Strymon blueSky V1 Review: Why This Classic Reverb Pedal Still Sounds So Good

There are a lot of reverb pedals available today. Some are cheaper, some offer more features, and some can create sounds that are far more experimental.

And yet, the original Strymon blueSky V1 still has something that is surprisingly difficult to beat: it simply sounds right.

The blueSky has been around for years and has become one of those pedals that musicians immediately recognize. It is one of the reasons Strymon built such a strong reputation for making high-quality reverb pedals.

But with newer pedals, including the blueSky V2 available today, is the original V1 still worth buying?

After spending some time with it, my answer is: absolutely.

The philosophy behind the blueSky

What I like most about the blueSky isn't necessarily the enormous number of sounds it can produce. It's how quickly you can find a great sound.

There are plenty of pedals that can technically do similar things. Some even give you more parameters and more control.

But sometimes more control means spending more time tweaking.

The blueSky is different.

Plug it in, turn a few knobs, and you're very quickly in the territory of the reverb sounds you already know from records, guitarists, ambient music and modern productions.

And if you're looking for something completely different, it can do that too.

From a small room to a huge atmospheric shimmer, the blueSky can cover a surprisingly large amount of ground.

The controls

One of the reasons the blueSky is so easy to use is that the controls are very straightforward.

Mix

The Mix control determines how much of the reverb signal you hear compared to your original dry signal.

Turn it down for a subtle sense of space, or turn it up for a much more obvious ambient effect.

For big atmospheric sounds, pushing the Mix higher can create those huge washes where the reverb becomes almost an instrument of its own.

Decay

Decay controls how long the reverb takes to disappear.

Lower settings give you a shorter, tighter reverb, while higher settings create longer and more atmospheric tails.

This is one of the controls you'll probably use most when going from a conventional guitar sound to a massive ambient texture.

Pre-Delay

Pre-Delay controls the amount of time between your original sound and the beginning of the reverb.

A shorter pre-delay makes the reverb feel more immediate and connected to the original note.

Increasing it can help separate the dry signal from the reverb, which can be particularly useful when you want a more pronounced or spacious effect and better note definition

High Damp

High Damp controls how quickly the high frequencies are absorbed by the virtual space.

Increasing the damping gives you a darker, softer reverb.

With less damping, the high frequencies remain more present and the reverb can sound brighter and more open.

This control is particularly useful for shaping the character of the reverb rather than simply changing how long it lasts.

Low Damp

Low Damp works in a similar way, but affects the low frequencies.

It allows you to control how much low-end energy remains in the reverb tail.

This can be very useful when you're creating large reverbs because too much low-end can quickly make an ambient sound muddy.

Together, High Damp and Low Damp give you quite a lot of control over the overall character of the reverb.

Reverb types

The blueSky V1 gives you three different basic reverb types:

Plate

The Plate setting is smooth, dense and musical.

It works particularly well when you want a lush reverb that doesn't necessarily sound like you're putting your guitar in a physical room.

It's also a great starting point for ambient sounds.

Room

The Room setting is more natural and spatial.

It can give your guitar the impression of being played in an actual acoustic space, making it useful for more subtle applications as well as larger room sounds.

Spring

The Spring setting is designed to emulate the character of a spring reverb.

It's a completely different flavor from the Plate and Room modes and can add a more vintage character to your sound.

Normal, Mod and Shimmer

The blueSky also has three different modes that change the character of the reverb.

Normal

Normal is the straightforward reverb mode.

It's where you'll find the classic blueSky sound without additional modulation or shimmer effects.

And honestly, this mode alone is capable of producing an enormous range of sounds.

Mod

Mod introduces modulation into the reverb.

The result is a more animated and slightly moving reverb character.

This can work beautifully for ambient guitar because the reverb itself becomes less static.

One limitation of the original V1 is that you don't have the same level of control over the modulation depth that you get with the newer V2.

Shimmer

And then there's Shimmer.

This is where the blueSky can become seriously huge.

The shimmer algorithm adds an octave-up character to the reverb, creating those soaring, ethereal textures that have become so popular in ambient music.

With a high Mix and long Decay, you can create enormous walls of sound that almost stop sounding like conventional guitar reverb.

It's one of those effects that can completely change how you approach playing.

And because the blueSky is so easy to dial in, getting from a normal guitar sound to a massive ambient texture doesn't require an enormous amount of tweaking.

It's stereo

Another important feature is that the blueSky is a stereo reverb pedal.

That makes a big difference if you're running a stereo rig, using multiple amplifiers, recording directly into an interface, or working with stereo effects in the studio.

The reverb can occupy a much larger space in the stereo field, which is particularly useful for ambient and cinematic sounds.

Can it do more than huge ambient reverb?

Absolutely.

One of the things I wanted to demonstrate in my video is that the blueSky doesn't have to be an "ambient-only" pedal.

You can dial it back and use it for subtle room sounds.

You can use the Plate mode for a smoother, more polished reverb.

You can use Spring for something with more vintage character.

And with the right settings, you can even push it towards short, rhythmic, slapback-style textures.

That's what makes the blueSky so useful: it doesn't force you into one particular style of music.

Strymon blueSky V1 vs V2

The obvious question today is whether you should buy the original V1 or go for the newer blueSky V2.

The V2 does bring some meaningful improvements.

The biggest ones, for me, are the additional control over the modulation and the ability to add shimmer more subtly and adjust it to taste.

Those are genuinely useful improvements.

But they don't fundamentally change what makes the original blueSky good.

The V1 still has that characteristic Strymon sound, and it still gives you access to beautiful reverbs without requiring you to spend hours programming the pedal.

Is the Strymon blueSky V1 still worth buying?

I think it is.

Yes, there are now plenty of competing pedals that can produce similar sounds.

Some are cheaper. Some offer more features. Some give you more control over the individual parameters.

But the blueSky has always had a particular advantage:

you plug it in, turn a few knobs, and it sounds good.

And not just "technically good."

It sounds like the reverb sound you've been looking for.

That's probably the biggest reason Strymon became such a go-to name for reverb pedals in the first place.

The blueSky V1 isn't necessarily the newest or most feature-packed option anymore. But if you find one at a good price, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Sometimes a pedal becomes a classic for a reason.

And the original blueSky is a very good example of that.