The tube spring reverb is a DIY project that I put together from spare parts. I'm using a low wattage tube amp to drive the reverb tank. The Tank has a 500 ohm output, with which I'm driving another tube amp.
Setup:
Guitar into Low watt amp input. 8 ohm output from amp to 8 ohm input on tank. 500ohm tank output to hi-z guitar input on the larger Bogen tube amp. 4 ohm Bogen output to 4 ohm 12" alnico speaker.
True, there is an impedance mismatch from the tank to the Bogen amp, but its a short run of cable and it sounds fine so I didn't feel a need to use a matching transformer.
Note: It's best NOT to use an amplifier with more than a couple of watts to drive the Reverb pan. You may damage the pan or your amp!
Another Note:
In this case, the reverb pan acts as an ATTENUATOR for the few watts that the driver amplifier is putting out. NEVER hook up an 8ohm speaker level output to ANY amplifier input. If I had hooked up the amplifiers without the pan in place, it would have cause severe damage to BOTH amplifiers, possibly in a dangerous way. Be careful and seek advice from a knowledgeable person if you are uncertain about using amplifiers properly. Always start with volumes set to very low. Work your way up as you listen to the amplifiers. Good luck and have fun!
Digital Model:
Now listen against a high quality DSP version, in the line 6 pod hd500x. The HD500 (X) is a high quality stomp box modeller and amp modeller combined. In the following video, I demonstrate the Fender '63 tube spring reverb model with a Fender Twin Amp model:
I hope you have enjoyed these video comparisons! If so, please like / share / help me keep bringing these videos to you!
In the spirit of DIY, here's some music to help keep busy on a rain day! This EP represents many hours of hard work, and I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen and enjoy! Click to listen:
