Accutronics, Belton, and the future of Spring Reverb DIY

[Strategy]

So a thread appeared on the synth-DIY e-mail listserv that Accutronics has sold out to Belton http://www.belton.co.kr  

Last week Accutronics website confirmed this announcement and today I cannot get their website at all. Apparently Belton has acquired their backstock.

I see pros and cons here for DIY, (hopefully leaving aside the endless off topic thread about offshoring of USA electronics fabrication.!)

Pros: Belton makes some good products and some interesting things like mini-tanks. (I have one in a Doepfer module- it is awesome- and pedal-sized, smaller than anything Accutronics made.) Their specs and configuration possibilities closely resemble accutronics. Effectively, one can still get the Accutronics spec while also having more options.

Cons: What happens to single tank ordering? You could order from Accutronics' ebay store a single tank custom configured to your input and output impedance, tank size and mounting style, etc. Belton has a quote machine on their site, and one synth-DIY listmember said that he had ordered a small quantity of tanks like 50, but I have NO idea whether Belton will cater to hobbyists with sensible single order pricing.

I'm very into building spring reverbs and the various DIY projects don't all spec the same tanks, meaning the one tank type carried by Small Bear or other small distributors may not match the project. I would rather not modify circuits to match "whatever" available tank...That's a project for another day.

Anyone yet have experience with Belton working directly or any light to shed on how this affects availabilities?

- Strategy

EDIT: I intend to contact Belton regarding single order pricing and will post results of that correspondence here for those interested.

[Mark Hammer]

Belton appears to already carry springs in both pan and "naked" form.  Given the large number of legacy devices that have need for an accutronics-compatible pan for repair purposes, I can't see them disappearing from the quantity-one market just yet.

The site drew my attention to this handy little unit:  http://www.belton.co.kr/index.php?mm_code=75&recomm=B&class_code=CLS0002105

[Strategy]

Woh! That's a crazy little thing. Wonder if there's some sort of FV-1 thing in there or similar.

Spring reverb projects can get really small with some of the tanks that Belton offers...

- Strategy

[KazooMan]

SmallBear sells that unit.  $18.50.

[objectx]

belton's spring reverbs (the ones with actual springs in them) IMO sound better than accutronics. hopefully it will be a good thing for everyone.

[kekeprod]

Hello, 
i'm new here,

I really like spring reverb sound and particularly the fisher spacexpander k-10 sound
I'm not technician and so i send my reverb to a tech .
He told me that all hum and noise are coming from the original tank and that the first real thing to upgrade is to change the tank
so , i'm here because I read this thread about accutronics and belton

I've already bought several tanks with long, and short decay configuration at accutronics ( sepi group on ebay); but comparing to original written "spacexpander" on it, new ones are not good at all...

As  I told before , the first way to increase quality would be to find equivalent of the original fisher spring tank  but 'screened' or ' insulated ' ; i don't know the english word .

so i'm really interested to know if someone already ordered directly one from Belton, or if there is any other issue to order just one tank somewhere ?

thanks

Kevin

[Strategy]

I emailed Belton, they do sell direct - they have a pretty big variety.

For insulation you could do this yourself in your build, by enclosing the tank with the right material and using insulated wire where necessary.

Paul

Hello, 
i'm new here,

I really like spring reverb sound and particularly the fisher spacexpander k-10 sound
I'm not technician and so i send my reverb to a tech .
He told me that all hum and noise are coming from the original tank and that the first real thing to upgrade is to change the tank
so , i'm here because I read this thread about accutronics and belton

I've already bought several tanks with long, and short decay configuration at accutronics ( sepi group on ebay); but comparing to original written "spacexpander" on it, new ones are not good at all...

As  I told before , the first way to increase quality would be to find equivalent of the original fisher spring tank  but 'screened' or ' insulated ' ; i don't know the english word .

so i'm really interested to know if someone already ordered directly one from Belton, or if there is any other issue to order just one tank somewhere ?

thanks

Kevin

[kekeprod]

thank you

i hope it will increase quality !

kevin

[Strategy]

They offer some tanks that are VERY small, and they sound good. This type is used in some commercial modular synthesizer systems like Doepfer. Very good size format for pedal DIY.

strategy

[smallbearelec]

Belton has a manufacturer's rep here who was helpful to me in the early years when I was first making OEM connections in Asia. He put me in touch with Belton for ordering the "bricks" directly, and I had heard from him last year that this merger was in progress.

I don't have the capital or space to stock anything like the whole Accutronics or Belton line, Do have funds to invest in some tanks that would be popular for DIY. Please drop a line at the smallbearelec address with suggestions.

SD

[Strategy]

Hi Steve,
You know there are a finite number of public domain projects for tanks so I bet if you stocked some with the input & output impedances for the following projects it might cover the bases. I will try to drum up the specs and email you. For each of the impedances there are options in size and number of springs I guess. Someone else in the forum should chime in but here are some popular projects that I'm aware of:

Stage Center Reverb
G. Forrest Cook Reverb (Gaussmarkov)

synth DIY projects that use them:
Neural Agonizer

there are maybe more but if you search the forum - Stage Center and Gaussmarkov are ones people return to quite a bit.

- Strategy