Every control on the unit, explained in plain English.
Front panel
Knobs
VALUE
This is your menu-dial. Turn it to scroll presets or fine-tune the reverb length, push it to dig into the hidden settings of your current reverb, and hold it to reach the pedal's overall setup options.
tip: Push VALUE, then turn to browse deep parameters like Low End, Diffusion, or Shimmer intervals — this is where the real tone-shaping lives.
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A push-and-turn encoder. Turning it fine-adjusts Decay time when time is on the display, or scrolls through presets when a bank/name is shown. Pushing it opens the PARAMETER (deep edit) menu; holding it opens the GLOBAL menu.
DECAY
This is the reverb's tail length — how long the sound hangs in the air after you stop playing. Low settings give a quick, tight ambience; high settings give long, washing trails. On some machines it does something special (on Magneto and Nonlinear it sets the echo/effect time; on Reflections it sets the room size).
tip: For realistic rooms, keep decay short (0.5–2s). For dreamy ambient pads, crank it way up — Cloud goes to a full 50 seconds.
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Controls the Decay (RT60) time of the reverberated signal — how long it takes the reverb to fade to near silence. The available range depends on the selected reverb machine (e.g. Hall/Plate/Swell/Bloom/Chorale/Shimmer 500ms–20s, Cloud up to 50s, Spring 800ms–10s, Nonlinear 50ms–2s, Reflections 133–400ms which sets room size, Room 200ms–20s, Magneto 200ms–1.5s which sets the last head's delay time).
PRE-DELAY
This sets how long the pedal waits before the reverb kicks in. A little bit of it separates your playing from the wash so notes stay clear. On the Magneto (tape echo) and Nonlinear machines it becomes a feedback control, letting echoes repeat and build.
tip: Add a touch of pre-delay to keep vocals or lead lines from getting buried in the reverb — it makes both stand out.
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Adjusts the gap between your dry note and the onset of the reverb, from 0 to 1.5 seconds. On the Nonlinear and Magneto machines this knob instead controls the amount of Feedback.
MIX
This is the wet/dry blend. All the way left is your untouched guitar with no reverb; all the way right is reverb only. Note that even/half reverb sits at 3:00, not straight up — so past that you're mostly hearing effect.
tip: For big reverbs like Bloom or Cloud you can push Mix well past noon without losing your dry note, because those machines are designed to sit nicely behind you.
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Controls the balance between your analog dry signal and the wet reverb signal, from 100% dry at minimum to 100% wet at maximum. A 50/50 blend occurs at the 3:00 position.
TONE
This is the brightness of the reverb tail. Turn it down for warm, cozy, muffled space; turn it up for shimmery, crisp, airy space. Straight up is a safe neutral.
tip: On Spring, crank Tone to max for maximum splash and drip; on Plate, roll it back toward noon or below for smooth, classic studio warmth.
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Adjusts the high-frequency content of the reverb. Lower settings create darker, warmer reverberation; higher settings are bright and crisp. 12:00 gives a balanced top end. On some machines (like Bloom) it acts as a unique resonant filter.
PARAM 1
A shortcut knob. Instead of digging through menus, you can pin a favorite hidden setting (like Diffusion or Low End) to this knob for instant hands-on control.
tip: Assign the parameter you tweak most for a given machine — e.g. Diffusion on Cloud — so it's a single twist away during a song.
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An assignable knob mapped to any menu parameter of the currently active reverb machine. To assign: navigate to the desired parameter, press and hold the VALUE encoder while turning PARAM 1.
PARAM 2
Same idea as PARAM 1 — a second custom shortcut knob for a hidden parameter, so you can have two of your favorite deep settings right on the surface.
tip: Set PARAM 1 and PARAM 2 to two different deep parameters so you can shape a machine live without ever entering the menu.
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A second assignable knob, mapped exactly like PARAM 1 to any menu parameter of the current reverb machine (hold VALUE while turning PARAM 2 to assign).
MOD
This adds gentle wobble and movement to the reverb, making it feel alive and lush rather than static. A little warms things up; a lot makes it shimmer and swirl.
tip: Around 12:00–1:00 is a sweet spot on Room and Hall for maximum natural warmth without obvious wobble. Crank it on Bloom or Shimmer for gorgeous swirling textures.
