FREE THE TONE
AMBI SPACE
REVERB
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $380.00
Free the Tone’s Ambi Space
Digital Reverb has class, as
some people might say. Its
color scheme is reminiscent
of an audiophile’s hi-fi
system: glowing lights,
dark knobs, black trim
on a dark brown-copper
housing. In fact, the Ambi
Space is so well-designed,
so reminiscent of a $10,000
stereo component that it
would be easy to forget
that it’s actually a useable
effects pedal.
The Ambi Space covers a
lot of ground with its
minimalist palette. It
features six reverb modes
which cover the essentials,
and then some: Spring,
Plate, Room, Hall, Cave,
52
GEAR REVIEW
//
and a special option called
Serene for those newage, wall-of-sound songs.
Switching reverb modes
requires a mere twist of
the Mode knob.
True to the pedal’s intuitive
and minimalist design, the
Ambi Space features four
Preset modes that can be
accessed when the pedal
is in Preset mode. If this
seems a bit confusing, bear
with me. By depressing the
Mode button (not twisting
the Mode knob), the pedal
switches between the
Manual and Preset modes.
Only when the pedal is
in the Preset mode can
the user access the saved
settings. Phew!
Free the Tone Ambi Spcar Reverb
Despite its appearances
to the contrary, the
setup is actually fairly
straightforward, which I
appreciated. However,
as I tinkered with the
pedal, I discovered that
once in Preset mode, I
couldn’t adjust the reverb
parameters without
first depressing the Edit
button. By no means do I
consider this quibble a dealbreaker, but I believe that
readers should be aware
of the nature of the Ambi
Space’s presets. They’re
really meant to be set up
beforehand, as presets
ought to, then used without
much fuss when needed.
Speaking of parameters, the