone for distortion and a vox or dunlop (don't remember) wa pedal.

I have the original H20 not the V2. It take ssome tweaking but the manual provided give syou some good standard jumping off points. I bought it for the echo and to us ethe chorus as a backup to my analog.man. It blends well with my othe rpedals thus far.

What I like best is atmospehere I get from the echo/delay side. Next, the chours is decent. not fantastic, better than less expensive stuff for sure. It sounds so much better when I run it with the analog.man unit simultaeously. I put each on slightly different settings and WOW! It sounds like a wall of guitars.

The delay side really gives my solo playing serious beef and depth.

I havent noticed and problems with tone sucking so the buffer must be decent.

This thing is built like a tank. I have confidence in it.

No opinion, I bought it used. They seem liek a good company I just wish they would make these true bypass. I may have someone do it anyway if its possible. The buffer inst bad.

I think would replace it if broken accidentally or stolen. I have been playing for 30 years on and off. I have just really taken to it again in the last 2 years. Play it with my D'Agostino Benchmark two humbuckers with coil splitters and a Les Paul faded special with P-90's It sounds the best with the Dag but good woth teh P-90's too. I definitely ought it for the echo/delay but like the added chorus. I wish it was true bypass. Overall, it s great pedal worth the cash.

This is an update of my earlier review. I had a hard time getting settings I liked at first, but now that I've found them, I'm an enthusiastic user of this pedal.

The thing is thick and heavy, which all cuts back on ease of use to I'll give it a 5.

Love the delay on this pedal, now that I've figured out how to set it up. Really organic sounding, better than a Boss DD3 I used to own. Just perfect for me with all three knobs set at around 11 o'clock.

The chorus side works quite well too. It brightens the sound a bit, but I don't notice the volume increase others have mentioned. I use it with the sweep knob all the way down most of the time.

Seems reliable overall but the thing really eats batteries. Seems like most chorus and most delay pedals have the same problem. Before I would have to change batteries every two gigs or so, so sometimes I just didn't bother bringing it along, worried it would die mid-gig.

Since I started using PowerBug batteries I've been able to use it more.

I play indie rock, some classic rock as well. Works great for both, very happy with this pedal. Great buy for the money.

The new V2H2O is pretty easy to use--no manual necessary, although the manual does include some good sample settings, 4 per side. However, no specs are listed in the manual and they wasted 1/2 of it advertising their other products. Other than a new Normal/Lush switch for the chorus side, the knobs/switches are the same as the original H2O (Chorus: Speed, Width, Delay Time; Echo: Echo Time, Repeats, Effect Level, with a Short/Long switch). It also has a 2nd output jack for a dry signal.

This pedal is blowing me away so far. It doesn't color my tone when it is off. And both sides sound very analog--truly impressive.

The Chorus side really shines. I can get Boss CE-5 smooth and lush to a 70's type sound to a Leslie type tone--a truly amazing array of chorus sounds. The only catch with the chorus is that when the switch is on "Normal", highs are increased at the expense of some midrange. It doesn't sound bad at all, but it did surprise me. When the switch is on "Lush"--and it really is lusher--it doesn't change your tone, just add a very lush chorus to it.

The Echo side has a pretty good range of both echo and delay. When the Repeats knob is fully CCW, it provides exactly one repeat, which is great--others I have tried still do 2-3. However, when the Effect Level is all the way up, the echo isn't as loud as the original. It won't kick my Boss DD-20 off my board, but it sounds very good.

The only thing that would make this pedal True-Bypass is if the slick new stomp switches actually popped and/or snapped. The buffer is just incredible and has no color that I can hear. I thought I heard something at first, but after extensive testing with both my amp and GT8 using headphones, I think it was either all in my head, or, any change is just because I had to add another patch cable.

I would gig without a backup. The build quality is very solid. Nothing plastic other than the Normal/Lush and Short/Long switches. The bigger back seems there to protect the back of it as well.

