Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by thenewromance » Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:04 am

I believe there really might not be such a thing as you're looking for, since I've been looking as well and haven't found anything so far. What I am doing currently is setting a Behringer VD400 rather low on all three knobs (around 9 o'clock) and putting it last in chain. In my setup, it does an adequate job of approximating the slapback/spring reverb sound.

Better solutions will most likely require two pedals, not run on batteries and cost about 30 times as much. If I find some spare money to burn I'd love to try the UAFX Golden, for example, but that is only the reverb part and then down we go into the rabbit hole.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by JSett » Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:34 am

The battery thing is pretty much a deal-breaker as I don't use a board live (and this is for live use). Not to worry, I'll either just use a small, low draw delay pedal or just sack the idea off completely...the audience wont likely notice or care.
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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:52 am

I used to have a Spring King that I modified to add delay. An incredibly simple mod adding an extra couple of pots at the right parts of the PCB.

Back then they could be found pretty cheap so if you want a bit of fun, snag one. The repeats were nasty!! Full-UFO-invasion-oscillation too.
I gather the whole unit is a great platform for further mods too. It's just banana yellow & brown...eew. I painted mine a nice metallic blue...

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by fuzzjunkie » Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:53 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:34 am
The battery thing is pretty much a deal-breaker as I don't use a board live (and this is for live use). Not to worry, I'll either just use a small, low draw delay pedal or just sack the idea off completely...the audience wont likely notice or care.
I remember reading a story about a guitar player (don’t remember who but somewhat famous) that wanted that rockabilly slap back he’d heard on recordings but didn’t have a way to achieve or didn’t know back in the late ‘50s early ’60s that it was a studio effect. His solution was to develop a picking technique that mimics slap back. Basically he double picked everything. He said it was much easier to use a tape echo when he could finally afford one.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by Veitchy » Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:44 pm

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:53 pm
johnnysomersett wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:34 am
The battery thing is pretty much a deal-breaker as I don't use a board live (and this is for live use). Not to worry, I'll either just use a small, low draw delay pedal or just sack the idea off completely...the audience wont likely notice or care.
I remember reading a story about a guitar player (don’t remember who but somewhat famous) that wanted that rockabilly slap back he’d heard on recordings but didn’t have a way to achieve or didn’t know back in the late ‘50s early ’60s that it was a studio effect. His solution was to develop a picking technique that mimics slap back. Basically he double picked everything. He said it was much easier to use a tape echo when he could finally afford one.
I'm pretty sure I've heard that attributed to Danny Gatton, specifically when he was teaching himself Les Paul tunes. I think in that case the guitars were double-tracked with a slight delay, but either way the effect was much the same.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by jorri » Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:50 am

Doubtful that a delay could run on batteries. The current draw is just too high! Analogue or digital seem to eat up a lot of mA. I think a vox delaylab had space for a ridiculous number of AA batteries but last about a day.
The zoom MS would do it and not actually be bad at all. you can stack effects to engage including something preampy/ampsim to further the effect and takes battery ok.
Power supply?- lots of things possible.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by JSett » Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:00 am

jorri wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:50 am
Doubtful that a delay could run on batteries. The current draw is just too high! Analogue or digital seem to eat up a lot of mA. I think a vox delaylab had space for a ridiculous number of AA batteries but last about a day.
The zoom MS would do it and not actually be bad at all. you can stack effects to engage including something preampy/ampsim to further the effect and takes battery ok.
Power supply?- lots of things possible.

Not necessarily. Something like a Boss DM-2 only has a current draw of 11mA so they're not all that bad. A BD-2 is 9mA on comparison and the batteries last forever in those!

A 300mAh battery being drawn at 11mAh means about 26 hours of life. That's not bad at all.
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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by smjenkins » Thu Dec 01, 2022 7:23 am

Have you considered a battery powered power supply?

Guitar Pedal Power Supply,Lotkey Power Supply Portable 7 Isolated DC Output Built-in Rechargeable Battery Power Supply for 9V Guitar Bass Effect Pedals with USB Port for iPhone iPad https://a.co/d/i90R8E6

Is a different approach but could still get you detached from a power cord at the gig.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by Gavanti » Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:11 am

It might be worth looking at the Caroline Meteore. It has a pretty prominent pre-delay with the Belton brick that offers a decent slapback sound, and it's my favorite spring reverb at low settings. It will also do super-weird if you want. The second switch is just feedback. Probably not battery friendly though.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by Steadyriot. » Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:28 am

PorkyPrimeCut wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:52 am
I used to have a Spring King that I modified to add delay. An incredibly simple mod adding an extra couple of pots at the right parts of the PCB.

