Request for Reverb Recommendation

George Kimery · Post by **George Kimery** » 23 Oct 2003 3:54 am

I am not happy with my reverb sound. The quality and smoothness is just not there. The reverb in the Session 500 and the Nashville 112 are not the sounds I am looking for. I have the RV-3, which was a big move in the right direction, but it still falls short of what I am hearing in my head, but can't find. I have heard some guys using some Lexicon rack mounts that sounds like what I am looking for. I don't know anything about which model or prices, etc. Are there discontinued models that might be available on eBay that might be the holy grail? I think there is a reverb called the Holy Grail. Has anybody tried it?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 23 Oct 2003 6:34 am

I have a Lexicon in my rack setup but I don't use it for reverb. I have a Tube Works spring reverb and I think they are pretty hard to beat. I don't think they make them anymore but if you can find a used one, it might be worth your while. Why don't you get ahold of Herby Wallace, he uses and sells the Tube Works stuff and he might be able to fix you out.
Erv

George Kimery · Post by **George Kimery** » 23 Oct 2003 8:08 am

Erv: Thanks for your reply and good idea. I just heard Herbie play at the Tri-Cities show, and he did have a great sound. Jerry Flemming also sounded great, and he had just bought a rig from Herbie. Herbie only lives about an hour from me, so I could go down and try out what he has. Our TN sales tax is 9.5%, so I usually avoid buying anything in state that I don't have to. Plus, I think the set-up Herbie uses is quite expensive. [This message was edited by George Kimery on 23 October 2003 at 09:10 AM.]

Chip McConnell · Post by **Chip McConnell** » 23 Oct 2003 8:09 am

George-
Obviously I don't know exactly what you are after, but I was also dissatisfied with my reverb sound. What I was looking for was that "small room" reverb that you so often hear on recordings. I found it in spades with an analog delay pedal (mine's a Boss DM-2). Aside from the other effects it's capable of (slapback, atmospherics, etc.), it achieves a very warm, small-scale reverb. And you can also use it in conjunction with your amp's reverb. Just a thought-

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 23 Oct 2003 9:09 am

George,
Keep your eyes open for a Tube Works reverb. Every once in a while they're on e-bay and usually go quite reasonable. As long as you're looking, try to get a Blue Tube II preamp, and a Mosvalve amp. Then you'll really be set!!

Erv[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 23 October 2003 at 10:11 AM.]

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 23 Oct 2003 12:25 pm

The RV-3 is pretty handy for a quick and dirty reverb or reverb/delay setting. It's pretty nice sounding but it's only 16bit and the long tails tend to dissapear as they fade. It's not the lushest sound out there. That's the nature of 16bit reverbs. The Lexicon reverbs are hard to beat but they dont come in a pedal. The TubeWorks spring unit is pretty excellent for that spring kind of reverb. Sometimes just an amp spring reverb with a delay pedal will do the trick. The delay time setting is a great way to dial in small or large sounding spaces.

Brad Sarno

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 23 Oct 2003 12:37 pm

Lexicon. Smooth, lush, etc. I think they are all 24 bit. Nice delay presets, too.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 23 Oct 2003 1:19 pm

9.5% Sales tax? Holy ****! Is that statewide or local to individual counties?. I thought NY State was bad at 4% State & 4% Cattaraugus County.

Gotta spend a dime to spend a dollar. What next?

Have you given a Profex or DeltaFex a listen to yet? (Peavey gear).

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 23 Oct 2003 5:01 pm

Ray,
They don't have a state income tax. Do the math.

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Dale Bessant · Post by **Dale Bessant** » 23 Oct 2003 5:09 pm

Hey guys, its 7 percent G.S.T.(Federal tax) and then another 8 percent Provincial tax up here in Commieland,sorry I mean, Quebec, Canada, plus our dollar aint worth a pinch of coon**** either.....

[This message was edited by Dale Bessant on 23 October 2003 at 06:10 PM.]

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 23 Oct 2003 5:30 pm

I tried and RV-3 and did not like the reverb. The RV-5 I just purchased is very good. I use it on my non-reverb Fender amps and it is just great. The spring reverb setting on it really sounds like a spring unit, to my ear. Good plate and hall reverbs as well. Also it is hard to beat a Profex II or Bassfex (same unit as a Profex II) for effects and affordability.

David Phillips · Post by **David Phillips** » 23 Oct 2003 6:16 pm

Look at the t.c.electronics M300
A shallow, one rack space dual engine unit
I could not be happier with it
List $299, I got it for $199

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 23 Oct 2003 6:28 pm

Rack stuff is great...if you use a rack system, but they're a pain otherwise. Being a "combo-guy", I have an Ibanez analog unit stomp-box (AD-20, I believe), and I agree with Chip that the small analog delays work quite well, and seem to give the most bang for the buck.

Garth Highsmith · Post by **Garth Highsmith** » 24 Oct 2003 10:11 am

.[This message was edited by Garth Highsmith on 09 January 2006 at 08:49 PM.]

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 24 Oct 2003 10:29 am

Whatever you do, don't get a peavey deltafex without checking out the lack of "real attenuation" on the delays. THe knobs are set up like you can attenuate the delay time, ( and, I would surmise, the reverb settings as well) but you *can't". The smooth "pots" merely select between 12,3,6,and 9 oclock presets. Also,mine lasted aboout 3 months before it cut out intermittently.