I am not giving it a 10 because when I first plugged it in, it distorted some and behaved very oddly. I plugged it into #6 on my PedalPower2 (5-6 on the PedalPower2 can power the Boss twin pedals) and after a seconds the lights stabilized and the tone cleared right up. If Visual Sound were to publish the milliamps required for this pedal, I bet it would rival the Boss twin pedals. However, I have also heard that sometimes with fresh solder, it stabilizes during the first 1/2 hr of use, so maybe that is what happened. It only behaved oddly that first time I plugged it in.

Don't know yet, and considering the build quality of this thing, I doubt I will need it.

I play blues, rock, CCM, R&B, and some funk. I started almost 17 yrs ago on bass, and added guitar shortly thereafter (but I have played maybe 5 yrs total in all that time).

My setup is as follows:
Fender American Standard Hardtail-->Keeley BD-2 Phat Mod-->Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet (blue sparkle)-->V2H2O-->Boss DD-20-->'65 Twin Reverb Reissue. All cables in the chain are Evidence Audio Lyric HG.

If it were lost or stolen and I still felt a need for chorus/echo, I would definitely get this one again. I love the bypass, the wide variety of tones it makes, and how it looks. I am not so crazy about the lower echo volume or the tone shift in the chorus.

Easy to use, controls are very responsive. It has "two" independent sets of controls for each effect. Awesome!

I just bought the 5150 III head and was looking for an effect pedal that would "compliment" the already killer sound I'm getting from the amp. I have a 89 Les Paul Custom, Fender Strat, Tele, Wolfgang, and Rhoads Jackson. As you can tell by my selection of guitars my tastes in music are really broad. This pedal, for the money, is the best one out there. Slight delay you get the early Halen sound, definitely Rockabilly, Robin Trower, just about anyone you can think of. Engage the chorus with an acoustic or electric, Boston sound. I do notice a slight increase in volume when I engage the chorus, not too bad, just being nit picky.

The only thing I would have a backup of is batteries. This unit can be drop-kicked and nothing will happen to it. More sturdy than a stinkin' tank!

Never dealt with them

I play rock, metal, Christian you name it. This is the most versatile and great sounding pedal for the money. Again, two pedals in one and totally independent of each other. I looked at other products that cost 300-500 dollars for one of these effects let alone two this one does the trick. I would even go as far as saying this is probably better than most of the more expensive models. The construction reminds me of Fulltone products, complete quality. I'm going to start looking at other pedals this company makes and if they're anything like this one I'm definitely buying them.

No manual necessary. three knobs per side. If you are familiar with delay and chorus pedals it is a no brainer. I like that it has two separate stomp pedals that can be hit individually or both at the same time. I was able to get decent sounds out of it within a couple of minutes. you will find that there is some tweaking to be done on the width and delay time on the chorus, and the effects level and repeats on the delay to help the effects cut through better.

I have had this pedal for a couple of years now. Overall, i am still very happy with it.

The chorus is pretty good. I use very subtle settings on chorus pedals. I keep the speed very low, around 7:00 or 8:00, the width around 11:00 and the delay time around 1:00 or 2:00. it does add nice warmth but i have two minor complaints. first there is a definite volume boost that i get with the chorus side and not with the delay side. not a big deal but kind of annoying because i can't bring the effects level down on my loop because then it will be too low for the delay. Second, the chorus causes and earlier break up, which can be unpleasant in the clean tone. sometimes it sounds nice for leads with delays.

I think that the delay is excellent. for the money i have not found a better delay. It is very warm and round sounding. i have compared it to boss delays and they sound brittle in comparison. I think that this pedal is technically a digital pedal but it definately sounds analog. I know of a lot other delay pedals out there, but i can't justify paying $300 or $400+ to get one of these. i use delay alot, so i had to go rack and went with a korg SDD-2000 which is very good.

no problems to speak of.

