# suggest me a spring reverb pedal!



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

hey guys,

just wondering what's out there in terms of a spring reverb unit, and what the used prices/availability is. I won't be able to purchase one for a while (saving up for a custom 7 and other expenses), but i'd really like to know what's out there.

it's $250? $350? to have my JSX modded for a reverb tank by FJA mods, so... 

thanks everyone!


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I see some of the old-school Fender and Traynor spring reverb units go by on ebay once in a while. They're not pedals; they look like smallish amp heads. Traynor sell around $300-ish. Fenders are out of the stratosphere.

Is there a reason you want a _spring_ reverb?

There are loads of elecronic reverb pedals that are massively cheaper and more flexible.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Had a Danelectro SpringKing pedal for a while and it worked well, though it sounded better for bass than guitar if I remember it right. I like the spring reverb in my amps now so I dealt it. 

Greg's right, there are lots of non-spring reverb pedals which offer great tone and features for good money. The Boss RV-5 looks interesting, for example.

Peace, Mooh.


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

I'm gonna suggest an EHX Holy Grail reverb. Got mine 6 years ago and still using it. Pretty simple to use and it got a really nice spring reverb setting. It also got a Hall and "Flerb" settings, which is mix of flanger and reverb(of course!).


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

songworks makes a good one. http://www.songworks.com/reverb.html


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

+1 for the Holy Grail, one of the best souding unit I had! I got mine since year and a half and I'M really happy that I didn't sell it! It's a keeper!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

1) Spring reverb in a pedal is unlikely to be satisfying. Why? "Pedal" assumes a modest-sized chassis, and the rule with springs is the longer the spring the better the tone. It is possible to produce small spring reverb packages. I've got a DIY thing with Home Depot springs on the workbench that's maybe 8" long, and back in the 1960's you could get small spring reverb units for your car radio. But the lush wash of an Accutronics long 3-spring unit is well beyond the capabilities of those small things.

2) Digital emulations of spring reverb are in abundance. Behringer recently released their clone of the Line 6 Verbzilla pedal with an $80 retail ticket. It has several spring reverb emulations in addition to other reverb modes, and several controls for custom-tailoring the resulting tone; something the various one-knob wonders like the Holy Grail lack. I tried one out recently and it was fine. Clean, and quiet. Probably needs in excess of 80-100ma to run well, and certainly not as roadworthy as the Line 6 original.

3) As good as digital emulations are, true spring reverb has a certain kind of touch responsiveness that is hard to mimic in the digital domain. Spring reverb is a mechanical system, and as such the various resonances it produces are a function of how hard you tickle the springs. I'm fond of referring people to this old scanned article from POLYPHONY that discusses the magic of springs: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mhammer/Reverb1.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mhammer/Reverb2.png


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

I saw an interesting looking little spring reverb box once, but they're pretty unusual. I also can't imagine the sound of stomping on a spring reverb pedal...wouldn't it make a huge crashing sound if you bumped it? 
A decent reverb pedal, something like the TRex or the Dr. Scientist Radical Red Reverberator, is going to cost $2~300 though. The EHX is probably a cheaper option.
FWIW, I tried a digital (Boss) reverb pedal years ago and absolutely hated it, but technology has progressed since then. The line 6 verbzilla is probably your best best in that department
I like the idea of those old Traynor reverb units though that look like amp heads that Greg Ellis mentioned.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

devnulljp said:


> I like the idea of those old Traynor reverb units though that look like amp heads that Greg Ellis mentioned.


There's an old Fender unit on ebay right now click

And a Traynor as well click


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## Greenbacker (Mar 29, 2007)

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/mss/msg/619236001.html

Note: this is not mine. No affiliation. Kinda pricey too!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

my plan is to get the holy grail, but i wanted to see what was out there for true spring reverb. it's really hard to beat lol


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

As near as I can gather, the EHX Holy Stain likely uses the same DSP engine as the Holy Grail but extends it to include several additional effects beyond reverb. The price is often only a couple of bucks different from a Holy Grail. Check out the various demos on Youtube and try one out. Could be an excellent value for the money.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2008)

mhammer said:


> As near as I can gather, the EHX Holy Stain likely uses the same DSP engine as the Holy Grail but extends it to include several additional effects beyond reverb. The price is often only a couple of bucks different from a Holy Grail. Check out the various demos on Youtube and try one out. Could be an excellent value for the money.


I have to say The Stain was a disappointment when I played it. If you're FX-free and looking for a little multi-FX unit that isn't run of the mill it'd be a cool choice, but as it stands it's not useful if you're a junky who needs a very specific fix.

I owned a Holy Grail and thought it was convincing. I couldn't tell it apart from my amp's spring reverb. The Grail Plus looks nice. I'd like to try an RV-3 next I think.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

aren't the RV-*'s going for $150 or so used?


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2008)

Budda said:


> aren't the RV-*'s going for $150 or so used?


Maybe. The RV-3 is out of production and is highly valued. The RV-5 is, they say, hit and miss.


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## violation (Aug 20, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Maybe. The RV-3 is out of production and is highly valued.


No kiddin'? It sits in the corner and gets dusty with all the other pedals I don't use, lol. 










