Extra Large enclosure for spring reverb

[Uma Floresta]

Does anyone know of an enclosure that would fit a large Accutronics reverb tank? I'm looking for something 17-20" long, 4.5-5" deep on the inside, and probably about the same or wider as far as width. I've been searching, but not found anything suitable. Ideas?

This is just for the tank- it doesn't need to hold the circuit, which would be remote.

[Uma Floresta]

I should mention that either wood or metal would be fine, with the preference being on wood.

[cheeb]

I've considered getting a dead powered mixer head and gutting it to make a reverb unit. Like this:


I have one in the basement right now for just that purpose. You could just make a new little frame for the front and cover it with grill cloth. The back is usually sealed. Then You could make a little control plate, cut a cavity for it, and voila! Reverb unit.
I know this is way bigger than what you were talking about, but I thought it was cool.

[Uma Floresta]

That would be cool, except I'm looking for something that's readily available, rather than gutting a dead item. Preferably I'd like it to be narrower as well. Thank you for the idea, though!

[John Lyons]

Make one yourself?

[Uma Floresta]

Make one yourself?

I would, but I have no tools of that sort.

[hday]

Double wide rack mount? If it's just for a tank, you'll probably want a short one. I know you can get short racks (both of my Furman racks are really short) but I don't think they make double wide rack mounts that are short in depth.

[Mark Hammer]

Under what circumstances do you plan to use the reverb?  I ask this because it will partly determine the type of enclosure and materials.  If its intended use is in a studio-like environment, that's one thing.  If its intended use is in a gigging situation then that's quite another.

[Uma Floresta]

Under what circumstances do you plan to use the reverb?  I ask this because it will partly determine the type of enclosure and materials.  If its intended use is in a studio-like environment, that's one thing.  If its intended use is in a gigging situation then that's quite another.

Well, currently it's just my home studio, but eventually I'd like to get a surf band together. So short term cheap solutions are fine, but any solutions that work for both scenarios are even better. However I'm hoping to keep it under $50-$60 if possible.

[Mark Hammer]

If you have any plans to use it under higher volume situations then you need to think about a means to isolate it from vibrations.  The reverb pan itself usually already comes with spring suspension mechanisms to accomplish that, but insulating the insulation is still helpful.

I might point out that Accutronics suggests suspending some of their pans vertically, and other horizontally.  You might want to check their site and see if they provide any such advisory for your pan.....assuming you have an Accutronics pan.

[Uma Floresta]

If you have any plans to use it under higher volume situations then you need to think about a means to isolate it from vibrations.  The reverb pan itself usually already comes with spring suspension mechanisms to accomplish that, but insulating the insulation is still helpful.

I might point out that Accutronics suggests suspending some of their pans vertically, and other horizontally.  You might want to check their site and see if they provide any such advisory for your pan.....assuming you have an Accutronics pan.

It is an Accutronics pan, and they suggested mounting it horizontally, but with the springs facing the side of the box, not the top or bottom, which is why I need an enclosure that's relatively deep (5 inches or more, internally).
I would assume mounting it using rubber washers would go some way toward isolating it from external vibrations?

[Mark Hammer]

Actually, you might want to consider using the most acoustically inert/dead coupling you can manage.  So, imagine you have four pieces of foam, like the pink stuff you get chips in.  A wood screw, with a rubber washer on the screw head side goes through the hole in the corner of the reverb pan, then through another ubber washer, then through the pink foam and into the wood cabinet.  The wood cabinet itslef is heavy MDF.  The idea is that:
a) it takes one helluva vibration to shake the heavy MDF,
b) any mechanical vibrations of the cabinet are dampened by the foam around the screw,
c) any residual vibrations transmitted along the screw are isolated from the pan by the rubber washers on each side.

Between that and the various means built into the pan itself, you should be able to eliminate 90% of all unintended shaking of the springs.