N/A

I know of a lot other delay pedals out there, but i can't justify paying $300 or $400+ to get one of these. i use delay alot, so i had to go rack and went with a korg SDD-2000, which is very good. i don't have time to bend over and change settings anymore and i cannot afford to have 10 delay pedals. I will however keep this pedal and use it when recording unless the korg can prove to be better.

Very straight forward to use. I never really use the second dry output because I dont have a second amp so I dont know the difference in the volume of the two outputs, and I know the delay time knob on the chorus does something but not exactly sure what. I can hear the sound change but its not as straight forward as the speed knob or the repeat knob on the echo.

I love the chorus and the echo. Its just great. BUT, I do know that the signal is altered just a tiny bit even when the pedal is off. Its either because of the extra cable or the fact that the pedal is not true bypass, I think its the pedal. Having said that its tho only pedal that isnt true bypass in my chain and one pedal is really not going to make a difference. The chorus is great, and real easy to get a great sound with. The only problem with the chorus is the volume jumps up when you turn it on. If you try it with a small practice amp you can really hear the increase in volume but when your playing loud its fine; I personally got used to it and either keep it on for an entire song or use it to emphasize. The echo is also good, but only if you keep it in the long mode. The short is really short, I mean really short and if you dont have the time knob set to past 3:00, its almost non existent, and besides thats almost exactly the same a 9:00 on the long mode. But its simple, no fussing with numbers like a delay pedal, its great to build an atmosphere. It can be used like a powerful reverb to double lead phrases. But the thing about the echo is, unlike the chorus, the volume drops when you turn it on. If you turn both the chorus and echo on at the same time the changes in volume almost cancel out but individually, its kind of annoying.

Very sturdy, but one thing, it eats batteries so use an adapter. The structure is heavy duty (and quite big!).

I bought this pedal on ebay for I believe it was something like $80 or $90, but it was broken. I had tried it at music shops and loved it but knew it was cheeper online, and Im all for used stuff but this experience has taught me to NOT buy pedals online. The seller was rude and not helpful at all and was actually kicked off ebay, so naturally I ended up with a pedal I had to get fixed. I realized the phone number for Visual Sound was on the back of the pedal so I called them up and they said they would fix it and upgrade it if I wanted for $30. I thought great!, shipped it off and within a week I got an email saying the pedal is fixed and upgraded, call this number during these times and you can pay over the phone and we will ship it back. Paid them $30 and got the pedal in great shape. Thanks a lot.

I love this pedal. Im sure there are some high end chorus pedals that have more control over the effect but I like a subtle chorus on most of the time so I just needed a little. I play Blues, Rock and a little Jazz. The chorus makes my clean sound full and warm. The echo is great to use as a reverb, but thats just how I use it. Its capable to be use in more extreme manners, if that makes any sense. If it were stolen I would look around but wouldnt be surprised if I arrived back to the H2O. Its just great for the price.

Easy to use, couple of knobs.

Chorus bugs me on this, don't like the sound. Delay is fantastic. It does cut your signal if you go into it first. I use with an Evans AH200 Hybrid amp.

Reliable and tough.

I play Jazz but wanted to get a nice tone with chorus and delay. This thing chows on batteries so get a wall wart. I mean chows! If you are going to get a pedal and you have to plug it in, why not get a multi-effects floor board? I wanted the ease of battery but I am spending all my money on batteries.

Basically: this is one of the easiest pedals on the market to use.

Having read some of the other reviews, there's two ways to use this thing. You will get more tone sucked out of your signal if you use it on the floor. But if you use it in your FX loop (especially if your loop is buffered with a tube like the Boogie stuff) you will hardly notice any drop. When I sent it back for the newer Panasonic bucket brigade upgrade, it started to make oscillating noise if the chorus was turned up too much. But for the money and the BASIC sound of this unit: it's a jobbers tool and good for most applications. Use good cords, experiment with batteries versus AC. Then make your decision.

