Well the topic asks for a good spring reverb and the AKG is a good spring reverb. But if ya want cheap then hunt for the Orban. If ya want real cheap, look for older Biamp mixers as a lot of them had spring reverbs built in.

Well, I know that AKG are great but I'm going to use it when I mix elctric guitars... so I think that it doesn't have to be the best reverb... anyway, the AKG is too big for my small room.
I use to have a Boss RX100 spring reverb... I really loved that sound.... I was stupid enough to sell it when I bought my Yamaha SPX 90.
A while after that I bought a Fostex 3180 reverb... but that one wasn't really good enough.
I don't like digital reverbs for electric guitars... I haveplug-insand some hardware units ( Lexicon, Alesis, Yamaha) but it doesn't make the guitar "sing like a spring" :p

AKG made more than one spring reverb. Look for a used 2-rack space unit BX5 I think was the model number.

I have the Biamp, and a couple other spring verbs. The Biamp is my favorite, but (like most springs) it is on the noisey side. Make sure you connect the ground to it. I like cracking the hi and hi mid frequencies. It actually sounds like a realistic (mono) verb if you don't hit it to hard. But where's the fun in that, so... you can crank the 'drive', but I usually keep it no higher than 12 o clock and turn up the input into it for the "guitar amp spring" sound. You should be able to find one for below $150, but I suggest you avoid ebay when it comes to spring verbs. Demeter has a balls-awesome spring verb. It's the best I've ever heard.

Thank you AudioGaff ! I thought that they only did those big boxes.... I've heard about BX5, but I thought that was one of them.
Going to see what I can find.
e-cue : Is your Biamp a mono reverb ?
I just love those "fake stereo-reverbs"... I want it BIG...
I saw one Biamp reverb in a shop a few days ago ( 100 USD)... Is that price OK?

I'm a big fan of the Peavey ValveVerb...it's a tremelo too. The only thing the valveverb is missing is a 'dwell' control, but I sure love having the EQ knobs right on the front, that's just what you need in a fast and furious mixdown.

A little secret to making a spring reverb sound even better is to put a digital delay right in front of it, and use it as a 'pre-dealy'....works great, and sounds other worldly (gets the 'boing' sound away from the transients).

Cheers, and good luck

Kris

Hi Cris, it is good to hear from ya again sir!

Hi Tore,

Try to get a MasterRoom XL-305 it´s one of the best spring reverb ever in 19" 2HE rack size.
Also the old MasterRoom MR-3, this is a 1 meter high pillar in wood like finish.(grindstolpen som den kallas för i sverige)
The MR-3 is a bit noisy but after some modification in electronics this spring reverb are my favourite.

A nice inexpensive spring reverb are "The Great British Spring" and this is a 1 meter gray plastic tube (liknar en bit avloppsrör) with some connectors and knobs on the top.
I think you can find some in Sweden because in 1980´s I sold hundred of them there.

--Bo

Originally posted by Tore member of Park:
Thank you AudioGaff ! I thought that they only did those big boxes.... I've heard about BX5, but I thought that was one of them.
Going to see what I can find.
e-cue : Is your Biamp a mono reverb ?
I just love those "fake stereo-reverbs"... I want it BIG...
I saw one Biamp reverb in a shop a few days ago ( 100 USD)... Is that price OK?

Sorry for the delayed response. Yeah, the Biamp is mono. It's pretty cool fed into a Cyclopanner (by the way, I'm looking for one). You should be able to find one cheaper than $100, but if you can plug the unit in at the shop and test it for noise issues, that would be a good price it insure you get a good unit. Basically, they went for a realistic sound, so if you keep the 'drive down', that's what you'll get.

Don't over look the Peavey Valve -'Verb... a one rack space piece, guitar pre and a tremelo as well.. great Fender style spring 'verb... with a 3 band eq for the reverb. I have one that I have had for 7 or 8 years now, it has held up well and all my clients and engineers have loved it ...

Yeah the Valverb (correct spelling) is a great little tool. They can be a little hard to find though. The reverb is the best sounding two-spring I've heard. The tremolo also also beats out my '61 Concert Amp and '65 Vibro Champ which are considered standards for trem.

Sound Workshop also made a nice spring reverb unit. A stereo 2U. That one overdrives nicely too. That one can handle drums pretty well, suprisingly. That one is hard to find, too.

You can find Orban spring verbs on ebay all the time. I can't imagine it's too different from the Sound Workshop. They were produced around the same time. The Orban also features a limiter circuit if I'm correct.

One could always make one. I have several spring reverb devices I have built from parts. I am also currently experimenting with some reverb springs from the mid 1940's that are vertical, about three feet long and the springs sit in tubes with oil in the tubes. They have tube drivers and pres, and are all balanced. The transducer at the input end has a 10oz or so alnico magnet with a little spider. Overall, a pretty beefy unit with a very unique sound. If anyone wants to know more about how to find one or how to make this work with a modern console, or if anyone has more info, let me know. I'd be happy to send pictures or schematics or answer questions.

