The Reverb Color Switch

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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

The Reverb Color Switch

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Latherman87 Joined: Dec 20, 2012 Posts: 178 Oklahoma	Posted on Dec 18 2016 11:42 AM smid wrote: Sure! Andreas Dude....you rock!!!!! — If you want the ultimate,you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price. Brett Top
wfoguy Joined: Dec 11, 2011 Posts: 2118	Posted on Dec 18 2016 04:23 PM I ordered parts. Top
SandBug Joined: Feb 22, 2016 Posts: 442 California	Posted on Dec 19 2016 12:25 PM **wfoguy wrote: I ordered parts. Sweet! Looking forward to see how you integrate it onto your very coolly designed and fabricated units. Making this stuff is ridiculously fun, especially since i'm new to soldering. Such a great mod because it doesn't take anything away, only adds possibilities. And it sounds perfect with my Squier Bass VI. Incredibly useful to have this added control on only the tone of the reverb and keep the dry signal uncolored. More drip, more control, more fun, of course. I'm pretty sure anyone that does the mod will be pleased. I'm retrofitting two more today. Last edited: Dec 21, 2016 12:04:53 Top
stratdancer Joined: Dec 11, 2013 Posts: 2533 Akron, Ohio	Posted on Dec 28 2016 07:14 AM This is fantastic! Smid, I have two on,on,on DPDT switches that I want to add some color to my duel surfy build. I really only want two caps per individual unit plus one position being normal. I will have some variable in cap value between each unit depending on pan response. Kind of like adding a duel bright switch to each surfy. Do you have advice for how to wire a couple of caps to one of these for this project? I've never worked with these things. — The Kahuna Kings https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447 https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases Last edited: Dec 28, 2016 07:24:35 Top
SandBug Joined: Feb 22, 2016 Posts: 442 California	Posted on Jan 18 2018 11:50 PM Could anyone please tell me which type of switch is better for the application of a color switch. Is it an MBB (make before break, non-shorting) or a BBM(break before make, shorting)? I'm not sure which variation i used originally, but it worked fine whatever it was, i think it was the non-shorting variety. I looked at the link Andreas provided on page one of this thread, but i couldn't tell if that switch in the link was a MBB or a BBM. Not sure if it even makes a big difference which one is used, but i wanted to ask the experts here first before i proceeded. Here are the two types in question... https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/switch-rotary-2-poles-6-positions-shaft-mbb https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/switch-rotary-2-poles-6-positions-shaft-bbm Thanks in advance for any help. Last edited: Jan 18, 2018 23:58:56 Top
smid Joined: Jan 30, 2016 Posts: 33 Nuremberg	Posted on Jan 19 2018 02:39 AM Hi SandBug, it does not make a difference. The MBB might "plopp" a little less when used while sound is on. @ Stratdancer: Sorry for the late reply, I somehow missed your question. There is a wiring diagram for exact this type of mini-switch a few posts ahead of yours (as a reply to Latherman87's question). If you want to use multiple of these, just wire them up in parallel. With two switches you could have 4 sounds: --,A-,-B,AB. Andreas — see you at monokinibeach Top
SandBug Joined: Feb 22, 2016 Posts: 442 California	Posted on Jan 19 2018 01:19 PM Hi Andreas, Thanks a lot. Ploppin's fine with me. Sounds cool. And after some time now using this mod on all my Surfy bear builds i must say that I almost always have the switch engaged, usually on #3, and sometimes #2. I really love the tone it gives. One of the best mods ever. Top
ldk Joined: Nov 08, 2017 Posts: 367 San Francisco Bay Area	Posted on Jan 19 2018 06:46 PM Instead of a rotary switch and different capacitors, why not the largest capacitor you want to use, like 8.2 nF and a 250KOhm or so pot, like the treble control on a guitar? Maybe a no-load pot if you want a completely unaffected setting. — If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play. Bringing instruments back to life since 2013. Top
smid Joined: Jan 30, 2016 Posts: 33 Nuremberg	Posted on Jan 20 2018 02:59 AM That is of course possible. The effect would be a little different: The circuit with one capacitor and a potentiometer has a single resonance peak / cut off frequency (defined by the cap) and variable hight cut (defined by the pot). With the rotary switch you get selectable resonance peaks (defined by the different caps). The output of a reverb pan is pretty similar to the output of a guitar pickup. The reverb-color-switch is the same as the "C-switch" in guitars. Andreas — see you at monokinibeach Top
