Looking to get more drip out of my Fender Princeton Reverb and Deluxe Reverb. I really love the drippy metallic sound of the springs with a shorter decay. Both these amps have really loooong decays and is fairly smooth. I prefer the more metallic springy sound.

I initially tried swapping the driver tubes (12at7). I tried an EHX long plate 12at7 and it made the recerb less metallic and smoother. I have two different Groove Tubes both labeled 12at7 premium. One is a short plate the other is long. I believe they are Chinese, and the long plate 12at7 produces the most metallic drip.

I’ve also tried two different long pans/tanks. A mod short decay and a Revisit. The revisit is smoother and shorter than stock and the mod is slightly more drippy.

I guess I’m looking for a shortcut (as opposed to seemingly endless experimentation) to get the tone I’m looking for. Does any one have any suggestions for the best pan/tank to use and 12at7 ???

Also would removing the tank from the bag and mounting it directly to the combo increase drip or would double bagging it increase it.

I recently tried a tweed blues junior that had terrific drip and and metallic spring sounding verb. I forgot to note the tube used but the tank is a short 3 spring medium decay. I know the circuit is different. It is also mounted direct to combo (not isolated in a bag).

I’d be real happy with this sound: https://youtu.be/EO_pOYfsJk4

From your description, seems like you've exhausted the options for the built-in reverb. Even with mods to the driver and original 60's pan, it would be a hit and miss ordeal that may get you just a little closer but not really.

If you're after The Astronauts super drippy sound, there is no other answer - you'll need an external 6G15 circuit and 4AB3C1? pan, like the original '63 tanks. It has to hit the amp's input.

Luckily for you and all of us, a solid state replica has been created, it's called Surfy-Bear, and here's a huge thread about it, with tons of examples of implementation. Dive in! You can use your existing pans, or even install it inside your amp for convenience. DIY or buy a unit, it WILL get you there, tried and tested. Welcome to reverb heaven.

Last edited: Jan 10, 2019 11:47:48

Wow. The Surfy looks very cool. Will defiantly Check out.

I just found this discussion.
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/reverb-tank-cardboard-no-not-kidding.1229216/

I do have my revisit tank double bagged. So the tank is not directly touching the cardboard in the second bag. I’m going to try removing the extra bag to see if that makes a difference. If it does, even if it’s subtle I may try mounting the tank directly or replacing the cardboard with wood to see if that brightens up the drip.

Ok I tried this out since I posted the above videos. I could not find the exact pedals but had a similar set up. I think its more than the pedals its the amp settings too. After fooling around a while I got some drip by accident. I could not get it for a while after I first heard it only one time (oooh what's that!) Then I noticed that hard picking muted notes bring out the slap-back drip way better. So its part technique playing and equipment (Ok here's a new field of research) To get the drip to come out you use the pick hand or palming technique to mute the notes. Also I was able to give some edge to it lightly fretting the note with various touches as well. I had headphones on and I think its part feedback as well so I could not get the full effect of a real Tank playing in a room with a amp etc. But its part technique in playing besides just gear changes etc. I would say the drip sound effect is about 50% playing technique and 50% equipment. Just making changes to equipment is only half the story.

One caveat to this, I was using my Avid Eleven Rack trying this out and many Surfers feel you have to have the real deal. But I did achieve some drip (Ok it could have been better)

I'm thinking the original Tank Reverb Unit had some circuit inside as a preset with a slap-back echo type effect and that's the big secret to this. And the 6 tubes added something to the magic as well. The Black Face amps didn't have all that. Or it could be the original tank had some electronic idiosyncrasy to them not intended but had that effect of some form of slap-back echo to it (But I think feed back is a small part of it and the muting of the strings as well to get that authentic sounding drip. I almost had it but like I said I had earphones on.

The emulator I used only had a Black Face Spring reverb modeling so I had no Dwell setting etc ...so that's a big part of the equation the Dwell and Feed-back as well. So I guess if your using a spring reverb inside an amp - then you have to find some pedal to give the same effect as Dwell I would imagine (Ok not sure what that would be yet?) I will have to work on this myself - Because I love The Astronauts Drip sound they had.

I never noticed how the drip pops out with muting (heavy muting on pick hand and light touching the fret hand. And you can vary the effect of the drip by changes pressure wise etc - so I have to work on my playing I guess and look up equipment as well. This is like a whole new study for me

Last edited: Jan 21, 2019 07:58:23

I will have to try that string location thing stradancer

Yeah I'm not sure being I just realized all this, but I think you have something there being my Jaguar sounds best when I pick near the bass pickup near the neck etc...I usually just pick slightly behind it. I just get more out of it that way. I imagine the pickups have something to do with it too. Its all Alchemy at this point. Takes skill from practicing all this I think.

Does the drip change varying distance from the amp or volume even? (If it does that would prove my feed-back theory) Its some small part it It I think - I don/t know ????

