Source Audio True Spring Reverb

The innovators at Source Audio are constantly pushing the sonic envelope, in terms of both sound effects and forward-thinking technology. We’ve got another wonderful pedal to check out from them today, a take on some classic, vintage tones with (as usual) some tricks up its auditory sleeves. The True Spring Reverb combines natural spring reverb sounds with a pulsing tremolo, making it a 2-in-1 effect that’s sure to conjure up feelings of nostalgia…

The True Spring’s reverb effects are based on a mechanical design originated by the Hammond Organ Company™ in the late 1930s. This stark design uses a pair of input and output transducers to inject an instrument’s dry signal into an actual set of spring coils and capture the very distinct reverberations as the sound bounces back and forth within the springs. Of course, Leo Fender adopted this design in the 1960s with the some of his “blackface” amplifiers and a revolution was born.

Short Spring Reverb: Modeled after the unmistakable twang of “blackface” amplifiers of the 1960s. After extensive research we found tremendous diversity in the spring reverb sounds of a variety of amps. Some offered a tighter, less animated tone while others sounded “drippier,” with longer sustain and livelier reverb trails. The SHORT Spring reverb engine offers a taut sound with a quick decay and smooth trails.

Long Spring Reverb: Produces long and deep reverb decays with noticeable “drip” and highly animated trails. The LONG Spring engine is not as dramatic as the TANK Reverb engine, but does offer an extremely authentic representation of some of the livelier reverb tanks found in vintage combo amps.

Tank Spring Reverb (Outboard Spring): Captures the unmistakable effect of the tube driven outboard spring tanks of the 60s. The sound of reverb tanks like the classic Fender 6G15™ are characterized by their “drippy” attack and animated trail. This original two-spring design produces a bouncing, delay like sound inseparable from the early days of surf rock and spaghetti western soundtracks.

The True Spring Reverb also allows you to combine any of its iconic spring reverbs with any of the pedal’s three tremolo effects. The True Spring’s tremolos are the same organic effects that originally appeared in our Vertigo Tremolo – the winner of Guitar Player’s “Hall of Fame 2015” and Premier Guitar’s “Premier Gear Award.”

Opto Tremolo: Optical tremolo (a.k.a. “Photocell Tremolo”) is the effect found in many combo amps of the 1960s. This version of tremolo relies upon a neon light bulb and a light dependent resistor called an “optocoupler.” The non-symmetrical aspects of the light and the optocoupler give the tremolo a distinct choppy character.

Harmonic Tremolo: This unique effect first appeared in Fender™ “brownface” amps made between 1959 and 1963, which alternately modulated the levels of bass and treble frequencies in the audio signal. The result is a very pleasing and complex tremolo that has characteristics reminiscent of a phaser.

Bias Tremolo: This approach to tremolo involves using an LFO to modulate the bias voltage of the tubes in an amplifier. This essentially pushes the tubes in and out of saturation. The result is a smooth amplitude modulation with a mild overdrive created by the tube saturation.

Using the Neuro App gives you access to more deep and powerful options that lie beneath the surface, and the flexible routing options allow the True Spring Reverb to fit into any rig or situation. Presets, Buffered or True Bypass options, expression and tap tempo control and more make this machine a true evolution in the world of reverb, and we go through these functions in our demo below – be sure to check it out to hear these reverb and tremolo sounds in action, and visit the Source Audio website for more details and ordering.

Use this link to purchase this pedal on Amazon and support us: Source Audio True Spring Reverb Pedal

If you’re in the UK, grab this pedal at Spartan Music here: https://spartanmusic.co.uk/products/source-audio-true-spring-reverb-1