If you run your guitar into a reverb tank and then the reverb into the amp (which is the normal way surfers do it isn't it?), when your amp is cranked enough to start breaking up and sounding overdriven, wouldn't it just be overdriving the reverbed signal, not reverbing the overdriven signal? How do players get a dirty overdriven sound which sounds like the reverb comes after it not before it? An effects loop is one obvious answer but I thought most surf set-ups use amps without an effects loop, yet I've heard loads of surf records with a sharp gritty sound that sounds like the reverb comes after it in the signal chain. Sorry I can't explain this any more elegantly - hopefully you know what I'm asking. Thank you!

For example, how's this chap doing it? That's a spring reverb pedal I think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInDhewDAO4

Normal set-up woud be to put time-based effects (reverb, delay, chorus, etc.) after the distorion source (pedal, amplifiers pre-amp) so that the distortion gets an application of reverb. If you go the other way, the effect will be magnified by the distortion. Obviously, LHR has found "his" sound going against the grain-and good for him! The groups you hear with a gritty reverb sound may be using Fender combo amps with onboard reverb where the reverb is introduced between the pre-amp & the power amp. Los Straitjackets would be a good example. They may also be using a distorion pedal before the reverb.

OP, you've got a good point and it's an excellent question.

Common modern wisdom is time effects after the preamp ( eg: built-in reverb or the effects loop) or after compression, overdrive etc pedals.

Old School necessity was reverb before the amp. So reverb does get distorted by preamp distortion (if any). I assume everything gets distorted by power tube distortion.

The amps that seem to be prized most on this site were designed before anyone conceived of an effects loop. So were those stand alone reverb units.

Tons of records were made that way and countless gigs played that way.

So the folks here with the Bandmasters, Showmans, Bassmans etc must be running those units before the amp.

But how about those folks with effects loop amps. Do you run your reverb units in front of the amp or in the effects loop?

The reason I ask is because I've never used a spring reverb but I'm soon to acquire one. My experience with reverb getting muddied by overdrive is with vast digital reverb (very wet with long decay) so maybe it's less of an issue with the slightly less canyon-like reverb of a tank.

I go into an old Butler Blue Tube 12AX7 pre-amp for a touch of bite.

My signal chain loos like this guitar>pre-amp> reverb> amp

Often, I also use a tremolo or delay after the pre-amp, before hitting the reverb.

badash
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On a Fender amp, what would happen if you unplugged the RCA's from the on-board reverb, added 1/4" adapters to them, and plugged them into a Fender outboard reverb tank? Basically substituting the on-board reverb for a tank. That would give you a reverberated overdriven sound and the luscious sound of an out board tank.

The Reverb knob on the front of the amp would control the amount of signal going to the unit.

Electrically, would any damage occur?

TeeJay ōjō

I'm addicted to tube-driven tape echo (Fulltone TTE) as a preamp into my reverb tank. The tank, if you turn the mix up to include much reverb, reduces the gain of the signal and the tape delay unit can boost it back to unity or higher along with a nice compression, esp. if the echo input gain is cranked to saturate the tape. It also helps drive the input stage of the reverb for more 'drip'. These two effects, and occasional use of a Rangemaster treble boost in front of the array give me different levels of boost, compression and tonal emphasis which never add up to mud.
psychonaut wrote:

clackclack
The reason I ask is because I've never used a spring reverb but I'm soon to acquire one. My experience with reverb getting muddied by overdrive is with vast digital reverb (very wet with long decay) so maybe it's less of an issue with the slightly less canyon-like reverb of a tank.

Yet another reason why digital is crap. I go from the guitar to an Echoplex ( which itself adds a bit of edge) to the reverb tank to the amp which is a '65 Pro Reverb (no fx loop or master vol.) which I play almost full up, and even when I use a fuzzbox, I don't notice the reverb distort significantly. Whatever break-up may be there, is pleasing to the ear, and not at all harsh. I can't explain why the reverb doesn't sound distorted, but it doesn't.

Squink Out!