DIY spring reverb tank pedal

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JD01
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DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by JD01 »

OK, next hair brained scheme that I won't get around to for a while.

Ray's mixing board reverb got me thinking... Would it be possible to wire a spring reverb into a pedal and stick it in the FX loop?
The reverb on my Blackstar is a bit shit so I don't ever use it even when just jamming at home - I use a ToneCity "Tiny Spring" in the FX loop.

I'm assuming that even when I get a new amp the built in digital reverb will be equally shit and my Blackstar will probably get relegated to being my weekday amp.

My old Peavey bandit actually has a really good reverb with a proper spring reverb tank running along the bottom of the amp. Would it be possible to take this out and wire it into a pedal? How hard would it be to do? I have numerous old pedals that I could butcher so that I'd have a switch and pot. This would obviously just be a home use pedal, I'd probably screw the spring tank to my desk.
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Greg_L
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:23 am OK, next hair brained scheme that I won't get around to for a while.

Ray's mixing board reverb got me thinking... Would it be possible to wire a spring reverb into a pedal and stick it in the FX loop?
The reverb on my Blackstar is a bit shit so I don't ever use it even when just jamming at home - I use a ToneCity "Tiny Spring" in the FX loop.

I'm assuming that even when I get a new amp the built in digital reverb will be equally shit and my Blackstar will probably get relegated to being my weekday amp.

My old Peavey bandit actually has a really good reverb with a proper spring reverb tank running along the bottom of the amp. Would it be possible to take this out and wire it into a pedal? How hard would it be to do? I have numerous old pedals that I could butcher so that I'd have a switch and pot. This would obviously just be a home use pedal, I'd probably screw the spring tank to my desk.
Yes you can do it, but it's not as simple as a typical stompbox build. A spring tank doesn't get driven by a typical effects loop signal. You have to consider impedances and inductances and grounding and drive and recovery circuits and the tank and has to be mounted properly and a whole world of shit that's usually built into the amp itself. There is a reason that very very few people walk around with external spring reverb units coupled to amps that aren't designed to have one. You're almost certainly better off with a good reverb pedal or digital reverb unit in the loop.
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rayc
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by rayc »

Ah, can you put the Peavey in the loop?
Tanks are pretty cheap - I had a squiz on Ebay a few weeks back. BUT You'd need to have a clue which I don't do.
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JD01
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:14 am
JD01 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:23 am OK, next hair brained scheme that I won't get around to for a while.

Ray's mixing board reverb got me thinking... Would it be possible to wire a spring reverb into a pedal and stick it in the FX loop?
The reverb on my Blackstar is a bit shit so I don't ever use it even when just jamming at home - I use a ToneCity "Tiny Spring" in the FX loop.

I'm assuming that even when I get a new amp the built in digital reverb will be equally shit and my Blackstar will probably get relegated to being my weekday amp.

My old Peavey bandit actually has a really good reverb with a proper spring reverb tank running along the bottom of the amp. Would it be possible to take this out and wire it into a pedal? How hard would it be to do? I have numerous old pedals that I could butcher so that I'd have a switch and pot. This would obviously just be a home use pedal, I'd probably screw the spring tank to my desk.
Yes you can do it, but it's not as simple as a typical stompbox build. A spring tank doesn't get driven by a typical effects loop signal. You have to consider impedances and inductances and grounding and drive and recovery circuits and the tank and has to be mounted properly and a whole world of shit that's usually built into the amp itself. There is a reason that very very few people walk around with external spring reverb units coupled to amps that aren't designed to have one. You're almost certainly better off with a good reverb pedal or digital reverb unit in the loop.
Ah, that all sounded well above my pay grade. I figured I'd just be able to gut a crappy pedal that I don't use and connect the spring tank to it somehow.

Sod that, I'll just get a better reverb pedal. The Tiny Spring isn't bad at all, its just got a slight modulation/shimmer built in that becomes too apparent at higher settings - its pretty much unusable for me past 1/2 way on the dial.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:01 am
Ah, that all sounded well above my pay grade. I figured I'd just be able to gut a crappy pedal that I don't use and connect the spring tank to it somehow.

Sod that, I'll just get a better reverb pedal. The Tiny Spring isn't bad at all, its just got a slight modulation/shimmer built in that becomes too apparent at higher settings - its pretty much unusable for me past 1/2 way on the dial.
Hall of Fame reverb. It's got all sorts of sounds and styles - spring, plate, room, reverse, whatever. IMO it's the best reverb pedal out there.
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JD01
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:10 am
JD01 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:01 am
Ah, that all sounded well above my pay grade. I figured I'd just be able to gut a crappy pedal that I don't use and connect the spring tank to it somehow.

