Strymon enters drive pedal market with Riverside Multistage Drive

May 8, 2023 · 3 sources

Strymon has entered the drive pedal market with the Riverside Multistage Drive, described as "the culmination of a thorough analysis of numerous analog and vacuum tube circuits"¹. The pedal was announced in December 2016 at $299².

The Riverside combines an analog JFET front end with digital signal processing. Strymon says the first stage is an all-analog, ultra low noise, discrete, class-A JFET circuit, digitally controlled to maximize headroom while adding as much as 20dB of analog gain, working with subsequent DSP gain stages built on a SHARC DSP¹. The company's stated goal was to "deliver a new world of harmonically rich, versatile, tube-inspired drive sounds"¹.

Controls include Drive, Level, and a three-band EQ with independent Bass, Middle and Treble knobs, plus a three-position Presence switch that tailors the highest frequencies¹. Strymon says the circuit tuning adjusts multiple parameters as the Drive knob turns, so the sweet spot follows the player at any gain setting¹². The pedal is designed and built in the U.S. in an anodized aluminum chassis². It is sold through the Strymon online store and select authorized dealers².

A later distortion pedals buying guide from GuitarPlayer, last updated June 2025, lists the Riverside among its picks, calling it "about the most versatile and flexible distortion on the market" while noting it is complicated and that analog purists may dislike its digital clipping³. That assessment is the reviewer's.