Back then they could be found pretty cheap so if you want a bit of fun, snag one. The repeats were nasty!! Full-UFO-invasion-oscillation too.
I gather the whole unit is a great platform for further mods too. It's just banana yellow & brown...eew. I painted mine a nice metallic blue...

Image
Plus, they run on batteries!

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by Sauerkraut » Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:37 am

I forgot to mention DOD FX90s from the 80s are really great for slapback echo. Very quirky, fun pedal. Mine gets a little warbly, just cause it’s old I think, some stuff must be drifting off-spec. You can stick a battery in them, and I can’t imagine they‘re too power hungry. Just don’t pay more than 50 or 60 for one, that’d be silly.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by LVC » Thu Dec 01, 2022 1:34 pm

smjenkins wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 7:23 am
Have you considered a battery powered power supply?

Guitar Pedal Power Supply,Lotkey Power Supply Portable 7 Isolated DC Output Built-in Rechargeable Battery Power Supply for 9V Guitar Bass Effect Pedals with USB Port for iPhone iPad https://a.co/d/i90R8E6

Is a different approach but could still get you detached from a power cord at the gig.
A word of warning: I bought a lithium battery powerbank designed to power 9V pedals as well as USB devices last year. It's not the same model as the one in the link; mine doesn't have the 7 "isolated" outputs (I doubt they are at that price point) but came with a daisy chain cable instead.

It raises the 3.7V output of the lithium battery to the required 9V by means of a charge pump, and depending on which pedals you're powering with it it can be anywhere from dead silent to unacceptably noisy. The high-pitched whine of the charge pump's oscillator is particularly bad through digital pedals. Well, at least I can use it to charge my phone :bored:


A simple, cheap and noiseless (but less environmentally-friendly) alternative:
Image
Get/make one with 6 D batteries if you're worried about battery life ;)


As for Johnny's initial question, I would recommend the Zoom MultiStomp MS-50G or MS-70 CDR as well. Think of them as multi-effect units that can chain up to 6 effects simultaneously, all in a single pedal form factor. They take 2 AA batteries for a reported life of 7 hours. I can't comment on that ― I run mine exclusively on an AC adapter.

EDIT: I just checked and the MS-50G has got 25 different delays (including a dedicated slapback) and 29 reverbs (including spring, Fender '63 spring unit and something called slapback reverb). I think the MS-70 CDR has possibly more ― CDR stands for chorus, delay, reverb.
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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by marqueemoon » Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:22 pm

Sauerkraut wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:37 am
I forgot to mention DOD FX90s from the 80s are really great for slapback echo. Very quirky, fun pedal. Mine gets a little warbly, just cause it’s old I think, some stuff must be drifting off-spec. You can stick a battery in them, and I can’t imagine they‘re too power hungry. Just don’t pay more than 50 or 60 for one, that’d be silly.
I have one and can vouch for this.

One very commonplace modern analog delay that will take a battery is the MXR Carbon Copy.

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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by JSett » Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:52 pm

Thanks everyone. I think I'm just gonna pick up a DM-2w and be done with it. It has the lowest mA draw that I can find for a delay and I'll just forego the reverb side of things. Boss are bulletproof, super easy/fast to swap batteries over in and they're ubiquitous enough I can replace it in a heartbeat if ever I have the need.

If I ever go back to using a board live then I might change it up to another option but, for now, simple is key for me.
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Re: Recommendations for Echo/Reverb combo pedal.

Post by JVG » Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:55 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:52 pm
Thanks everyone. I think I'm just gonna pick up a DM-2w and be done with it. It has the lowest mA draw that I can find for a delay and I'll just forego the reverb side of things. Boss are bulletproof, super easy/fast to swap batteries over in and they're ubiquitous enough I can replace it in a heartbeat if ever I have the need.

If I ever go back to using a board live then I might change it up to another option but, for now, simple is key for me.
Good choice. I absolutely adore the DM-2w repeats

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