Amp Reverb. What's the point?

pmg

I have gone from using a Wampler faux spring reverb to my amp's reverb (now that I have an amp with reverb) and I'm happy. cant decide whether to sell the Wampler or keep it as a backup/alternate reverb tone. I think it will all be pedalboard space dependant

JayGee

JohnPerry said:

Have you got one to see the point of?

I have a reverb pedal (Blackstar HT Reverb, which while it's a PITA to use on a board due to size and power requirements actually seems quite well regarded), I've also got (or have the use of) a bunch of amps, some of which have onboard reverb and some of which dont.

My experience is:

The onboard spring reverbs of the amps I have access to ('80s Fender Superchamp, Swart AST, and Mesa 5:25) sound nicer to me than an emulation of a spring reverb.

While "Plate" kind of works and makes a change now and again "Room/Hall" emulations don't sound quite "right" to me as guitar effects.

Putting reverb before distortion (as I'd have to do if I wanted to use a reverb pedal with my Ampmaker SE5 as it doesn't have an FX loop and generates a fair bit of it's dirt downstream of the preamp) doesn't work very well for me.

The extra cables (FX send/return plus power) and PSU required to put outboard reverb in the loop (so that I can have amp generated dirt before reverb) make my wife grumpy if I leave it setup that way at home and make me grumpy if I've got to dig them out and set them up everytime I want to use it.

I still use the pedal because my "big" amp (Blackstar Series One) doesn't have reverb on board, and, while I don't use (or miss) reverb when I'm out with my rock covers band (which is what the Blackstar was bought for) it sounds a bit dull and lifeless on the odd occasion I set it up at home or in a small rehearsal room.

As primarily a "straight into the amp" guy, particularly for a "grab and go" combo which sees a lot of use at home or in small spaces, I'll take a good sounding amp with a decent spring reverb over an otherwise similiar one without the reverb everytime. A reverb pedal is a handy thing for me to have around though, but is a bit limiting for use with amps without an FX loop. For me it's very much "Not proven" for either of the extreme positions ("amp reverb has no point" or "reverb pedals have no point") but if I had to make the choice I'd rather live in a world without reverb pedals than one without amp reverb. Hopefully we'll continue to get the choice...

Handsome_Chris

@ICBM, I not one to say you are talking cobblers; however, Kicking a digital reverb just does not sound the same as kicking a spring reverb.  The thunder just isn't there.

Handsome_Chris

BTW, @ICBM, you're man to speak to about amps.  I don't think my reverb is working in my Orange Thunderverb 50.  (

Why, WHY, WHHHHYYYYY????!!!!

ThePrettyDamned

I have a spring reverb in my bandit, huge tank. It's alright, bit noisy and crashy sounding at higher settings. But I have yet to hear a real spring reverb I do like... And yes, I've heard quite a few boutique amps with them.

Pedals are more fun. You can get modulated reverb, caves, 100 percent wet and choose where is sits in the signal chain, too... And they don't need to be all that pricey either.

darcym

wow - I'm clearly WELL in the minority here.

I never use a reverb pedal at all (I'm aware and have tried some fantastic ones)  however, I adore reverb supplied by the amp (as I use reverb as part of my playing sound I'll clearly buy amps with good reverb). I'm not sure how much is in my head, but I really think I get a better sound from the reverb that is built into the amp, and I know it responds better to how I play (I can think of two songs where the pedal just doesn't work). I think the sound is more organic and almost like it's own sound, rather than an effect on the sound.

in regard to the tremolo thread, I feel the same that when it's part of the amp (assuming it's an amp famed for a good tremolo) it's part of the sound, rather than layered top of a good sound. I do use trem pedals rather than amp trem though, more so because I normally use two distinct trem sounds and that's easy to get live with a pedal rather than mess with the amp settings, but say for example, the trem on the Princeton or the Dual Showman amps, wow - it's just superb and I'm smiling while playing it.

I feel really strongly about the reverb though, but I think it's down to the individual player, his style/wants/needs and the amp,

Certain overdrive sounds ,I feel the same about that you just get a better sound from the amp than from a pedal, but I swap and change my opinion on this a lot, but the reverb I'm constant on, a great onboard analog tube driven reverb, just feels and sounds right, compared to a pedal. 

Danny1969

I run my amps dry and the reverbs added by the soundman if any is needed for a specific song. In a band mix taped tempo delays high and low passed mixed gently behind the dry signal work better I think. 

The cheap digital reverbs sound awful to me. It actually takes an awful lot of processing power to produce a good reverb, hence things like the Bricasti M7 tend to contain a lot of RISC chip power other things just sound "grainy"

Technically reverb is delay but an awful lot of delays hence the power needed to get it right. Amp spring reverb makes no attempt to get it right, it's got it's own sound which is normally pretty shit but maybe preferrable to a dry amp when noodling in the bedroom

ICBM

Handsome_Chris said:

BTW, @ICBM, you're man to speak to about amps.  I don't think my reverb is working in my Orange Thunderverb 50.  (

Why, WHY, WHHHHYYYYY????!!!!

Probably because it's a modern Accutronics tank and the bobbin wires on the output transducer have broken due to the crappy push-connector design.

There are other reasons sometimes too, but that's the most common.

Check the cables are plugged in tightly and making good contact (try wiggling/rotating the plugs) before assuming the worst though, since that's the second most common cause.

Phil_aka_Pip

My AC30 does reverb. I also have a DDL pedal on the board. Even when the timing settings on the latter are supposed to be similar to the former, the two sound different. I can switch either, both, or none, in as required. I'm happy to have that choice. I don't feel constrained by it being a "must have" because my Bluesbreaker has no reverb, so if I want that kind of effect I have to use the pedal.

Skipped

The amps that float my boat have reverb.
Any demo would include a touch of reverb.
So it is all moot to me.
But if John is saying that I don't know how good current reverb pedals are (because I am ignoring them)....He has a good point. In fact he is right.

Dave_Mc

p90fool said:

I like on-board reverb, but don't like amps with built-in distortion for example. I can line up half a dozen overdrive or fuzz pedals then pick and choose whichever I want in an instant. As soon as you put it in the amp you're lumbered with the same one all the time.

You can still use dirt pedals with amps which have distortion built-in (Assuming it's not a single channel high gain amp which doesn't go clean, anyway.)

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

You can still use dirt pedals with amps which have distortion built-in (Assuming it's not a single channel high gain amp which doesn't go clean, anyway.)

You can anyway! As long as there is some window of gain between a lot and total meltdown, you can always put a pedal in front of a dirty amp.

That said, a friend of mine who I don't think has ever knowingly used any amp without the gain maxed and a Tube Screamer in front has just acquired a Marshall JVM and is talking about not using pedals! We will see...

Dave_Mc

^ Oh yeah absolutely, I just meant in the way he was using it into a clean amp. I generally run pedals into a not completely clean amp anyway.

musteatbrain

Reverb pedals never respond the same way as a proper valve driven spring unit. I've got one of the stand alone Fender Spring reverb units and like that, when I hit the strings harder, there is a noticable interaction with the reverb. If I could find a pedal that reacts like that I'd get it straight away.

RaymondLin

I much rather an FX loop than a reverb built in.

Gru

Richardj;501395" said:

As I play mostly at home reverb on the amp is a bit of a must .

In my case ^this. Not so important on a 335 as I find the semi hollow gives off some natural reverb, but tend to dial in a little more on a strat.

For home use I don't see the point in a £70-120 Reverb pedal, just to add a little something.

Dominic

2 WORDS ..

CARR RAMBLER