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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink FRV-1 vs. Flint vs. Fender Tank vs. Surfy Bear vs. G-Spring

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ParkRowe wrote:

This is a great thread!

After reading this i got myself a Catalinbread Topanga Reverb. I know it wasn't in the test but i found out about it here and liked it better than the others being demo'd. That said i'd rather a real tank, but i can't afford that right now, so a pedal it is. and this is the best sounding one to me.

i played with it all weekend and it really sounds good!

like a few others here i was a bit disappointed by the Flint. I have an El Capistan and it's amazing at what it does. I've heard the Flint in other demos and it does sound great... but for surf type stuff, it doesn't move me.

thanks again for doing this shoot out!

Congrats on the Topanga, I've heard they sound great. To be honest, almost all of the reviews on here say that while a wonderful pedal, it does lack "drip." I own a Flint, and it does give me pretty good drip for a pedal. Have you actually owned/played with a Flint yourself?

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New Singles "Finish Line" and "Paradiso" on Bandcamp and website.

SixStringSurfer wrote:

ParkRowe wrote:

This is a great thread!

After reading this i got myself a Catalinbread Topanga Reverb. I know it wasn't in the test but i found out about it here and liked it better than the others being demo'd. That said i'd rather a real tank, but i can't afford that right now, so a pedal it is. and this is the best sounding one to me.

i played with it all weekend and it really sounds good!

like a few others here i was a bit disappointed by the Flint. I have an El Capistan and it's amazing at what it does. I've heard the Flint in other demos and it does sound great... but for surf type stuff, it doesn't move me.

thanks again for doing this shoot out!

Congrats on the Topanga, I've heard they sound great. To be honest, almost all of the reviews on here say that while a wonderful pedal, it does lack "drip." I own a Flint, and it does give me pretty good drip for a pedal. Have you actually owned/played with a Flint yourself?

nope, i haven't played a Flint only seen/heard demos. i love the Trem on it. i thought the reverb was great for ambient sounds too.

after reading that long thread on the Topanga today i have to go back and relisten to the drip... i coulda sworn it had plenty.. i do have an FRV, so i'll compare more tonight. i'm working on a recording a new tune right now and i plan on using the Topanga on it and see how it sounds recorded.

but more than drip and other details, i like the way it feels to play. i like what it doesn't do to my tone. Smile

Tuck wrote:

Next a test that shows that what actually matters is the guitarist and what they had for breakfast. Smile

The most important meal of the day; even if you end up having it at 2 a.m.
Big Grin

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

ParkRowe wrote:

SixStringSurfer wrote:

ParkRowe wrote:

This is a great thread!

After reading this i got myself a Catalinbread Topanga Reverb. I know it wasn't in the test but i found out about it here and liked it better than the others being demo'd. That said i'd rather a real tank, but i can't afford that right now, so a pedal it is. and this is the best sounding one to me.

i played with it all weekend and it really sounds good!

like a few others here i was a bit disappointed by the Flint. I have an El Capistan and it's amazing at what it does. I've heard the Flint in other demos and it does sound great... but for surf type stuff, it doesn't move me.

thanks again for doing this shoot out!

Congrats on the Topanga, I've heard they sound great. To be honest, almost all of the reviews on here say that while a wonderful pedal, it does lack "drip." I own a Flint, and it does give me pretty good drip for a pedal. Have you actually owned/played with a Flint yourself?

nope, i haven't played a Flint only seen/heard demos. i love the Trem on it. i thought the reverb was great for ambient sounds too.

after reading that long thread on the Topanga today i have to go back and relisten to the drip... i coulda sworn it had plenty.. i do have an FRV, so i'll compare more tonight. i'm working on a recording a new tune right now and i plan on using the Topanga on it and see how it sounds recorded.

but more than drip and other details, i like the way it feels to play. i like what it doesn't do to my tone. Smile

No doubt the Topanga is a great pedal. Let me know how the comparison goes. Smile

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New Singles "Finish Line" and "Paradiso" on Bandcamp and website.

I realize I'm way in the minority here, but I thought the Boss whooped the Flint... Confused

Me too. The Flint had a really coarse sound. Like they'd only read a description of reverb somewhere.

