I took only one amp to a show last night, since the venue was supplying backline. When I got there, the supplied amps were two that I'm not really a big fan of, so I tossed my trusty Blues Jr with a Celestion G12H30 on stage and the sound man mic'd me up. I hit the first chord and realized the reverb was dead, so I tried plugging into the venue supplied amps one at a time. They were truly terrible, so I plugged back into my reverbless Blues Jr and just made do. And it sounded awesome. Never missed the reverb at all. I believe this just goes to show how much a departure the Blues Jr is from other "blackface" based Fender amps, many of which I have found don't sound as good without reverb. Lots of tone-props from the crowd, and got offered repeat work in said large venue. Whoo-hoo! So how married are YOU to reverb with your amp? Reverb-heads, Would your amp make ya' proud if the reverb crapped out? Footnote: Took the reverb pan out late last night and soldered a broken wire. Works great now.
I agree, I've got a Bassman head w/o reverb but I can still dig it. I don't miss reverb all that much. Would like to get a delay though. I understand your point though, sometimes I get a similar epiphany with other things, effect pedals, etc.
I can live without reverb easily, delay is another story. IMO some of fender's best amps (tweed and Brown/blondes) don't have reverb. So what are these mysterious amps that they provided?
i am a big 'verb fan. that said, my reverb gets used as a special effect, where i play most of the night dry and footswitch it on for a few special moments. i would be bummed without it, as i also use delay and they are just not the same in the ways that i use them.
It's a must for me. Playing a BJ right now and I keep the reverb on 4 or 5 for normal stuff, and 8 or 9 for more ambient work. An amp without reverb or with "subtle" reverb would never cut it for me.
My lead singer uses a Blues Deluxe and tries to put his reverb on 4-5, which is way too much for our type of sound (he plays rhythm and needs to have a dryer sound so that he doesn't muddy us up). I constantly have to turn his reverb down behind his back - reverb at 4 or 5 on that amp is strong reverb. I think you need to know when to use it and when to cut it off. I hate reverb and heavy gain sounds. I love reverb and clean tones. He can't seem to figure out which sounds good and which sounds like ass.
For me, the browner or more tweed voiced an amp, the better its lead tones sound without reverb; The more blackface or silverface voiced, the more it can use at a touch of it. The Blues Jr with its Celestion G12H30 replacement speaker, as it turns out, is a really soulfull sounding amp with no reverb whatsoever. Granted, last night was a large venue, so there was some natural room 'verb. BTW, the supplied backline included a new Fender "Custom" Vibrolux Reverb, which sounded terrible with a mildly set Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, a Tube Screamer pedal that makes most amps sound great. I've never been a fan of the new VR's. The other amp was a Mesa Boogie Maverick, which frankly, I just didn't have the time or bandwidth to dial a good tone in. I'm sure if I'd had a good 15 minutes to stand up there and jack with it, I could have gotten something going, but I needed something truly plug-n-play.
I like reverb for super clean tones and also for very heavy fuzz, but not for inbetween sounds. For instance, I love dialing in a crunchy tone on the BJ and playing some AC/DC licks and when I do I turn the reverb all the way off. If however I'm going to be playing something with a Big Muff I'll keep it at moderate settings or sometimes a total wash.
Bingo. This was a large venue, though with acoustic treatment on all surfaces, so much so that if it were a smaller room, it might have sounded lifeless and dull. Actually, onstage there was enough acoustic treatment that there was not even the appearance of room-verb, though I trust that out in the crowd, there was probably just enough.
ive never found this amp hard to dial in??? at least i have pretty normal looking settings on channel 1 gain 12:00-1:00 treble 1:00-2:00 mid off-9:00 bass 12:00-1:00 master 1:00-2:00 reverb and output to taste my settings on the dirt channel do look a little strange i admit
In big venues with a natural reverb and/or venues where the soundman is probably adding reverb to the house mix, I find it is usually better to use a dry amp sound. An amp with reverb on it + a venue with natural reverb + the reverb or delay added by the sound man can all add up to way too much reverb. Lately I find myself using a little delay (one slight repeat) instead of reverb to add a little 'space' without things getting too 'messy' in the house.
I love reverb and delay on recordings. Live however, I am now completely reverb and delay free with the exception of a little delay added to the guitar mix in the FOH. I don't miss the time based effects at all and my tone has never been better. A lot of the players who come to see me ask how I get my guitar so "present" in the mix. It takes a little getting used to but try it for a few gigs and see if it works for you.
I too am addicted to reverbahol. I like blackface type tones and reverb really compliments that sound. I do notice that I can play shows sand verb because 1) the amp just cuts through better without it and 2) there's an element of natural reverb in most rooms to compensate.
I'm traditionally a blackface Fender player and always use "a touch" of reverb; usually set around 2.8 or so. But I had a similar experience when I bought my Sig:X. It was the first amp that I'd ever had that sounded so good I didn't miss the reverb. After a while I bought a Nova Delay for high gain lead work, but when I took it to a fairly large hall where we had a gig, the natural ambience was sufficient and I never used the ND-1. So I guess my answer is I thought reverb and I were joined at the hip, but I found out that there are circumstances where dry is preferable. Agreed. I had a Blues Deluxe and can't imagine playing it with the reverb on 5. Your "I think you need to know when to use it and when to cut it off." statement is spot on.
I love fake reverb at home, but find I can turn it way down or off playing out or in a group and not mind at all.