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Adds modulation to the reverberated signal. Lower settings lightly modulate the delay lines for subtle, natural movement; higher settings add stronger modulation. On many machines the first half of travel modulates delay lengths and the second half adds modulation to the reverb tank input.
TYPE
This is your reverb-flavor selector — turn it to choose between Hall, Plate, Spring, Room, and the rest. Tap it to switch the display readout, and hold it down when you want to save your sound.
tip: To save quickly: dial in your sound, hold TYPE until SAVE appears, then push TYPE again to store it to the current preset.
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Turn to select the desired reverb machine (from the 12 options shown around it). Push to toggle the display between Decay time and the current bank/name. Hold to save the current preset.
Footswitches
A Footswitch
The left footswitch. Stomp it to turn on (or off) preset A. Hold it down to freeze the reverb into an endless pad. Combine with the middle switch to jump down a bank.
tip: Set the Hold function to FREEZE if you want to sustain a chord forever and solo over it without adding to the wash.
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Engages or bypasses the A preset of the current bank. Hold for Infinite Sustain or Freeze (selectable per preset via the Hold parameter). Pressing A & B together selects a lower bank.
B Footswitch
The middle footswitch. Stomp for preset B, hold for the freeze/sustain effect. It's also your bank-navigation partner — pair it with A to go down a bank or with C to go up.
tip: The three footswitches let you keep three ready-to-go sounds in each bank — great for verse/chorus/lead switching.
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Engages or bypasses the B preset of the current bank. Hold for Infinite Sustain or Freeze (per-preset setting). Press A & B for a lower bank, or B & C for a higher bank.
C Footswitch
The right footswitch. Stomp for preset C, hold for freeze/sustain. Combine with the middle switch to move up a bank.
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Engages or bypasses the C preset of the current bank. Hold for Infinite Sustain or Freeze (per-preset setting). Pressing B & C together selects a higher bank.
Display & indicators
Reverb machine indicator LEDs
Little lights that tell you at a glance which reverb type you're currently on.
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A ring of LEDs beside the TYPE encoder that light to show which of the 12 reverb machines is selected: Bloom, Cloud, Swell, Chorale, Spring, Shimmer, Plate, Magneto, Hall, Nonlinear, Room, Reflections.
Display
The little screen that tells you where you are — which preset you're on, its name, how long the reverb lasts, or what setting you're currently adjusting.
tip: For preset names to show up, set the NAMES global option to ON or SCROLL.
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A green alphanumeric display that shows the current bank number, preset name, Decay time (RT60), or the parameter/value being edited. Push TYPE to toggle between BANK, NAME, and TIME views.
A, B & C LEDs
Little lights telling you which preset is on. Green means active, amber warns you've made changes you haven't saved yet, and off means that preset is bypassed.
tip: See amber? You've tweaked something — hold TYPE to save if you want to keep the change.
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Status LEDs above each footswitch. Green = that preset is active. Amber = the preset has been edited but not saved. Off = bypassed.
Side panels
Switches & toggles
CAB FILTER Switch
A speaker-simulator toggle. Turn it ON when you're plugging into a PA, audio interface, or headphones (with no guitar amp) so your tone sounds warm and amp-like instead of harsh. Turn it OFF whenever you're going into a real guitar amp.
tip: For direct recording or silent practice, flip this ON and place the BigSky last in your chain — dirt pedals will sound amp-like and clean guitar rounded.
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A two-position (OFF/ON) switch. ON engages a sophisticated speaker cabinet response curve for going direct; OFF leaves the signal full-range.
Jacks & connectors
LEFT IN / RIGHT IN
Where your instrument or the previous pedal plugs in. For a normal single-cable setup, just use LEFT. Use both jacks only if you have a stereo signal coming in.
tip: The 1 MegOhm input impedance is guitar-friendly, so you can put the BigSky directly after your guitar without tone loss.
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High-impedance instrument inputs (1 MegOhm). Use the LEFT input for mono operation; use both for stereo input.