Made well: used for 3 years before upgrade. No backup needed unless you use it as springboard or throw it at your keyboard player.

When shipped back to the manufacturer for the upgrade: it took one week! A rarity in the gear world. But when I wrote them about something, they did push their AC adapter.

With Johnny Hiland, Phil Keaggy and other top players using the line: there's reason to be impressed. Gear that affects your instrument's time or modulates it will always be your personal business. After playing over 30 years with mucho studio/live experience, this pedal is small yet rugged. It does eat batteries if you choose to go that route (about 12 hours if you yank the input cord). Great for jobbing, but maybe not quite a TC or Lexicon unit if you can tell the difference. I use DLS stuff for true bypass (Vintage Guitar had a great shotout this past year) and will get a Zoom G2 for small stuff.

Nothing to it.

Playing a LP Custom through either Fender Twin or straight through PA. Also direct to computer for recording. H2O has very, very sweet sound. Only two gripes: 1) A bit noisy when using the AC instead of battery. 2) "Short" echo is VERY short, almost non-existent. Long echo is fine.

No problems.

N/A

I'm sure there're better sounding pedals out there. But for a dual pedal at this cost, I highly recommend.

Not plug-and-play, but neither is it rocket science.

I play a semi-hollow guitar into a Fender amp.

I like that the echoes get murky with extended repeats, and that tweaking the delay control during repeats gives you a "pitch-shift" effect rather than the nasty "zipper" sound that you get from certain digital delays. Both the short and long delay modes have their charms, although the sounds I most often use are from the long mode. I tend to run the delay level quite low, as I like a subtle echo effect for most of my playing.

The chorus side has some good sounds. I've found that it's really important to adjust both the delay time and width controls to avoid the hoky `80s chorus sounds. The manual's "fast Leslie" setting is actually fairly convincing; it's certainly an OK Leslie substitute for live performance.

The buffer sounds really good to me. I think I can hear a small difference between the buffered signal compared to plugging my guitar straight into the amp, but it's subtle and not at all unpleasant. The complaint that I have about most buffered pedals -- that the high-end is veiled -- is definitely not present with Visual Sound's buffer.

The other nice thing about a good buffered pedal is that you get absolutely clean switching with none of the glitches or pops that seem to be unavoidable with true-bypass switching.

It's too early to tell how well this'll hold up with long-term use.

I had a question about the pedal and was very pleased with the rapid, courteous and thorough responses to my emails.

I play improvised fingerstyle guitar, drawing freely from old-school rock, folk, jazz and classical styles. I first picked up the guitar in the mid-`60s, and have been playing "seriously" for the past six years.

My main rig is a Koll Custom DL Thinline through a Fender Vibro-King. I have a small assortment of special-purpose pedals in addition to the recently-added Visual Sound Route 66 and H2O. If the Visual Sound pedals hold up under regular use, I may consider selling the rest of my pedals.

The most important things to me are that the pedal sounds good and is easy to adjust.

The real stroke of genius is packaging two related effects in a single pedal with the stomp switches close together. With one press you can turn either or both effects on or off or toggle between one effect and the other.

The "home plate" shape of the pedals may also be useful. I have both the Route 66 and the H2O and have experimented with placing them at 45 degrees to each other so all the stomp switches are in a cluster. I've been able to toggle useful combinations of three or four switches at once.

its a pain in the ass to get the chorus to stop sounding ridiculous, but it comes with a booklet that gives you the different types of ranges and settings, so that helps a lot.

i read on the visual sound website that "visual sound pedals do not use a true bypass, but something that may be better: pure bypass". this lasts longer than true bypass and is cheaper, part of the reason why you're getting two pretty high level effects for under $200. upon reading this, i set off to my amplifier and pedalboard to test their hypothesis. the pure bypass is a type of buffered bypass, meaning that your sound is passing through circuitry whether the effect is activated or not. i tested with several different cords and effects that had true bypasses and discovered that this pedal cuts a good amount of high end and brightness off of your tone even when its not activated. both of the effects themselves would be really quite good, but the pure bypass' cutting of brightness renders both of them useless. they also stated on the site that the pure bypass cleaned up the tone of a guitar that had been run through several pedals that cut brightness and whatnot. although this may be true, it is certainly not anywhere near a true bypass or "guitar to amp" as it claimed.

