DIY Spring Reverb Unit

[ancientbones]

Has anyone built a spring reverb unit before? I’d like something I can put on top of my amp that I can smack and hit to make noise.

Just wondering how hard it’d be to convert a standard reverb tank into a stand-alone unit.

[BetterOffShred]

I built a Ruthenium, it sounds pretty rad. Uses a 1054 to drive a small accussonic real spring tank. It gets pretty big hall sound easily. If you want a big spring reverb like out of a fender twin you're going to need high voltage DC (a transformer or 2 and some big caps) and some tubes. The "Revibe" is quite possibly the finest (Imo) stand alone reverb/vibrato a man can clone these days.

[crochambeau]

Has anyone built a spring reverb unit before? I’d like something I can put on top of my amp that I can smack and hit to make noise.

Just wondering how hard it’d be to convert a standard reverb tank into a stand-alone unit.

Do you hope to run signal through the reverb, or just use the the tank as a mechanical sound effect?

If you just want to bang on it and make noise, grab an RCA to 1/4" cable and plug that fucker into any old thing with moderate gain you have lying around and on into a spare amplifier channel. Done deal.

If you want to feed signal through it in the classic reverb application, then yeah, you'll need something to drive the springs. A headphone amplifier will work in a pinch.

For real reverb though, nothing beats a stand alone build with controls/etc. My comments above, while functional, are only using half your ass and tend to get finicky after a while.

[Dr Satan]

There are some schematics out there that will work with a low ohm tank, I think I found them at Rod Elliot's page, ESP-Elliot Sound Productions or something like that. Or you can do the Surfy Bear DIY kit. It's like ~$60 I think. You still need a tank, 12v supply, enclosure, and if you want to add a bypass switch, you'll need that too. Barring that, there's always the old Danelectro Spring King pedal which has a "kick pad" for making the "crash" sounds.

[Phosphene Audio]

You might also look into the Pioneer home stereo reverbs. They tend to be cheap and work fine in the loop of an amp.

If not in a loop, they just need a little extra gain going in.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

man this sounds like it would be so much fun

[Ben79]

I've got an old Carlsbro valve PA with a solid state spring reverb that sounds really really good. Planning to build a standalone reverb unit using this...

http://schems.com/bmampscom/carlsboro/60par.jpg

[spacelordmother]

there's always the old Danelectro Spring King pedal which has a "kick pad" for making the "crash" sounds.

Which also has a PT2399 delay inside that you can mod for control over depth and feedback.

man this sounds like it would be so much fun

https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/re ... te_reverb/
This too and my dad has a welder.

[imJonWain]

If your looking for a diy project I have some spring reverb driver/recovery PCBs still kicking around from an old project. It's designed to to a buffered effects loop + spring reverb module to go in a tube amp but could easily be adapted to make a stand alone reverb unit.

[cloudscapes]

made this one a few years ago





The circuit is nothing special. Just a few opamp buffers and boosts/gain into the spring drivers. Some minimal tone control, and wet/dry blend. I didn't really look into driver impedance at all, so it's probably sub-optimal. Just used my ears. The bigger challenge was the construction.

[DannDubbleEwe]

Gorgeous

[Ben79]

made this one a few years ago

Got a schem for that unit?

[cloudscapes]

made this one a few years ago

Got a schem for that unit?

Sorry I don't anymore. It was just a quick thing I breadboarded with some tl074's and bog-standard opamp buffering/boost. I didn't keep the files.

[BetterOffShred]

I said it above and I'll say it again.. that Ruthenium is amazing for like 12$ in parts. I boxed mine up and it's really lush. I mean it's a real spring reverb so it doesn't do digital pad stuff obviously.

[Ben79]

Looks good, along the same lines as Cloudscape's design. I was in an abandoned factory with a screwdriver on my person the other day and happened to find a very nice old 24v transformer so I'm gonna go big and build the Carlsbro.

Are the Rutheniums available to buy anywhere?