LEFT OUT / RIGHT OUT
Where the sound leaves the pedal. Use LEFT going into one amp; use both to run a lush stereo rig into two amps or a stereo interface.
tip: Running stereo (both outputs) dramatically widens reverbs like Cloud and Bloom — worth it if you have two amps or record in stereo.
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Outputs to your amp or next device (100 Ohm output impedance). Use the LEFT output for mono; use both for stereo output.
EXP
A multi-purpose control jack. Plug in an expression pedal to sweep any knobs with your foot, or connect a Strymon footswitch to remotely tap tempo or change presets/banks. What it does depends on the EXP MD global setting.
tip: With an expression pedal you can set 'heel' and 'toe' positions for multiple knobs at once — e.g. slowly rock into a longer, wetter, brighter reverb for a song's climax.
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A TRS jack that accepts a standard expression pedal (for continuous control over any knob(s) via the per-preset EP SET parameter), a Strymon MiniSwitch (remote Pre-Delay control, or Decay on Magneto/Nonlinear; set EXP MD global to TAP), or a Strymon MultiSwitch (external tap, bank, or preset selection; set EXP MD to TAP, BANK, or PRESET).
MIDI IN
Lets an external MIDI controller or another device tell the BigSky what to do — recall presets, tweak knobs remotely, or sync reverb timing to a clock.
tip: To reach presets beyond 42B, send a Bank Change (CC#0 with value 0, 1, or 2) before your Program Change — the pedal always powers up in Bank 0.
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Full-featured MIDI input supporting Continuous Controllers (CCs), Program Changes, MIDI clock, and preset dumps. Presets are grouped into 3 MIDI Patch Banks accessed via CC# 0 (values 0–2).
MIDI OUT
Sends MIDI out of the pedal — to chain another device, back up your presets, or pass along control messages from your controller.
tip: Use Preset Dump (in the Global menu) via MIDI OUT to copy all your presets to a second BigSky or save them on a computer/recorder.
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MIDI output. Behavior is set by the MIDI Through global: THRU passes incoming MIDI untouched, MERGE combines incoming with BigSky-generated messages, OFF sends only BigSky's own messages. Also used for preset dumps to another BigSky or recorder.
9VDC Power Jack
Where the power supply plugs in. Use only a proper 9V center-negative adapter that can deliver 300mA or more — this pedal is power-hungry compared to simple stompboxes.
tip: Cheap daisy-chains often can't supply 300mA cleanly; give the BigSky its own isolated power output to avoid noise and dropouts.
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Power input requiring 9V DC, center-negative polarity, at least 300mA. Never exceed 9V.
What it is
A flagship stereo reverb pedal offering 12 studio-quality reverb algorithms with deep parameter control and preset storage.
The Strymon BigSky is a premium stereo reverb pedal — a single box that adds space, ambience, and atmosphere to your guitar (or synth, or vocals). Instead of one reverb sound, it packs 12 distinct 'reverb machines': everything from realistic rooms and halls to vintage spring and plate sounds, plus wild, otherworldly options like Shimmer (pitch-shifted sparkle), Cloud (huge ambient wash), Chorale (a choir of voices), and Nonlinear (backwards and gated effects). It ranges from subtle 'this room sounds nice' realism all the way to endless, cinematic sound-scapes you can play over.
First session: get a sound out of it
- 01Connect the included 9V DC center-negative power supply to the 9VDC jack (never use higher than 9V; it needs at least 300mA). The pedal powers up.
- 02Plug your guitar into the LEFT IN jack and run a cable from the LEFT OUT jack to your amp.
- 03If you're going into a guitar amp, set the rear CAB FILTER switch to OFF. (Only turn it ON if going direct to a PA, recording interface, or headphones.)
- 04Press one of the footswitches (A, B, or C) so its LED lights green — the reverb is now active.
- 05Turn the TYPE knob to pick a reverb machine (start with HALL, PLATE, or ROOM for familiar sounds).
- 06Set MIX to around 12:00 to start (fully counterclockwise is all dry, fully clockwise is all wet; straight up gives plenty of reverb without drowning your dry sound).
