I want to get a nice, rich, and thick-sounding analog spring reverb (with real springs) to use with my Voyager to get that old-fashioned vintage reverb sound.
What would you suggest? I don’t need ANY other features like LFOs or filters…just a big & heavy analog spring reverb with REAL SPRINGS (no digital emulations)
Get an Accutronics tank…that’s what they throw in Fender amps
I know you don’t need the lfo/filter features, but The Vermona Retroverb is a beautiful thing, it’d be my first pick. Oh, it’s got CV functionality too, plays nice with moog gear…
Do you just buy the tank standalone or do you need to build it yourself?
The tank is not meant to be used standalone. You need driver/receiver circuitry to match the tank.
Just because they have RCA jacks doesn’t mean you can just plug right into them.
Mike Bucki makes a VOltage Controlled Reverb got like 700 bucks, as a Moog Module.
moogce.com
Eric
synthesizers.com makes a reverb as well.
been thinking of building the paia one
http://www.paia.com/proddetail.asp?prod=6740K&cat=27
there’s a Retroverb on ebay at a decent price…
hmmm…
Completely not what you’re looking for (sorry), but are there any other proud owners of an Ekdahl Moisturizer out there?
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2009/05/ekdahl-moisturizer.html
I’ve had one for about a year & it’s a really fun gadget, basically the freakish offspring of an analog synth and a spring reverb. Gotta love the CV controls on it too…
I had one of those and sold it because it had too much noise…
Really good reverb though and I really wanted to love it but I couldn’t get rid of a buzzing issue I had with it…I guess too much interference in the studio I had it in.
The Q115 spring reverb from Synthesizers.com is good if you have a case and power supply for it. $135.
The AKG BX series spring verbs are good if you can find one. Big though.
The Orban 111b is nice and stereo..
I use the Vermona Retubeverb. It is the last spring verb I will buy. Less bells and whistles than the other Vermona but the sound is great.
fender makes a reissue of the 1963 standalone outboard reverb unit…i see them on ebay used for $350 or so. the sound is as good as it gets for real analog tube driven reverb
You can also find Hammond M100 series organs on craigslist for under $100 (sometimes free in garage sale section) They have a great tube reverb unit in them that can be scavanged. (Amp, tanks and speakers.)
I bought a Retroverb from Vermona. I’ll see what I think of it…can’t wait!!
fisher space expander. holy grail in the meatime:)
That’s actually what I value about it. Can see how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea though.
EDIT: The buzzing you mentioned isn’t right though. My guess is that there was a short in one of the contact mics attached to the tank.
Yeah I don’t know…I contacted Karl and it sounds like I may have too much around where I have space for it and there was too much interference from the exposed springs.
Loved the knob labels on it! Ever look close and see what they really say?
Thanks for suggesting the Retroverb…it sounds big and heavy!!
I love the 3D effect on it also!! I could listen to it for hours!!!
For anyone out there wondering…
Just picked up a Retroverb and I can’t say enough good things about it.
This is the QUIETEST ANALOG EFFECT UNIT I’ve ever heard…no noise, hum, buzzing or anything (at reasonable levels) and by cranking the treble on the front it’s plenty loud enough for anything!
The phase-reverse effect is incredible and really makes the sound jump out of the speakers (my dog was looking behind him for the sound lol) and I can’t wait to run all kinds of things through it.
Then the actual sound of the reverb…warm, rich, full, vintage, deep…I could go on and on. I love just putting a single synth on it and slowly increasing the wetness until it’s a sea of springs!!
The built quality is top-notch and it weighs a TON! Nice heavy wood end pieces (just like the old analogs) and knobs with such nice resistance!
Then you’ve got the envelopes so you can tailor the reverb to your liking…a nice short tail or a reverb that slowly fades in…cool stuff! And then there’s the CRASH feature so you can hear the BOING from the Accutronics 6-spring reverb tank and the filter to tone down certain frequencies.
If you’re looking for a rich and deep spring reverb with real springs you can’t go wrong…plus this is one of the quietest analog effects I’ve ever heard!
Quality gear Vermona!! Thanks!!