Using a reverb pedal in front of the amp

Lebarque

The problem with using a reverb pedal in front is that the amount of reverb goes up and down as you use you guitar volume knob to control gain: less with your clean sound and more with dirty (the opposite to how I want it!)

Any thoughts or solutions? I don't want to use an od pedal and my amp doesn't have a loop.

thecolourbox

Could you run reverb in parallel loops with a volume pedal controlling the volume to the drive instead of your guitar knob?

Alternatively only ever play in a huge church size room

Winny_Pooh

Never had a a problem as you describe that really bothered me. You could buy a reverb with an expression pedal out to control the dry/wet ratio or put the pedal in a parallel loop with a volume pedal at the end. 

shaunm

Which pedal are you using? I’ve read that the Mad Professor Silver Spring is good in front of an amp

ICBM

There’s no easy solution to that. To get what you want you need the reverb after the overdrive - so either a loop to put the pedal in, or a master volume amp with onboard reverb that’s after the MV.

Or independent of it - a wet-dry amp setup with a clean reverb amp and a dirty dry amp.

mistercharlie

If my amp is turned up loud enough to distort on its own, I don’t usually need reverb.

One related trick I’ve used recently is to run the Joyo American Sound amp sim pedal into a mixer and monitors, with reverb and/or modulation after the amp sim.

It works great, although I’m aware that a pedal with no amp is the complete opposite of what you requested 

thomasw88

if its distorted sound, then you could switch the reverb off.  the two don't tend to go together imo.

GavRichList

Or get one with presets. 

Paul_C

or two reverbs

Grunfeld

Lebarque said:

The problem with using a reverb pedal in front is that the amount of reverb goes up and down as you use you guitar volume knob to control gain: less with your clean sound and more with dirty (the opposite to how I want it!)

Any thoughts or solutions? I don't want to use an od pedal and my amp doesn't have a loop.

Well this is a thing. 
The way I cope with it is to leave the guitar's volume knobs alone and to use an OD.
(Yep, that's the opposite of what you want.)
But it works so that's why I do it.  It suits my way of playing so I'm okay with it but if it doesn't work for you then you probably need an amp with a loop.

BintyTwanger77

The Talisman even works beautifully in the front of a dirty amp. I know they are very scarce/tough to find at th moment, but if can find one, definitely worth a try.

EDIT: I’ve reread your post, and it looks like my comment above is irrelevant! Sorry....

HarrySeven

GTR --> Boss VB-2 -->EXH HG Reverb -->RAT -->Boss CE-2 -->Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz  -->EHX DMM -->RAT -->Adrenalinn


I'll get me coat.  

Lebarque

Lebarque said:

The problem with using a reverb pedal in front is that the amount of reverb goes up and down as you use you guitar volume knob to control gain: less with your clean sound and more with dirty (the opposite to how I want it!)

Any thoughts or solutions? I don't want to use an od pedal and my amp doesn't have a loop.

Just re-bumping my own thread here. What would happen if I ran my guitar into a reverb pedal first, then into a volume pedal, which I would use to clean up an overdriving non-master volume amp, rather than my guitars vol knob. Would that work to avoid the 'too much reverb' issue? Any comment @ICBM ?

@thecolourbox @Winny_Pooh I'm interested in your parallel loop idea. How would one go about doing that?

ICBM

It won’t make much difference because the problem is that when the amp is overdriven it squashes the reverb and dry levels together, so you need much less reverb. If you then back the gain off until the amp is clean, there’s then too little reverb. It’s a fundamental problem with putting overdrive after any other effect, which is why FX loops were invented.

Of course some people specifically like that mashed-together sound, and if you’re trying to emulate those sounds then putting the FX in the loop doesn’t sound right.

Lebarque

ICBM said:

It won’t make much difference because the problem is that when the amp is overdriven it squashes the reverb and dry levels together, so you need much less reverb. If you then back the gain off until the amp is clean, there’s then too little reverb. It’s a fundamental problem with putting overdrive after any other effect, which is why FX loops were invented.

Of course some people specifically like that mashed-together sound, and if you’re trying to emulate those sounds then putting the FX in the loop doesn’t sound right.

Hmph. Thought I had a good idea for once there! Thanks anyway

althy

Lebarque said:

The problem with using a reverb pedal in front is that the amount of reverb goes up and down as you use you guitar volume knob to control gain: less with your clean sound and more with dirty (the opposite to how I want it!)

Any thoughts or solutions? I don't want to use an od pedal and my amp doesn't have a loop.

If your amp has built in verb you can use it as a base with the amount you need on your driven sound and only stomp on the pedal for your undistorted sound.

For putting a reverb before drive pedals shoegaze bands are well known users of this process. I love the sound it makes put it really is more of a "noise" thing.

victorludorum

Wasn't that 'simoverb' video about exactly this problem?