j_flanders Joined: Jun 28, 2017 Posts: 162	Posted on Jan 20 2018 04:31 AM ldk wrote: Instead of a rotary switch and different capacitors, why not the largest capacitor you want to use, like 8.2 nF and a 250KOhm or so pot, like the treble control on a guitar? Maybe a no-load pot if you want a completely unaffected setting. It would be a different effect (apart from position 10 and 0). What you suggest would give these possibilities: (and the tone control on the Surfy Bear already gives a similar control and output.) The rotary color switch (varitone on a guitar) would give you these possibilities: The (guitar)tone control you suggest is a 'load control' that mostly works by resistive loading. If you turn it down, the guitar pickup or reverb output transducer sees a lower resistive load (like changing your volume pot from 500k to 250k Ohm) which will lower the height of the resonance peak and which you will perceive as loosing highs. Once you get down to about 3 the cap starts to come in effect. The rotary color switch or varitone is also a 'load control' but it works by capacitive loading. By increasing the capacitance you lower the frequency of the resonance peak (not the amplitude/height/Q). It's similar to using a very long guitar cable instead of a shorter one, or using a coily cable or one with high capacitance per feet. The guitar type tone control is not a typical LP filter (it's not a voltage divider where one resistor is a cap). The tone control on the surfy bear is a typical LP filter. Guitar tone control (output not taken from the junction of R and C, it's not a voltage divider): Typical LP filter (output taken from the junction of R and C, it's a 'frequency dependent' voltage divider): By the way, if you'd still use a guitar type tone control instead of the rotary switch, a no load pot would definitely be needed because even on 10 that 250k Ohm pot would seriously load down the output transducer reverb pickup because it will be in parallel to the 1 MOhm input resistor (R8 right after the reverb output in the image below), resulting in a much lower input impedance for the reverb signal. (200k Ohm instead of the 1M Ohm). So, even on 10 you'd loose a lot of highs by lowering or flattening the peak. Last edited: Jan 20, 2018 06:17:11 Top
smid Joined: Jan 30, 2016 Posts: 33 Nuremberg	Posted on Jan 20 2018 06:09 AM @j_flanders: This is a understandable, detailed and comprehensive explanation! Thank you! Andreas — see you at monokinibeach Top
ldk Joined: Nov 08, 2017 Posts: 367 San Francisco Bay Area	Posted on Jan 20 2018 03:31 PM j_flanders, thanks for the explanation. Lots to study there, but I think I get the idea. — If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play. Bringing instruments back to life since 2013. Top
ldk Joined: Nov 08, 2017 Posts: 367 San Francisco Bay Area	Posted on Jan 21 2018 11:31 AM Andreas, the link in your original post, http://www.sensosonic.com/snd/reverb-color.mp3, takes me to a website that says 'Error This domain name has just been registered.' Perhaps you'd look into this? I'm interested in listening to the sound clip. Thanks! — If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play. Bringing instruments back to life since 2013. Top
smid Joined: Jan 30, 2016 Posts: 33 Nuremberg	Posted on Jan 21 2018 03:38 PM oh, the link was broken, thank you for telling me. I repaired it. Andreas — see you at monokinibeach Top
Bensen_Honeydew Joined: Jan 04, 2016 Posts: 33 Auckland	Posted on Oct 14 2018 04:12 AM Just built one of these in a pedal for my 63 Reverb Reissue. The 6 way switch selects 5 different caps and a 6th position turns the pot into a secondary mix control (see The Drip Switch eslewhere on this forum) so you can switch between two different reverb settings with the pedal. Very cool way to enhance the drip. I also wired a 10k pot in series after the cap switch - gives you control over the intensity of the resonant peak. I found it was too harsh with my fender amps so being able to tame it a bit is really useful. Last edited: Oct 14, 2018 19:41:21 Top
smid Joined: Jan 30, 2016 Posts: 33 Nuremberg	Posted on Oct 23 2018 11:50 AM That's a really useful enhancement. Thanks for sharing! Andreas — see you at monokinibeach Top

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