I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

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Fiddy
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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Fiddy » Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:30 pm

Nice, he probably picked the location for the RCA I/O to keep the cables as short as possible. I wonder if he just soldered them directly to the board...

Any noise/hum at all, Pjazzmaster and what are you doing with the tank?

Btw, got some Reverb bucks and chose to use them wisely towards a Cioks power brick that has a 12V output. 8)

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by PJazzmaster » Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:45 pm

tribi9 wrote:
Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:30 pm
Nice, he probably picked the location for the RCA I/O to keep the cables as short as possible. I wonder if he just soldered them directly to the board...
thanks. The location for the RCA jacks was chosen by me, for aesthetical reasons only :freako:
not sure if they are plate mounted, I can check tomorrow if you are interested.
tribi9 wrote:
Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:30 pm
Any noise/hum at all, Pjazzmaster and what are you doing with the tank?
I only had 20 mins to test it today and I think it was fairly quiet ! I want to keep the reverb tank separated from the "Pedal". Maybe I will screw it onto a piece of wood but I actually prefer to leave the tank unboxed (it allows me to keep the tank off the floor if I want to).
tribi9 wrote:
Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:30 pm
Btw, got some Reverb bucks and chose to use them wisely towards a Cioks power brick that has a 12V output. 8)
I only had the chance to test mine with 9v. It worked well but curious how it sounds with 12V (it's designed for 12V but I have no 12V power supply :freako: Curious how it will sound with 12V

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Fiddy » Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:54 am

I don't have an amp at the moment, i did plug it into a Hotone Bass amp for abou2 minutes but I got no sound... 😭

Once I get my Ceriatone in about 2 weeks, ill be able to troubleshoot it... Parry's favorite activity.

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Dec 30, 2018 1:49 pm

ludobag1 wrote:
Sat Mar 03, 2018 11:56 pm
have you try it ? ,i use it more than my 63 reissue cause of the weight and also now i have put a surfy trem in
Hey there. I'm back with my two diy kits on my table. finally!
But there are so many questions right now! Hopefully someone can answer it, as my last question got no direct response.

Should I pack them both into one? or run them separately. If together which of them first? If seen as a regular modulation unit it should go after Fuzz and before Reverb and Delay. But seeing it as a stand alone Reverb unit and more or less the amp's tremolo, then tremolo should be last even after the Delays... Ludo, which of them do you run first? and do you combine it with other effects or are you a surf-sound-purist?

Right now I'm also wondering which enclosure size to choose (I'm probably going to bend/build my own - as sloped enclosures are pretty hard to find and I'm a bit bored of the same old Hammond style enclosures. (another hats off to Ales and his Surfadelic Soundwaves Mindful and its enclosure - absolutely killer, sound and look and that slider! :? )
Also what's probably the most crucial point: will the spring work as desired on the underside of my pedalboard?
marqueemoon wrote:
Sun Mar 04, 2018 8:21 am
With the right pedalboard it might be interesting to mount the tank under it. I guess you'd need to isolate it from some amount of vibration, but it would be fun to still be able to give it a kick for some dubby goodness.

did you get experience-reports yet marqueemoon?
(opinions I heard tend to differ! But their standard units are designed to be floor units, so why shouldn't it?
Björn said, I should experiment... if it does not work that way, I'd probably make a head-unit, like Orange and Matamp had them, just in a more "surfy" design. Or should I try to fix the tank in my supersonic head? probably not, to little flexibility as I play multiple amps... I could get more/different reverb tanks... but probably too little space as well.

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Paul-T » Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:08 pm

ludobag1 wrote:
Sat Mar 03, 2018 11:56 pm
have you try it ? ,i use it more than my 63 reissue cause of the weight and also now i have put a surfy trem in
Image

for the power supply normally it need 12 v but more important need 1 amp (if you power supply is not enought powerfull it will heat )
for trying 9v with less amp will work but not for long time use
where do you find the box you use ?
Ludobag, this looks great! Can I ask how you made the control panel? And what are the dimensions of the panel/the top cut out?
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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by ludobag1 » Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:55 pm

the panel is the chassis in aluminium bend like a 63, for the letters is a home made print that i have work in inscape with Bjorn files you found on his site
the dimension are 29 cm to 5 cm (for print on A4 )

i made a new one with the r4 version in a aluminium box; less big but i put a mod tank in and it sound less good to my hear du to the tank
i have to try a swap of the tank to verify but the big box have the trem and i think i will reuse it

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Paul-T » Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:58 pm

Great. THanks. I'm waiting for some router bits to make my own cabinet, and plan to make a short pan version.. but I'm unsure of what to do regarding the chassis. I've been looking for builders' steel trunking but haven't found anything the right size. I'll try my local garage for a sheet of steel they/I can bend, otherwise I guess I'll have to shell out for a Hammond.

@ludobag1, did you print your panel on to paper? sticky plastic? Rigid plastic? Or something else? I can run something up as a PDF easily but am not sure what medium to go for.
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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by rexter » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:21 am

I've been on the cusp of ordering a Surfy Bear kit for almost a year, just worried I won't have the time to ever make it happen or it will distract me from actual work too much... but I want a good reverb for a very basic amp and it seems like the best option!

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by ludobag1 » Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:34 am

the new one in front of the old, really less weight and dimension

Image

it 5 cm longer than the tank , 1cm more in high and 4 cm more in larger

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by MelWaldorf » Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:35 pm

So glad to see fellow reverb fanatics here - I love my Surfy Bears!

