I'm looking for a verified build of a driver of sorts to power a spring reverb tank.
Any ideas?
Thanks
-Elliot
Look at the Fender Blues Junior schematic. It uses an op amp driver and recovery for the reverb.
What exactly are you working on?
I am currently in the process of building the Anderton's Stage Center Reverb with the mods proposed by Mark Hammer. I got a nice reverb tank from a friend, which lends itself for an opamp driver. I tested it quickly, so I know it functions, but it is tricky to get right; a lot will depend on your specific reverb tank, and you will need to play with the cap values to get the right amount of bass. I am now in the process of boxing it up, after which some components will need some tweaking, and will present a build report on this forum (well, if it works, otherwise it will end up on my 'pile of shame' :o).
Recently, GGG has introduced an update of the Stage Center: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/effects-projects/reverb/stage-center-reverb/ But, they don't offer a PCB yet (and I would use different opamps and charge pump if it were my build). Of course, there are also kits out there for high-voltage tube reverbs ... but that's a whole different story.
A board member (m-Kresol) has one that is roughly based on the Fender Blues circuit, but using the tiny Accutronics spring box. Its over on OSH park: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/5uWFhuGd
The tank itself is a wee tiny little thing (and under 10$ from some vendors). I've wanted to make one for ages but have never gotten around to it. Probably quite trebley, given its size, but looks like a fun project.
He has a build of it here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=23968.0
surfy bear reverb http://www.surfyindustries.com/surfybear-pcb-diy-kit-faceplate (http://www.surfyindustries.com/surfybear-pcb-diy-kit-faceplate)
Quote from: thesmokingman on October 30, 2017, 01:25:40 PM
surfy bear reverb http://www.surfyindustries.com/surfybear-pcb-diy-kit-faceplate (http://www.surfyindustries.com/surfybear-pcb-diy-kit-faceplate)
This one has been on my to do list for over a year... have the parts, the tank, a head, tolex, the whole deal...
That surfy bear build looks awesome.
Here's what I had in mind-- which the surfy bear seems like it could achieve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFumchuaG0c&t=112s
+1 for the SurfyBear, both the reverb and trem fits in a 1590 BB : http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=26313.msg255050#msg255050 :)
I'm still using it like that, but probably going to rehouse it in a surf green one with some nice graphics, as well as order a few more to at least have a separate tremolo and build a trem+reverb into a VHT Special 6 for some Princeton-vibes.
There's a marathon thread on surfguitar101.com on the SurfyBear reverb and at least a separate one on the tremolo for the interested ;)
Downside of the surfy reverb is that it's not so much DIY ... the PCB is already soldered with SMD stuff. You only need to solder some wires and box it. That does increase the chances of getting a working verb, but to me that's not too satisfying :-\.
Quote from: WormBoy on November 03, 2017, 03:48:32 PM
Downside of the surfy reverb is that it's not so much DIY ... the PCB is already soldered with SMD stuff. You only need to solder some wires and box it. That does increase the chances of getting a working verb, but to me that's not too satisfying :-\.
Here is a etchable version that Surfy released some time ago.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BiSjEBmOFNtg3DZ4omKWi-SuuZh1mYSl/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BiSjEBmOFNtg3DZ4omKWi-SuuZh1mYSl/view?usp=sharing)
Cody
Quote from: somnif on October 30, 2017, 10:43:51 AM
A board member (m-Kresol) has one that is roughly based on the Fender Blues circuit, but using the tiny Accutronics spring box. Its over on OSH park: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/5uWFhuGd
The tank itself is a wee tiny little thing (and under 10$ from some vendors). I've wanted to make one for ages but have never gotten around to it. Probably quite trebley, given its size, but looks like a fun project.
He has a build of it here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=23968.0
thanks for refering to my build.
I have to say, though, that this was my first "fiddle around on a prototyping board until you're content" project and it's not perfect. The reverb is decent enough, but it has a very metallic ring to it with lots of treble.
I'm interested also. Have tried in the past with salvaged spring units and haven't really been happy with anything Ive done. Could have been the spring units. This has repeaked my interest. This is about the only type of "pedal" Ive never successfully built. I would try the surfy bear but the price and the fact that everything is already soldered kept me away from it. Wish I had everything to etch I would try the surfy bear from the link posted but unfortunately is not possible for me.
Wrt SurfyBear price, I think I ended up paying 100€ for Trem + Reverb + Shipping, and with a reverb pan, adapter and enclosure you're probably looking at 150€-ish not including knobs (jacks and pots etc included in the kit). Drop 30-ish if you're not getting the tremolo at the same time, which is approximately 120 + some work, so something like a normal pedal but definitely less than Boss etc new and to my knowledge cheaper than commercial spring reverbs. Don't know how much the shipping and customs might cost depending on where you live, I think it's shipped from Italy so no problems in the EU though they charged ~20€ for it (but I got a reverb pan at the same time).
There's a bunch of spring reverb schematics around and articles on how to design your own if you google a bit. The Surfy one is based on a Fender 6G15 with the tubes replaced with JFETs, no other changes apart from what you'd need to do to accommodate that from what I've read so perhaps that might be an idea to recreate if you have the skills?