True spring Reverb

113
January 2019 Guitarist
Tech Spec
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Reverb and
tremolo pedal
FEATURES: Selectable
buffered or true bypass,
3x onboard presets,
external tap tempo, MIDI
CONTROLS: Mix, Level,
Dwell, Tone, Short/Long/
Tank switch, control input
button, bypass footswitch
CONNECTIONS:
Standard input (1 and 2),
standard output (1 and 2),
control input, USB
POWER: 9VDC 165mA
(300mA adaptor
supplied)
DIMENSIONS: 114 (w) x
70 (d) x 51mm (h)
9
(reverb, tremolo or combined) for instant
recall. A press-and-hold on the footswitch
puts you into preset mode (indicated by a
red LED, instead of green), with a preset
for each toggle switch position.
Obviously, with one footswitch there’s
no way to have individual switching for
reverb and tremolo, but it is possible to
connect a Source Audio Tap Switch to the
Control Input to engage or disengage the
tremolo effects on top of an active spring
reverb. That Tap Switch can alternatively
be used to tap in the tremolo rate, and
there’s plenty of dynamic control of
parameters via expression pedals, the Hot
Hand 3 wireless controller and MIDI.
The Neuro Desktop Editor/Mobile App
lets you set up all of that external control,
but also gives you access to much deeper
editing with extra parameters, plus a
bunch of different reverb engines. It also
enables you to assign different parameters
to the physical knobs.
Source Audio’s recent Ventris pedal
featured great spring reverb emulation,
and that is carried on here. These are
extremely authentic in the sound and
the way in which they react to playing,
especially in that drippy attack that surf
players look for. You’d be hard pushed to
distinguish these emulations from the real
thing – though they won’t give you that
good ol’ crashing sound if you kick the
pedal! As it stands, those three variations
could provide all the spring reverb you’ll
need, but if you’re looking for more
nuance, software editing will fine-tune
the sound. Likewise, all three versions
of the tremolo sound true to the original
in-built amp versions, and between them
adequately cover the vintage scene, from
the phasiness of the harmonic trem to the
typical pulsing of the bias trem.
VERDICT
Although this pedal is perfect for surf
instrumentals and Spaghetti Western/spy
movie soundtracks, the True Spring goes
beyond genres to provide a spring reverb
and tremolo experience that adds vintage
flavour to any amp.
01. INPUTS &
OUTPUTS
With two inputs and two outputs,
the unit supports true stereo
operation but has a full range of
mono/stereo possibilities. Input
and Output 2 can be used as an
external effects loop
02. REAR PANEL
DC power, USB and Control
Input connectivity reside here,
as does the momentary Control
Input switch, which you need to
press and hold, with the front
panel toggle switch, to set the
tremolo type and access tremolo
parameters available via the
Dwell and Tone knobs
03. FOOTSWITCH
A bypass footswitch in everyday
usage, but you can also use it
to change modes by holding it
down. The LED colour will change
from green to red to signify that
you’re in preset mode
PROS Both effects in one relatively compact
pedal; authentic-sounding spring reverb; easily
accessed presets; Neuro app for deep editing
CONS Extra footswitch needed for
independent reverb and tremolo switching
1
2
3
04. DWELL KNOB
Taking its name from a
control found on original
Fender outboard reverb tanks,
this knob adjusts the amount
of signal sent to the reverb
05. NEURO
DESKTOP EDITOR
/MOBILE APP
Not only can you access a
bunch of extra parameters
to build and tweak sounds,
you can also reassign knob
parameters, set up controllers
and archive your presets with
the included Neuro Editors
4
4
5
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT441.peds_source.indd 113 11/29/18 6:32 PM