Keeley Launches Hydra Stereo Reverb & Tremolo Pedal on Same Smart Platform as the Eccos Delay

Robert did say that the Eccos Delay / Looper was only the first of many pedals to inhabit his new stereo, multi-mode, preset-enabled compact effects platform format. And here we have another smart iteration of TremVerb - which somewhat overshadows the previous Verb o Trem variety.

All those great features we witnessed on the Eccos are back in full effect, but instead of multiple variations on a single effect type, here the pedal is split in half with 3 Tremolo options / Modes pertaining to the left-hand side, and 3 Reverb options / Modes on the right.

You see the alternative modes too on the 4 corner knobs, while the central Color knob accesses those Alt Modes and Presets. When I first saw this as a leaked image on Delicious Audio, I immediately thought ’Compact Flint!’ In that it serves much the same function as Strymon’s ever popular TremVerb, and Fender’s more recent Are-Verb - where the new Keeley is significantly more compact and practical.

It’s been quite popular for a number of years now to stick a TremVerb pedal on the end of your signal chain. Traditionally that has tended to be Strymon’s Flint Pedal, with the Fender Tre-Verb offering the most competition until the arrival of the Hydra.

I’ve always been a huge advocate for smart compact format pedals, and a huge fan of Robert’s ear for tone - he has a particular mastery of Reverb effects - as was also witnessed by is collaboration with Chase Bliss Audio on the Dark World Reverb.

The pricing is spot on here too - $249 versus Strymon Flint’s $299. The Hydra is for sure the prime challenger now to Strymon’s supremacy in this area. I would certainly be looking toward the Hydra should I have the need for a TremVerb pedal. And while I don’t have any immediate plans for that - this would nevertheless be a very handy pedal to have in reserve - so I might just spring for one one of these days.

There’s nothing particularly new here, but there’s plenty of innovation in getting all of that functionality into such a small box. And having 3 onboard presets is a very significant other advantage to carry too. I predict these will do very well!