The Best Reverb Pedals For 2026 (Comparison)

Looking for a new reverb pedal to add to your board? You’re in the right place.

We’re living in a golden age of pedal design, and reverb is where things get really fun.

The options are almost endless, from simple, great-sounding room and spring reverbs to pedals that can take you deep into ambient territory.

Whether you want subtle space or full-on soundscapes, there’s a reverb pedal built for it.

In this post, I’m breaking down reverb pedals for every situation. I’ll share my favorites, explain what each one does best, and call out the pros and cons so you can find the right fit for your setup.

1. Boss RV-500

The Boss RV-500 is kicking off my roundup of best reverb pedals for good reason.  

This fantastic pedal offers a wealth of reverb types and features without being abusive from a pricing standpoint.

This is a true studio-quality reverb that you can put on your pedal board. It’s got high-quality AD/DA converters as well. We’re talking 32-bit.

The RV-500 is a dual engine pedal. What does that mean exactly? You can run two different reverb algorithms side-by-side. Or you can add a digital delay to your reverb if you prefer.

In total, there are 21 reverb algorithms for you to choose from. And it comes pre-loaded with plenty of patches. In total, you’ve got room for 297 patches to play around with.

In terms of controls, we’ve got an LCD screen and a number of rotary controls. You can get a good bit of use out of the rotary controls themselves. Editing via the LCD screen is a bit tedious, but it does allow you to tweak a large number of controls.

For advanced editing, I find it easier to connect the pedal to my computer via USB and run the RV-500 editing software. It’s much quicker than navigating through the menu on the pedal itself.

And as you might expect from this type of unit, there’s also MIDI.

One particularly neat feature is the ‘carryover’ function. If you have this option selected, reverb trails will continue even after you’ve switched to a different patch. Only dual-engine reverbs are capable of this.

The RV-500 can do all of the reverb types you’d expect – plate, hall, spring, shimmer reverb, etc. Then there are the more unique types, such as the Roland RE-201 Space Echo and RV-2000. These are based on the old rack-mounted units that were popular in the 70s and 80s.

Fast Decay and SFX modes are very cool as well. The former offers reverbs that won’t get in the way of your playing. Then with the SFX mode, you get modes such as Lo-Fi and SlowVerb. These are some of the more creative and distinct reverb types.

Overall, the RV-500 is difficult to beat for the money. It covers all of the traditional reverb types while providing access to more creative reverbs. It’s extremely tweakable, and the price is quite fair for the functionality on offer.

Pros:

• Flexible stereo reverb with a large selection of reverb algorithms
• In-depth patch editing is possible from the pedal itself
• Computer-based editing software allows for more advanced editing
• Selectable bypass – true-bypass or buffered-bypass
• Can be powered by a 9V power supply or 4 AA batteries
• USB & MIDI connections

Cons:

• The on-board menu is a bit fiddly
• Some may find the on-board presets a bit lackluster
• Only specific reverbs can be used in dual-mode

2. JHS 3 Series Reverb

The JHS 3 Series Reverb is one of the more wallet friendly pedals of their lineup.

As such, I adjusted my expectations and I wasn’t expecting too much from the pedal.

Controls are somewhat basic and the price point is far below that of the typical JHS pedals that I’ve come to know and love.

But, I was completely wrong. Build quality is solid and the pedal sounds great.

There’s really something to be said for taking a stripped back approach and going for simplicity.

Sure, there are no specific reverb modes which may be an issue for some players, but the controls are cleverly configured so you can dial in a wide range of sounds.

The EQ control is a nice touch as well. This allows you to brighten or darken the tone of your verb. You can get it sounding subtle or bath in reverb.

For the money, this is a difficult pedal to beat. 

Pros:

• A sensibly priced reverb pedal that punches well above its price point.
• Intuitive controls capable of dialing in a wide range of reverb sounds.
• Great reverb tones on tap.
• Solid build quality.

Cons:

• No reverb modes or presets.
• A little lacking in additional features such as latching capability or control over reverb trails.

3. Strymon NightSky

The Strymon NightSky is not your typical reverb pedal. Strymon themselves have described it as a “time-warped reverberator” and a “reverberant synthesis machine.”

But those descriptions don’t do it justice.

It is a completely different beast from BigSky, and other big box reverbs such as the Boss RV-500 and Empress Reverb.

It’s a potent tool for creating ambient soundscapes. It’s a reverb with synth-like controls and a step sequencer.

And while I’ve had this pedal in my collection for years, I’m still only scratching the surface of what can be achieved.

It’s a complex-looking pedal, but the well-designed interface & controls do make it easier to dial in than you might expect.

At its core, there are 3 main reverb algorithms; sparse, dense, and diffuse. Dense is the more traditional type of reverb. The others are most suitable for creating lush soundscapes.

One particularly neat feature is the ability to choose which scale the step sequencer will use. For example, you can choose; minor pentatonic, major pentatonic, major, harmonic minor, whole tone, etc. 

There’s so much to like about this pedal and far more than I can cover in this post. It can do simple, complex, and everything in between. If huge ambient soundscapes are your thing – check out the Strymon NightSky.

Pros:

• Powerful reverb workstation with synth-like controls
• Tactile controls make it easier to dial in than you might think
• On-board step-sequencer
• On-board MIDI and USB
• Line/instrument level selector makes it useful for other applications

Cons:

• Not ideal for those that want a simple or more traditional reverb pedal