TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb

There are three things I look for in a pedal, besides the sound it makes, and they are: size, flexibility, and simple controls. The Hall of Fame Reverb by TC Electronic has checks by all those boxes, and it sounds really good, too.

It is housed in a small rugged enclosure that is only 3.5” x 5”, which is great for saving space. It has ten different reverbs available plus a spot for a TonePrint. If you do not know what TonePrint is, it is a way to custom tune the pedal. There are plenty of TonePrints available, plus with the TonePrint Editor you can make your own versions of the different reverb types. Finally, there are only four knobs to dial in your desired sound, they are: decay, tone, fx level, and type, plus a mini-switch to go between long and short pre-delay. So simple even I can navigate those controls without too much fuss. The tone knob works very well to make adjustments that can help dial in your sound.

I thought the pedal sounded better than the Boss RV-5, and was more versatile than the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail. The e-pedals on my iStomp did not have as many choices for reverb sounds as the Hall of Fame has preloaded. I also had a need for a gated reverb that was not available on the Holy Grail and iStomp. The TonePrint aspect of the Hall of Fame was really the deciding factor. The TonePrint Editor is fun to mess around with, but I haven’t made anything better than what I have heard from the professionals.

The Hall of Fame is not a perfect pedal, but my problems with it are pretty minor. I wish it had more slots for TonePrints, I like those sounds much better than some of the preloaded reverb types. Although it is an option, do not run this pedal on batteries. It will eat through a 9-volt in a little over an hour. This pedal is a bit of an overkill for what I use it for in my rig. It isn’t even on my pedalboard, but sits on my amp head. I thought I would be switching through the different reverb types throughout the set, but I pretty much set and forget. I adjust the settings at sound check, then leave it on until tear down. I probably should have bought the mini version of the pedal, but I think that might be too dumbed down with the one knob control.

As a pedal in a live situation, it works really well. I believe it shines a bit more as studio/recording tool. Being able to change the TonePrint as you want would be fun, and allow to create some very unique sounds. The reverb effect leaves the core of your tone alone, and adds the lushness of reverb very organically. I like the “Room” type of reverb best, but I think it captures the other types very well, too.

This is a very good pedal with a couple of minor glitches. The Strymon Big Sky may be more versatile, but for the price point the Hall of Fame is an excellent purchase. Depending on how you use it you may want to get the mini version of the pedal, but I worry that you lose too many features that make this pedal shine.

TC electronics came out with this line of effects pedals a couple years ago and they have been the raging success for a lot of guitar players around the world. This pedal is called the TC electronic hall of fame reverb. This reverb is a four button control which controls your decay, tone, fx level, and then you're different types of modes. You also have a long and short pre-delay reverb switch. In addition to that the overall pedal is a stereo pedal which allows you to hook it up and running in stereo or mono operations. Overall this is a great pedal and has a load of features and for the price it really doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

UTILIZATION

TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Guitar Stompbox Features at a Glance:

10 reverb types give you a wide range of reverbs for a world of inspiration
TonePrint gives you instant access to custom pedal tweaks made by top guitarists
Stereo I/O
True Bypass preserves your tone
Analog-Dry-Through maintains the tone of your dry signal
Decay, Tone and Level controls
Easy single-screw battery access
Small footprint saves precious pedal board space
Made with high-quality analog and digital components
Road-ready ultra-tough all-metal chassis

SOUND QUALITY

You have a lot of different features that you can get with this pedal. You have basically 10 reverb types that have a larger range of different tones that can give you pretty much any type of reverb setting that you require. This pedal is also true bypass pedal, so it doesn't degrade your guitar tone in anyway. This pedal has a small MXR type box which fits nicely on your pedal board as well. Overall the tone of this pedal is a very high-quality analog and digital component pedal. if you have the tone that needs some nice reverb than this is a great priced pedal and great sound as well.

OVERALL OPINION

At new you can pick find this pedal for right around hundred and $150. That is a great price for a great sounding pedal that has a load of features and options. If you're looking for a inexpensive pedal for missed my beard go to reverb pedal. There are a lot of pedals out there and it can be hard to choose the right one. You must know that TC always does things very well and with a great attention to detail. They have a sound that is respectable and you can count on getting a great product every time with every unit.

Stereo in and out. Numerous reverb types. Tone Print function. Level, decay, tone, and type control. True bypass. Your know the drill. TC came out with these pedals a short time ago. The idea was rack effect quality in pedal form. This is an idea that's been dabbled in before but TC is a company with a long history in high quality rack effects so if anyone, they deserve a shot.
Obviously these are going to be compared to the Eventide factor series which is a bit more costly. But the same idea.

UTILIZATION

You can't really make it simpler. As far as small pedal reverbs go this is the most functional and intuitive control wise. I think if you're trying to get a hifi sound from your reverbs and you don't have the know how to control 100 different parameters properly on a rack unit or one of the eventide boxes.

SOUND QUALITY

That's not to say the hall of fame can only do hifi reverb sounds. It really tries to cover all the bases and succeeds at most of them. The lofi reverb is good for that surf rock sound if that's what you want. I can't really find a use for the gate reverb and the mod and church reverb feel a bit excessive and not really needed. But hey, no one is complaining. I mostly use the more traditional ones like the room and hall reverbs. The spring is nice for a more vintage sound.

The thing is though, this isn't the best sounding reverb ever. The Eventide Space I personally think is a little bit better. It's also a lot more money, so keep that in mind. I think the Hall of Fame is priced really well. It's extremely versatile. Most of the reverbs range from good to decent. None are really bad. It doesn't have that 3D sound that the pricey units do.

OVERALL OPINION

I eventually sold mine to buy an Eventide Space pedal. As pedals go, I think it's the best reverb. Bottom line, if you want rack reverb, get a rack unit. If you want something in between, get either of those units depending what your price range is. For everyone else...well there's the Holy Grail from EH? Seriously. My final word is that this is a nice reverb for the price.

Reverb-only, many types, including a configurable or "downloadable" in the "Footprint" label

UTILIZATION

Configuration very simple pedal. Loading a Footprint too. on the other hand, edit your own preset Footprint is a bit more sporty.

SOUND QUALITY

It looks good, according to all the other reviews. Why is there so much used on the other hand?

OVERALL OPINION

I, also, bought used via AF. I plugged in, I looked at the system Footprints and I tried some and I made the rounds of all the reverbs, turned the knobs, disconnected, returned to its box, relisting AF, and sold a few days later. An hour clock.
I'm not saying it's a bad pedal, moreover no one would believe me. But I like program-reaching effects and there - apart from the single Footprint - I realized that it was very limited and I will not bore quickly.
However, if you do not have the same disease as me, rather hold account other reviews of this topic.
(I take this opportunity to express my amazement at the culmination of the site Audiofanzine Everything is, everything is easy, great job guys. Never let go of us!)