its never failed me, but the buffered "pure bypass" means that circuitry is liable to go bad faster than hardwired pedals. still, i'd trust it for a gig without a backup...if i chose to use it.

never dealt with them.

it is so close to being good. the effects are seriously great and well conceived, but that "pure bypass" and the brightness it takes away is just unforgivable. that being said, it is tremendously superior to the buffered bypasses that are featured in boss, danelectro and digitech pedals, but its still nothing near a true bypass. it is a good idea to have 1 buffered bypass in the chain so that your signal from the guitar is powering just a few feet of cable rather than all the way to the amp, and i'd probably choose this as that one over any other pedals.

Easy to get a good sound out of it? It is hard to get a BAD sound out of it. Very versitile and easy to tweak.

This thing sounds amazing, and I'm not really a huge fan of chorus effects. I needed an echo, and thought I'd give this a try and see if I can find a use for the chorus. Now I use a subtle chorus on a lot of the stuff i do...it sounds very organic and just fattens up your guitar, doesn't alter it in anyway. The echo is perfect for me, simple and warm, even though its digital.

Haven't had it long. but i bought it used and its still kickin

N/A

I play a lot of instrumental, dark yet mellow kind of rock and roll and this is working out wonderfully. The chorus sound great with other effects--ie overdrive and fuzz (it true!)--and the echo is just what i needed for a warm vintage vibe without the hassle and insane expense of tape echo.

Very easy to use, see all other descriptions. The only problem I encounter is the short long swith. First, changing from short to long yields a loud "sreege" sound (not very pleasent during a live gig), second, if you set up the pedal for short echo, changing to lon echo yields useless sounds. In other words, changing to long echo requires fiddling with the knobs. While this is not a bad case for at home/studio applications, it does not make the pedal a two in one pedal in live situations

And this is where I probably differ with the majority of the reviews here -I really don't think this is a good sounding pedal. Why? In any setting it drastically alters the tone of your guitar. It doesn't matter what set-up you use, what guitar you play, but once you turn on the pedal there's this metallic, bass-less mid-range-y tone. My basic rig consists of a Fargen Miniplex, a Boogie Mark II, a '59 Reissue Les Paul, a Custom Shop Mary Kaye Strat and a customised Japanes Custom Tele (great guitar by the way!). My pedals are all analogue: vintage Ibanez AD-9, Pearl AD-5, Fulltone Wah, MXR Script Phase 100.

The chorus is very hard to use. Aside from the metalic tone, on low speed settings there's a loud phasing to be heard, more like a phaser/flanger than a chorus. The chorus is harsh and not very musical. On higher speed settings the effect becomes a bit out-of tune -the delayed effect is out of tune with the original effect. This also takes away the dynamics of your playing. I only find the chorus mode usefull for extreme gadget effects: with the speed on ten you get this crazy Leslie-like effect. Compared to my Boss CE-2 (which is excellent sounding, but an one-trick pony), the effect just really isn't good.

The Echo effect is better, but I simply just don't like like digital echo. Do note: this is an echo effect, not a delay effect. All repeats are copies of the original. So, there's no way you will ever get a decent slap back delay like a tape delay or a good AD-9 unit. The echo must degenerate while repeating, and that's not the case. The pedal's main teritory is long echo's, so you can lay dreamy land scapes and layers. But again, I find the way the pedal alters your bsic tone into a metallic, screaching Tele-like style really terrible.

It's solidly made. The casing will last 20+ years, but the paint will be gone by then.

Never dealt with the company, but they seem to be quite active on the market.

