# Is Strymon actually Line6 in a different box?



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

So over time I've gone through many pedalboard setups. I've done the individual stand alone stomp boxes and I've used all in one setups as well. A few years ago someone offered me a quick sale on one of those Line6 Spider Valve tube combo amps with the full FBV board and I actually really liked it. It seemed to do the job well, with some limitations, but it had low floor noise and quick response to a simple set of programming controls with many storable presets. You plugged right into the amp with the guitar 1/4" cable and with a Cat5-RJ45 cable connected the board to the amp. It actually warmed me up to Line6, because of the tubes in the amp I think and the simplicity of the setup, before I was very much against the pods and floorboards they had out. I've sold it since and have gone back to the stomp boxes. I currently play with 3 Strymon pedals on my board and also just tried out a Timeline, it isn't for me as the El Cap does a great job, but it got me thinking about all of these computer based programmed effects; at what point is it just about programming a sound rather than designing a circuit? If I understand it correctly Line6 and Strymon pedals are just computers with programmed sounds, yes/no?


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2013)

The DSP chips that do the processing on all these pedals are incredibly generic. Generic the way the computer you wrote your post have generic CPUs (though the DSPs are task specific, they're still generically task specific if that makes sense). The algorithms are what make these pedals unique. And they are very much unique and different between manufacturers.

So no, it's not just a Line6 pedal with a different enclosure wrapped around it. A different human created the algorithms that are applied to your incoming signal and that's the secreet sauce. They're no more the same box than say Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome are the same browsers (which is to say: they're not).


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Did I hear something about the Strymon folks leaving another big company (that might have been L6) to start up Strymon? Or am I confabulating?


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2013)

mhammer said:


> Did I hear something about the Strymon folks leaving another big company (that might have been L6) to start up Strymon? Or am I confabulating?


Yes I think Strymon is made up of ex L6 employees.

They are L6 with a bit more integrity. But they are still digital, programmed effects same as L6.

They have a good gig. Instead of selling an all in one pedalboard, they break it down into many smaller expensive boxes that when you add them up cost WAY more that a Boss or L6 multi FX.

El Cap- $300
Ola- 300
Blue Sky 300
Mobious 450
Brigadier 300
Flint 300
OB-1 300
Lex 300
Timeline 450
Orbit 300
Tape Fav 50
Favorite 50
-------------------

Total: $3400

There is some overlap but if you own a Timeline delay you do not get the El Cap settings, for example. If you want all the Strymon sounds, you need all the Strymon pedals. Line 6 on the other hand sells the M5 that has all their effects in one pedal for $129 at Musician's Friend. That is of course, only 1 effect at a time.


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## The Lullaby (Dec 8, 2010)

Player99 said:


> Yes I think Strymon is made up of ex L6 employees.
> 
> They are L6 with a bit more integrity. But they are still digital, programmed effects same as L6.
> 
> ...


***When Strymon make a really solid mulit-effect unit (like a fair sized one where you could use 3 or 4 or 5 effects together) w/ seperate foot switches) it would sell like hot cakes made of golden love***


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

It would be the price of an Axe FX 

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