Finally Chose a Reverb Pedal

[marnold***]

For years I've been talking about picking up a reverb pedal. I finally ordered one yesterday at a local shop: a Digitech Polara. They had it for a little cheaper than I could get it online, so I took the plunge. I always prefer to buy locally if I can. Once it officially comes in I'll give my impressions. In the meantime, here's a couple of videos that convinced me. I was looking for their Hardline Reverb to go on sale when it was discontinued--about the same time my Hardwire Delay was--but I must've missed it.

Pro Guitar Shop's video:


Anderton's/Rob Chapman's video (also with Digitech's newish delay pedal):

[Robert****]

Never heard of that one, but it seems cool. Congrats! Delay and Reverb are hard to live without.

[Tig***]

That sounds great in the demo. I believe they used much of the circuit that the Hardwire Supernatural Ambient Verb has since so much of it sounds just like mine. You'll have fun with the weirder Halo settings, while the plate, spring, and room reverbs should fill in perfectly for "normal" use.

[duhvoodooman***]

Nice! Enjoy it, Rev--I know you've been looking for the right one for quite awhile.

I've been digging this new reverb pedal kit from BYOC: L'il Reverb

It's a hall reverb emulator, and uses the Spin FV-1 chip. Sounds positively cavernous when dialed up. And it's a little bitty thing.

[marnold***]

Got a call this afternoon that it came in. Going to get it tomorrow. Today I was using my delay more. I dialed in a tone that probably had way too much delay, but it brought a stupid grin to my face and I think I actually played better. I don't think it was just delay/distortion covering a multitude of sins. If that's any indication, the reverb is going to be awesome.

May have to teach myself Pipeline.

[duhvoodooman***]

May have to teach myself Pipeline.

Or Misirlou!

[marnold***]

Just got it home this afternoon, let it warm up for a little over an hour (it's quite cold here today), and put it through its paces. I also got two new cords for my effects loop so I don't have to use the cheapos that my son partially broke. All the reverb types are cool and usable, with the possible exception of reverse. It's fun to fiddle with for a second or two and that's it. I don't have trained ears so I don't know how much the spring sounds like a spring tank or the plate like a plate. Actually, those are the two settings I probably like the best. The spring setting makes me think I could at least sound similar to Dick Dale anyway.

The modulated setting is very subtle except when the level is cranked. It adds sort of a washy-ness to the reverb. The halo setting is their shimmer mode. Once again, it's subtle but I get where some have called it an "angels singing backup" kind of sound.

The liveliness knob basically controls the high end of the reverbs. I found that particularly useful when switching between single coils and humbuckers. I thought that might be a "set it and forget it" knob, but I'm thinking it's the one I'll be using the most.

The only negative I can see thus far is the paint job makes the reverb settings hard to read. I suppose once I get familiar with the settings in their various positions it won't be as big of a deal. Thankfully I still don't need glasses, so that helps.

Overall my initial impression is very positive. I ran through all my licks where I really wanted reverb before and it made me want to play more. I mainly played with clean settings. I'll try it later to see how it sounds with distortion. The halo and modulated settings could either sound really cool or really busy in that scenario. Guess I'll find out! I'm definitely going to see how a touch of reverb will help rhythm playing, then I'll kick in my delay for solos. I'm grinning just thinking about it.

[Tig***]

[marnold***]

With more putzing I'm kinda surprised at how much I'm messing with a combination of the level, intensity, and decay knobs. Of course, this shouldn't surprise me. I've got years of experience with a delay pedal so I know what I like. Not so much with reverb. It also makes me glad I did not get a Hall of Fame mini. I don't think I'd be happy with only one available control.

I tried it with 80s metal-level gain and struggled. Too much and it just made it sound bad. Too little and, well, what's the point? A little dab adds some heft and perhaps that's all I'd use it for in that scenario. With more crunch/blues-level gain it's a blast. I did notice that getting the intensity too high gave a nasty "can of bees" kind of thing on the top end.

For whatever reason it seems to like my Squier 51 a lot. Probably just because single coils and reverb are a classic combination.

[duhvoodooman***]

Reverb, delay and other time-shift based effects tend to sound like @$$ through an amp with a lot of gain. This is where an effects loop between the preamp and power stages really comes in handy.

[marnold***]

Reverb, delay and other time-shift based effects tend to sound like @$$ through an amp with a lot of gain. This is where an effects loop between the preamp and power stages really comes in handy.

Agreed. That's why I sold my JCA20H and bought a JCA22H. Besides having a second overdrive channel (SLO circuit) it also has an effects loop. My delay and reverb are in the loop. I'm going to have to mess with the reverb to find higher gain settings I like or just leave well enough alone.

One thing that freaked me out at the store is that it has a "soft touch vacuum switch" which means it doesn't click. I feared it was bad right out of the box. Since I live 1/2 hour away I wanted to try it out before I left to make sure it wasn't DOA. Thankfully there were no problems whatsoever.

[marnold***]

After more fiddling, I still find myself gravitating toward the plate and spring settings. The only "issue" I have with the plate is that it can be a little splashy on the high end. It's sort of like the sound you would get if you played a quick loud chord in a room with a drum kit and you get that brief splashy sort of sound as the amph's sound waves affect the cymbals and snare head. Cutting back on the intensity takes care of that.