Anatomy of Guitar Tone

Nov 30

Nov 30 The Universal Audio Del-Verb: What You Need to Know

Let's explore the Universal Audio Delverb pedal. I was drawn to this pedal due to its combination of reverb and delay in a compact design compared to my other, usually independent, reverb and delay pedals. When I need both effects for a gig with a minimal pedal board, the Delverb is a solution.

Fitting a larger-sized delay and reverb, an overdrive, and a tuner, among other pedals, is challenging. The Delverb seemed to address this issue. While there have been other solutions, I wasn't satisfied with their sound; many delays and reverbs sounded thin to me, except for the Strymon El Capistan, which I like.

The El Capistan, while a great-sounding pedal, posed challenges as the reverb was not easily adjustable in my version. Even the newer version with adjustable reverb had the drawback that turning off the delay also turned off the reverb. I needed independent control over both effects.

Jul 17

Jul 17 Surfybear Metal

Mark Marshall

Gear, Pedals, Reviews

For how seemingly simple surf guitar tone appears, it's pretty elusive. Like with cooking, the fewer ingredients you have, the better quality they need to be. There is no disguise or distractions.

Surf guitar is generally a guitar, reverb, and amp. Sometimes an early fuzz like the Maestro FZ-1A was involved. But primarily guitar to the reverb to the amp.

Each of these three ingredients needs to be correct to truly capture the classic surf guitar tone of artists like Dick Dale and the Ventures.

Dec 19

Dec 19 Anasounds Element Spring Reverb

Mark Marshall

Pedals, Reviews, Gear

I’m a sucker for drippy spring reverb. I listen to a lot of surf and psychobilly music. You will find records from The Ventures and The Cramps in our vinyl collection.

Spring reverb isn’t just “reverb” to me. It’s an extremely specific flavor. One that just can’t be recreated digitally. Digital technology has come far, but I don’t feel there is a digital equivalent of spring reverb yet.

Aug 29

Aug 29 Demeter Reverbulator Analog Spring Reverb Pedal

Mark Marshall

Pedals, Reviews, Gear

I’m a big ol’ fan of spring reverb. I don’t always use spring reverb, but when I do I tend to be pretty particular about it. I never have bonded with digital emulations of spring reverb. There is just something about the interaction of the guitar, the amp, and the springs that needs to happen in real time.