When I first got it, I found out that the attenuation knobs were only set to fixed time rates, I brought it back to Showcase Music, the peavey dealer here in PDX, and was told "what do you expect for that kind of money?" I called peavey, and was told that ALL my complaints would have to be presented to "the dealer". Haven't shopped there since.

I don't think I'll ever use anything but Peavey amps, but since that little experience, I'll never buy anything else from them. All it took was a screwed up dealer. One time.

EJL

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 24 Oct 2003 1:33 pm

I agree with Brad, probably the best sound I get with any of my amps or effects, is my Emmons P/P's into a Fender Twin, with a D130 speaker, the amp reverb, and a Boss DD-5 for a little delay. I also have a hotrodded Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb that sounds great with a 6 string. IMHO, you can't beat those Fender reverbs.

------------------
Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 24 Oct 2003 3:46 pm

The old Fender Reverb units are just great. It's got tubes and just does the job.

Mike Black · Post by **Mike Black** » 25 Oct 2003 10:31 am

I've always had a Fender Tube unit. I recently sold it and have been wanting to replace it with something. I'm leaning tword the Holy Grail simply because it looks simple and will probably fit in the back of an amp or a gig bag, and I can get dealer cost on one

. I don't really want to carry a rack unit, I'd carry a tube unit if I was going to do that. Someday I'll replace the Fender unit but for now a pedal will have to do.
Anyone have experience with the HG and a Fender unit? I dont use alot of reverb just enough to notice. I see from the ads they have 3 settings, what's that about? How do they hold up? Has anyone experienced negative things while playing at louder volume like Garth mentions?
Battery Life, short or long?
How's the 9V adapter? Is that an extra expense or included? They look like decent pedals, are they rugged? Heavy? Would it fit in the back of an amp OK? Do they use a 12ax7?
Jody Carver told me he liked them so that's a good endorsement. [This message was edited by Mike Black on 25 October 2003 at 11:34 AM.]

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 25 Oct 2003 10:51 am

Holy Grail cannot run on a battery. It is strictly a 9v transformer thing. And therefore yes, the wallwart is provided. It is 100% solid state--no tubes. The 3 options are spring simulation, hall, and what they call 'flerb'--kind of a wobbly unique sound that crosses a flanger with some reverb. It wan't why I got the HG and I've never really messed with it. The HG has only one knob--basically less or more. The Holier Grail has other control parameters.
My experience with the HG is that it puts out more white noise hiss than I would like--basically about what you would get with a tube amp dimed. I have read other people saying they had no such problem. This leads me to believe that there are some quality control issues with Electro Harmonix (which I've heard in general about them).
Not looking for Dick Dale sounds (I'm not), you have to dial it in carefully. But I'd say that about my Deluxe Reverb too--it gets very heavy very fast. All in all? It sounds pretty good. The RV 3 doesn't try to sound like a Fender spring and it doesn't. The Holy Grail goes there. Note that Jay Ganz thinks a whole lot of his Songworks Little Lanilei Reverb Pedal http://www.musictoyz.com/songrev.htm
Search the forum and you can read his review.

Mike Black · Post by **Mike Black** » 26 Oct 2003 9:26 am

Thanks for the info Jon. BTW you still have that Ricky? I forgot about the Little Leleani, I'll check that one out. Basically I'll find another Fender tube unit but it might be awhile. Until then I'd like an inexpensive deal that sounded like a Fender.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 26 Oct 2003 10:27 am

Hey Mike. Yes, I sure do still have it. Had it out recently just as a reminder of how nice it is but non-pedal seems to be on eternal hold while I try to pull myself together on pedals.
I didn't answer a couple of your Q's--the HG is fairly light weight--it's a bit larger than a typical Boss stomp box, for instance, and it weighs about the same. I wouldn't call it a road warrior but I wouldn't worry about durability. I have also seen reference to old Traynor tube reverbs. Supposed to sound great, a bit less surfy sounding than Fenders, with great reps for durability. And more affordable because...well because they're don't have the F word on them. This has caught my attention some.

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 27 Oct 2003 5:27 am

If there is a better sound (to my ears) than a Peavey N400 with a Boss DD-3 (or 5), using no reverb in the Peavey, I would like to hear it.

carl

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 27 Oct 2003 6:13 am

Lexicon and TC have very good sounding reverb algorhythms.

We pay 19.25% sales tax here, so 9% seems pretty reasonable in comparison.

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 27 Oct 2003 7:17 am

As Jon said, I love the Little Lanilei for a
true spring reverb. Super quiet, clean &
clear...without degrading your tone at all.
So you don't have to put it in an
effects loop. You can plug your steel right
into it. And they're small enough to stick in
your pak-a-seat. For lush digital reverb, I've got an old Lexicon LXP-1. [This message was edited by Jay Ganz on 27 October 2003 at 07:26 AM.]

Mike Black · Post by **Mike Black** » 28 Oct 2003 10:37 am

Hey Jay can you compare the Littel Lanilei (how do you pronounce that?) to a 60's tube Fender unit? I usualy set my Reverb level pretty low, Mix and Dwell around 3 and Tone all the way up then backed off just a touch. I like just enough Reverb that you have to listen for it.