Strymon La Brea

Tape Saturation Without a Tape Machine

Strymon's La Brea is an all-analog drive pedal built around the way magnetic tape compresses and breaks up when pushed. Its range runs from a warm, barely dirty boost to thick overdrive and full fuzz, turning a studio-style texture into something controlled from a pedalboard.

A Decade-Long Detour From Deco

The idea grew from the tape techniques behind Strymon's Deco, but La Brea is not a stripped-down digital effect. Engineer Josh Forbes spent more than ten years developing a multi-stage analog circuit that could capture the responsive character of saturation as a dedicated drive.

Blend the Clean Signal Back In

A variable Dry control keeps an in-phase clean path alongside the saturated sound, preserving definition when the Tape Sat knob is pushed hard. Gain and Shift switches change the drive range and high-frequency emphasis, including an option that adds midrange for extra body.

High Headroom in a Small Box

The pedal runs internally at 24 volts for headroom, wide gain range, and quieter operation, despite using a standard 9-volt center-negative supply. It has mono input and output, true bypass, and no digital signal path. La Brea is in stock now for $199.