Source Audio True Spring

T
he sharp, tight slapback
echoes of spring reverbs,
such as the classic
Fender 6G15 outboard
reverb tank defi ned the sound of
surf guitar.
Before the spread of tape echo
units, reverb was the fi rst real
‘sound eff ect’ available that
drastically altered the guitar
signal, as tremolo is really just a
change of the signal amplitude,
and distortion and fuzz merely
clip the signal. Lots of weird and
wonderful guitar eff ects would
follow, of course, but spring
reverb is ground zero – and it
remains a crucial addition for
country, surf and indie guitarists
to this day.
In this month’s pedal
round-up, we’ve pulled together
a few of our favourite recent
spring reverb releases to see
which of them come the
closest to that authentic
slapback that we’re seeking.
SPRING REVERB PEDALS
106
G
iven the build quality of the TC Drip, the
price point is little short of astonishing,
doubly so given that, when we pop the
back off , we discover that it’s packing an
Analog Devices SHARC IC for its processing. In
terms of sounds, it’s got a standard volume
and dwell control, as well as a tone control to
take the edge off of brighter refl ections –
particularly useful when we’re using a
Tele-style bridge pickup. The core reverb
sounds are solid, but it has to be said, they’re
also increasingly digital the more the dwell
control is turned up. Maxed out, you can get
some larger-than-life reverb sounds, but
there’s still a clinical edge to the refl ections.
T
he Topanga is an excellent, feature-
packed spring reverb that brings great
reverb sounds to the table and some
good extras as well. Chief among these is a
preamp that means with the dwell down and
the pedal on a more subtle setting, with the
volume up it can be used to drive your amp.
The downside is that if you have distortion
pedals in front, you need to carefully adjust its
output levels so it doesn’t dramatically jump
when your distortion is on. With the dwell and
mix pulled back and the tone rolled off , it’s
pure surf heaven, but smash the dwell up and
it’s great for ambient noodling, too.
TC Electronic Drip
FAR FROM BASIC
Catalinbread
Topanga
CLASSIC VIBES
£161
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FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
£36
TOTAL GUITAR MARCH 2019
TGR316.gear_pedals.indd 106 1/31/19 7:17 PM