Danelectro Spring King

[Uma Floresta]

  One question...is there any delay between the source and the reverb springs?..that might be neat and get a cleaner tone at attack...a slight moment of clean before springtone.

No, the reverb is immediate - that would be interesting, though. I'm not sure how the signal is mixed, but for sure the springs are getting the dry signal, possibly the wet too.

[Jamforthelamb]

I bought one of these, and plan on modding it soon.
Couple of questions.

Do you find that have control over the feedback helps with getting rid of the pedals tendancy to resonate when you have all the current knobs cranked ?

Any thoughts on increasing it's output. Mine is considereably quieter then the bypassed signal.

Thanks!
-jftl

[Uma Floresta]

I bought one of these, and plan on modding it soon.
Couple of questions.

Do you find that have control over the feedback helps with getting rid of the pedals tendancy to resonate when you have all the current knobs cranked ?

Any thoughts on increasing it's output. Mine is considereably quieter then the bypassed signal.

Thanks!
-jftl

No, the mod won't change the tendency to resonate. All things considered, the slap back is relatively subtle, and almost invisible with the volume and reverb controls dimed. It's most apparent with the volume control backed off. I find that I can avoid unwanted resonance by keeping both volume and reverb knobs at 3-4:00.

I still haven't found a way to modify the level of the delay only. Reverb control brings up both delay and reverb levels

[Uma Floresta]

Also, not sure what to do about the volume drop. It hasn't bothered me since I'm keeping it on all the time!

[Jamforthelamb]

Ok, cool.

I'll see if I can come up with some solution for these problems. At the very least I think if we can trace out how these things work some of the uber knowledgeable people on here can help us come up with some solutions.

-jftl

[Uma Floresta]

Clip:

http://www.uncledig.com/clipgallery/Uma%20Floresta%20-%20Spring%20King.mp3

0 - 1:41 - Delay only, various settings

1:41 - 2:38 - Reverb only, max Level and Reverb, Tone at noon

2:38 - 5:18 both Reverb and delay mixed, various reverb settings, from moderate to maxed out

Songs used - "A Crack in the Ceiling" - Uma Floresta
"Egypt, Texas" - Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
And some generic twangy stuff

[Uma Floresta]

If you want to hear this in context of a song, I used the Spring King on both guitar parts in the first song that plays on my Myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/umaflorestamusic

[beatstrat]

Neat stuff, Uma. 

OT Question: How do you like the Echo Machine on your board?  I have a Carbon Copy that I really love, but the number of features on yours coupled w/the price make it almost impossible for me to say no to.  I'm also going to check out the US600 Ultra Shifter/Harmonist.

[JasonG]

Man thanks for the gut shots. Have you tried running that at higher voltage? My guess is that you would get a even nicer sound out of that tank. Its probably only using an op amp to drive the input of that tank higher voltage may give it a bit more kick. I am going to be building a preamp soon. ESP has a nice design. After hearing you play with that thing , I am only reminded of how much I miss a good old spring reverb.

[Uma Floresta]

Neat stuff, Uma. 

OT Question: How do you like the Echo Machine on your board?  I have a Carbon Copy that I really love, but the number of features on yours coupled w/the price make it almost impossible for me to say no to.  I'm also going to check out the US600 Ultra Shifter/Harmonist.

Thanks!

I like the Echo Machine a lot - it's definitely worth the $40. I only ever use it on tape mode, and I don't mess around with the special effects much - but it's just a nice sounding faux tape delay. I've never tried the Line 6 model it copies, but it seems to sound like it, judging from the youtube clips of the Echo Park. 

I'd like to try the Dano Reel Echo sometime, though.

[Uma Floresta]

Man thanks for the gut shots. Have you tried running that at higher voltage? My guess is that you would get a even nicer sound out of that tank. Its probably only using an op amp to drive the input of that tank higher voltage may give it a bit more kick. I am going to be building a preamp soon. ESP has a nice design. After hearing you play with that thing , I am only reminded of how much I miss a good old spring reverb.

I haven't tried higher voltages, but I'd be afraid of frying it - I'm not sure what the tolerances are on the components.

[petemoore]

  Fine sounding clips !
  Very demonstrative !
  Sounds fine, I don't understand for sure why you'd want to run it on higher voltage..

[Uma Floresta]

  Fine sounding clips !
  Very demonstrative !
  Sounds fine, I don't understand for sure why you'd want to run it on higher voltage..

