Awash in Sound: What's Behind the Fender Marine Layer Reverb Pedal?

Fender has long been known for championing the use of reverb, dating back to the original Fender Reverb Unit that debuted in 1961 and continuing on throughout time as reverb was incorporated into many amplifiers.

Now, players looking to add more expression to their tone with reverb's sparkling reflections can do so through Fender's Marine Layer Reverb pedal.

Designed by Fender Vice President of Product Innovation Stany Cotey in Southern California (along with Fender's other effects pedals, like the Pugilist Distortion and Level Set Buffer), the Marine Layer Reverb is an essential element to any rig.

The digital stompbox offers a ton of different sounds and textures in an easy-to-use package.

"It's got three different sets of algorithms and a couple of variations of each with quite a few sounds in it," said Cotey. "It's a really simple user interface, so it's got one knob per function. What you see is what you get."

The six different types of reverb include two varations of classics like Hall and Room and a "Special" algorithm with modern marvels like Shimmer and Cathedral.

While the Hall and Room reverbs are timeless sounds that informed much of the great music heard today, Shimmer is an ethereal-sounding effect with octave shifting that makes notes bloom and grow as they fade out. The Cathedral-style reverb that is a heavily modulated effect perfect for rolling chords in with the volume control.

Users can manipulate every important part of their reverb tone with Time, Pre-Delay, Damping and overall Level controls.

What's more, the built-in filter switch warms up all the reverbs.

For those looking to put the Marine Layer Reverb through the paces, there are also several player-centric appointments, such as a sleek anodized aluminium casing, a magnetic battery door that allows for quick battery changes, offset input and output jacks to space pedals closer together, and LED backlit knobs.

With a varied amount of reverb effects to choose from and a simple, player-friendly interface, the Marine Level Reverb will be an indispenable part of your signal chain.

Shop all of Fender's pedals.