Absent from the pedals I don't use photo is the BF-3 which I let a friend borrow. This buying gear thing has got so bad I buy shit I don't need or use... I think I got that RV-3 for $50 used, definitely no more than $100. I'd sell those but you know the second I sell it I'll decide I want to use it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

yeah, but by that time i'd own it


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## Guest (Apr 10, 2008)

violation said:


> No kiddin'? It sits in the corner and gets dusty with all the other pedals I don't use, lol.
> 
> Absent from the pedals I don't use photo is the BF-3 which I let a friend borrow. This buying gear thing has got so bad I buy shit I don't need or use... I think I got that RV-3 for $50 used, definitely no more than $100. I'd sell those but you know the second I sell it I'll decide I want to use it.


If you do want to sell it PM me. I'll take it off your hands.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

iaresee said:


> If you do want to sell it PM me. I'll take it off your hands.


i asked first! hehe


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## violation (Aug 20, 2006)

Hah, there's one on eBay (and in Canada) you might be able to get cheap. 

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Boss-RV-3-Digita...ryZ41415QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I wont be buying my "wanted list" of pedals for a wee while yet lol.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

One can never have enough pedals. So often as soon as I deal a pedal away, there becomes a need for it. Having a shelf of spares, backups, and occassionals isn't so bad. 

My only complaint about reverb is that neither of my better amps allows me to turn it on and off with a footswitch, but my cheap solid state Laney does. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

That's one of the rationales for learning how to make them yourself.

a) It CAN be cheaper.
b) If you sell it you know you can always make yourself another.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

violation said:


> Hah, there's one on eBay (and in Canada) you might be able to get cheap.
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.ca/Boss-RV-3-Digita...ryZ41415QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Yea, I put a bid in on it but I suspect it'll end up >$100. I'm in cheap mode these days, gotta keep the pedals in the sub-$70 range.


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

Mooh said:


> Had a Danelectro SpringKing pedal for a while and it worked well, though it sounded better for bass than guitar if I remember it right. I like the spring reverb in my amps now so I dealt it.
> 
> Greg's right, there are lots of non-spring reverb pedals which offer great tone and features for good money. The Boss RV-5 looks interesting, for example.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Reverb on Bass?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Yeah, weird eh. Only used it for a couple of spacey tunes in a very dry room we used to play. Everything in moderation, right?

Peace, Mooh.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a spring reverb pedal.

Personally I've always found digital reverbs (good ones at least) to be vastly supeior to both springs and analog pedals.

After I heard my first Yamaha Rev 7, I started turning the reverb off on any amp I had that was so equipped.

But that's only my tastes.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I like reverb for playing more relaxed music, where i can just go between a few chords, maybe let an open string ring out and play a 3-note line on top, then go back into chords, just adds a nice atmospheric sound to the music.

that'll be the EHX's main application.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul said:


> Ahhhh, but there IS a spring rev. pedal:
> 
> http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Danelectro-Spring-King-Spring-Reverb?sku=151904
> 
> ...


I don't use rev on guitars for the most part and even the best spring reverbs sound sort of chincy to me. I like the Rev 7 and Rev 5 for reverb on drums and vocals. They were standard equipment in many PA racks in the 80s. These days I use an SPX90 for that purpose.

Sorry to derail your thread by the way Budda.

Good luck with your search.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

it's all good


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul said:


> "...and may we never hear surf music again....."


Well surf music can sound as good or better with a good digital in my opinion.

Evolution baby!


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Well surf music can sound as good or better with a good digital in my opinion.
> 
> Evolution baby!


It's all taste, but it can be hard getting those Pink Floyd style spacey sounds from banging the sides of a digital reverb.

'Course, if you bang it REALLY HARD, who knows?

:food-smiley-004:


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Wild Bill said:


> It's all taste, but it can be hard getting those Pink Floyd style spacey sounds from banging the sides of a digital reverb.
> 
> 'Course, if you bang it REALLY HARD, who knows?
> 
> :food-smiley-004:



Actually that sound is one of the things I hate about tank revs. I try hard not to bang my digitals (that may be an overshare).


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul said:


> Evolution also gave us the duck bill platypus........
> 
> This raises a good, and completely off topic point.......the use of "period" instruments.
> 
> ...


While the technical specs of modern digital devices are better and the units have come down in price, I find many of them leave a lot to be desired when it comes to intuitive design and ease of editing and programming.

It comes down to the sound you prefer. Digital revs are designed to do the same thing that spring tanks tried to do, but with much more realistic results.

They're both called reverb, but they're completely different animals both in their approach and in their results.

I won't say one is better than the other, just different.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

this is an interesting discussion 

I need to get my hands on a holy grail to at least hear it. and i probably wouldnt use it live unless i had a part where the guitar had to be drenched in verb, and not just the room acoustics. silly room reverb..


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Budda said:


> this is an interesting discussion
> 
> I need to get my hands on a holy grail to at least hear it. and i probably wouldnt use it live unless i had a part where the guitar had to be drenched in verb, and not just the room acoustics. silly room reverb..


Well, again, I'm sorry to have hijaced your thread. I suppose if you're a "cup is half full" sort of guy you could see it as a series of bumps.

Good luck in your quest.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Milkman said:


> I try hard not to bang my digitals (that may be an overshare).


OK, that's funny...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Milkman said:


> Well, again, I'm sorry to have hijaced your thread. I suppose if you're a "cup is half full" sort of guy you could see it as a series of bumps.
> 
> Good luck in your quest.


it's all good, no worries 

eventually i'll snag a used holy grail, when funds allow.. and my mom doesnt know LOL.

Just wanted to see what was available as far as true blue spring reverb units go


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