If distortion is the number one effect in your arsenal, then reverb should be a close second.
Reverb is the seasoning that takes your dry sound and brings it to life.
What is Reverb?
Reverb effects pedals simulate the natural reflections of sound from room
surfaces giving the signal a more “live” effect. Reverb pedals allow you to adjust from the
sound of a small room to a large hall and heavily used in surf guitar and rockabilly recordings.
Many classic guitar amps included a spring reverb, which gave a great sound, but were troublesome
particularly when the amp is jostled.
Top Reverb Pedals
Here are some of the top choices in Reverb pedals:
The
Gravesend DR1
Digital Reverb Pedal
is one of the best values for that effect. It has high end features such as true-bypass
circuitry that belie its value price. This one little giant includes a spring reverb mode for the
classic surf guitar sound, plate reverb for that high-end studio effect as well as naturalistic
hall and room settings.
Gravesend is a high value boutique line that you won’t see everywhere, but it’s
well worth trying.
Speaking of high end electronics, the
DigiTech
Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb
is one great choice in a reverb pedal. Lexicon is without question the greatest name in
studio recording reverbs and the RV-7 gives you 7 great Lexicon reverbs including Hall, Studio,
Plate and Spring.
In spite of its somewhat higher price, the
Electro
Harmonix Cathedral Reverb
is one of the best-selling reverb effects on the market. True to its Cathedral name, the
unit offers an infinite reverb setting along with 8 programmable reverb styles. You get Grail
Spring, Accu Spring, Hall, Room, Plate, Reverse, Grail Flerb, and Echo effects, 24 bit analog to
digital and digital to analog converters and much more.
