Tank Reverb City

I'm almost a convert in believing you have to have a Tank Reverb stand alone unit for achieving authentic classic 60's sound. I found many different manufactures and kits etc or home builds whatever. Post them all here you know of or have or built. Videos about them etc.

Any good links either here on SurfGuitar101 Forums or some other site please list here. Even on this site many post are spread all over the place and I couldn't find what I was looking for like the video below.

I feel if we know how these things work we will be able to use them more effectively and sound better as well.

I found these two excellent video's that describes pretty much how these stand alone Tank Reverb units work in theory and is described with a Fender Tank diagram. This really helped me understand how this works maybe you too. Essentially its just a Guitar amplifier that emulates a large hall or arena with delayed sound waves with a spring tank.

Over all what is the best Tank reverb? Is there a perfect set up. Let us know here your view on all this or experience for Green Gremmies like myself. To me this is the most important part or Surf Instrumental playing - looks like Spring Tank Reverb = Surf City Hang Ten

Last edited: Jan 22, 2019 14:55:26

I like the F Bomb Tank Unit (about $1000)
I think I might get this one anyway if I did build one dunno

I just learned about the Nocturne F Bomb, Zoom Little Kahuna, from Surfadelphia (Thank you very much) on another thread here at SurfGuitar 101 link below:
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/31592/?page=1

Last edited: Jan 22, 2019 14:05:17

I was wonder if you could built a ultimate Spring and Plate reverb unit - more Verb

^ I have a Fender 65 Reverb pedal or what ever its called - It's ok but not enough for me - They sell for like $275 even listed used at like $400 not sure if they stopped making them ??? or do you mean not another Reverb Page lol..

Stormtiger wrote:

That you need a tank to nail that sound is pretty much common knowledge around here. Their high cost is the only thing driving the pursuit of an alternative. I doubt that knowing how they work is going to be very helpful unless you want to build one. The drippiest tank I ever heard was Doug Forbes' (a member here) self-built tank. It is basically a Fender clone but he went through many vintage Gibbs pans before finding the ONE that made the difference. That thing sounds beautiful. They all sound pretty good to me, some are better than others. I have a tank but I sometimes use a TC Electronics Hall of Fame. Nobody but me can tell the difference or cares.

That's interesting about trying out different pans - it's much like self wound pickups on a guitar or vintage one etc...evidently the spring length has a lot to do with the sound (Can I custom cut or make combinations of sets for a unique sounding spring verb ??? And that electronic echo effect is interesting as well. How about a combination of plate reverb even.

Last edited: Jan 22, 2019 15:38:59

^ I like that Tool Box Surfie Bear - that's pretty cool.

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/24295/

Last edited: Jan 22, 2019 17:32:49

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:31:21

Tqi wrote:

Any time. As far as rackmount amps go... Have you been guided to the holy grail of solid state surf amps yet?

https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/productpage/101-mini-head

They're not personally my thing (I don't like class-D power amps), but I'm an extreme rarity on the subject. They're also just less than 2U high, you'd be able to fit two of them neatly on a 2U rack shelf.

I’m a bit of a die-hard when it comes to tubes, but I have to admit that some of the new solid state gear Has won my respect. One of my former instructors, a Jazz player by the name of Dale Bruning, played a Gibson GA 50 amp for years. If you’ve never seen one, they were bulky and heavy as could be, almost into Super Reverb territory. They were wonderful amps and de rigeur for old school Jazz players, but a real chore to lug. I used to tease Dale and as if he was saving up for a new amp.

I think Dale shlepped that amp until he was in his 70s, then one day he bought a Hendricksen JazzAmp, and I almost fainted from shock. Those amps weigh 23 pounds and are 14” x 14” x 10”. Dale is in his mid 80s now and still gigging with that amp.

For Surf, where a lot of people are going for a clean sound, solid state may make a lot of sense. Even if you want breakup, some of these newer solid state amps are not bad. I have a Genz Benz bass amp with a 12AX7 up front and a 600 watt class D power amp. I once played an outdoor gig using that the amplify my Bass VI. At one point, I had it cranked all the way and it was fairly broken up, but the sound was smooth and pleasant. Because of speaker impedance, I was only getting about 300 watts that day, but standing next to 300 watts of Bass VI sound blowing my pants legs with every note was a memorable experience.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

I’ve learned a lot, not only from the recent threads, here, discussing reverb, but also from what I’ve been spurred to read about reverb.

Reverb is, by definition, somewhat chaotic. I’ll quote this from Wikipedia: “A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing a large number of reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space – which could include furniture, people, and air. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they reach zero amplitude.”

If you go by that definition, reverberation could vary in a nearly infinite number of ways. An echo chamber would probably be the best way to achieve reverb, but most of us can’t afford a bespoke room for creating reverb and, even if you could, it wouldn’t be portable, that’s for sure. Recording studios were known by their room ambiance, the quality of their recording equipment and their echo chambers. I’ve have heard it opined that a big part of Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” could be credited to the echo chamber at Goldstar.

Plate reverb is essentially an electro-mechanical emulation of natural reverb and has been used on any number of notable recordings. The plates at EMI Abbey Road are celebrities in their own right. I found a site which described how to build a plate reverb here. It’s feasible, if you have the space to do so, but these are pretty much a studio-only effect. Moving a plate reverb would not be something you would want to do, and if you did, you’d probably have to tune it again, at a bare minimum.

Spring units were another reverb emulation which were used in organs and then guitar amps. They have taken on a life of their own, however, and the spring sound, in and of itself, has become a standard in judging reverb sounds. By cranking up their tanks, the early Surf players made reverb in instrument in and of itself. Just a few years before Surf came along, if you wanted reverb on your recording, it was probably controlled by the recording engineer. Spring units “liberated” reverb, and got it into the hands of the players.

From that point, the story splits into two tracks, stand-alone tube reverbs like the 6G15 and reverbs built into amps. There is nothing quite like a tank, be it tube or FET driven, and if that’s the sound you need, it’s going to require a real tank. But I’m not so quick to dismiss built in reverbs. I’ve heard some that are astounding, including the short-pan reverb in my Twin. I would never argue that I can match Dick Dale’s sound or get that Classic Astronauts drip, but I have gotten some great sounds which please both the audience and I.

Ultimately, we all strike our own bargain with reverb. If I’m playing live, chances are I’ll be using a pedal. I may go with a Surfy Bear at some point, but I’ve gotten some great sounds from my various pedals and I’m more than satisfied with those sounds. Sometimes I use a plate emulation, it just depends upon the setting, the audience and what my ears tell me. When I’m playing live, I’m there to please the audience and in a tight room, plate might give the audience a better listening experience. The last time I used a tank on a gig was an outdoor event where there was virtually no natural echo, so those springs really came in handy. Having options works to my advantage and I’m not about to commit to one sound only.

There’s also the matter of what the artist wishes to use. A few weeks ago, I was feeling a bit subdued. I played an entire rehearsal using light spring reverb. I was tired and had been through a stressful week; I don’t think I could have handled drip that day.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:31:29