The Chetboard

Just curious as to amount of reverb you guys use on your amps. I used quite a bit over the last 20 years but recently have been playing without any. I started back in the 60's playing rock and never used reverb until a freind said he used it set to 1 or 2 just to add body. Over the years I've increased to 6 or 7 and a Fender reverb tank. About a month ago it dawned on me that most of the players I listen to were pre reverb so I've been experimenting without it. Not sure what I think, seems to be pros and cons. Wondered what others did. Thanks Tom

Hi Tom,

I do a lot of performing and have discovered that I prefer a carefully adjusted delay over reverb. Once in a while, I may use a very slight amount of reverb besides the delay but I want it all to be subtle. One thing for sure is that I never want to hide the delicacy and accuracy of what I'm playing. I wish this were true for guitarists in general. Visit any music store and watch guys trying out amps and guitars and it's obvious that we are in a new age!

Probably for most everyone here, less is more. Some styles and sounds may need a lot of extra effects, but for good clean fingerstyle playing, it is very easy to over do the effects thing. Nokie is one of the few that can play with no added effects at all and still sound super.

Very little, I never turn mine past 2 on my Deluxe Reverb. It eats up finger vibrato. Al

Well I'm gonna take a chance and might be labeled as the "Lone Ranger" but I like a good amount of reverb! Try this... get a GOOD set of headphones and listen to about 8 or 10 of your favorite "electric" (6122-1959 CG) tunes and listen for yourself how much reverb Chet used not all the time but in general. It might just be me but I hear a healthy dose of reverb on a LOT of his recordings. Course, it might just be the vast empty space between my ears, ears, ears,........! In the interest of fairness and unbiased comparative analysis I won't even recommend any tunes in particular. No doubt about it, Chet had a fantastic ear or he wouldn't have sounded so great. But he also had an accomplice in his dastardly deeds, Bill Porter. Google Bill Porter and read up on him. Very interesting career and loads of info. Bill wasn't always around so Chet's sound was largely his own IMHO. Just my .005 cents worth (adjusted for inflation). Do this sound check and I think you will be surprised. I'm still wunderin' how he got the tremelo aka vibrato on "Tammy"???? Thanks, Steve

Couple of opinions here...

Firstly, I tend to look at it the way Richard and Rande do. Less is more.

The reverb Chet used was studio quality. He eventually had one of those big EMT things in his garage, the ones about the size of a bedspring. I don't think he used those things that are based on the Hammond organ double spring pan very much. In his early days he added echo using a reel to reel tape deck. Then came the Butts EchoSonic and shortly thereafter the Echoplex. Later he used solid state things that are no longer available today like the Lexicon PCM 42 he started using in the seventies.

He really preferred the sound of tape delay and if you have a vinyl player you get a better idea of how he set his delays if you play his 33rpms at 16 rpm. This gives you a clearer idea of how he set his tape delay (or gadgets that imitated tape delay.)

It's really easy to overdo reverb and delay but between the two people seem to abuse the reverb and use waaaay too much. Hard to use too much echo because if you do it'll run right over you.

Trust me folks, less is more...

I agree that just a touch is usually sufficient.

Steve you are totally correct, it sounds wonderful through headphones or at home through your amp, but too much reverb doesn't work well in a band playing out somewhere, something to do with the decay of notes and how it bounces off walls. Chet was perfect at using stuff like that, even tape delay settings are crucial, like getting the tempo right,which is something I don't think I ever got right, especially in a group where all songs are different tempos, I just use a slight slapback with a lowered volume on the slap repeat. What I like about delay is getting more sustain like Chet did on his records and live settings. If you can get a great sound dry, no effects, then the outboard things can really enhance your sound. Al

Normally I use delay and reverb both, but not a lot of either. The room you"re in makes a big difference too. In a big open room with hard walls, floor and ceiling there is already enough echo that you maybe don't need anything. In some places its just hard to sound good, IMHO. Thanks guys! I find the ChetBoard is always an interesting read.

Thanks for the reply's. Reverb sort of crept up on me over the years. Started with none ,then just a little, then a little more, etc. etc. Out of the blue one day it dawned on me[I'm slow] that players I listened to couldn't be using what didn't exist at the time. When you go from a lot to none it requires a bit of adjustment. I got to wondering what the rest of you were doing. Thanks Tom