Talkin' Reverrrrrb...

[1452L]

My next surfiest spring reverb pedal is without a doubt the classic Boss '63 Fender Reverb FRV-1 pedal. These can be found used on Reverb and eBay from $223 to $399 (prices subject to fluctuate). It's the closest effects pedal to approximate the Fender Reverb Unit to my ears.

Wow! That makes me very glad I got my FRV-1 when they were being discontinued and marked down, Got mine back then for $59. Turns out timing is everything.

I hated the FRV-1, very digital and sterile sounding.

Took me ages to sell, and then to make matters worse seems I sold it just before prices went crazy!

[MechaBulletBill]

it is very harsh sounding with the tone knob up past 9 oclock but i like it just fine. it's the springiest non-spring pedal in all the demos i checked

[Pepe Silvia]

I traded my FRV-1 to gherb towards a speaker cabinet. He was just going to sell it for the trade value. At the time I was trying to sell it and no one wanted it. Then I used the speaker cabinet for a decade, swapped speakers, then couldn't sell that... I wish I still had that FRV-1

[Zork]

I could need some input from here. I've got an Oceans 11 on my board and love it for large, spacious reverbs but since my amp doesn't have a built in reverb it's doomed to be a plain always on "bit of reverb" tool atm. There's of course only one solution: To get a second reverb! I contemplate three options:

a) A small A sized pedal in the last corner of the board, most likely the Mosky Spring Reverb.
Pros: cheap, small, easy to use, gets the job done
Cons: sounds potentially not good enough for an always on pedal(???)

b) Surfybear Metal! This would sit on top of the midi pedal I use to play my synth.
Pros: sounds fantastic, can do the splash!
Cons: expensive, huuuuuge, one more big piece of gear to carry around along with two amps and cabs + a pedalboard + a 1,5 octave midi pedal + a synth + a rack...

c) A rackmount unit that just goes in my little synth rack.
Pros: easy to set up in the rig, I've got the space in the rack, lots of interesting options available, nothing extra to carry around, no cramped pedals on the pedalboard
Cons: older digital units like Alesis Midiverb might sound quite dated(?), analog spring reverbs like Valverb are rare and super expensive, another rabbit hole to dive in as I have not a lot of knowledge about rack gear, worried about noise issues and ground loops.

I'm leaning towards the rack unit atm because that would probably the best compromise between being a very convinient option and good sound I think, but I would need recommendations. Quadraverb maybe? Tomorrow I could be again leaning towards the Surfybear because sound matters most, right? The mini pedal option is least popular but then again it's just very easy and I could call it a day and make music...

[soggy mittens]

I'd go for a cheap second hand Holy Grail but mostly because the EHX reverb tone to me is the best, so I guess the question is which reverb flavor do you want to be always on? I've never heard a cheap china copy reverb that to me sounds worthy of always on, I've tried enough to give up on them.

[Zork]

Well, the Mosky seems to be an analog circuit based around PT2399 ICs, just like the Malekko verbs. Quite a different beast than the cheap digital ones and sounds pretty good in this comparision: "60 Cycle Hum" Content
I own a big box Holy Grail but it sits at home on my piano and is too big for the last corner of my board. I gotta say I love the sound of it, too...

[fuzzjunkie]

Just thinking out loud, but has anyone put one of the bigger always on spring reverb pedals like the Solomate(sp?) or Surfy Bear into the back of their combo amp and Velcro’d it down?

I wouldn’t do that with a Sky or Space multi-function reverb, but for a single use pedal it might be fine. Or sat on top like a friend used to do with his Holy Grail.

[Veitchy]

Just thinking out loud, but has anyone put one of the bigger always on spring reverb pedals like the Solomate(sp?) or Surfy Bear into the back of their combo amp and Velcro’d it down?

I recall seeing a Dumble clone/derivative (might have even been on here) that had a Holy Grail inside the actual chassis for the reverb.

[Nudger]

I got a couple o surfy bear kits and slapped em in vintage reverb cabinets.. They sound boss. Never had chance to try a 60s unit so how close they are I couldnt say.
Dont worry, Still got the guts of the fender (somewhere)
Rarely dig em out as I love the Twins reverb.

Got an FRV but it cant touch the surfys. Gonna give em a bash with my reverbless 5wat Broadway amp on the strength of this thread