Spring Reverb Pedals – Help a Brother Out!
Error message
Notice: unserialize(): Error at offset 0 of 22 bytes in variable_initialize() (line 1202 of /home/wgsusa/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).Spring Reverb Pedals – Help a Brother Out!
Hey WGS friends! This blog finds me needing YOUR help. I often play Fender Super Reverbs and Vibrolux Amps on gigs … but plan to start using my Bassman, Bandmaster, and my own new combos more (All no-verb amps); and so, I’ve decided I need to add a verb pedal to my board. Mostly, I just want good spring verb … something close to what I’m used to in my “Holy Grail” Fender’s.
So … without wasting any more time, here’s the video. Ya’ll let me know your thoughts. Would you all say one might suffice? Do they all suck? Do they all ROCK? Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what they ARE???
- VAUGHN SKOW's blog
- Log in or register to post comments
I did not like reverb "A" as it sounded too 'boingie' and 'cheap'. "B" and "C" sounded much more natural to me.... natural being more like a real Fender reverb sound. I too am looking to do what you are doing, getting a nice sounding reverb pedal to use with all my amps. I don't really use it much when playing out, but do like it at home and for practice. So, I would not want to spend a lot of $$$. I'd have to hear more from "B" and "C" to choose one, but with this video and my small speakers, I'm probably leaning just a bit toward "B". Between "B" and "C", I'd probably be happy with the less expensive of the two.
Honestly, I kind of liked the reverb-less sound the best. That AMP on its own is really nice.
But as far a the reverb goes, I liked Reverb C the best. "B" was good and close to C in many ways, but seemed slightly bland to my ears. Maybe it is the tiny and cheapo-computer speaker but I thought it lacked something... not bad, but not as good as "C". I felt "C" was subtle when it needed to be and perked up when it was pushed (more so than "B" anyway).
"A" was different. I think it had a stronger effect. I liked it for its bold sound, but I felt "C" was superior.
thanks for the demo - that AMP sounds even better than it looks. And it looks great.
OK, Pedal A might make a good doorstop, but it doesn't belong on the board. I've heard of wet reverb but that one sounded like hour 17 of water torture, especially when you got to the surf sound. There's too much spring to it, sounding like when you drop your amp with a reverb tank on the floor, or you open an old screen door too wide. Pass on that one.
You said two were spring reverb effects, and I think Pedal C was the other. The spring effect wasn't as loose as in Pedal A, and overall it wasn't bad. The "depth" was reasonable; I didn't feel like the sound was falling into a well. I could see this on a board if your repertoire includes a lot of surf or you want to sound like Luther Perkins. And I dig Luther.
For overall good sound and general play, though, Pedal B to my ears was the clear winner. It had the most natural sound to it, and even a bit of warmth in the first set of licks you played. That would be my pick.
I actually preferred your tone w/o reverb at all but, as the first poster says, 1 is distastefully boingy. 2 was ok, and finally 3 was probably my favorite in this recording. It would make the comparisons easier if you played a super-steady rhythm , softly at first then steadily increased your attack while playing as cleanly as possible. Lastly, lead lines would help confirm the results from the rhythm tests but you would have to pay particular attention to consistency in you pick attack from pedal to pedal. Thank you for this video as well as your continued efforts in this blog.
BTW. Have you done a comparison between a G12C and a Black & Blue?
I loved the sound of your rig dry and I my opinion of the best reverb is based on this. With that said, here is my observation.
I, also, didn't like the boinginess of A.
B seemed to keep closest to the sound of your dry signal which is why I like it the best of these three.
C seemed to add brightness and detract a little dimension from your dry signal to me.
Conclusion; In my opinion, B was my favorite, followed by C, with A in last place.
Good hunting :) !
Sooo ... Here is the skinny!
From my youtube channel (lots of replies) as well as here (a few) ... "B" seems to be the winner. B is the most inexpensive of the three, a lowly little Electro Harmonix Holy Grail (the original version from like 2007)!
A was the reverb from the Boss FDR-1 "Deluxe Reverb" pedal.
C was a fairly expensive "boutique" Spring Reverb pedal.
In the end, I did in fact go with a Strymon Flint, and I couldn't be happier! My next verb shootout will be between the Flint and the impeccable verb in my 1964 blackface Vibrolux Reverb amp. Yea, the Flint's THAT good.
The reason I couldn't stick with the Holy Grail was: 1) it sucked tone, even when off, 2) it totally wouldn't surf (just got all washed-out and lost all the actual sound of the GUITAR), and 3) too much hiss.
I SOOOO wanted to Love the "unnamed" Boutique pedal, and it DID preserve the dry tone of the guitar ... but it wouldn't get short enough, it wouldn't surf, and it always had an annoying constant modulated-delay thing going on.
The Boss just sucked, of course!
OK, short & sweet:
A: Trash
B: Nice tone, liked the mids, sounded pretty springy
C: I liked it a little more than B. I thought the room reflections were better.
Conclusion: go get a Mojo Hand FX Dewdrop Reverb Pedal. My good friend Billy just got one and it NAILS the spring reverb.
That's all it does, but it does it in an outstanding manner. He is playing it with his Bassman, and it just sounds AWESOME.
By the way, your amp is killer! LOVE the minimalistic approach. I built a little 5 watter, volume control & input only. Seems like the guitar strings go straight to the tubes! Love it!
A. had a nice crisp tone, a little faster decay which added to the "depth" of the sound.
B. seemed to muffle the tone slightly, reverb effect sounded good though.
C. good tone, seemed to "compress" the tone though with slightly less dynamics.