"Reverberation" The new breakfast cereal from Music City!

I'd like a bowl of that now.

Now Jeff, we all know and loved "Kill Baby Kill."

Now buddy, it's build Jeffy build.

Don't make me come up there and do it for you.............

Taskmaster Ed.

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

I made a quick video of my FET Reverb this morning. Just sitting with piles of bubble wrap between the chassis and spring tank, since it's not mounted in anything yet. Not a fully realized demo or anything. I didn't play around with the settings, so it certainly gets more drippy and all that, but I think it sounds tremendous and just wanted share.

I used the MOD 4AB3C1B pan, which I think sounds pretty good. I'd like to buy the Accutronics version or something else, just to compare before I'm finished, but if I stuck with this one I'd be totally happy.

Yeah, the RE20 is on my home bass rig, which is what the reverb is sitting on top of. It's running through the little guitar rig on the left (Traynor DH15H), but I just recorded it real quick through my phone. I plan on doing a proper recorded demo at some point in the near future. I'd kind of like to wait until I get my brownface amp build in, but that might be a while. I'm a freelance recording and mix engineer in my free time (whatever that is).

The front of the grill measured 1/4" in from the edge of the cabinet. Add the grill cloth and the set back is about 3/16."

I made that front baffle from 1/2 thick "sandply," and painted it flat black prior to installing the grill cloth which: 1. I am awful at, and 2. just irks me to start with.

I can go measure a real one downstairs if you want.

I am looking forward to checking out your finished rig. I really like mine.

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

Good progress, Corey!

Thanks wfoguy, I've been chipping away at it slowly. It's getting there. I may even get a chance to get it structurally completed this weekend, with some luck.

Ed, I hadn't though about tilt back legs, interesting idea. I figured I must have missed something about the order of operations or the orientation of rounding the edges over. Every video online starts with someone turning a router on and skips to a beautiful corner that doesn't have the sharp corner seams mine does. I was thinking of rounding over the edges of the cutout for the controls by hand, since the 1/2" ply isn't wide enough for the bearing on the roundover bit to ride on, so I should be able to make short work of those corners at the same time.

It's all part of the excitement of building something I've never tried before, on the fly, with only reclaimed material. Previously this was the speaker and rack shelf for my old recording desk.

Looks good to me, Corey.

Ed, I have been running a boost in front of mine and nailing a tone I love with a little tweaking. I haven't messed with the internal gain at all.

I made a vinyl sleeve for the tank today, out of an old amp cover I found in the garage. I padded the bottom with a piece of cardboard and 1/4" rigid foam sandwiched together. Works great, I can slap the top of the cab without a bit of noise or feedback from the tank.

Ed, When do you think you'll debut your surfy bear reverb before a live audience? I want to be there for that, fer sure.

Maybe the Surge! show at Kavarna on May 14th? Hmmmm?

That would be some kind of historic milestone, "the first performance with a Surfy Bear FET Reverb at a Southern Surf Stomp." Kind of like Dylan with an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival.

-Tim
MyYouTubeChannel
My Classic Instrumental Surf Music Timeline
SSS Agent #777

Big thanks to Bjorn, Stratdancer and all the trailblazers that shared their experience on this thread. I finally got to hear my Surfy Bear reverb recently, it sounds amazing! WOW!!!

I bought the pre-assembled PCB kit a few months ago. I gathered all the components and put together a toolbox enclosure before the board even arrived. I got the kit even though i had never soldered anything before, i felt encouraged by this thread to try to learn then put together the unit. ha But after a few fails on the Velleman beginner LED kits i gave up practicing soldering. I couldn't wait. I just paid a local amp repair specialist to solder everything together. I still plan on learning to solder though.

I had never played through any other outboard reverb unit before, only heard recordings of the real fender units, but damn, the Surfy Bear NAILS the sounds that i was looking for. It gives such a springy, splashy, drippy, sweet sound. Reminds me of how The Astronauts and other classic bands sound. A beautiful sound.

It's so clear and rich in tone. I can see why tone connoiseurs really love it. Totally natural sounding. Lush and harmonic. I even put the unit in front of my solid state Sunn Beta Lead running into an Ampeg 8X10 and i think the end result is still 100% surfy. The Surfy Bear is beyond cool. I usually use it with my Fender Quad Reverb and it's just perfect for me. I'm extremely pleased with mine. Will be making more in the future and giving them out as gifts to my close friends and family.

Last edited: Apr 10, 2016 10:16:58