Sod that, I'll just get a better reverb pedal. The Tiny Spring isn't bad at all, its just got a slight modulation/shimmer built in that becomes too apparent at higher settings - its pretty much unusable for me past 1/2 way on the dial.
Hall of Fame reverb. It's got all sorts of sounds and styles - spring, plate, room, reverse, whatever. IMO it's the best reverb pedal out there.
Yeah, that'll save me butchering my bandit too which I still use fairly regularly although not for recording.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by vomitHatSteve »

JD01 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:01 am
Greg_L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:14 am

Yes you can do it, but it's not as simple as a typical stompbox build. A spring tank doesn't get driven by a typical effects loop signal. You have to consider impedances and inductances and grounding and drive and recovery circuits and the tank and has to be mounted properly and a whole world of shit that's usually built into the amp itself. There is a reason that very very few people walk around with external spring reverb units coupled to amps that aren't designed to have one. You're almost certainly better off with a good reverb pedal or digital reverb unit in the loop.
Ah, that all sounded well above my pay grade. I figured I'd just be able to gut a crappy pedal that I don't use and connect the spring tank to it somehow.

Sod that, I'll just get a better reverb pedal. The Tiny Spring isn't bad at all, its just got a slight modulation/shimmer built in that becomes too apparent at higher settings - its pretty much unusable for me past 1/2 way on the dial.
It's possible to do on the cheap and fairly low tech.

How good the results will be (especially compared to a pro-grade amp-mounted version) may vary.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

Lol oh my God.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

Greg_L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:10 am Hall of Fame reverb. It's got all sorts of sounds and styles - spring, plate, room, reverse, whatever. IMO it's the best reverb pedal out there.
agreed .... plus it has Toneprint capability so you can download additional 'verbs ....

PLUS there are several incarnations of it with the 'verbs chosen and/or tweaked to fit different styles.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

Did you know the mini HOF can be programmed with your phone thorough your fucking pickups? That's some witchcraft voodoo shit.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

Greg_L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:33 pm Did you know the mini HOF can be programmed with your phone thorough your fucking pickups? That's some witchcraft voodoo shit.
lol ..... no! ..... hahahaha



I'll have to look that up
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Bill L »

My Flashback Delay (that I almost never use but had for about 6 years) has tone print. You install an app, let's you select pre programed patches and then you hold your phone over the pickups (it sounds like an old modem or fax machine). Voila! New patch.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

Bill L wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 3:41 pm My Flashback Delay (that I almost never use but had for about 6 years) has tone print. You install an app, let's you select pre programed patches and then you hold your phone over the pickups (it sounds like an old modem or fax machine). Voila! New patch.
Yup, that's it. Just like that.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

I don't put apps on my phone so I've just used the USB cable
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Greg_L »

Lt. Bob wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:49 pm I don't put apps on my phone so I've just used the USB cable
Not even Grindr?
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

lol .... not even grindr .... hell, I don't even use GPS
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by WhiskeyJack »

Greg_L wrote:
Lt. Bob wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:49 pm I don't put apps on my phone so I've just used the USB cable
Not even Grindr?
Ha!

Shoot for the stars JD. If you think you can do it you may as well. That would be super cool.

Im not entirely sure if i am sold on those fx and sims that are controlled by a phone or tablet. It is just one more thing that can go wrong.
:happytrees:
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:16 am

Im not entirely sure if i am sold on those fx and sims that are controlled by a phone or tablet. It is just one more thing that can go wrong.
yep ..... one reason I don't use wireless.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by liv_rong »

The HoF can be had for cheap now since they just came out with a V2. I had that pedal for a while and it was pretty good. You could just use the app to set your tone print slot and be done with it. The Boss rv6 is good too, and the Digi Tech Polara is supposed to be awesome. Pretty much all those around that price point is good. I guess it really depends on what you need it for though.

I love me some reverb. But never on distortion, that’s not for me.
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Re: DIY spring reverb tank pedal

Post by Lt. Bob »

I like all sorts of stuff .... last night I had the night off and took my old Headrush delay that has 4 separate outputs from 4 heads on the tape delay and set up four amps in a circle around me.
I played in quad, just playing around with the sound (it was cool ) 'till I started falling asleep around 3am .... hahahaha .... it was awesome .... too bad there's no practical way to do it live.

Currently I'm kinda lusting for that Ravish Sitar pedal
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