I just really don't like this pedal. I don't mind digital per se (check out the new Boss RT-20!), but this pedal just really is harsh sounding, in a very un-musical way. Any pedal that takes away the warmth of a Les Paul is worthless (unless it is a Treble Booster or Big Muff of course). I sold this pedal, and I will never by it again.

Very easy to use. One page manual. Very lush and sweet chorus. Or mega swirly ala leslie-like if ya want it. Very 80's to me. Old school....Police or Gilmore all the way!! NICE!
The delay is simple and no-nonsence. C'mon do delays really need a hold mode?? Or a tap tempo?? Use your ears and buy a sharpie marker!! It is just an echo people. This one is a keeper. Great analog vibe. The second output can be easily modded from clean to effected for a second amp out! I use mine clean for an output to my tuner. I hear no signal loss when the second output is used. Not so with a volume pedal's tuner out...

The Pedal sounds great! Both effects...Not noisy AT ALL but it does have a slight volume boost when engaged. I find that an asset, not a negative. Not a tone sucker either! You will LOVE this pedal!! It has a permanent place on my board.

My Rig:
Guitars... Main->"Barnes Guitar Works"Custom (PAF style bridge,duel blade singles HSS)Swamp Ash body psudo-strat<>Area 51 Wah<><Keeley Modded Sparkle Drive<>Keeley Compressor(Keeley suggests placing it after the main OD)<> Monte Allums "H2O" modded Blues Driver(better than Keeley's IMHO)<>Keeley Ultra Mod Boss DS1<>Visual Sound H2O Chorus/Delay<>Keeley Modded Boss TR2 Tremolo<>Modded Boss DD3 Delay<>Marshall AVT 50 Stack or Behringer Vintager AC112 Combo... depending on the room or stage.

Honesty time here. This is the ONLY problem that I have had was the long/short switch. I have had mine for about 2 years. And used for countless hours. The long/short switch went bad a weeks months ago. One of my students also has the same problem. Hmmmm...they might need a different switch. Or maybe they already do, I have not seen this problem in other reviews. Hey! But have no fear!!!!!! Read Customer Support Section..... really.... read it!

Fastest Email Response EVER.... like 2 minutes per ! AND...mailed me the replacement switch for FREE!! Notice I said I had it for almost 2 years!!! Warranty was only ONE year!! I got the switch right away. The best in customer support!! THIS is what we pay for!

I play Christian Rock ( like Third Day, Audio Adrenaline, and David Crowder Band)...and some old school rock and roll stuff.

I have been playing for 32 years....as a Pro/Semi-Pro live and Session Player and instructor... and just for the fun of it ;-)
Chris Barnes www.productoffaith.net

This is a GREAT sounding pedal!!! And UNREAL support!!!.....Not too tough to repair(if needed) No board soldering needed. They might need a heavier switch.... But on the other hand... two years of being continuously stepped on can give almost any pedal a switch problem.... Hey just ask VooDoo Lab!! lol

If you cut to the chase & read the E-Z to read manual: great sounds out of the box. Superb for jobbers & players who want to :get it right & get it quick".

From PRS to Reynolds (using Bartolini PU's): superb. I use it with the various send-return loops in my amps & it's clean (Fuchs, Bogner, Star Gain Star * Boogie Lone Star Special). Better to use it with an adaptor: the batteries don't last long if you you keep the input cable plugged it all the time. Recently sent it to the company for an upgrade: back in one week!

Never had a problem. Just have an extra battery ready after about 9-12 hours of use.

The fastest return speed when I had it upgraded. No need to say more.

Quiet, compact, well-built. Usefull for any application from country slap to long delay, nifty chorus too. PedalGeek.com was great to deal with too.

This pedal is incredibly self explanatory. There are 2 buttons, one for chorus, and one for echo. Lots of options to choose from as far as eq's go and such. Definetly a user friendly pedal.

