Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

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Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by tune_link » Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:43 am

Tell me about it. I feel like I'm constantly searching for a new reverb pedal. I absolutely LOVE modulated reverb personally but I do enjoy a good hall/spring/shimmer/etc. too. What do you use, what are your favorites, which ones do you dislike or wouldn't recommend for reason x or whatever.

I've had a TC Electronics Hall of Fame and a Boss RV-6, I like both well enough but eventually moved on. I currently use a Walrus Audio Fathom and an EQD Dispatch Master (the DM in particular has some kind of tone it imparts that I like even more than the actual effect...like the reverb itself is some kind of hall with a tinge of modulation but the characteristic of it is lovely in the weird way it highlights certain frequencies).

There's a sea of seemingly decent to great options out there so let me hear about em! Should I look at some big box pedal or will it just make me sound like everyone else? Is that a bad thing? Do I get one with a million settings or get one that's really good at just one thing?

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by peterherman » Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:49 am

I've been pretty happy with the MXR M-300. The spring setting is just mostly OK on this one, but the hall, modulated, "epic" and pad settings are great. I'm also using an Old Blood Minim for the wild reversed verb/delay stuff it does. I feel like there's going to be a usable sound for just about everything in that MXR box. Just make sure to run it at high current draw or it will squeal.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:41 am

Catalinbread Talisman. It only does plate, but it does it REALLY well. With 18V power it’s pretty amazing.

I use an RV-6 on my other board as a special effect verb (on top of the amp’s spring reverb) and really like it in that role. I mainly use the delay/verb and modulated settings. The spring and plate sounds are a little lacking and shimmer requires turning down a lot of high end to be usable, but overall I really like it. Simple to use and sounds good.

Honorable mention goes to the TC HOF Mini. I sold mine after getting the Talisman, but if you need a basic reverb for a simple setup or a special effect verb for a more complicated one it kills for what it costs.
Last edited by marqueemoon on Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:47 pm

I've had a Red Panda Context for years, and it is just as killer on guitar as bass or synth. The only reason I'm considering selling it, is to get a Context 2 which has a spring mode, as well as the option to add delay to ANY of the Reverb algorithms.

For spring, I've been wanting to try a Source Audio True Spring pretty bad. For non-amp spring, I've got a Wampler Reflection that sounds really good too (also does Plate, which is also great).

For a unique Reverb, the EQD Afterneath is a lot of fun too, especially before gain, modulation, and delay. I always wanted to try an EQD Transmisser, but never did.
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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by fuzzjunkie » Mon Jun 22, 2020 5:33 pm

I grew up on Fender spring and Roland digital reverbs.

My favorite reverb pedal is the Eventide Space. It still does everything I’d ever want a reverb pedal to do.

If I wanted to replace it, or put together that 2nd board I keep thinking about, I would look at Source Audio. Either their Ventris pedal, which is a dedicated dual reverb unit, or more likely the Collider, which is a reverb/delay pedal, but covers all the reverb sounds I’d want on a 2nd board.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by jorri » Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:34 pm

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 5:33 pm
I grew up on Fender spring and Roland digital reverbs.

My favorite reverb pedal is the Eventide Space. It still does everything I’d ever want a reverb pedal to do.

If I wanted to replace it, or put together that 2nd board I keep thinking about, I would look at Source Audio. Either their Ventris pedal, which is a dedicated dual reverb unit, or more likely the Collider, which is a reverb/delay pedal, but covers all the reverb sounds I’d want on a 2nd board.
second the Space but also piqued by the Source Audio and Meris and lots i have not tried, and a few other one trick things like the old Yamaha and Alesis racks or the EQD afterneath. Something the space can't do is the cheap sounding effect that's secretly really useful so sometimes get out an old rack.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by adamrobertt » Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:00 pm

The Source Audio True Spring is the best spring reverb pedal I've ever heard. It legitimately sounds like a real spring reverb. Ultra full, lush, and drippy in a really realistic and organic way. I love mine.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by Gavanti » Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:04 pm

I thought the Talisman was really good. I tend to find the Belton brick reverbs more interesting though, and the Caroline Meteore is my favorite for a board setup. It's full of great sounds once you figure out the interaction among the controls—fun and inspiring, but also simple enough to find a few settings that can be dialed in quickly for specific needs. Some folks get turned off by the pre-delay. The Mantic Proverb is another great option: good modulation, simple controls, and more control over the pre-delay. The Rm-1n is my favorite overall, as much for the dual gain section as for the reverb. I go back to it a lot, but it's a compromise in a larger setup with the size and noise that gets magnified down the effects chain, and I have plenty of dirt on my board already.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by tequila_in_teacups » Tue Jun 23, 2020 3:47 am

Topanga

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by d-rock » Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:49 am

I've used a Boss RV-5 for years. I read so much about the Neunaber Wet that I finally bought one used when I had some money in my Paypal. It didn't disappoint. It's really an all-around gorgeous reverb.

