Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Not wanting to derail Jake K's thread on whether people use reverb, I decided to start a whole new one on what people like in the way of reberb, specifically pedals since my amps don't have reverb built in.

So, in reality, I'm trying to get an idea of what would work well for me. As a bass player, I haven't really used much in the way of reverb, well, none really. I'm not so much looking to use this for bass, but more for use with my Rick Console 708 Steel. Of course, if it'll work for bass too, that would be a plus. For some things it would be nice to be able to get some fairly large delays (think Pink FLoyd's One of these days, bass part).

In case it matters what I'm using for an amp, I've got SansAmp RBI/RPM (1 each) for preamps, Rane AC22B crossover to get high & low from each channel separated into separate channels of a Carvin 1540L power amp. The high channel drives Ampeg 10's, low Ampeg 15's.

So, what do you folks like/suggest?

Hi, I have a Lexicon MX300 that I really like, so far. It's a rack mount, lots of reverb and echo presets, around $250 IIRC. Tom

I like Electro-Harmonix stuff. Holy/Holier Grail and Cathedral, specifically. Very nice sounding pedals.

Malekko Spring Chicken works great with my Vox AC30H2.

sloop_john_b wrote:I like Electro-Harmonix stuff. Holy/Holier Grail and Cathedral, specifically. Very nice sounding pedals.

+1
Also reasonably priced

If you want to go rack, or spend more on a pedal, there are really a lot of fine choices out there now, and your best bet would just be to plug into them and check them out. Now, I know your closest music store is 200 miles away, so maybe you can utube up some examples of products that may catch your eye.
Having said that, the EH Holy Grail, (use one in front of my Hiwatt when I want reverb),is a hard to beat box for a hundred bucks. The Cathedral, however, sounds like it might be a little more of what you are looking for.
For the same money as the Cathedral, there are several rack mounted reverb/effect processors that are very nice, so there are a few ways you can go.
You can order a few different things from one of the online big box stores, and just send back what you don't want.
Good luck, and keep us posted.

CJ, you should PM George (kenposurf) who is the reverb king around these parts. He's one player who looooooves his reverb. He's always selling gear, too; maybe he's got something for you.

Not that this isn't an interesting thread ...

cjj wrote:For some things it would be nice to be able to get some fairly large delays (think Pink FLoyd's One of these days, bass part).

I have a Boss PS-2 delay/pitch shifter that nails the beginning bass part to that (well, I do need to actually play the open A). I bought it back in '91, but there's no need to try to find one, as Boss has put out more recent versions. Even better, they sell (or did much more recently) just the delay pedal, as the pitch shifter on my PS-2 is absolutely worthless. The delay times range from 125 msec to 2 sec, so it covers a good range.

I read somewhere that the newer Boss delay pedals improved the quality of the repeated signal relative to the older models, making it more true to the original note.

As for reverb, I don't use it for bass and only sparingly for guitar (my Fender Stage 185 has it built-in).

Hmm, WOW! There sure are a lot of things to choose from out there. The Youtube idea is great, nice to get some sort of feel for what they can do, but it's hard to really tell what the differences are. I may just wait until after I get moved to the new house since I'll be about an hour away from several music stores instead of 4 hours.

Has anyone used the Boss RE-20/Roland Space Echo? Sounds like a cool unit with both reverb and delay effects...

+2 . . . er, +3 (?) for what JB and Snowman said about the EH Holy Grail; I don't own one, but I've tried one out, and heard them used by a couple of guys and the unit reproduces a really cool natural reverb sound at a reasonble price. I went a bit geekier . . . and deeper into my wallet and bought a Van Amps Sole Mate, which uses the same type of Spring reverb unit that the Fender Stand Alone reverb units use (and even comes in the Fender type tweed or tolex color of your choice!), but in a much smaller, solid state package that allows one to place the unit in a pedal board. It also has an auxiliary switch and jack so vibrato--equipped amp users can run a lead from the unit to to the vibrato unit jack on the back of one's amp w/o having to run an extra switch onto the stage floor. Cool, eh? Here's the link: http://www.vanamps.com/

It's a fantastic unit. A friend of mine and I A/B/C-d the unit up against both an original Fender Stand Alone Reverb, and an early 70s Blackfaced Super Reverb; The Stand Alone had the swampiest reverb of all, but it was like saying the Sole Mate went to "10", while the Stand Alone went to "12". In any case the Sole Mate's reverbability ig deeper and swampier than anyone cold practically use, and is more than enough to sound like one's guitar is in the biggest, deepest cave imaqginable.

OK, I'll take the advice on the EH Holy Grail. Seems like a decent unit at not too big a price. I can't really justify the high end stuff since I don't even really know how to play the steel yet.

So, I'm on a quest for the Holy Grail, if anyone sees a good deal, let me know.

Just don't show up with a shrubbery...

Heads up, CJ: Musician's Friend has the Holier Grail on close-out for $149 (while supplies last), and will toss in a pedalboard bag to boot.

Ooh! Thanks! I've got a 20% off coupon too!

Now, if I can just resist being swayed towards a Lexicon MX-200... Anyone have anything to say about those?

I have an RE-20 Space Echo, it's great! The reverb on it is junk though, just like the original one, not deep or lush at all. The delay, however, is awesome, and you can twiddle knobs in real time to get those crazy flying saucer sounds and stuff, and can even plug in an expression pedal for live applications. But, the thing is 250 bucks, and the Reverb really isn't very useable for surfy or 60s type stuff.