Thanks!

In regards to voltage, I was just responding to a question - I hadn't considered it previously.

[DougH]

Very cool demo, Uma.  I love the sounds you are getting and how you found a way to separate the delay from the reverb action. What a versatile pedal!

I think this is a very cool pedal if for nothing else, the sheer uniqueness of it. It's definitely one of a kind and will remain that way for a long time, I believe. Danelectro really had their "creativity hat" on when they came up with this. It almost makes up for the sitar swami... Bwahahaha!! (Just kidding, I love to see someone at least trying to come up with something different, even if it doesn't always succeed.)

Now Pete, I thought by now you would have suggested throwing some tubes in it for the next mod.

Dang it... Now I want to get one of these...

[Uma Floresta]

Very cool demo, Uma.  I love the sounds you are getting and how you found a way to separate the delay from the reverb action. What a versatile pedal!

I think this is a very cool pedal if for nothing else, the sheer uniqueness of it. It's definitely one of a kind and will remain that way for a long time, I believe. Danelectro really had their "creativity hat" on when they came up with this. It almost makes up for the sitar swami... Bwahahaha!! (Just kidding, I love to see someone at least trying to come up with something different, even if it doesn't always succeed.)

Now Pete, I thought by now you would have suggested throwing some tubes in it for the next mod.

Dang it... Now I want to get one of these...

I think it makes up for the Sitar Swami, but can anything atone for the Psycho Flange & Shift Daddy?

[DougH]

Been a while since I checked out Danelectro but that Reel Echo is just cool as sh*t too... I love the sound on sound and if it had tap tempo it would be too tempting for words. Put it this way- I'm broke right now but if it had tap tempo I'd go in hock for it...

[Uma Floresta]

Been a while since I checked out Danelectro but that Reel Echo is just cool as sh*t too... I love the sound on sound and if it had tap tempo it would be too tempting for words. Put it this way- I'm broke right now but if it had tap tempo I'd go in hock for it...

Yeah, I'm gassing for that one too. Sound clips are awesome, and it looks just f'n cool.

[tiges_ tendres]

Very cool demo, Uma.  I love the sounds you are getting and how you found a way to separate the delay from the reverb action. What a versatile pedal!

I think this is a very cool pedal if for nothing else, the sheer uniqueness of it. It's definitely one of a kind and will remain that way for a long time, I believe. Danelectro really had their "creativity hat" on when they came up with this. It almost makes up for the sitar swami... Bwahahaha!! (Just kidding, I love to see someone at least trying to come up with something different, even if it doesn't always succeed.)

Now Pete, I thought by now you would have suggested throwing some tubes in it for the next mod.

Dang it... Now I want to get one of these...

I think it makes up for the Sitar Swami, but can anything atone for the Psycho Flange & Shift Daddy?

The shift daddy is awful! I sold one at a swap meet and the guy seemed really impressed with it!  I couldn't get a decent sound out of it!

[DougH]

More reverb fun here: http://www.electronicpeasant.com/projects/springs/springs.html

Also, here's a nice thread about a standalone tube reverb I guy at ax84 built: http://ax84.com/bbs/index.php?id=354602

[Processaurus]

I missed this the first time around, looks really cool!

  One question...is there any delay between the source and the reverb springs?..that might be neat and get a cleaner tone at attack...a slight moment of clean before springtone.

Exactly.  The mods I'm thinking of, in addition the ones layed out in this thread to make the PT chip into a regular stompbox type delay-
1. Feed the spring reverb with the delay signal from PT chip, including the repeats, for longer "dwell" times and reverb decay, you could even push the PT chip to longer delay times than normal, where it would start to distort, because those blemishes might get covered over by having gotten run through the spring.  One could even make a knob that would pan the spring input between the clean and the delayed.

2.  Gez's idea, putting the spring in the feedback loop (awesome).  Some clipping diodes might be welcome for the crazy oscillations possible with that setup.  A blend thing might be interesting in this case too, by blending the feedback path between a clean one and a 100% spring path.

3. Tamer, but might still sound good:  use Francisco Pena's lowpass filter from the rebote delay, to get a more tape-like sound from the delay, a poor man's space echo (spring reverb in parallel with tape delay).

Whew, I gotta get one of these...  I wonder if the schematic is available in some form.