Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector V2

The Reflector is a chorus pedal from Old Blood Noise Endeavors, first announced in July 2015 as "a densely lush chorus coupled with three modes of modulation"¹. Rather than a straight vintage-style chorus, it runs the chorus into other effects: a pitch shifter, a flanger or a resonant filter, depending on which of its three modes you select with a toggle switch. JHS Pedals' history of the brand sums it up as "a modulated chorus with pitch-shifting mixed into it"².

The V2 sat between that original pedal and the V3 of 2018, which Guitar.com called "an update of the brand's flagship series of modulation pedals"³. Old Blood Noise has since retired the line: the maker's own product page states that "The Reflector Chorus is no longer in production, but many units exist out there in the world"⁴.

What it does

At its core the Reflector is a multi-voice chorus, but each of its three modes routes that chorus somewhere different. Guitar.com's buying guide put it this way: the pedal delivers old-school chorus "but also lets you run that old-school goodness into either a pitch-shifter, a reverb or a resonant filter for new jaw-dropping sounds"⁸. MusicRadar described the resulting tones as varying "from gentle to warbly and flange-like"⁵.

The original 2015 pedal combined chorus with flanger and vibrato elements, with a three-way toggle choosing between Wrinkle, Myriad and Mirrors modes¹. The V3 kept the pitch shifting, flanging and multi-voice chorus capabilities and added a reverb chorus mode, Washed, to the lineup⁶.

The controls

The control set is four knobs plus the mode toggle. Gearnews called it "a pretty simplistic four-knob control setup that consists of Rate, Depth, Mix and Modulate"⁷.

The Modulate knob is where the Reflector's character lives. In Wrinkle mode it varies the pitch of the vibrato-esque trill: all the way left for an octave down, noon for pitch unison, fully clockwise for an octave up. In Mirrors mode it controls the depth of the flanger³¹. On the V3, Old Blood Noise describes it as "unique control in each mode: pitch shift, reverb blend, and filter depth"⁴.

The V3 also added an expression jack for external control of the Rate or Modulate parameter⁹, and its output level can be tweaked via an internal trimpot⁵.

Wrinkle, Myriad and Mirrors modes

The original Reflector's three modes, as announced in 2015¹:

• Wrinkle Mode: a vibrato-esque warble chorus with pitch selection, meaning the Modulate knob goes from one octave down to one octave up, with noon close to pitch unity¹
• Myriad Mode: a simple lush chorus, with the Modulate control selecting from one to four voices on the chorus¹
• Mirrors Mode: detuned chorus meets flanger, in which the Modulate knob controls the depth of the flanger while Rate corresponds to both the flanger speed and the detuned chorus speed¹

The V3 reshuffled this lineup. Wrinkle stayed, described by Old Blood Noise as "a deep chorus with an additional pitch shift from one octave down to one octave up"⁴. Myriad was dropped. Mirrors was reworked as "a chorus and moving filter linked via the chorus rate"⁴. And a new mode arrived:

• Washed Mode: adds a reverb effect, described by Old Blood Noise as "a simple lush chorus feeding into a reverb"⁴⁶

A three-way toggle switch selects between the three modes on both versions¹⁴.

From the original Reflector to V3

Old Blood Noise Endeavors introduced the Reflector chorus in 2015, priced at $199 retail, powered by most 9V DC power supplies, and true bypass¹. Three years later the company updated the pedal to V3 specs, adding the new reverb chorus mode to the original's pitch shifting, flanging and multi-voice chorus capabilities⁶⁹. The V3 shipped at $199, available in two finishes⁶³, and moved from true bypass to a soft switch relay bypass, which gearnews noted means "you won't hear a big pop/click when you engage the" pedal⁷.

MusicRadar's verdict on the V3 was strong, comparing it to the maker's Flat Light Flanger⁵:

MusicRadar, 2018⁵

Guitar.com's 2019 chorus pedal buying guide also gave the line a nod, writing that "The Reflector V3 develops on that initial great pedal with the addition of a new reverb/chorus mode"⁸.

The whole Reflector line is now out of production. Players looking for a current Old Blood Noise chorus instead have the Reflector V3's successor pedals from the brand, such as the BL-82 chorus, while used Reflectors remain on the secondhand market⁴.

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