Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2 Reverb

Several new reverb and delay unit have been released lately. Far from the least of which is the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2 reverb. The sequel to the rather iconic Hall Of Fame reverb, the HOF 2 bares a strong likeness to its predecessor. The controls, toggle, and stereo in/out are all still there. The majority of the reverb modes are the same as well. So are there enough differences between 1 and 2 to make a current own run out and buy number 2? Let's take a look...

Real Time Control

As with the Flashback 2, the Hall Of Fame 2 comes with the Mash function. This basically lets you take control of a single parameter by pressing the pedal's foot switch. This unique function turns your on/off button into an expression pedal. Not only that, but in the Tone Print settings, you can set the Mash function to any parameter that you want. This level of real time control is totally unprecedented in a single-sized, compact pedal. Personally, I am more excited to see this function in a reverb than in a delay.

Shimmer

Finally, TC has caught the Hall Of Fame up with the massively popular trend of Shimmer. This effect has become widely popular and is included in nearly all digital delay and reverb pedals in the last few years. It was a major selling point with the RV-6 and the MXR reverb. TC Electronic has implemented the same octave algorithm from the Sub N Up pedal. To say the the Sub N Up is a good octave pedal is a little bit of an understatement. If the thought and care that went into the Sub N Up also went into the shimmer setting on the Hall Of Fame 2, then rest assure it is a impressive effect

More Custom Options

In addition to the other changes, TC Electronic have made room for two additional Tone Print settings. This has come at the cost of the Tile, Ambient, and Gate settings, but those are still available under the Tone Print editor so we aren't really losing them. In combination with the Mash function, these Tone Print setting become extremely valuable. Tone Print offers a deep and rich editor that allows you to control much more than what the four knobs on the face of the pedal can do.

Conclusion

TC has put out an incredible pedal. The features alone are tempting. Combine that with the pedigree of the Hall Of Fame, dependability of TC Electronic's reputation, and powerful Tone Print editor and you have a killer pedal. The only bit of criticism I can muster would be for the Mash button. This function uses a new piece of hardware. How will this stand up to years of use? We don't know yet. I don't expect this to fail, but it may be a weak link. It also poses a problem for the tinker that like to fiddle with their pedal's bits. Neither of these would persuade me to discourage someone from checking out this innovative  pedal.

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