The Beard Custom Reverber is a reverb pedal from Russian maker Beard Custom, and its defining feature is one most reverb pedals do not have: a built-in effects loop. Plug any other kind of effect you want into it, delay and octave among the suggestions, and those effects sit inside the reverb rather than after it, which changes what the reverb can do to them1.
Pedal of the Day's Mike B. described the range it covers as "the ability to do everything from a light echoed blanket of sound, to huge, fat, crazy reverbs"1.
What it does and how it is controlled
The Mix knob blends the wet and dry signals to taste, setting how much of the reverberated signal sits against your untouched guitar tone1. With the effects loop in play, the pedal works as more than a reverb: a delay or octave pedal placed in the loop becomes part of the reverb's character, an arrangement Delicious Audio called a unique take on reverb2.
What reviewers said
Delicious Audio's reviewers, Paolo De Gregorio and Brandon Stoner, weighed the pedal's strengths and limits plainly:
"If you're looking for a spanky Fender amp-like reverb, this pedal is a solid choice. It's not a hugely versatile reverb"
Their verdict was that the Reverber is not hugely versatile in reverb types, but that the effects loop gives it endless sonic horizons overall2.
Videos
ShurSoma
Pedal of the Day
ShurSoma
Questions
What makes the Beard Custom Reverber different from other reverb pedals?
Its built-in effects loop. Instead of only placing reverb at the end of a chain, you can plug other effects, such as delay or octave pedals, into the loop so they sit inside the reverb itself. That opens up sounds a conventional reverb pedal cannot produce, from a light echoed blanket of sound to huge, fat, crazy reverbs, according to Pedal of the Day.
What kind of reverb does the Reverber do best?
Delicious Audio's reviewers called it a solid choice for a spanky Fender amp-like reverb, while noting it is not a hugely versatile reverb in terms of types. Its strength, they found, lies in the sonic possibilities opened up by the on-board effects loop rather than in covering many reverb flavors.
Sources (2)
- Beard Custom Reverber, Pedal of the Day, 2015-12-11
- Unique Pedals: Beard Custom Reverber, Delicious Audio, 2015-12-15