For those of you that are more tech oriented, how much signal loss do you think there is on an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail. I am not totally worked about the fact that its not true bypass I can handle that with the gain setting on my amp, but I feel like everytime I turn it on I lose volume. I know reverb takes the immediacy of a sound away, but this seems like a small, but legitimate drop in volume. It annoys me when I am playing clean parts and I think you can't hear them with the Holy Grail on.

Hey Losthighway,


I had that same problem with mine. I discussed it a bit in the spring reverb pedal thread. I wasn't going to have an amp with reverb for a tour we did once, and I bought a Holy Grail. the volume drop was shitty for me, and I ended up borrowing another pedal from a friend to use instead (it was a boss).

I've found that some of the ehx pedals (like the old four knob octave multiplexer) that don't have a level control often result in some signal loss.

one thing: did you buy it used? I've found that ehx pedals work much better new (and sometimes even then...) their qc is okay. alex maiolo has assured me that my experience was a bum pedal, as he has used one to great effect. I say this while openly admitting that alex maiolo is my secret "tone guru" and I usually take what he says as good, solid advice.

Another thing to note, because of the nature of reverb, guitars are going to seem quieter, but I'm assuming this isn't your problem.

I use an amp with reverb now (traynor ts25), but the reverb doesn't have a footswitch, just a knob on the amp. I've found that my line 6 delay can give you some good reverb if you tweak the knobs (thanks, scott!!). the "tube echo" one sounds really good for a digital box, plus I have two more slots for other delays on the pedal. can't run them together, unfortunately, but if I need to, I can just dial it in on the amp.

still, none of it is as beautiful as the tank on a twin. I miss playing through one of those. glorious.







hth.



Faiz

Also watch out for using the very common One-Spot power adapters with this pedal. It causes a high pitch squeal. I'm hooking up a Dunlop DC Brick to see if it fixes the problem.

Yes, I have one also. I noticed a very slight drop in signal. But if you turn the reverb length over half way it is a lot more drop. You can pretty much crank the reverb and as you turn it down listen to your signal get louder. It does sound good however for a cheap reverb that is digital. That sucks about the one spot squeal. I have a one spot. But no adapter for a male plug. I use the power supply it came with. So I can't verify that. But my conclussion is still. For a $99 dollar pedal it is a good deal.

The drop in volume is proportionate to the reverb level, so the more reverb - the more it seems to drop. It's just the way they designed it, it's almost like the higher reverb settings emulate the way that really reverb-y rooms (naturally) make the original signal lost somehow.
It's like the reverb level is not an 'amount of reverb' control but more a 'wet to dry' balance and the higher end settings lose the original sound completely and you are left with just the decay of the reverb.
I have mine set on about 30%, it's plenty of reverb and it doesn't drop the signal to my ears...

Have any of you opened one up to see if there is a trim pot to adjust the volume output for the wet effects?

Just an idea.

I've noticed that the QC on this EHX pedal is bad.
My buddy Nicole and I call those "the gig ruiner" because we have both had onstage issues with ours that lent to some stress before we figured out what the culprit was.

When they work, they work well. They really do sound great.
Complaints range from volume drop to clicking it on and having ...no reverb. When the latter happens, an unplugging, pause and powering back up usually fixes it. With mine, just a stiff kick would get it to drop out. Not a good quality in a device made to be stepped on. I leave mine on top of my amp now, or use a Boss reverb if I need it to be less springy and more spacey.

The volume drop can be overcome sometimes by using a preamp in line - a Boss Microamp, Zvex Super Hard On, Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster (a great deal).
Seems like if one of these is in line, this drop goes away, at least with my two amps.

Other reverbs to consider are the Danelectro Spring King, which sounds great. I saw Simon Tong use one with The Good The Bad And The Queen and it was impossible to tell it wasn't amp reverb. He was playing through a Twin, and I didn't know he wasn't using the amp reverb until I saw him turning the Srping King on and off.
The Furman RV1 is freakin' fantastic, and is has a built in parametric EQ. The downside is that it's rack mount. If you just leave it on, then that doesn't matter so much. I used to just set mine in the back of my amp.

These last two sound great because they use...
springs.
Figures.
You can do that "ppprrrrrkkkkrrrrrrrrr" thunder sound with them because of that - nice.

Until EHX gets the problems right I'm certianly not recommending the Holy Grail to friends, which sucks because I love the way it sounds.
I'm hoping they put one in a Hammond box, like the Nano series, so they will take up less real estate, and use normal power supplies. My Nano Small Stone is so great.

One last thing - don't use any other adapter with the Grail, and do not use it in a chain (e.g. - power daisy chain). If you have your effects chained together, give put the grail on it's own supply.

-A

this is my favorite pedal of all time. one of its purposes is for your problem. if you're not sure, buy one anyway. if you're lost @ 10, and you don't know where to go from there, this will take you to 13!

patk wrote:this is my favorite pedal of all time. one of its purposes is for your problem. if you're not sure, buy one anyway. if you're lost @ 10, and you don't know where to go from there, this will take you to 13!

Vote two for the Super Hard On.
I didn't believe the hype until I used one.
When mine is on, the drop is no longer a problem with the Grail.
BUT those Grails are so notoriously unique when it come to their problems, that I guarantee NUHsing.

Also the Keeley Java Boost, which makes you sound like London 1966 - it's a Rangemaster clone. I have both on my board. The SHO is always on, the Keeley comes on when I want to sound like Dave Davies.

-A

Seriously, does anyone know if there is a trim pot inside? I'm gonna open mine up and see soon. The reverb sounds pretty good. But I think that its a little too long. The only choice on this pedal is more or less. If only it had long or short as well. Then this pedal would be ok for me. Damn, I just bought it. I hope I don't have to sell it already. Well that's what ebay is for.The more I use it the more I notice it is not real reverb. With the fender twin I had there was an immediacy to the reverb. With the holy grail the reverb is in the background, always. It seems like you can basically just tell it is on when you stop playing. Also, when you kick on a distortion pedal it seems like the reverb is more noticable. I am used to that being the opposite. On the twin I had the reverb seemed to blend in when I kicked on a gain pedal. This pedal is ok and is cheap but the more I use it the less I like it. Anyone know a good sounding reverb pedal that has a wet, dry knob and a decay knob, and is also cheap. I don't want to have to buy a $700 reverb tank just to make me happy?