Let's take a close look at The Astronomer v2 and why you’ll want it on your pedalboard. You’d be surprized what sounds you can achieve with the pedal and how it’s useful on stage. This makes it complementary to other reverb pedals.
The Astronomer is a super atmospheric pedal that can really inspire you. Check out our video to hear it in action.
Matthews Effects is a guitar effects company based in Washington State, USA, in business for about 10 years now. They build high-quality pedals.
The original Astronomer pedal was produced in 2015. The pedal I'm writing about in this post is the second version, or the v2.
The pedal is designed in a slightly different way than a typical reverb pedal. There are three algorithms to choose from: Canis Major, an eco-reverb, Orion, a hall reverb, and Ursa Major, a chamber reverb. You can add a shimmer reverb to the first two algorithms to achieve the "celestial" sound. While in the Ursa Major algorithm, you can add a pitch-shifter that brings the notes you are playing up 2 octaves. The effect is added before the reverb sound. In both cases, you can control the amount of effect by using the GLOW knob.
Another interesting aspect of the pedal is the two separate rows of knobs allowing you to set the two settings TOP and BOTTOM using the two switches found on the side of the pedal. These two settings can be selected as needed using the respective foot switches on the bottom half of the pedal, and it's almost like using two separate pedals, making it a really cool feature.
Check out the sound demos and my impressions in our video above by clicking here.
I really enjoyed this pedal. I'd say there are some pros and cons to its design as with any other pedal on the market. The cons include the fact that it's not a super versatile pedal in the sense that the controls are limited and you can't decide, for example, the depth of the reverb or the pre-delay time. And, there are only three reverb types.
On to the pros, the pedal sounds great. You don't need to be a sound engineer to achieve sounds of ethereal space and deep atmospheres when you use this pedal. I like the double settings feature, and the fact that the foot switches are two different heights, making it more user-friendly on stage. The instructions of the algorithms are written on the bottom of the pedal, another very helpful detail in the event you can't remember how to use them. I like the graphics of the pedal as well as the box, something overlooked by a lot of other pedal companies.
In conclusion, I really enjoy this pedal and am happy to have it on my board.
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