Hi everyone! I've been getting pretty involved with building my own pedals over the past 6 months or so, to the point where I've built enough to consider building a board to hold all my various creations. Anyway, the one thing I'm really missing at this point is a good, solid reverb (and a delay, but I'm working on that); my amp's onboard digital reverb really just doesn't cut it and seems to be there more as a token feature than anything truly useful (it IS just a Bugera, after all). There seem to be a good variety of projects out there, most based around either some flavor of the Belton brick or the Spin FV-1; I'm open to either (or something else, if such a project exists). Anyone got any personal favorites?
I guess it really depends also what flavor of reverb you are shooting for. If you like traditional spring reverb I find the Rub-a-Dub (1776 effects) still a great one that just does it for me.
if you are more into spacey modern sounding ones then a FV-1 project might do that better for you. I recently did a pedalpcb Octagon which has some nice reverbs amongst others (and also delays) in it.
Dead Astronaut's chasm is epic! Built one of his boards and it's a mainstay on my pedalboard. Can't recommend it enough!
Tenebrion by Grind Customs is a really, really nice 'verb :)
One thing to consider: if you're not digging your amp's built-in digital reverb, then building yet another digital reverb in pedal form will probably disappoint as well. The only option to get the reverb you want is to build a real spring reverb unit, which is surprisingly easy to do. I use an LM386-based circuit that has both level and dwell controls. This runs a full-size "4" series reverb tank that is mounted under my pedalboard. You would think that would be a nightmare of bumps and bangs, but amazingly I can kick my pedalboard and get no shockwave explosion sounds out of the tank.
And yes, it does the huge Dick Dale type reverb sounds very well.
surfy bear by far ... no offense to those with belton brick projects, but spring is king.
Quote from: thesmokingman on July 17, 2018, 03:37:21 PM
surfy bear by far ... no offense to those with belton brick projects, but spring is king.
I second this. Splash!
The thing that had always scared me away from spring verb projects was a perception
of cost. Mechanical must be ludicrously more expensive than the digital alternative... right?
Nope! Belton's fender spring tank is less than 20$, same ballpark as a 3 brick or fv1. Granted, enclosure options are a bit more fiddly, but still!
the 4 series reverb pan is 17" long and with shipping was more like $30-$40 depending on the source and brand. the 8 series effectively shortens the pan to 9.25" and while the cost is about the same, the shipping can be less if you shop around. I went with the longer pan because I was planning on the whole unit being the size of the amp head it was going to sit on.
The new Spring Reverb from Music Thing Modular is on my to-get list -- it has an optional pot where you can mix either brick, spring, or both at once :)
I also endorse the argument that it depends on your playing style. If you play blues or classic rock, spring is probably the way to go, but if you want massive washes of ambient textural goodness, then digital is usually going to be better. Or you could go all in and build a massive diy plate reverb. I hear it's a real conversation piece when you try to haul it into the venue.
Link: https://imgur.com/a/G5jGj (https://imgur.com/a/G5jGj)
Quote from: ahiddentableau on July 18, 2018, 02:51:41 AM
build a massive diy plate reverb. I hear it's a real conversation piece when you try to haul it into the venue.
Link: https://imgur.com/a/G5jGj (https://imgur.com/a/G5jGj)
I bet it.s more like lotsa swearing rather than conversation... :o
Quote from: PariahBrothermann on July 17, 2018, 08:44:31 AM
Dead Astronaut's chasm is epic! Built one of his boards and it's a mainstay on my pedalboard. Can't recommend it enough!
Another vote for the chasm (aka "prismatic reverb")
You will be impressed within the first 5 seconds of hearing the sound of the pedal, gurranteed :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhRVwDS6ios
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I'll probably end up building the Chasm, as I've had my eye on it for awhile and every demo I've heard of it has sounded awesome, not to mention all of your glowing reviews! I'll probably take a stab at one of PedalPCB's FV-1 projects in the near future as well, if for no other reason than to know what it's capable of. As cool as a standalone spring reverb unit would be, I'd greatly prefer something in pedal form than a large separate unit. Besides, I prefer the more ambient, washy style of reverb anyway.
I have been looking for a reverb for a bit and just bit on the Chasm.
Thanks guys, my lady is going to kill me.
Quote from: Invertiguy on July 20, 2018, 06:59:50 AM
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! I'll probably end up building the Chasm, as I've had my eye on it for awhile and every demo I've heard of it has sounded awesome, not to mention all of your glowing reviews! I'll probably take a stab at one of PedalPCB's FV-1 projects in the near future as well, if for no other reason than to know what it's capable of. As cool as a standalone spring reverb unit would be, I'd greatly prefer something in pedal form than a large separate unit. Besides, I prefer the more ambient, washy style of reverb anyway.
The FV-1 stuff is fantastic for the more etheral, spacey sorta thing. Bugg's got some great multi-effect projects that would fit the bill, plus you could make your own patches with spinCAD and get really ridiculous with it.