A reverb stomp w/out spring

[MetalGuy]

Silicon chip magazine produced a reverb unit project based around two Mitsubishi delay chips

You forgot to mention that you have to pay to view the artile.

[RaceDriver205]

Lol, obviously, you can't get free magazines off them.

[343 Salty Beans]

Regarding the holy grail:

Our rhythm guitarist has a Holy Grail, and when he's not using it, I am. I really dig the hall reverb, the spring is 'eh' (IMHO), and the flerb is really interesting for me, a bassist, on the high frets (12+).

My only complaint is that it really depends on the amp that you have, and not how you set it. I'm not kidding. I've fiddled with our guitarist's Mesa Dual Rectifier about 20 times over, and that reverb just won't sound good. His TS sounds great...but the reverb is pretty much non-existent until you hit 2 oclock (on the grail, not on the amp).

And then you have the other hand, which is my SWR LA 15, and it's got this lushness that can't be described. With my lows rolled up, it's this smooth, amber, feel. With my highs boosted, there's this haunting, shimmery halo (especially with the Flerb setting).  Plus, the reverb came in decently at around 10 oclock.

Of course, you might say it's cuz I played through a bass rather than a guitar, but I had our lead guitarist try it through his Fender DeVille with our rhythm guitarist's guitar...his amp needed the Grail's lone knob turned to 12 oclock before the 'verb became noticable. But it still retained a lot of the tone that I had with my SWR.

Sorry to get off topic, just letting you know that if you want to buy (or somehow figure out how to buld) a Holy Grail, make sure your rig is suited for it.

[trevize]

i had the holy grail too. yes it was great in hall mode but it wasn't in spring mode.

it had a the clock noise problem (a delay with feedback set to infinite HAS clock noise, it's impossible to filter it).

i played till last year in band a la godspeed you black emperor/explosion in the sky and i was using it BEFORE the delays.

and then into my twin REVERB. Am i a reverb fan?

[Mark Hammer]

Not to get too far off topic but back in the old days, didn't they actually build rooms (out of cement?) specifically for recording reverb.  I seem to remember reading that in an issue of TapeOp.  God, I'd love to have a reverb room!

Your not talking about sewers are you?

No, he's talking about high school cafeterias...or was it high school gyms...or was it bathrooms....or was it stairwells?

read this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mhammer/Reverb1.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mhammer/Reverb2.png

[H S]

Not to get too far off topic but back in the old days, didn't they actually build rooms (out of cement?) specifically for recording reverb.  I seem to remember reading that in an issue of TapeOp.  God, I'd love to have a reverb room!

Your not talking about sewers are you?

No, he's talking about high school cafeterias...or was it high school gyms...or was it bathrooms....or was it stairwells?

Here's where I want to record--it's an unfinished railroad tunnel at Stumphouse Mountain in SC:

http://www.alleneasler.com/issa.html (scroll down for pics).

"If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break . . . "   

[Mark Hammer]

One of the great recorded reverb sounds is flutist Paul Horn recorded at the Taj Mahal.

Have to imagine that polished marble walls likely have a little more decay time in them than roughhewn tunnels through rock, but tunnels are good too.

Haven't been in it in years, so I don't know if it's still there, but there was one subway station in Montreal with a large very reflective parabolic ceiling near the entrance.  You'd often see schizophrenic homeless folk sauntering through the station, carting their stuff behind them and mumbling to themselves.  When they'd accidentally pass through the centre of the area (where all reflections bounce back to the listener most directly so that the echoes sound paradoxically close, these folks would look up with this puzzled look on their faces, as if to say "WTF?  That's just plain nuts!!".

[aaronkessman]

the digitech x series reverb is cheap on ebay (~$60 i think!) and quite good. i think it's the best value around for guitarists looking for reverb - except for the spring reverb, that's junk - but good spring reverbs can be made cheaply, as this thread has pointed out. the hall and plate settings are totally fine. line 6's new tonecore reverb is nice too, better than the boss i thinik.

[rocker-D82]

good spring reverbs can be made cheaply

Yes, of course. But I seek a portable device. A spring reverb can be also cumbersome. 

[Mark Hammer]

You'd be surprised how small spring reverbs can be.  It comesup here again and again, but car radios used to have spring reverbs in them that were around 6" long.  They didn't sound all that fabulous, but they were real functioning spring reverbs.  http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/PopularElectronics/Feb1966/PE_Feb1966.htm

One of the things I've been promising to finish for probably two years now is a small spring reverb unit made out of components you can buy at Home Depot; a real spring reverb you could probably fit into a Hammond 1590DD.  It's sitting on the bench with the rest of the backlog.

[rocker-D82]

You'd be surprised how small spring reverbs can be.  It comesup here again and again, but car radios used to have spring reverbs in them that were around 6" long.  They didn't sound all that fabulous, but they were real functioning spring reverbs.  http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/PopularElectronics/Feb1966/PE_Feb1966.htm

De-bong solution can be used also for a stomp? I think that an hard stomp on the box can create a bong effect. 

[George Giblet]

> Esp for those living in Australia, Silicon chip magazine produced a reverb unit project based around two Mitsubishi delay chips (December 2000 and January 2001 issues).(http://www.siliconchip.com.au).

I haven't seen that one.

Can't anyone explain the delay times and the rrangement of the delays and feedback paths for this?

[RLBJR65]

I had an old car stereo out of a (early 70's?) Mazda RX7 with reverb built into the EQ it used an MN3005 BDD and a MN3101 clock generator, it sounded pretty darn good. There is a similar reverb unit on the MN3005 data sheet. It's not actually designed for a guitar but could be modified? Re-designing it is far beyond my skill level. I have thought about trying it anyway, cause the radio puked so I scavanged the 3005 and 3101 out of the EQ and have had them sitting in my bin for a few years now.

Arghhhh! the damn spyware software I just installed won't let me view the PDF on-line!!! What a PITA it won't let java script run either! My wife and daughter are upset with me right now because they can't play anything on POGO.

Anyway here is a link to the data sheet. http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/87983/PANASONIC/MN3005.html

[rocker-D82]

I had an old car stereo out of a (early 70's?) Mazda RX7 with reverb built into the EQ it used an MN3005 BDD and a MN3101 clock generator, it sounded pretty darn good. There is a similar reverb unit on the MN3005 data sheet. It's not actually designed for a guitar but could be modified? Re-designing it is far beyond my skill level. I have thought about trying it anyway, cause the radio puked so I scavanged the 3005 and 3101 out of the EQ and have had them sitting in my bin for a few years now.

Arghhhh! the damn spyware software I just installed won't let me view the PDF on-line!!! What a PITA it won't let java script run either! My wife and daughter are upset with me right now because they can't play anything on POGO.

Anyway here is a link to the data sheet. http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/87983/PANASONIC/MN3005.html

I like it!!! Any improvement? I can trace the PCB layout if I have a good schematic. 

[RaceDriver205]

I had an old car stereo out of a (early 70's?) Mazda RX7

Lol, any of you guys know that RX stands for "Rotary Experimental". People are driving round in experiments!

Has anyone heard of or seen an "ambience generator" circuit. I think I saw one in a book a while ago. It is supposed to generate random delay of the input signal, simulating sound bouncing around a room like in real life.
Rocker-D82, the more realistic you want the reverb to be the more delay lines you need. I would recommend you build the PCB provided in the datasheet, but build 2-4 of them and mix the outputs together. Then youd have a really good reverb.