I have one. I have it only for a backup. It can be pretty surfy, but it's no Fender reverb.

My ear liked it better than the Holy Grail which a lot of people like. The Holy Grail just didn't sound right to me when I muted the strings.

But, if you can hold your GAS for a while, I'd really recommend trying to save a little more and get a reissue Fender reverb. There really is no substitute.

Rick
Halibuts/Deoras

hi, excuse my ignorance. Are the Fender's "pedals" or are you talking about using the reverb built in a fedor amp?

yea i just got one yesterday, i really like it, very surfy and i also like using the tone knob with a small amount of reverb to brighten/darken the tone and the way the volume knob works is cool (changes much of the signals goes thru the springs)

well i will say as someone just getting into surf, it suits me very well, so probobly yes. i think for a beginer 300 bucks is way too much to spend on an effect

Reverb is like scoring H, you'll need it more and more, and it starts off with a little pedal and becomes a full blown tank obsession.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

The built-in reverb is good but it is nowhere near as good as a reverb unit.

stigger108
Some fender amps such as the twin reverb have built in, do you still need the reverb unit if you have a good fender amp with built in reverb?

It depends on the sound you are going for.
The Insect Surfers have a Spaghetti Western/Link Wray type of sound, and the Reveb built in turned to 4 or 5 does them just fine.
But if you want to really drip, like the Astronauts on "Baja"
you gotta have a tank.

But also depends on when you get in a band, on if you play Lead or Rhythm, some bands like the Eliminators have tons or reverb on the Lead, and very little on the Rhythm. Which is ok, but not really the way I like trad surf to sound.

This coming from a revebless bass player of course
Jeff(bigtikidude)

Jeff(bigtikidude)

stigger108
yeah i see the reissue reverb unit on musicans friends website for reasonable coast. T

...ebay is a good source for the re-iss Fender 'verb...

I got mine off of the ebay for approx. $300...works great, looks great...

-dp

BillAqua
Reverb is like scoring H, you'll need it more and more, and it starts off with a little pedal and becomes a full blown tank obsession.

Man, you ain't kiddin. I started out with the onboard reverb suiting me just fine. Then I picked up a cheapo Slap-Echo pedal, as I was getting into the rockabilly thing more. By the time I was approached with the idea of starting.joining a surf band, I figured I could "make-do." Try as might, the drip wasn't there, so I looked into having the amp itself modded to make the reverb wetter, but it wasn't worth it. I bought a Peavey Valverb for $150, which I liked alot, but as a rack unit, it wasn't the most practical thing to use on a stage (not having or wanting any other rack effects). I sold it and bought a Fender RI reverb unit - bingo. Replaced the tubes with NOS....even better.

Then our rhythm guitarist had to go and get herself a real '65 unit...
But I'm happy with mine.
No really, I am.
Shut up, I said I don't need a vintage unit.
Awww crap....

My apologies to the original poster shopping for a Dano Spring King for continuing to derail this thread....but I was you once. Skip the middle steps, save another buck-fitty or so, and get the tank.

The Disasternauts

stigger108
is it essential to replace the tubes on the Fender with NOS? How much does this modification coast? Is it easy to do the install yourself?

stigger:

the tube swap mod is NOT ESSENTIAL... the re-issue reverb unit sounds great straight from the factory...but, the sound of the re-issue is not 100% "vintage" to many people's ears. Part of this phenomenon seems due to modern construction techniques and components. The re-issue reverb has three tubes: a Fender 6V6 driver tube, a 12AT7 tone tube and a 12AX7 (or 7025) reverb recovery circuit tube. (All the Fender label tubes are Chinese or Russian produced, I believe) Additionally, the re-issue has a modern-style circuit board and capacitors rather than the "hand-wired" circuitry and vintage-style capacitors of the vintage tank.

As I mentioned, many like the re-issue's sound straight from the factory. Some say the re-issue is "brighter" and has a little less "drip" or "boing" than the vintage unit. Some say the "depth" and "warmth" of the vintage tank surpasses the performance of the re-issue tank.

Part of the difference between re-issue and vintage units seems to lie in the re-issue unit's factory tubes. The tubes in the re-issue are different values from the old-time vintage unit, mainly due to modern tube availability. The vintage unit had American made GE or RCA tubes: one 6K6, one 12AT7, and one 12AX7 (aka 7025).

The swap from the re-issue Fender 6V6 to the NOS GE 6K6 seems to add "depth" and "warmth" to the sound of the re-issue unit. Additionally, swapping out the Fender 12AT7 and 12AX7 for two NOS 12AT7 tubes seems to mellow out excessive (and some say, annoyingly harsh) highs, especially at louder playing volumes.

The tube modification is subtle...but, if vintage tone is what you seek, then a tube swap DOES produce results (at least to my ears.)

I swapped my stock Fender re-issue 6V6 tube with a NOS GE 6K6 with excellent results. You can still find GE and RCA 6K6 tubes on ebay, and at tube retailers online for about $10-$12. Installation is easy: simply remove the old tube from its socket, and replace with the NOS tube. Just be careful not to break anything (tube, socket, pins etc.)...the procedure is as easy as replacing a lightbulb. I use a rag to grasp the tubes, the oil and dirt on your hands can leave smudges on the glass that can develop into "hotspots" on the tube. The tube and the socket have a center "guide pin" that guarantees proper pin/socket alignment.

I also swapped out the stock 12AT7 and 12AX7 for two NOS Mullard 12AT7 tubes...and the tone of the unit again improved subtly. Smoother balanced tone overall. The Mullards were a little costly, about $15 each. The 12AT7 and 12AX7 tubes are smaller tubes without a center guide post, just be careful to match up the pins to the socket correctly (the tube has a one-pin "gap" that matches a coresponding "gap" in the socket)

I like the NOS GE tubes, they sound great, and they are still relatively easy to find...often they still come with the original box! The Mullards sound great too, but they are becoming "premium" tubes...and they sport a premium pricetag. Many here seem to like RCA tubes, but I haven't really tried those out myself.

There are lots of tube makes available out there: groove tube, sovtek, phillips, sylvania, telefunken, ruby tubes, svetlana etc. All have assorted merits: price, perfomance, availabilty, authenticity etc.

However, the GE, RCA and Mullard tubes seem most popular makes around these parts.

There is a capacitor modification that can be performed on the re-issue tank...but, I haven't tried that. Perhaps someone out there who has performed the "cap mod" will chime in?... There are also several "re-issue Fender reverb unit modification guides" out there on the web...but, I will let someone else chime in on that topic, too

So, in conclusion, I would say that the tube swap is easy to do and relatively inexpensive (less than $50)... it's not an essential modification, but it does produce satisfying sonic results.

good luck,
-dp

Last edited: Apr 16, 2006 00:19:05