Not my video, but sounds great here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7nTI1RGzL8

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by somanytoys » Tue Jun 23, 2020 5:49 am

I have a Meris Mercury 7 for the end of my board and it’s great. I haven’t really tapped into everything it will do, but I found a sound that works well in stereo and keep it there. There’s a lot of depth with the Meris pedals.

I also have a Neunabor Immerse at the end of another board. It has the Wet, shimmer, plate, a delay/verb and 2 or 3 others, and is stereo. I hink I use the plate mostly, or maybe it’s hall, with some mod. don’t remember, but it has some really good sounds.

I like the Afterneath, it’s on a board but not as a final reverb. I have it set where it acts more like a delay/sequencer than a reverb. It’s not hugely versatile, but also not a one trick pony - you can get some really good sounds from it.

If you like some of the rackmount sounds, the Keeley Realizer is good at doing a bit of those sounds. The reverse is cool, it’s not exactly like an SPX-90 setting but very useable, and the soft focus is really cool. The hall & shimmer setting is good, shimmer can be dialed in or out and is pretty bright. The old Digiverbs are also fun for this kind of stuff (mostly reverse and plate).

I have the RM-1N, it’s cool but it’s also kind of kooky and hard to use with much else. I should play with it more and make the decision if I’m going to still keep it or sell it. I’ve had it for years and it hasn’t held down a spot on a board at all, and only even sees light every so often.

There’s so much out there, some better or more versatile than others. A lot really has to do with how versatile (and complicated) you want it to be, vs how very good at just a few things (and simpler) you want it to be.
Last edited by somanytoys on Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by Firecat » Tue Jun 23, 2020 6:41 am

My favorite is the Strymon blueSky. I use the room reverb as my standard reverb and have a plate shimmer set to the favorite switch. The shimmer on the blueSky still sounds the best to me and it's like having 2 pedals in one. I also have a Boss RV-6 on my big board, which I mostly use for modulated reverb.

On my small board I use a Neunaber Seraphim, because it also allows to switch between the regular hall reverb and the shimmer setting, so it's acting like the blueSky on my big board.

I like my reverb pedals to be versatile and good at the basic reverb stuff (which for me is hall, modulated, shimmer and the occasional spring). For ambient and special reverb stuff, I have a Zoom CDR-70 on each board. Pedals like the Afterneath or the Slö are really cool, but I find them too specific to justify buying them and can get very close to these sounds by combining and tweaking effects on the CDR-70.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by fuzzjunkie » Tue Jun 23, 2020 7:23 am

I like my reverb pedals to be versatile and good at the basic reverb stuff (which for me is hall, modulated, shimmer and the occasional spring). For ambient and special reverb stuff, I have a Zoom CDR-70 on each board. Pedals like the Afterneath or the Slö are really cool, but I find them too specific to justify buying them and can get very close to these sounds by combining and tweaking effects on the CDR-70.
This is an observation, not a dig, but it’s strange to me that Shimmer has become so ubiquitous on reverb pedals over the past decade that it’s now considered a “basic” effect. Years ago it was a special reverb effect that required a few thousand dollars worth of studio rack equipment.

Then the algorithm became popular and was added to pedal effects, but was still definitely an ambient special reverb effect. Now players dismiss a pedal that doesn’t have such a basic effect algorithm as “shimmer.” (Again, not you personally, but I have seen plenty of people looking for reverbs that “must have shimmer”)

I guess it’s like plate was when I got my first Roland rackmount reverb? Room and Hall are cool, but this one has Plate!?! Plate reverb is a thousand dollar studio effect, gimme!

I still consider the Inverse Plate on my Roland as the best form of backwards reverb ever programmed.

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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by somanytoys » Tue Jun 23, 2020 7:45 am

It also seems strange that as common as reverse and shimmer are now, how different their sounds are with different makers and pedals.

For shimmer, my favorites are Keeley’s (Loomer. & Realizer) and Neunabor (Immerse and Seraphim). For reverse I like the Realizer (plus it has the pitch shift), but the old Digiverb pedals do pretty well.

The ones on the CDR are much different. Maybe they can be dialed in better than the standard settings and the ones I’ve tried to modify, but they just don’t sound as good. I have 2, so it’s not like I don’t like the CDR. It’s got a ton of good effects so it’s very versatile and the effects are stackable in any order. But sometimes dedicated, specialized pedals are just better at what they do.

Rackmounts and the extreme digital pedals with high powered processors like the Eventide and Empress ones seem to always be the goalposts.
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Re: Your Favorite Reverb Pedal

Post by Zork » Tue Jun 23, 2020 7:56 am

I have kind of limited experience. I had the original sheet metal Holy Grail and it was so good, I kept it for years and didn't feel the need to get anything other. I later needed more reverbs for different rigs, tried the HOF2 but sold it quickly as it was too vanilla for my taste. I stayed true to EHX and got an Oceans11. It will serve all my needs for the next years for sure, so I wont look any further. On a sidenote, I always dug the reverbs in my Line6 M9, so the M5 could also be a good and cheap option for different tastes of reverb and so much more.
I now use the Holy Grail at home for my E-Piano, the Oceans11 in my guitar rig in the band and the M9 for reverbs and delay in my synth setup and all is good.

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