*NOTE: this post has self promotion, so please remove if that's inappropriate*

Some of you may know me, way back in the web 0.1 days of the mid 90s I created the Jazzmaster and Jaguar page, chronicling my experience and knowledge of these fine guitars that few knew much about long before this most amazing forum came to be. Suffice it to say I've been a long time fan of offsets played loud with lots of reverb.

Anyway, ever since getting my precious 1963 Reverb I've wanted to find a way to be able to control the reverb level between songs without having to reach down and twist the knob manually, which requires the tank to be up front on the stage where it goes CRASH if you get too lively in your jumping around. Well, I finally figured out a way to do it, and I call my creation the "Drip Switch" - it plugs into the on/off footswitch jack of your reverb with a standard instrument cable and allows you to dial a secondary reverb level and toggle between the full and a reduced setting without attenuating the reverb tone. You can also control the reverb level on the fly by turning the Drip Switch knob with your foot.

Here's a demo I made of how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opkAJ4YjGU4&t=8s

Here's a picture of the pedal and how it connects to the tank, in this case a 6G15 clone. If you have a tank without a footswitch, it can easily be connected at the reverb pan return with an RCA splitter and 1/4" adapter.
Image

Also, if you're adventurous you can set up a Surfy Bear with dual mix controls using relays, and then use a footswitch to toggle between settings. I did that with my Surfy Bear before I came up with the Drip Switch.

Again, apologies if this is too much self promotion!

Mel

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Apr 21, 2019 9:20 am

rexter wrote:
Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:21 am
I've been on the cusp of ordering a Surfy Bear kit for almost a year, just worried I won't have the time to ever make it happen or it will distract me from actual work too much... but I want a good reverb for a very basic amp and it seems like the best option!
Jon, do it!
I guess you can solder it together while one of the layers of my to-be Jazzmaster (or any other guitar you're working on) is drying.
As: the board is already pre-assembled!
You just need to solder the pots, the jacks and the power socket and if you want them a led and a footswitch to it. But the most tricky and error-prone work is already done.
Yes, and you will need a box.

I combined mine with the Surfy-Trem kit and put them into a self-bended aluminium enclosure and could finalize it last weekend with some cool graphics on it - so here is a pic of mine assembled and integrated onto my board! :w00t:
I present to you: The Dynamic Duo!
Image

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Debaser » Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:51 am

Here’s my take on the Surfy Bear, paired up with a short Black Bird board (the Surfy Bird ;D ). The long spring tank is tucked underneath, along with power supply. A Strymon Ojai can power it all, using the 24V pass through for the Surfy Bear, voltage stepped down and properly filtered to eliminate the ripple. Took some time to make it fit, and to top it off I installed a drip color switch, adjustable boost, clickless bypass, and a vented heat sink.

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Fri Jun 07, 2019 9:43 am

Debaser wrote:
Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:51 am
A Strymon Ojai can power it all, using the 24V pass through for the Surfy Bear, voltage stepped down and properly filtered to eliminate the ripple. Took some time to make it fit, and to top it off I installed a drip color switch, adjustable boost, clickless bypass, and a vented heat sink.
Hey Debaser! That is what I call dedication! :-* A surf green Surfy Bird pedal board with only surf green pedals and one being the Surfy Bear!
Just awesome! Give this man a Mint-cookie! I just can offer my surf green Fender Vaporizer! And partly my "Dynamic Duo" in that colour.

To the Ojai - what did you do to step down the voltage?
And if I ever were to mod mine again... how would I change the Drip-Colour?

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Debaser » Sat Jun 08, 2019 9:24 am

MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Fri Jun 07, 2019 9:43 am
Debaser wrote:
Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:51 am
A Strymon Ojai can power it all, using the 24V pass through for the Surfy Bear, voltage stepped down and properly filtered to eliminate the ripple. Took some time to make it fit, and to top it off I installed a drip color switch, adjustable boost, clickless bypass, and a vented heat sink.
Hey Debaser! That is what I call dedication! :-* A surf green Surfy Bird pedal board with only surf green pedals and one being the Surfy Bear!
Just awesome! Give this man a Mint-cookie! I just can offer my surf green Fender Vaporizer! And partly my "Dynamic Duo" in that colour.

To the Ojai - what did you do to step down the voltage?
And if I ever were to mod mine again... how would I change the Drip-Colour?
Thanks man, this is actually my second Surfy Bear build. I got stuck on the cabinet so never did finish that part. The Surfy Bird board isn’t the end of my OCD either, as it matches my Vox AC10 in cream tolex and a couple surf green guitars ;D

The Ojai has a 24V expansion pass through that can power up to 1000mA, and I modded their EIAJ expansion cable to feed a Tobsun 24V to 12V DC-DC converter (Amazon and EBay). Strymon told me the 24V output has limited filtering and my meter confirmed the ripple on the 24V. I don’t know how much the Tobsun converter helped with that, as I installed an inline LC filter circuit on the 12V side, before heading to power the Surfy Bear. My meter showed a steady 12.1 volts supplied to the SB.

The color switch mod is pretty simple, it uses a six-position rotary switch attached to the reverb pan return. 5 caps are used, 2.2n, 4.7n, 5.6n, 6.8n, and 8.2n. The switch is open in the first position, then progressively brighter caps (respectively). Check this out for details.

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/28840/

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Re: I built a Surfy Bear Reverb..

Post by Paul-T » Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:13 am

I first heard about the Surfy reverb via this thread. Thanks folks! Especially @Ludobag1 whose build was an inspiration.

Finally finished mine. First cabinet build I've ever done, after buying a finger joint jig. Thin aluminium chassis, control panel from Signomatic. This one has the trem, too.

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