That is so interesting. The Dispatch Masters very long decay time makes it sound really cavernous to me. Maybe what I am really looking for is a spring or plate reverb, rather than a hall.
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Ok Hive Mind: Reverb questions
- Thread starter HolmeBass
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- reverb poll
I'm using Meris Mercury7. It's great at simple sounds and certainly achieves that halo of sound. It does FAR more than that tho. It's a very musical pedal and can just do the simple thing well. I use it in stereo and it's usually always on, and does have a learbing curve.
A similar experience in mono is the Nimbus SE. It's range is extensive with the extra knob. Form factor sounds like it fits the best for you.
Empress Zoia is a complete monster in every way. Some of the user patches for reverb are just so good. It goes so much further, but for the cost of roughly two medium to higher end verbs you get everything you can think of. I don't buy pedals anymore because Zoia can do that.
Also, Red Panda Context V2 is another option for a flexible solution. Great sound.
I always recomend Nimbus SE for "simple" set and forget sounds. You can get an expression pedal and easily take it from a nice halo or room sound and turn it into a near infinite cavern.
The important part here, each of these verbs can have the EQ of the verb signal adjusted, which is what gets you the halo effect, regardless of the length. Being able to trim the monster lows and tame some of the highs just a bit means you can play to the verb sound with your attack, adding what you like to the halo.
A similar experience in mono is the Nimbus SE. It's range is extensive with the extra knob. Form factor sounds like it fits the best for you.
Empress Zoia is a complete monster in every way. Some of the user patches for reverb are just so good. It goes so much further, but for the cost of roughly two medium to higher end verbs you get everything you can think of. I don't buy pedals anymore because Zoia can do that.
Also, Red Panda Context V2 is another option for a flexible solution. Great sound.
I always recomend Nimbus SE for "simple" set and forget sounds. You can get an expression pedal and easily take it from a nice halo or room sound and turn it into a near infinite cavern.
The important part here, each of these verbs can have the EQ of the verb signal adjusted, which is what gets you the halo effect, regardless of the length. Being able to trim the monster lows and tame some of the highs just a bit means you can play to the verb sound with your attack, adding what you like to the halo.
Do you use it stock or load up a particular toneprint?
The toneprint idea is at once cool and also off-putting to me.
thanks, Holme. It is the bass side of my Warr guitar pictured in my thumbnail. It's roughly six string bass tuned in fifths. But, I used the Zoom stuff on my real basses all the time.
Cool @SunnBass! I've mostly had them add it through the FOH sound board because I haven't used any pedals. It sounded good when I played it but while we were actually performing I couldn't tell it was even on. I have a wireless and I make a point of walking the perimeter of everywhere we play during sound check.
I'd be curious to know what you are using for your reverb and would love to hear any videos you have of it. I now have an electro-harmonix Bass Clone chorus pedal (Christmas gift from my son), which basically has a slap-back delay and sounds like a slight reverb on the signal. But I haven't performed with it yet, so I don't know how it sounds in a group. Nice to hear that your experience with reverb is much different that mine...gives me some hope!
I use a Keeley Caverns. It has a mix knob so some "clean" stays in.
The newest versions of all Meris pedals have a change that allows you to use the other button for accessing the alt functions so you don't risk your presets (I agree that was a terrible oversight in their original design). You can also have them mod older pedals for the price of shipping I believe (though difficult if you are out of the US).
I'm another Meris Mercury 7 user. I bought it for more ambient uses with synth/keys/guitar, but it also works beautifully with bass. I love the different pitch-shift/shimmer settings and the swell function works great for me. I haven't tried a reverb I've preferred on bass yet, though I haven't tried many of the newer options. If you check out one of these, look for one with the bar-code on the top of the box which is how you can tell the newest version apart (ie no preset overwrite issue as mentioned above)
I've used delay off and on for years, settled on the Moogerfooger. I want to get that "instant verb" sound; the subtle halo that doesn't hurt clarity or move the bass too far back in the sound stage.
Sounds like you want a reverb with a pre-delay control so you can move it off the attack of the note.
When I learned that reverb was the third dimension of a soundstage, I began to understand its use a lot better.
Reverb brings an instrument or voice - any instrument or voice - to the front or rear of the soundstage. No reverb brings the source forward; adding reverb brings the source to the rear of the soundstage. This applies to stereo and mono mixes.
When an instrument isn't as present in a mix, it is either being forced to share its frequency spectrum with other instruments, or reverb is overused. Bass is particularly affected, because its frequency spectrum is one that humans have difficulty localizing to a particular direction. The omnidirectional effect this produces makes the use of reverb problematic. TL/DR: reverb turns Bass frequencies to mud.
Bassists who use higher-frequency overtones may like the effects reverb provides for those frequencies. But unless you bi-amp and separate those overtones, using reverb on the fundamental range will make mixing more difficult, especially live.
Information gained from the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Manual, confirmed by my experience.
Reverb brings an instrument or voice - any instrument or voice - to the front or rear of the soundstage. No reverb brings the source forward; adding reverb brings the source to the rear of the soundstage. This applies to stereo and mono mixes.
When an instrument isn't as present in a mix, it is either being forced to share its frequency spectrum with other instruments, or reverb is overused. Bass is particularly affected, because its frequency spectrum is one that humans have difficulty localizing to a particular direction. The omnidirectional effect this produces makes the use of reverb problematic. TL/DR: reverb turns Bass frequencies to mud.
Bassists who use higher-frequency overtones may like the effects reverb provides for those frequencies. But unless you bi-amp and separate those overtones, using reverb on the fundamental range will make mixing more difficult, especially live.
Information gained from the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Manual, confirmed by my experience.
I echo the Oceans 11 sentiments! That thing is absolutely the most versatile reverb I've tried, and literally EVERY mode is usable and "natural" sounding. You can do ambient experimental stuff as well the basic Hall, Plate, etc. The mix knob is crucial as well to balance the sound with your clean tone.
Other reverbs I love, that are a little more wacky are:
EQD Afterneath - spooky and cavernous and more of a "multi delay" although can do somewhat of a mild reverb if needed.
Dr Scientist Bitquest - can do infinite verb. More chorusy and ethereal sounding verb.
Boss RV3- Very "cold" sounding, but that's what makes it cut through and not get muddy. It is my go to for live band reverb
Other reverbs I love, that are a little more wacky are:
EQD Afterneath - spooky and cavernous and more of a "multi delay" although can do somewhat of a mild reverb if needed.
Dr Scientist Bitquest - can do infinite verb. More chorusy and ethereal sounding verb.
Boss RV3- Very "cold" sounding, but that's what makes it cut through and not get muddy. It is my go to for live band reverb