I play this pedal through a 100W Marshall JCM900 Half-stack, a 1970 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (Original), and a dunlop cry baby wah pedal. It is definetly an organic chorus, because you hear fuzz a little bit, but overall the chorus and echo together are incredible. A side note, im a firm disbeliever in chorus pedals, they never sound good to me, but the chorus on this pedal is amazing even without the echo.

Never giged with it, although i plan to in the very near future.

Never Dealt with the company

My band plays all kinds of music, and this pedal goes great with alot of the songs. I've been playing guitar for 5 years and this is by far my favorite pedal i have ever, or ever plan to, buy. If my h2o were stolen, i would try my hardest to find another one, because i'm sure once i start writing with this pedal, nothing else will be the same.

Man, I love this effect. This is just what it says; a chorus and echo in one pedal which used together give your sound an 'underwater edge'. First one I bought was from the States, it gave up on me after a year or so, so I bought a new one in the Netherlands. And to be honest that one isn't quite as nice (Much more extreme) But still; love it and I have to be careful not to use it too much.
It's pretty easy to use, left side controls the chorus, right the echo. Knobs are self explanatory...

It fits nicely in my setup, I usually put it last in my effects loop. Playing over a Koch Powertone with either a Fender Telecaster Deluxe, Gibson SG or Les Paul... the effect sounds ok though the echo is a bit noisy. I use it with clean as well as distortion, here's a track I've used it on quite a bit; http://www.facetomorrow.net/download/Face_Tomorrow_-_My_World_Within.mp3 (My guitar is on the right, which starts with arpeggios and comes in at 0:35) I use it almost throughout the song on clean as well as on distortion

Well, I had one break down on me during a really important gig, so I'm not too sure about it anymore.

Overall, this is a great effect, if it'd break down again I'd definately get a new one. I have used it a lot and I am very sure this will stay in my setup for a very very long time..

It doesn't get any easier. It sounded great with all knobs at 12:00. Even so, it still comes with a cheat sheet for 4 classic sounds for both the echo and chorus.

I traded my Boss CE5. I think the Visual Sound pedal is vastly superior in sound, veratility, and ese of use. 9 because it is a more organic sounding chorus (code for a bit of hiss).

After reading some of these reviews you'd think you'd need 3. I bought it on recommendation from a friend is a pro. He says this pedal is "an integral part of his sound". Having said that he never gigs w/o a backup modeling amp.

Website is helpful and informative. My dealer, Mojo's Music www.mojosmusic.com, has had nothing but good experiences with the company. This is a great old-fashioned "Main Street" music store with personalized service, and I have no reason to doubt that any problems that may arise will be expedited with courtesy and professionalism.

I'm a Les Paul/Mesa convert to Tele/Rivera Pubster 45. I now mostly prefer clean Texas/Southern Blues/Single Coil simple tones. This pedal fits the bill for adding a nice Nashville slapback-Crazy Little Thing Called Love solo. In addition, the long delay switch can offer that Police-think Message in a Bottle.

The chorus is lush, liquidy, and refreshing. I like it enough that I will probably pick up the Route 66 to complete my Nashville sound.

Cost figures here, and it does seem expensive. Yet, it is 2 pedals in 1. So, I will give it a 9, great but not fanastic value.

Very ease to use, in fact this is one of the unit's best features. I like the way there are three well-marked, logically arranged knobs for each effect. I decided to give one of these a try after being frustrated with a Line 6 Echo Park, which had way to many choices for me. Plus the Echo Park had too many knobs with labels written in such small fonts that they were impossible to read on a darkened stage.

I bought my used off eBay, and it was a unit that was an original H2O that had been modded by Visual Sound to bring it up to par with the 2nd version (enhanced chorus).

It's difficult to get a bad sound on any of the settings. I like that when all the knobs are set at 12 o'clock you get a medium, usable sound for each effect (chorus and delay), and can work from there in either direction. Perfect.