Tim Stoel

Tim, I'm interested in your oil-filled spring things! Tell us more!

On the subject, I have a Kendrick tube reverb, which is a better built quieter copy of the Fender reverb unit. It has a beautiful sound, and dwell and tone controls. It also has 2 inputs, one for a line input, one for an instrument.

It's mono, but sounds really smooth and musical.

Mike

Originally posted by Kurt Foster:
Don't over look the Peavey Valve -'Verb... a one rack space piece, guitar pre and a tremelo as well.. great Fender style spring 'verb... with a 3 band eq for the reverb. I have one that I have had for 7 or 8 years now, it has held up well and all my clients and engineers have loved it ...

They don't accept line input, do they?

One more option is the PAIA kit, its pretty easy to make and supposedly offers some nice high quality spring reverb.

What would you use a spring reverb for in a recording studio? I love my spring reverb in my Fender amps and in my Rivera Fandango, but is there any other application of spring reverb in a recording situation, even in recording my own guitar I've gone "clean" and added reverb to taste (BAM) in the DAW. I don't remember anyone every recording my amp's spring reverb, but then my limited recording experiences has been in producer's apartments in New York or dark and dank budget dungeons in New Jersey.

I used to use a stereo Orban, which was great. You might be able to find one cheap secondhand somewhere. But also the latest edition of Sound On Sound had a small news item about a new spring reverb that had some interesting additional uses. Sorry, can't remember any details but check the mag out. The article is in the front section news pages from memory.

Maybe you can check this !
it's a german compagny :

http://www.vermona.com/en/produkte/retroverb/retroverb.html

Sound intersting no ? ;)

and it's cheap (like 400 €)

Originally posted by snail:
One more option is the PAIA kit, its pretty easy to make and supposedly offers some nice high quality spring reverb.

ya beat me to it. :D PAIA RULES!!!

there's a valverb at evilbay right now - one day to go.
here's the [[url=http://[/URL]="http://cgi.ebay.com…"]link[/]="http://cgi.ebay.com…"]link[/].

I've been hunting for a valverb for ages but I'm located in Germany and this seller will only ship to the US.

too bad...

Michael

If you can find an old hammond organ, there is a great little spring reverb that can easily be removed. Rca in/out. Sounds big.

:) I suppose you want a simple Hammond type enclosed guitar amp style verb, but let me tell you about the Multi-Track Dual Equalized Spring Reverb circa early 70's.

This thing was a master piece of OPAMP technology for the time. I have seen one for sale on the web search Multi-Track dual equalized reverb.

This was a production reverb. The design uses subtractive equalization to shape the sounds before sending signals to the separate and individual spring assemblies. There were 2 sets of springs per channel. Each set was the standard Hammond, however they had different gauges of springs, X 2 channels.

The signal was tuned for each set to apply the signal without the common sprongy sound associated with these type units.

The gain after equalization was massive, allowing this unit to extend response out to 7K, making sibilant sounds travel with pinpoint accuracy.

Hearing this, you would not even realize it is a spring unit. The unit was powered externally with a power one + - 15 volt supply with current foldback. Each input channel were balanced, had a drive level, clip led, high/low shelving EQ, and output level control.

Outputs were balanced, the unit could be used in unbalanced configuration, and had a +30db input gain switch, for -10 and less gear.

The company that manufactured these units were located in Hollywood, and also produced the Vari-Band series of parametric EQ's if anyone remembers them. These products, along with consoles, and recorders were designed for the movie industry.

The reverb was 2 rack units, and was about 18" deep. There is virtually nothing that can't be repaired in this unit, with the exception of the power supply. The little OP Amps are readily available, and plug into sockets.

If you were lucky enough to get hold of one of these, you would not be disappointed.

--Rick

The Biamp MR 140 wasnt too bad I had one for a number of years, had input level, 4 band eq and output level. Balanced I/O too if I recall. Sounded better than the Furman unit back in the 80's.
Great British Spring and The Masteroom XL 305 were better than the Biamp in terms of smoother reverb and less boing.
I still have my broken Masteroom XL-500..which is a 3ru unit controller with Plate-Room-Hall selection, paramatric eq on both channels and variable decay. Connected by a 50ft to a 4 ft chamber that contains 6 elemets (springs). Three for each channel obviously - one that simulated plate, one for room, and the longest one for hall. Best sound I've heard from a spring, retailed for $4,000 back in 1982. Its currently not working now..I do plan to resurrect it and figure out how to make it quieter, the DBX compander cards went on it.

Good luck on your search..

I just bought a biamp MR/140 Spring reverb unit and I was wondering if there any good, I haven't used it yet. I'd appreciate your options

Sorry Fruition, I didn't see your post, thanks kindly

AKG BX series springers....depth and width and surf music for days. I had a friend who rebuilt a Tapco reverb to get the noise out and it was outstanding but he replaced the entire driver unit.