Strymon - El Capistan

Post by **abfackeln** » 24 Nov 2010, 01:07

Wasn't sure if this belonged here or in the DSP section.... just got this bugger in today, and it's friggin' awesome. Only played through it for about an hour or so, and of course couldn't wait to bust it open and get the obligatory gut shot..... not sure how much good it will do as a DIY project, but interesting nonetheless. A little pricey, but a great sounding pedal.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 24 Nov 2010, 01:15

Nice. Forget goop, that's the best way to stop people cloning your product!

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » 24 Nov 2010, 01:20

that looks like it's worth the extra priceyness.. and the demos sounded great...

course it's totally without mojo.. it's got no wires at all, let alone military spec ones

Post by **abfackeln** » 24 Nov 2010, 01:30

rocklander wrote:course it's totally without mojo.. it's got no wires at all, let alone military spec ones

I agree, it looks cold and sterile inside, but it certainly has the mojo in the sound, and that's what counts!
Built in spring reverb, tape bias, tape crinkle, contour, boost/cut..... you really need a footswitch to be able to store multiple presets on this thing.

Jack Deville · Post by **Jack Deville** » 24 Nov 2010, 04:46

I find cold and sterile sexy.

sevinisthenumber · Post by **sevinisthenumber** » 24 Nov 2010, 05:08

Played this... Its awesome!

Duckman · Post by **Duckman** » 24 Nov 2010, 05:19

I Like the "non cable" concept... neatest thing ever!

oldgravity · Post by **oldgravity** » 25 Nov 2010, 00:56

Jack Deville wrote:I find cold and sterile sexy.

I agree... this is the kind of gut shot that turns me on.

I would so much prefer this to carbon comps, vintage electros, and perf board.

I'm working towards this level of goodness with my own builds, but I keep the stomp and jacks off board for reliability reasons. I don't so much like the exteriors - I'm really bored with pedal lines where it's just the same box in a bunch of different solid colors. But this is clearly great PCB work - getting everything to fit just right in 3 dimensions, not just 2, is a slick feat.

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » 25 Nov 2010, 00:58

yeah, not sure if y'all realised I was joking... I genuinely would take my hat off to this build if I was wearing a hat... it's muchos awesome.

Post by **abfackeln** » 25 Nov 2010, 01:22

Had some more time to play through this today.... I can't say enough good things about it! If you've got some spare coin and are looking for a great "tape" style delay with a bunch of cool features, do yourself a favor and pick one up (marketing rant over).

oldgravity · Post by **oldgravity** » 25 Nov 2010, 02:04

rocklander wrote:yeah, not sure if y'all realised I was joking... I genuinely would take my hat off to this build if I was wearing a hat... it's muchos awesome.

I did, just continuing the conversation. Although you were joking, there are plenty of people who sincerely feel that way. In fact, I'd wager that the majority of people who care at all what the insides of a pedal look like would prefer something from that guy who builds everything with vintage parts on perf for $500, over this lovely piece of innards. Even most DIYers have an aversion to this build style. But hey, I like short brunettes instead of tall blondes, so whaddaya gonna do? Variety is good.

timbo_93631 · Post by **timbo_93631** » 25 Nov 2010, 06:07

oldgravity wrote:But hey, I like short brunettes instead of tall blondes.

Amen. Short brunettes usually have way better backsides too!

DeanM · Post by **DeanM** » 29 Nov 2010, 19:31

awh no hope of a diy then.

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » 29 Nov 2010, 19:33

DeanM wrote:awh no hope of a diy then.

you want to DIY a short brunette?... I gotta say, I'm of the wanting to DIY a leggy blonde side of things, but to each their own

RnFR · Post by **RnFR** » 29 Nov 2010, 22:51

Oh yeah, some nice looking tech there. Rip off the knobs, we need more pics!

Fredenando · Post by **Fredenando** » 23 Dec 2010, 19:50

A pair of videos that I have found in YouTube:

http://www.strymon.net/products/elcapistan/

vhollund · Post by **vhollund** » 16 Feb 2011, 20:41

Hello
I have this one and despite it's really nice features the buffer seems to mess with the analog /dry path.
Would it be possible to deactivate the dry path buffer (without destrying the pedal completely) ?

JimiB · Post by **JimiB** » 18 Feb 2011, 05:14

you can turn it off

bobo · Post by **bobo** » 19 Feb 2011, 00:24

Strymon ---> Previous Brand "Damage Control" under Peavey -----> Service, Spare Part

RnFR · Post by **RnFR** » 05 Mar 2011, 02:31

after finally watching the videos for this thing, I have to say it looks amazing. this is everything I could want in a delay. too bad if it really does have shitty buffers, because I would probably just keep this thing on a lot for the ultimate slapback tape echo and spring reverb. if you weren't keeping it on all the time, I guess you could always use a TB looper if it was really that bad. now, I just wish I had a spare 300$, and wasn't up to the gills in bills!

oh yeah, I got a kick out of the name the first time I heard it!