Spring Reverbs

I´ve got a Surfybear Metal for a week now and heavily tested it.
Love that thing so much !
it has a big! spring tank, volume and mix control, is built like a (real) tank, has true bypass, it´s a pedal (the wampler mini ego compressor i´ve got in front of it propably fits in 20 times into the size of the surfybear) and it is not sensitive for vibrations from outside at all (compared to others)
very versatile and noise free unit !
It drips a lot though on some settings :wink:

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Saw the Teaching Machines Wellspring reviewed in TapeOp and would love to try it

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Also there is now a Surfybear rackmount unit with an unusual faux-stereo “width” control

https://www.jmtsynth.com/srv2

As much as I like the Surfybear, there is one little problem.
You can´t get a full wet signal, there´s always some dry signal
leaking thru.
So it´s problematic on a mixer´s aux.
I asked Surfy Industries if a mod would be possible, but
they say it´s not easy, because their reverb is based on the circuit of an old fender reverb, meant for in front of amp… They recommend their studio model instead.

So sad, best thing of the Metal is, that you can place small synths or pedals on it ! Dreadbox Nymphes looks and sounds so cool on it.

Wow, this looks and sounds absolutely stunning. I’ve always had my eye out for a Great British Spring or AKG BX10, but this is more affordable, has more features, sounds better and avoids having to deal with vintage spring components.

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KOMA field FX has a spring verb and it can either be a small box or eurorack…

WTF that wellspring sounds really good. Best sounding spring reverb I have heard since those crazy ones with like 100 springs in those boxes the size of a mini-fridge. I need more demos if I am going to believe it lol.

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I’m leery of ordering something large and expensive that can’t be serviced in my home country, but boy am I tempted!

Hey there other spring reverb addicts, I just made a video about my Fostex 3180 on my Youtube channel for those who might be interested or just curious :wink:

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Did you use the Surfybear with synth ? I was wondering if i need a reamp box or something. Thanks.

Yes, I also use it with synths. You don´t need extra equipment.
But it only takes mono signals and as mentioned before
you can´t get a 100% wet mix.
You can use it on a mixer´s aux but it´s not ideal,
especially when you want to feedback the spring reverb.

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Thanks for the info !
On their website they say it doesnt work with line level but if the output is not too hot i guess its fine.
Right now im thinking about the Vermona vsr-3.2 or the SurfyBear.

I found out that a good spring reverb with the Behringer 2600 make all the difference. Right now i use Arturia Spring emu but i would like something stand alone in hardware.

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Have you considered the Vermona Retroverb Lancet?

I have both Vermona VSR 3:2 and Retroverb Lancet. VSR is the better reverb, Retroverb is a pretty deep multi effect. Super cool but the reverb is more like an added feature.

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Yep ! Im not sure about the small thank though. I would like something that “clang” and drip a little bit. There is also the Moisturizer but as a spring reverb im not convinced by the demos.

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Add this to the list.

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Low cost option :
Danelectro DSR-1 Spring King

I like this little piece on the Danelectro reverb; it evidently employs an analog delay to artificially extend the decay of the extremely short springs

https://mirosol.kapsi.fi/2014/03/danelectro-dsr-1-spring-king/

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Here is my experience.

Carl Martin Headroom: my synths had it saturating, not in a good way.
Van Amps sole mate series: cool with guitar, less cool with synths. The input easily saturated too.
Vermona Retroverb Lancet: very cool multi-effect. The reverb only parameter besides the volume is a tone. This reverb is less wild than the Van Amps, and cleaner too.
Boss RX100 / Roland RV100: no parameter besides the volume an input gain. This one is very clean for a spring reverb. It has something more HiFi than guitarish. Very cool for vocals.

On the “simulation” side,
Boss RE20’s dirty, simple, lovely reverb. Love or hate it, it gives a real character to whatver you feed it with.
EHX Cathedral: a wide array of reverbs in this one, including two spring simulations. Rather on the middy/guitarish side, don’t look for Eventide or Strymon sound here. For simpler alternatives, look at the “grail” series.

Finally, for a very LoFi reverb sound, using a BBD delay with a short time and a finely tuned feddback will result in a roomy reverb kind of reminiscent of the sound of old reverb units, without being a proper spring one.

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