Great shootout. I picked the FRV-1 instantly upon listening to the samples. I was a major fan of that pedal when it came out, but technology has moved forward and the FRV-1 has fallen behind. The modded Fender RI sounded good, maybe I should do that C-10 mod on mine. The G Spring was definitely the Mercedes Benz of everything you tested; but then again, Dario has always made wonderful stuff. If this was a just world, Dario would be a rich man. The Surfy Bear was a wonderful surprise and I liked the Strymon pedal as well.

Currently, I use a Catalinbread Topanga and I'm quite happy with its performance. It drips well enough for my purposes and has a very natural sound, considering that it's digital, and by definition, an emulation. I would recommend this pedal to anyone, even the owner of a good tank. At the very least, it's a worthy backup to a tank and, IMHO, it's good enough to take to a gig.

I played a Tiki bar in Tucson just last Friday and used the Topanga in place of the built in reverb in my Deluxe. I normally use a Winfiled amp, but last weekend I took the Deluxe because we were an opening act and I needed a combo amp that I could move in and out quickly. When we got there I found out that they had a great soundman and I would have been fine with my 5 watt Winfield Typhoon combo (as opposed to my piggyback Winfield Cyclone). In any event, the Topanga performed well and ansolutely smoked the reverb in my Deluxe; which is surprising, because I had always thought that the DR's reverb was pretty good.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

The Topanga Reverb;
image

http://www.thenocturnebrain.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nocturne-Brain-Preamp-Zombies/240721872969

What about the Digitech Polara? Would be interesting to add it into the comparison. . .

Just reviewed the thread and did the "listening test". As a proud Surfy Bear reverb owner I was a suprised that I picked it second. First choice was the Gomez..... I was juggling them back and forth so to my ears it was very close. Great quiz!

I am not obsolete, I am RETRO.... Cool

Mark2Bra wrote:

What about the Digitech Polara? Would be interesting to add it into the comparison. . .

As said in the initial post and before, I simply did not include 'insert other reverb unit here' because I do not own it. I own 5 reverb units and that's enough for me.
If you (or anyone) would like me to throw in a different unit to the shootout we can talk about it. You could send it to me and I will send in back in the same condition as I got it. We could also share shipping, of course. So if anyone feels the need to have this done, feel free to contact me and we'll figure it out.
Or you could visit the Surfer Joe Festival this year Wink

Teiscofan wrote:

Just reviewed the thread and did the "listening test". As a proud Surfy Bear reverb owner I was a suprised that I picked it second. First choice was the Gomez..... I was juggling them back and forth so to my ears it was very close. Great quiz!

Thanks, mate.

The Hicadoolas

So I bought the Topanga and the FRV-1. I'm going to return whichever I like less (I feel bad but no store around me has had them). I can post a comparison here, but my surf chops are a bit rusty. I'm digging the Topanga but it's drip is kind of artificial sounding. But I know that's the price you pay for going digital. I want to try the boss though.

Sonichris
I also like to think that all early 60's fender equipment is happy to be playing surf music again. After all, its the music it was meant to play.

Last edited: Apr 02, 2015 21:03:39

^ cool, looking forward! I had the frv-1 and sold it pretty quick.
Almost went the topanga route but then lucked into a Peavey Valverb for about 30 euro's more than a topanga! Loving the valverb's reverb but the tremolo has a pretty big volume drop. Worth it for the verb alone though!

image

This thread was a great read! thank you everyone!

Hey Kman1

How did you find the frv-1? I got one and was impressed since i had no experience of a real unit didnt know the ice picky sound you sometimes get was not a fender feature until came to this place. Can still get a pretty decent sound out of it though.

Going to do a shootout soon between my Boss FRV-1, my Surfy Bear R4 (with Mod pan) and my friend's Fender '63 Reverb Reissue.

Should be interesting!

^ looking forward with baited hook Big Grin

I would love to see a the Gomez G Spring, Nocturne F bomb, and Texotica, shoot out... I bet they all would sound just great! Cheers

What happens when you kick a reverb pedal?
No splash, just a sore toe?

Reverb pedals may need a crash button.

DaveF wrote:

What happens when you kick a reverb pedal?
No splash, just a sore toe?

Reverb pedals may need a crash button.

I wonder why Danelectro was the only one to think of this.

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