DIY Reverb build

[slusar]

Hi!
I have already shown you some guitar mods, that I have done. This time however I have a guitar pedal on my desk and I thought it will be also nice to share.
So I am building guitar pedals for some time. I've already built 7 of them, so still my skills are very very basic, but hey! - it's all about having fun
This one is a reverb pedal. My main assumption is always to make the functional pedal, but with something original added. This time it will be the same. Pedal is based on Belton Brick reverb module (Accutronics BTDR). If You don't already know, it is the unit, that You can find in many popular reverbs (ex. Earthquaker Levitation or DBA Reverberation Machine).


Main assumptions were:
-obtain longer and louder reverb than in a standard circuit proposed on Accutronics web page
-implement working mode selector using 4 way rotary switch
-amongst working modes have brighter/darker sounds and wet signal clipping
At the moment I've finnished breadboarding and stripboard (I am not doing my PCB's) is soldered. It took about 1,5 year of tweaking and putting the circuit back on the shelf for next several months, but now finally I have quite nice result. Reverb can be tweaked up to oscillation level, bright/dark modes and clipping seems to be working as well. As mentioned my skill is very basic, so I'm just trying different configurations and see what happens Stay tuned for updates! Next step will be to paint the enclosure and fit everything inside. For sure I'll upload a demo as well. Below picture of some internal components.

[pilotony]

Nicely done. Did you build the reverb from plans or was it reversed engineered?

Thanks for posting.

Tony D.

[slusar]

Nicely done. Did you build the reverb from plans or was it reversed engineered?

Thanks for posting.

Tony D.

Actually another option - I've based on recommended plans from Accutronics page and added some own mods to the circuit


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[feet]

That's awesome. I don't have the patience for this sort of thing and gave up on soldering pretty early. Sounds nice, too. Can't wait for updates.

[slusar]

That's awesome. I don't have the patience for this sort of thing and gave up on soldering pretty early. Sounds nice, too. Can't wait for updates.

Heh, I know very well what You mean. A few times I've almost lost my mind in front of a breadboard, but in the end satisfaction is huge
For a starter it's very good idea to build something super simple like for example LPB-1 booster copy (Guitar FX Layouts: EHX LPB1).
It's hard to believe how simple this thing is.

[slusar]

Hi!
So there is some update. Struggle was hard, but I finally get to some point. After soldering the board I have put everything to the carton box (super professional prototype ) and connected to my normal signal chain and ... no dry signal (!), only the wet reverberated tone. It occured, that on the breadboard I've forgotten to connect ground of sockets to the battery ground, that's why I could hear the dry signal. When I soldered it correctly on the "prototype", dry signal disappeared. I've used second channel of the op-amp for the dry signal and now it's all fine. Good point is that now I can turn the mix knob to have wet only signal, which is super handy when recording - you can record clean guitar and then put it through the wet only reverb pedal and have two separated tracks for wet and dry signals. It allows for example to make stereo reverb from this simple pedal (!).
Next step ahead of me is the most fun and stress free - it is painting the enclosure. I will use oil markers as usual and the clear coat over it. For sure I will share the result
Below the photo of my proffesional "prototype" (before adding the mix knob):

[Ray175]

Lockdown has faced many of us with extra time on our hands. Congratulations on turning that time into something productive and more importantly innovative !
Ray

[slusar]

Lockdown has faced many of us with extra time on our hands. Congratulations on turning that time into something productive and more importantly innovative !
Ray

Thanks! I can fully agree, that if there was no lockdown at the moment, this build would take much longer to get to the current point.

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[slusar]

So it's done!Finally pedal is put together and closed in the enclosure. The box is plastic, but covered in shielding tape inside. On top of the shielding tape there is a layer of electrical tape to avoid any shortcuts to the ground. I know that "industrial standard" is aluminium enclosure, but I like this ones a lot because of the size and I already have other pedals in the same type of the box. You can take a look a at my collection below.
I wanted to fit the battery holder on the back, but finally there was not enough space, so pedal is powered through standard 9V socket. Painting is done with oil markers with a clear coat on top and silver spray paint as a background. Looks very amateur, but I don't care and painting was fun. It has 4 working modes:
1. Clear reverb with no filtering, long and easy to get to oscillation
2. Clear reverb as 1, but low frequencies filtered, easier to control - most "standard" reverb amongst modes
3. Fuzzy reverb with silicon clipping diode (dry signal is clear and reverb going through simple nasty fuzz)
4. Fuzzy reverb, same as 3, but with LED diode, much longer, louder and easy to oscilate
"Power" knob controls gain on the last wet signal stage (fuzz or boost). When cranked, it can create some overdrive in modes 1 and 2 as well.
Generaly I am very happy with the result. For sure this is not the crystal, studio quality reverb, but has some interresting non-typical tones.
I'll try to manage soon to record some short samples and there is also video coming.
For now a picture

[slusar]

Hi!

So I have finally managed to record some sound samples of the pedal. They are quite short and made in a way, that first part is clean and on the second part effect is switched on.
As you can hear, the pedal is quite noisy on some settings. I was not able to reduce more noise while still keeping nice long reverbs. I need more practice with RC filters.

Sounds below present all 4 modes starting from my favorite on top. Guitar, that I've used is my Harley Benton (from "Semi hollow on a budget" thread) on neck pickup.

• Mode 4 This mode is using fuzz with LED clipping on wet signal. If the string is hit hard, the reverb sound "freezes" for a bit longer

Bad Moon reverb - Mode 4 [OFF - ON].wav - Google Drive

• Mode 1 This one has very long reverb which sounds like balancing on an edge of oscillation, clean wet singal

Bad Moon reverb - Mode 1 [OFF - ON].wav - Google Drive

• Mode 2 Most normal and typical reverb of all 4 modes, clean wet signal

Bad Moon reverb - Mode 2 [OFF - ON].wav - Google Drive

• Mode 3 Distorted wet signal like in mode 4, but Silicon diode instead of LED. Reverb is shorter and sounds a bit harsh

Bad Moon reverb - Mode 3 [OFF - ON].wav - Google Drive


I hope you like this little demos. I'm curious, which one You like the most? Maybe you have other ideas, what can be done with wet singal in reverb or delay projects? There is plenty of things, that still can be done My next plan in terms of pedals is to try with Arduino-controller arpregiator effect.

[teeps]

Mode 2 followed by mode 1 are my favorites, but I am fairly conventional in taste. Thanks for sharing and for the samples. I noticed that these circuits are sold by the german webshop with the japanese name where I purchased components in the past. I really have to restrain myself now, because if I start in this I will use to much time building and too little time playing.

[slusar]

Mode 2 followed by mode 1 are my favorites, but I am fairly conventional in taste. Thanks for sharing and for the samples. I noticed that these circuits are sold by the german webshop with the japanese name where I purchased components in the past. I really have to restrain myself now, because if I start in this I will use to much time building and too little time playing.

Thanks for the answer!
Haha You precisely described issue that I have - too much time for building, too little for playing. However one positive point here is new pedal for me normally works as inspiration for new music ideas and building is also nice hobby as such. I wouldn't fight with the need to build pedals
This Accutronics bricks are very friendly to work with (they were made with intention to simulate spring reverb). Many modern reverbs are built basing on Spin FV-1 DSP chip. For sure they have huge potential to add all sorts of signal processing, but are much harder as they require programming.

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