Overview
The Gokko Paradise is a Chinese made, economical and very nicely looking, multi-variation reverb effect pedal. It should be equally useful on any electronic instrument, including; guitars and keyboards. Please note however, that I tested this guitar effect pedal on a keyboard. If you try this out with an electric guitar, your sound impressions and usability will most likely be different from mine.
Main Features
- 7 Reverb variations (Long Reverb, Spring Reverb, Phase Vibrato Verb, Tremolo Verb, Flanger Verb, Vibrato Verb, and Pitch Verb).
- 1 Undocumented “Octave Echo” variation.
- Three variation dependent control knobs.
- True bypass footswitch
Adjustment Details
As you can see in the picture, the pedal has four knobs and one push foot switches. Unnamed knobs are;
- Variation / Type (Center just above the “Paradise” text) – Use this to select the reverb type, see detailed description below.
- Control Knob 1 (Top far left) – Variation dependent parameter (Bass EQ, Mix, Tremolo Mix, Depth, Rate, Pitch Mix). See detailed description below.
- Control Knob 2 (Top center) – Variation dependent parameter (Treble EQ, Width, Speed, Rate, Mix, Verb Mix). See detailed description below.
- Control Knob 3 (Top far right) – Variation dependent parameter (Decay, Verb Mix, Depth, Pitch). See detailed description below.
- Mix – For the two reverb variations that allow frequency adjustment, I’m happy to report that the adjustment is only on the wet signal.
Testing
Note even though I own more than 40 synthesizers, I tested this with a simple Yamaha PSR-36 keyboard that does not have any internal effect processing. Furthermore, I did not add any external effects or processing. For simplicity and to prevent the review video from being too long, I only tested the following sounds; Bass, Electric Piano, Strings, and Bells.
Effect type details
- LONG REVERB – Deep cavernous reverb with a long decay and a slow modulation for epic landscape. The controls knobs adjust; Bass, treble, and decay.
- SPRING REVERB – Based on a classic spring reverb circuit with shimmering modulation and long decay time. The controls knobs adjust; Bass, treble, and decay.
- PHASE VIBRATO VERB – Dark haunting phaser and vibrato effects ideal for disturbing spooky sounds. Sonic landscape sound. The controls knobs adjust; Dry/Wet mix, Width, and Verb mix.
- TREMOLO VERB – Modulated reverb with the addition of a versatile sound tremolo effect for lightly pulsating to deeply throbbing tones. The controls knobs adjust; Tremolo mix, speed, and verb mix.
- FLANGER VERB – Lush oscillating flanger paired with a cavernous reverb, ambient swells and shimmering chords sounds soaring ambient and shimmering notes. The controls knobs adjust; Dept, rate, and verb mix.
- VIBRATO VERB – Quirky vibrato reverb with haunting calls and sea sirens, create dissonant texture or warbling sound solo sequences. The controls knobs adjust; Rate, Dry/Wet mix, and depth.
- PITCH VERB – Pitch shifting modulated reverb to create dissonant and deep harmonizations with great ambience. The controls knobs adjust; Pitch mix, Verb mix, and Pitch.
- OCTAVE VERB – This “effect” variation or type, is undocumented, except for the selection knob control knob’s table, which says control knob 3 adjusts “Pitch”. Controls knobs 1 and 2 seemingly does nothing!
Connectors
- Power: There is only one way to power this effect pedal, and that is with a standard negative center pole 9V female socket, minimum 100mA.
- Input: One ¼” (6.5mm) unbalanced female mono TS jack socket
- Output: One ¼” (6.5mm) unbalanced female mono TS socket
Build Quality: Case, Knobs, and Switches
The metal case is of nice size and very sturdy. The knobs are sturdy, with good distance between them, so it is easy to turn and adjust. The foot switch seems of solid and good quality. The box includes four small rubber grip feet, which you may attach in each bottom corner, preventing it from sliding much, if any.
Accessories
- None
Documentation
- One dual sided letter size paper, each side containing a one-page manual, one page being in English, and the other in German.
- Provides good information, with only a few typos.
- What is completely missing is what reverb variation 8, the “OCTAVE ECHO” do!
Conclusion
Due to excessive background level noise, mostly on reverb variations 3-6, the modulated types, on both of the pedals I bought, I did not do a “normal” demonstration video with an instrument. Instead, I made a short video pointing out the noise, not just for everyone to see, but also as documentation for the return request from where I bought them. It is such a shame because I like to appearance of Gokko’s products, nice look, solid build, sturdy knobs, but quite obviously as I have now bought and returned three of their products, their quality control sucks big time!