- 07Set DECAY to taste — this controls how long the reverb tail lasts. Turn TONE to around 12:00 for a balanced sound.
- 08Play. Adjust MIX and DECAY until it feels right. To keep the sound, hold the TYPE knob to save it to the current preset.
How the sound flows
Your instrument plugs into the INPUTS on the back (use LEFT for a single/mono cable, or both for stereo). Your dry signal travels along a pure analog path that never gets converted to digital — so it stays clean and instant. A copy of your signal is sent into the digital reverb engine, where the selected reverb machine adds its wet (reverberated) sound. The MIX knob then blends your dry signal with the wet reverb. If the Cab Filter switch is on, a speaker-simulation curve is applied to the output (for going straight to a PA, interface, or headphones). The blended signal leaves through the OUTPUTS (use LEFT for mono). MIDI and an expression/switch pedal input let you control the pedal remotely.
Questions owners actually ask
How do I save a sound I've dialed in?+
To save to the current preset location, hold the TYPE encoder until SAVE appears, then push TYPE again to confirm. To save to a different location, hold TYPE, then turn the VALUE encoder to choose the target bank, and push TYPE (or tap the A, B, or C footswitch) to store it. Press VALUE at any time to cancel a save in progress.
How many sounds can I store, and how are they organized?+
The BigSky holds 300 presets — 100 banks (numbered 00–99) each containing three presets: A, B, and C, matching the three footswitches. Press A & B together to move down a bank, or B & C together to move up a bank. From the factory the first 100 presets (00A–33A) are duplicated across the pedal, so there's plenty of room to overwrite with your own.
Why does my reverb sound harsh or thin when going straight into my interface or headphones?+
You likely have the rear CAB FILTER switch OFF. When there's no guitar amp in the chain, flip CAB FILTER to ON and place the BigSky last in your signal chain. This applies a speaker-response curve that makes everything sound warm and amp-like. Turn it back OFF whenever you plug into a real guitar amp.
How do I make the reverb continue after I turn the pedal off?+
Two ways. Per-preset: set the Persist parameter (in the deep-edit menu) to ON, which lets the reverb tail 'spill over' when you bypass that preset — note this automatically switches that preset to analog buffered bypass. Globally: turn on the Spillover global setting so a preset's tail carries into the next preset you select. Important: for spillover to work, the current preset must have been active for at least 5 seconds.
What's the difference between the Hold functions — Infinite versus Freeze?+
Both are set per-preset via the Hold parameter and are triggered by holding down a footswitch. INFNTE (Infinite Sustain) holds your reverb indefinitely, and every new note you play adds into the sustained wash. FREEZE also sustains infinitely, but lets you play new notes on top without adding them to the frozen sound — perfect for holding a pad and soloing over it.
Can I control the pedal with a pedal or footswitch through the EXP jack?+
Yes. The EXP jack (using a TRS cable) accepts a standard expression pedal for sweeping any knob(s) — set which knobs it moves via the per-preset EP SET parameter, defining heel-down and toe-down values. It also takes a Strymon MiniSwitch for remote Pre-Delay/tap control, or a Strymon MultiSwitch for external tap, bank, or preset switching. Match the EXP MD global setting to your device: PEDAL, TAP, BANK, or PRESET.
What do the amber LEDs above the footswitches mean?+
Green means that preset is active and unedited. Amber means you've changed something (like a knob or a deep parameter) but haven't saved it yet — the sound is running but the change is temporary. Off means the preset is bypassed. If you see amber and want to keep the tweak, hold TYPE to save.
How do I restore the factory presets if I've messed everything up?+
Power the pedal up while holding down the A and C footswitches, and keep holding them for 5 seconds after it powers on. The display will show REINIT and all factory presets will be restored. Warning: this erases every custom preset you've saved, so back them up via Preset Dump (MIDI) first if you want to keep them.
The official manual, for when you want the source.
Open in new tab ↗Ask anything about the Strymon BigSky — “how do I sync it to my DAW?”, “why is there no sound?”, “what does the weird button combo do?” — and the AI answers from the official manual.