[Uma Floresta]

Actually, you might want to consider using the most acoustically inert/dead coupling you can manage.  So, imagine you have four pieces of foam, like the pink stuff you get chips in.  A wood screw, with a rubber washer on the screw head side goes through the hole in the corner of the reverb pan, then through another ubber washer, then through the pink foam and into the wood cabinet.  The wood cabinet itslef is heavy MDF.  The idea is that:
a) it takes one helluva vibration to shake the heavy MDF,
b) any mechanical vibrations of the cabinet are dampened by the foam around the screw,
c) any residual vibrations transmitted along the screw are isolated from the pan by the rubber washers on each side.

Between that and the various means built into the pan itself, you should be able to eliminate 90% of all unintended shaking of the springs.

Thanks very much for that, Mark

[sleepybrighteyez]

This is something I've been thinking about as well. I'd love to have a spring verb at the stomp of a switch. I was thinking of housing the tanks, actually a few of them, in a small briefcase/guncase like deal and just setting up a remote for it.

[Uma Floresta]

I've been looking at wine boxes, but very few are big enough. Wooden planters are crude-looking. Wooden gift boxes are all too small. Maybe some kind of odd-sized instrument case? Will keep looking.

[calpolyengineer]

I've been working for some time on designing my pedal board with the intention of building a spring reverb into it.

-Joe

[Uma Floresta]

I've been working for some time on designing my pedal board with the intention of building a spring reverb into it.

-Joe

That had occurred to me too... I just don't have the talent for that, though. I think it's a great idea, though.

[Mark Hammer]

I've been working for some time on designing my pedal board with the intention of building a spring reverb into it.
-Joe

That had occurred to me too... I just don't have the talent for that, though. I think it's a great idea, though.

Personally, I'm a little apprehensive about it.  First off, it's on the floor, which makes it even more susceptible to extraneous vibration.  Second, it's big and bulky.
Third, reverb is usually best placed as close to the end of the signal chain as possible, or even as a "post-production" effect (i.e., run a miked amp through reverb).
Fourth, even if it's the sound you want and seated atop a pillow whenever you use it, that sucker is going to be large and cumbersome and heavy.  Not what you want in a pedalboard.

Finally, to my list of ways used to isolate the springs from unwanted vibration, let me also add some kind of vibration insulating legs/feet to the cabinet itself.

[sleepybrighteyez]

How do they isolate the tanks in amps with spring verb? I completely understand how external vibrations could affect the signal passing through the spring, but honestly, I would have thought that if it were that big of a deal, the tank wouldn't be in a vibrating cab to begin with (well, for a combo amp that is).

[Mark Hammer]

Good question.  Pertinent.  First off, consider where the reverb is in the chain of thngs, and what the implications are for that in terms of "sonic problems".  As an outboard effect that is placed before the amp, whatever happens to the reverb gets ground up and spit out by the amp's front end, unless the amp is set for clean (and the odds of that happening amongst this crowd are VERY slim ).  You can tolerate an amp on-board reverb boinking around an already distorted signal, but trust me, you will not like an amp distorting a reverbed signal nearly as much.  So, whatever vibrations are picked up by the reverb pan at the amp/cab WILL be audible, and maybe even unpleasant, but still more tolerable than a reverb pan ahead of the amp.

Second, a combo amp ain't light.  Even if it's made from light plywood rather than MDF, it still weighs a freakin ton and that mass dampens some (though certainly not all) of the vibrations that might be transmitted to the reverb.

Third, the vibrations will be low frequency content so you can always simply stick a cap in series to trim that undesirable stuff.

Fourth, the pan itself has mechanisms to prevent extraneous vibrations, but the pans are often attached to the cab in a manner that further dampens vibrations and reduces susceptibility to nonmusical content.  You may have seen those vinyl bags they sometimes come in.  You may also note that some are designed to be mounted vertically along the side of the cab, which will generally be more rigid and better isolated from floor vibrations.

So, the long and the short of it is that some vibration does get through, but not as much as you might imagine, and what does get through is not as inherently unpleasant.

If you have a well-designed vibration-proof reverb, you also inherit a certain freedom to drive those springs harder and apply a little more recovery gain too, since you can be more certain that they are sensing ONLY the music and not the floorboards.