Analog Reverb Unit

T

thickfreakness

New member
Howdy. I'm looking to add an old analog reverb unit to my gear. Any suggestions? It will probably used mostly for drums and guitar and voice.

Also, any suggestions on a delay for vocals to make them seem more natural?
 
I've just added an Alesis midiverb-one for drums & a roland RS550 for anything I want

I think revox did a huge spring reverb or was it AKG???
 
Of course, those Alesis and Roland units are not analog, they are digital processors. As sillyhat said, for analog reverb you'll be talking chamber, plate or spring.

I've always been interested in plate reverbs, they can sound very good. Kind of big, heavy, and bulky though.
 
thickfreakness said:
Howdy. I'm looking to add an old analog reverb unit to my gear. Any suggestions? It will probably used mostly for drums and guitar and voice.

Also, any suggestions on a delay for vocals to make them seem more natural?
Click to expand...
one suggestion . Don't use a spring verb for drums or percussive sounds
I used to have these
Biamp SR240
NEI 351
Both work well on guit. Some vocal
If you can find a plate thats affordable let me know
 
No I had not. Checked out the link though
Solid!!! seem pretty reasonable. Thanks for the link
Have you ever used one?
 
That's actually really cheap for a plate reverb. I think to build one yourself would still cost around $500 for parts from articles I've read.

Hey Pete, have you considered just micing a room to make your own analog reverb chamber? I did it once and got a pretty fat reverb tone, especially for drums, by running the signal through a speaker and micing the wall at the other end of the room. Check out www.maddogcentral.com/dies/ to hear some examples of stuff we did.

All of the MP3's there were mixed with analog room reverb. Only other effects used were compression and delay, which was digital.

-MD
 
MD/ yeah I've done that before. Works good if you have a good space. I sometimes do that if I have a location recording in a great room. I'll run some tracks through while I have the stuff setup.
Its a good way to bring a multitrack mix together.
 
With spring reverb you have an option to improve the sound, at least according to Walter Sear (Sear Sound), by crimping the springs in a few places. Check out <http://members.aol.com/searsound/frmcont/tapeop.html> if you want to see the interview where he briefly discusses this. You have to scroll down to the very bottom of the page for the bit about spring reverbs, but the interview is well worth reading. (Well, maybe not if you are looking for a positive opinion about home recording from this old studio wizard.)
 
the demeter real reverb is very cool. it's a spring but it's much less springy/sproingy than the master room/ furman/ etc...i'd love to hear the akg ones...

Mike
 
I've got an old Fairchild spring reverb tank and it sounds pretty great on guitars and vocals, but I agree that it isn't quite as lovely on guitars. I saw some on e-bay a while back for around $300.
 
SonicAlbert said:
Peter, have you seen these?

http://www.platesonics.com/index.html
Click to expand...


You can build one for about $350.

The main cost is the sheet metal, and having the frame welded together.

Most people have no idea how a plate reverb works. Here it is: It is a sheet of metal, with a pair of drum triggers on it, and a "Buttkicker" or bass shaker mounted in the middle. You send the effects send to one channel of a Headphone amp, which drives the bass shaker - which shakes the steel plate - and then the drum triggers pick up the vibrations, and their output is returned to effcts returns, or channel strips.



Tim
 
hmm I think for the budget, a spring reverb unit would be the most logical way to go. I never thought about the other two options. So for spring, what would ya'll advise? Something that will work with a Presonus Firepod preferably.
 
I'm not sure anyone is currently making spring reverbs. (except those that are built into guitar amps) You will have to go on ebay and take what you can get in your price range.

Are you really sure you want a spring reverb? Most of the reverb that you have heard on albums made after 1980 has either been digital or and actual room.

Plate reverbs were popular before that. If the studio was big enough, they would have a chamber (a reflective room) with a speaker at one end and a mic at the other. Analog reverbs were pretty limited, the plate sounded like the plate, there weren't any parameters to tweak.

Are you sure you didn't mean hardware reverb? Like a rack mounted thing? That would be the opposite of a plugin.
 
I've got a Sound Workshop #242C Stereo Spring Reverb that I love -and I have even been known to use it on drums sometimes! I picked it up for a little under $100, and the thing is awesome - MUCH better sounding than the ones that are in a guitar amp....I'm guessing it has a better quality preamp stage in it.
Also, you can find Tascam and Fostex Spring reverbs all the time - you just have to look for them.

OR, You can buy a Reverb Tank directly from the manufacturer. Accutronics - the division of Hammond (the company that designed the Spring Reverb tank for their Hammond Organs) still sells them. You can literally just plug the passive tank into an effects send and it will work without any external power or anything.
Personally, I would build a preamp stage in front of it (all you'd need is one tube and you'd have a tube Reverb unit.)

http://www.accutronicsreverb.com/


Tim
 
yeah, I'm just trying to achieve the best reverb possible. I plan on using room mics. But I was just wondering other options. How would you position the room mics? Pointing at the wall?
 
I'd go with a digital reverb to be honest. Analog reverbs aren't very versatile, you have plate, spring, and real room reverb (two microphones in a room). Real room reverb is great if you have a good room. If you don't, then just buy a good digital reverb and be happy about it.
 
I agree with valverec. Just go with a great sounding digital reverb for now. The whole plate, spring, chamber reverb is great for an added color later, once you have a good collection of rack gear. But to start I think you just want to be able to dial in some nice reverb quickly and easily.
 
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