Yeah The Jaguar is hard I think because the string length is shorter etc - does that tie in with what stradance is saying about picking at different location on the string ? So string length effects it too and even where you pick on the string (that makes sense to me) - Ok can we pick higher up on top of the neck as well - does that do anything (going to try that) I think I saw a Surfer do that once now that think about it on YouTube - he was a real early 60's player. So this may be some secret field of research here. Dunno.

I seems to me any pedal can possibly get drip if you have the right slap- echo type effect before it. (If you already have a Reissue Fender Tank or pedal or whatever (homemade) or a SurfieBear etc) I think all we have to do is put a slap-echo pedal in the loop somewhere to get some good drip) They probably screwed up the Fender Tank when CBS took over in 1965 or many be before the deal when through Fender made changes in manufacturing cost or changed the design in wiring that eliminated the slap-echo effect somehow - Is that why the Reissues are not as good - I'm just guessing that's the case. I'm going to try this someday.

Last edited: Jan 21, 2019 09:11:27

Thanks for the info synchro. I did notice that if I released the mute fast I got a bigger pop on the drip - so you have something there and my modeling probably stuffs the drip quite a bit- but I got the effect even though its sure not up to a real Fender Tank from 63 that's for sure.

Yeah I don't know really - I think the muting thing definitely is part of the equation with the actual varying of the intensity of the drip.

So I'm back to the original posters question of " Looking to get more drip out of my Fender Princeton Reverb and Deluxe Reverb. I really love the drippy metallic sound of the springs with a shorter decay. Both these amps have really loooong decays and is fairly smooth. I prefer the more metallic springy sound" - yeah wow do you get that? if its not part technique like I think and maybe some secret wiring please share with us.

I actually at one point was going to buy a 1967 Fender Dual Showmen years ago, but it needed some work and I was in first grade when it was made so I had reliability issues with old gear like this.

Another issue I have is how long will a Showmen last anyway? Some already outlasted the players and will these units still be used in another 55 years etc or will spare parts run out eventually? (How many JBL 15's will be left by then). Surf music could die if we all relied on old Fender amps etc. That's the only issue I have with them. Yes I know they sound better - but for how long though? And what if I play everyday - how long will that last? I live on the east coast far away from any service on Fender's old stuff it seems like. Some swear you have to have original 1960's JBL speakers etc - that has to be running low by now - so then your stuck with rebuilt ones (how long will that continue even?

But recently made new products seem to disappear just as fast with all the turmoil in musical instrument sales and bankruptcies. I guess I'm thinking of servicing issues or will have to fix it myself when needed.

But back to the original question of this thread

" Looking to get more drip out of my Fender Princeton Reverb and Deluxe Reverb. I really love the drippy metallic sound of the springs with a shorter decay. Both these amps have really loooong decays and is fairly smooth. I prefer the more metallic springy sound"

Sounds like a 1963 Tank Reverb Unit is the answer or a SurfieBear or something like that or a Slap-Echo pedal mated with a Fender reverb 65 pedal or something like that or do you just need to use the Slap-Echo with the internal spring? Is that a option?

This is a expensive option being SurfieBear goes for like $ 450 and change and a Tank runs about $ 800. My issue is I thinking of back up options on stage - so do I need two of each to keep the show rolling if something blows? Has anyone lost sound on stage ?

Last edited: Jan 21, 2019 11:09:11

Thanks for the link to "60 Cycle Hum on YouTube" This video was interesting - the drip - not quite as good as the real thing it sounds like to me.

Ok can you use a reverb or slap-echo after this pedal below ...would that work just reversing the chain ???? There is no diagram of the pedal chain arrangement on the bottom video etc...so maybe I had the order wrong ???

Last edited: Jan 21, 2019 11:04:09

Ok....let's cut to the chase. You want drip: if budget is not an issue, get an outboard tank (a 6G15 boutique clone like a Nocturne F Bomb, Zoom Little Kahuna, etc or a used Fender reissue and change out the 6V6 for a NOS 6K6) or a Surfy Bear (which will be a good bit less $$$ than tube unit clones and is truly low maintenance and pretty bulletproof).
On a budget and want the advantage of portability, then a good reverb pedal could get the job done. Based upon multiple demos, reviews, etc the best one to my ears so far has been the Electro Harmonix Oceans 11. Tons of drip and doesn't seem to suffer from some of the digital modeling ills of other reverb pedals. Usually $147.00 out the door and has a bunch of other really excellent sounding reverb tones on board.....but most importantly has "the drip". I would stay away from the Boss "63" 6G15 pedal. I have one and while it does do plenty of drip, it filters out OD and distortion pedals and there is something that doesn't sound quite right with the drip too.

Good suggestions from some experienced experts. Donjoi, You can fiddle with peddles all you want, but will never be there 100 percent. Save up some bucks and get a tank or Surfy. Personally, I go Strat into Deluxe Memory Man into '63 Reissue tank into amp. I use very little echo (it's like cooking, the right amount of spice...but not too much), but set the volume to drive the tank a bit...as a booster/preamp. I get edge of break-up without the audience going deaf, and glorious range of reverb, including metallic drip. And yes. Where you pick has an effect on the reverb.
edited for bad typing

Last edited: Jan 21, 2019 14:02:33