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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Surfy Bear Reverb competitor?

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There is a guy that did a shoot out with pedals 2 + 3 you mentioned -

I think the amp has a lot to do with getting better drip as well. Because on my Avid Rack Eleven emulator I tried all kinds of setups with tank reverb and finally found one that is pretty drippy for a modeled sound rig set up. All I changed was the amp and bang it drips great - all the other settings were the same - so its definitely that amp too that gets you surfing. It might be flanging that gets you there as well. There is a modeled flange pedal in the loop and it has like 6 settings to adjust which I never saw before on a real Flange pedal or remember. But Tank reverb must have to be matched to a fairly decent amp to get that classic drip sound evidently. I'm leaning toward the Surfy Bear being it has a real tank in the mix, it think that might be a big art of it, the springs have to be different in tension and you have to have a really good speaker amp to get the drip right, I'm convinced that's part of it the two work together synergistically.

Yeah, there's no question that amplifiers themselves can play a potential role in it all, but it quickly gets well over my pay-grade, and far too time-consuming to be any fun. Some amps are inherently dark, while some are bright, some are overdriven easier than others, some have a fair bit of sag, while others are rather rigid, and so on. I just try to stick with a conventional tube-rectified (American) 6V6/6L6 platform (not one of the EL84/EL34 British types), and a relatively bright (high-efficiency) ceramic (not alnico) speaker. That general combination of components seems to get it done for me.

"Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work, you can always hit them with it." - Boris the Blade

Ringo wrote:

I've got a '63 Reissue outboard (circa 2007) that is my go-to device for classic surf reverb, but it was acting up on me here recently, so I went to the trouble and cost of buying virtually every known alternative, just for grins, knowing that I could sell either or all of them afterwards if I needed to. That included the following three devices:

1) SurfyBear Classic
2) Boss FRV-1
3) CatalinBread Topanga

I've since resolved the issue with my '63 outboard, and it remains my go-to, more than ever, and I'll admit that what follows here is no more than my own personal opinion, but after putting them all through their paces, if I couldn't locate or afford a '63 outboard, my vote would be for the CatalinBread Topanga. Its subtle, and arguably a rather subjective evaluation, but as small and as cost-effective as it is, the Topanga is the closest of the three in overall sound (splash and drip), to my '63 Reissue outboard.

I find it interesting that you like the Topanga so much. I’ve tried a lot of reverb pedals and there are a number I really like, but the Topanga sounds the best to my ear, and considering that it’s been around for a while, all I can say is that the folks at Catalinbread did a good job.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

DeathTide wrote:

Wow. A combo amp with a dwell knob!???!!!!

Some do! My Tone King Meteor basically has a 6G15 built in. Dwell on the top panel, tone and mix on the back. All tube, sounds wonderful!

But does the element drip?

SHADOWNIGHT5150 wrote:

But does the element drip?

The demo I hear seemed to.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

i think a long tank mounted under a mini pedaltrain with a tuner, tubescreamer, compressor, boost, tremolo, and delay would make the perfect surf board

I thought the thread would be about this:

https://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Kits/MIDI-FX-Co/Kit-LNDVerb::6830.html

FET-driven, with a tank, but requires HT supply, works at line level as well as input level, and with a reverb transformer. I have the surfy-verb but think I'll try this too in the near future.

image

Last edited: May 29, 2019 06:06:20

Ringo wrote:

If I couldn't locate or afford a '63 outboard, my vote would be for the CatalinBread Topanga. Its subtle, and arguably a rather subjective evaluation, but as small and as cost-effective as it is, the Topanga is the closest of the three in overall sound (splash and drip), to my '63 Reissue outboard.

I had the chance to compare the Topanga with a Fender tank ages ago and completely agree. Playing smooth and subtle with medium/low reverb I honestly would forget which one I had on. IIRC the Topanga was at 18v, which I slightly preferred to 9v.

I'm surprised you compromised the drip and would chose it against the Surfy Bear.

Ringo wrote:

I've got a '63 Reissue outboard (circa 2007) that is my go-to device for classic surf reverb, but it was acting up on me here recently, so I went to the trouble and cost of buying virtually every known alternative, just for grins, knowing that I could sell either or all of them afterwards if I needed to. That included the following three devices:

1) SurfyBear Classic
2) Boss FRV-1
3) CatalinBread Topanga

I've since resolved the issue with my '63 outboard, and it remains my go-to, more than ever, and I'll admit that what follows here is no more than my own personal opinion, but after putting them all through their paces, if I couldn't locate or afford a '63 outboard, my vote would be for the CatalinBread Topanga. Its subtle, and arguably a rather subjective evaluation, but as small and as cost-effective as it is, the Topanga is the closest of the three in overall sound (splash and drip), to my '63 Reissue outboard.

I’ve played all but a few of the offerings and the Topanga sounds the best of any pedal I’ve tried.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

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