Let the reverb debate begin!

[Dave W]

Link doesn't work. What'd you buy?

[Pilgrim]

Tech 21 Boost RVB...something I found some nice video on...

http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/effects/boostrvb.html

Anyone else used one?

[Pilgrim]

I got the Tech 21 Boost RVB hooked up, and I like it a lot.  It is destined for a long-term presence on my pedal board.

With the right setting, it won't do the Fender "splat", but the adjustments are pretty versatile, and you don't have to settle for any pre-fab "mode" setting.  

The pedal face with my current settings, which are similar to a spring reverb emulation:



The official Pilgrim pedal board (the Bad Monkey has the Scott Humphreys bass mod):



I have been playing with the settings - they provide a number of different setting suggestions for various sounds.  I found that a more percussive approach such as picking or hammer-on notes lend a bit more spring-like sound on the initiation of the notes.

The on/off footswitch is buffered and absolutely silent; it doesn't even "click" perceptibly, but there is a red LED that comes on when it's engaged.

Controls explained - edited from the online manual:

TIME
Controls decay time of the reverb from short to long. This single, continuously-variable control provides a smooth, full sweep to easily dial in the exact amount of reverb.

TONE
Analog shelving filter of 6dB per octave. Attenuates the high end of the reverb signal. At maximum (5 o'clock), it has no effect. As you reduce the setting, it will decrease the high-end to round off the signal and add warmth.

Tone Tips: Higher settings will yield a brighter, snappier, more in-your-face presence. Lower settings will be darker, more distant. In general, and for a more natural sound, the reverb should be slightly darker than your guitar signal or they may clash with each other.

FEEDBACK
Feeds back the reverb signal to the input to increase the amount of reverb. Different from the Time control, Feedback is primarily useful to achieve various spring reverb effects. Too much can cause oscillation or feedback.

Feedback tips: For optimal spring reverb, slowly increase Feedback just to the point of oscillation, then reduce until it stops.

MIX
Adjusts the ratio of direct and reverb signal. The control sweeps from 100% dry to 100% wet. This gives flexibility to run through a parallel effects loop without annoying phase cancellation, and can make the reverb signal louder than the direct signal for special effect.

RUMBLE
Attenuates the low-end content of the signal. At maximum (5 o'clock), there is no effect. Decreasing the setting from max will remove low end to make it tighter, which is useful for spring and plate reverb settings in particular.

LEVEL / BOOST
Adjusts the overall output level. Increasing from unity gain (12 o'clock) provides additional boost, up to 9dB.

Level tip: With a 100% wet signal going through a parallel effects loop, use the Level to adjust the mix of dry and affected signal.