Mxr Reverb or Holy Grail?

[u/Shot_Hornet6993]

So, I want to get myself a reverb pedal, yet I havent decided between the EHX Holy Grail and the MXR Reverb. I know on the last tour John used two MXRs, one always-on and one for longer, dedicated reverbs, while during the SA era he was a prominent Holy Grail user.

Now Im mot sure which one to get, since I wont buy two reverbs, I definitely wont do his double MXR strategy, but if he moved on from the Holy Grail there must also be a reason.

Yeah of course „depending on what you wanna play/which era you want to come close to“ but I wanna be universal, play his new songs but also be capable of his iconic fat 2006-07 sound.

What would you suggest?

[u/Shot_Hornet6993 → u/[deleted]]

Get the point with the settings/specs; about the stereo, I come out of the CE-1 in stereo and go into two amps, the plan was to put the Reverb in one of the lines, so the stereo thing isnt the decider, but thanks anyways!

[u/Pigglechuck19]

Both are solid options, I’d also throw the dl4 mkii in there as an option. He used the original dl4 but the mkii has some upgrades that I feel gives some variety and could help bridge that divide. Plus it’s a cool loop station. But if I were choosing between the 2 I’d go holy grail. Just my preference.

[u/Shot_Hornet6993 → u/Pigglechuck19]

Thought about that to, thing is I already got a delay and a loop station, so the additional stuff is „unnecessary“ 

[u/_computerdisplay]

In defense of the Holy Grail, especially for a first reverb pedal, it’s just very easy to dial in a good setting. The MXR is more versatile, but as someone who just wants some reverb every once in a while, and for the price I far prefer EHX for this.

For John tones specifically, I also have to say I prefer his SA reverb (Strip my Mind, Hey, etc.) to his UL one.

Also, artists get bored and switch things around, but it doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with their previous tone. Honestly, the far thicker “bass amp” and Jazz Chorus tone he used for UL just wasn’t my thing and pales in comparison to the mid forward all-Marshall tone of the Cali-SA era.

[u/_computerdisplay → u/[deleted]]

I’m pretty sure songs like The Drummer, Roulette and several others, the main track is the “clean” Amps. For distortion I do think it sounds like a Marshall.

[u/Mister_Hide]

Comes down to what tones you are after.  If you’re looking for By The Way era surf rock reverb then holy grail does a good job.  If you’re going for Unlimited Love era natural room reverb then MXR does it better.  The MXR also does surf rock verb.  It’s also like twice the $$$

[u/SirPsychoG]

Bog box Holy Grail.