It may have been easier for me to figure out - and this may be why I wanted to try one of these in the first place - because I've been using Visual Sound's Route tt (compressor/OD) pedal for years. The layout is similar, easy to pick up.

The unit is heavier and bulkier than I thought it would be. Maybe 2cm taller than the Route 66. Doesn't fit in my gig back pockets as readily as the Rte 66 and other effects, so I find myself having to carry it separately. Slight negative there, otherwise would get 10 points for 'ease of use' Mind you the extra mass is not large enough that it's not usable, for sure there are other pedals around that fall into that category.

I use Strats (set up with 10s) and Teles (11s) through a variety of amps (Blues Jr; Vibrolux Reverb: Siegmund Midnight Special; Sound City 50w with 2x12 cab). The only other effect consistently in the signal chain is a Route 66. I place the H2O at the end, as prescribed. For some gigs I may also use a RMC Picture Wah, which I run between the Rte 66 and H2O.

The sound quality is perfect for my uses. Starting with dealy, I just wanted two basic kinds: a slightly spacey one for David Gilmour-style solos or Hendrix's House Burning Down type sounds; and slapback/reverb. I found it really easy to set these two sounds on the delay side. I have one spot for all three knobs on that side, and then simply switch the rocker switch between long (spacey echo for certain solos) and short (slapback/reverb, used almost all the time except for the aforementioned solos) delay. I never have to move those knobs once they're set. I turn all the reverb off on my amps (I don't really like the reverb on any of my amps anyway, except for the Vibrolux; the H2O actually sounds much better, much cleaner).

Comparing to the Line 6 Echo Park (the only other delay pedal I've owned; I will probably eBay it now), the delay sounds on the H2O sound much more natural, with more 'body'. Even though the Echo Park had the option of choosing tape, analog or digital, none of the three sounded as good as the one-sound H2O delay, which I would describe as analog-sounding. All the other tricks the Echo Park through in just weren't needed by me. Some of the tricks that sounds really good in theory - like ducking (where the echo stops while you're playing notes, comes back in between note phrases) - just don't sound like good classic delay in actual practice. I thought ducking would be cool but then you don't get that nice 'blur' throughout (as in House Burning Down, again), which by the way can cover up a multitude of sins and make fast runs come off sounding just a bit better than they would sound without delay (as much as it pains me to admit that). Likewise 'trails' and a bunch of other options on the fancier delay pedals.

The chorus side similarly offers great, classic-sounding chorus in several layers of depth and speed, just perfect for old Police, U2, and so on. You can also get a good jazz chorus sound on that side, a la Pat Metheny, I was suprised to find last night at an after-hours jam last night where I fooled around with it.

I was half-way waiting to hear some tone-sucking when I first took it to a gig. For a few mintues after I first plugged it in I even though it was sucking my tone. So between songs I took it out of the chain and it made no difference whatsoever - in fact it was the room that was sucking my tone that night (really tough room with low ceilings and too many hard surfaces). Later at home I tried taking it in and out of the chain, and again could hear no difference. Really quiet pedal by the way - I get zero noise from it, and thankfully no loud clicks or pops when switching it on and off.

It seems pretty sturdy. I've been abusing a couple of Route 66s for the last six years or so and they've never complained, so I'm hoping this pedal will hold up just as well.

I've emailed Bob a few years back, when I needed a new Route 66 quickly, and he was quick to respond. Other than that, no idea, so will not score this category.

I'm really happy with both sides of this pedal. I was looking for good, basic sounds to dial in, was hoping the H2O would have it, and I feel I hit the jackpot on this one. I know I'll be using this pedal for years to come, much like I have the H2O. I was hoping the Line 6 was going to be it for me, but it wasn't - too fussy and too easy to get bad sounds out of it. For a player like me with relatively low demands - or perhaps I should say 'standard' or 'classic' demands, as I'm actually using it quite a lot, it's just I don't need more than two or three settings, nothing extreme for cutting edge - for echo and chorus, it's perfect.