How Many Of You Use Reverb As An Effect In Your Live Rig????

[rugby1970]

So the other week I met a guy that bought some music related stuff from me. We started a discussion about what genres we each play, the typical small talk. I asked him about a reverb pedal that I have for sale. His response was that he never uses one live because no one in the audience can hear it or tell the difference.

What do you think?

[diablo175]

I don't think it's exaggeration when I say 90% of the shit I dial in for my stage sound is more for me than for the audience.

 

ETA- I do use a bit of reverb in 2 of my stage settings. They just sounds less dry than the non reverb setting. A bit more lush. I dunno.

[hamerhead]

I tend to use reverb, delay, chorus, etc as a sweetener - you don't really notice them until they're not there. And if I can hear it, so can everyone else (even if they don't know it).

[Travis]

1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

I tend to use reverb, delay, chorus, etc as a sweetener - you don't really notice them until they're not there. And if I can hear it, so can everyone else (even if they don't know it).

THIS. ^^^^

[tommy p]

I used to think you HAD to have it, then I bought a couple of amps that didn't have reverb and it didn't matter a bit to me or anyone I've played to.

[HSB0531]

23 minutes ago, Travis said:

THIS. ^^^^

 

1 hour ago, diablo175 said:

I don't think it's exaggeration when I say 90% of the shit I dial in for my stage sound is more for me than for the audience.

Hard Drinking and ignorance to the technical/creative side of music will do that to a bar crowd.  But a flashy guitar color and crazy jumping, flailing arms, power chord endings while screaming vocalist drops to the floor dead.....yeah That will still get their attention!

[HSB0531]

2 hours ago, tommy p said:

I used to think you HAD to have it, then I bought a couple of amps that didn't have reverb and it didn't matter a bit to me or anyone I've played to.

Yeah, spring reverbs are not too inspiring.  I had a Lexicon PCM70 Reverb/Effects, and it had tons of stereo effects that I spent days and nights messing with.  I finally sold it because I wasn't getting anything done other than finding new sounds.  It would be great if there were a demo store that you could pay to try all the latest gear.  There's just too many to buy/try then find out you don't like it or need it.

[diablo175]

22 hours ago, HSB0531 said:

 

Hard Drinking and ignorance to the technical/creative side of music will do that to a bar crowd.  But a flashy guitar color and crazy jumping, flailing arms, power chord endings while screaming vocalist drops to the floor dead.....yeah That will still get their attention!

Not too far from the truth. The cover band played a show a few weeks back and while we were passably unmemorable (or is un-memorably passable?), I did get a few nice compliments on my lead work and good deal of interest in the HEL Spitfire 2.

Most surprising however, were comments saying I needed to turn up my volume. 😳 Amps were not mic-ed (small venue) and apparently, my fellow guitarist had his stage volume considerably higher. I assured them it was for their own good.

 

[Dave Scepter]

Hell yeah.. Yamaha SPX-90 Bitch!🤘😝🤘

[RobB]

Catalinbread Talisman through the loop. Dialed up for a slight plate reverb ambience, more noticeable on the clean channel. I suppose I could live without it, but it is perfect with reggae stabs and wah-wah. 

[HSB0531]

1 hour ago, Dave Scepter said:

Hell yeah.. Yamaha SPX-90 Bitch!🤘😝🤘

Oh God!!!....When I worked at Sam Ash, the Yamaha rep told me they were sending free upgrade chips for the SPX90's.  They said to replace them in any units that came in with problems.  Apparently, the early units had bad chips.  The problem was they weren't socketed chips and the traces on the circuit board were very thin.  It was scary and time consuming to do.  I remember that the ART 01A and DR2 had ZiF sockets and were a breeze to upgrade.

Hey, is that a Buck Cherry Preset??

 

 

[veatch]

I never use it in a gig setting, aside from whatever the sound guy might throw on.  (and usually, I ask that they *not* put any reverb on the guitar)  I think it washes me out a bit, and I would rather sound "up front".  

There are times when it is a cool wash effect, but I can do that with the delay and volume swells, so I don't miss having a reverb pedal on the board.

Opinions vary.  Trust your ears.  If it sounds good, it *is* good.

[Dutchman]

8I like reverb when I'm jamming. But mic'd thru the mains I let the FOH person do the sweetening. I don't own an amp with Reverb. Neither Fender or Marshall. Sucks to much juice! Latest reverb pedal is a Ventris. It's a nice unit!

 

[Biz Prof]

My $0.02: If you're in a room wth a relatively high ceiling and are not mic'ing your amp, then the audience likely will hear the natural reverb from the room over what you're applying using a pedal or rack effect.  On the other hand, if you are going DI or mic'ing your amp, they are much more likely to hear the actual soft tail of any reverb effect you use and frankly, the stark dryness of your clean tones will stand out more in the latter scenario. I do think we players feel its absence more than the audience.

I gigged a non-MV Marshall half stack in the early '90s. No reverb, no modulation, no delay. Just a Boss SD-1 into the high input on Vol 1 with the low input on Vol 1 jumpered to the high input on Vol 2. It was mic'ed even in smaller venues, but then we were playing much larger clubs than anywhere I'm currently gigging. Reverb seemed unnecessary back then, at least to my ears. Playing clean and barely overdriven tones more often as I do now seems to beg for some 'verb.

ETA: some of you lads have some incredibly lush and complex (and very $$$) reverb units on your boards. For studio work, that makes a lot of sense, but if all a player uses it for is gigging, then a modest unit from the likes of Boss, EH, or MXR should be more than enough to fit the bill.

 

[ARM OF HAMER]

                              I always have and always will....................... but just a dollop.

[Dave Scepter]

A lot of people here are commenting on using reverb for/to compensate for ambience of the room however, I use reverb as a effect for the song itself~

[BoogieMKIIA]

I use a bit of reverb typically.  The big Boogie doesn't have it, but now have a JHS pedal and I like having it on.  More for me than the audience.

I was pretty much pedal-less until I joined this forum.

[Jakeboy]

It depends. At a blues jam, not usually. Other venues or genres may benefit from a touch as a sweetener as has been stated above.

I pulled mine at the church gig and just use a tape delay simulator there for the sweetening.

[LucSulla]

Back when there used to be honest to god sound engineers at even the most modest of live venues, I let them handle all the verb out front so I didn't inadvertently remove myself from the mix. 

These days, since those guys are increasingly rare, I have a Wampler Tape Echo (older one with no tap tempo) and a Keely Caverns. I keep the verb on the Caverns barely there and use it sparingly, mostly on clean stuff. I use the delay here and there on the Caverns when I want something more modern and a little crisper. Mostly, I lean on that Wampler Tape Echo though. Love that thing. 

Overall, I think I like delays/echos on distorted stuff more than verb. Used appropriately, I think you can get that big feel and the bump in sustain with them that doesn't carry as much risk as completely washing you out in the mix. 

[RobB]

Also, the Keeley Memphis Sun pedal I got from Jakeboy sounds perfect with a Tele and combo amp. Tons of great sounds/applications, but very easy to dial in.

[Brooks]

Prefer a single slapback for cleans and solos, but will use 'verb if its built in before I drag out a delay pedal. Actually don't currently own a delay pedal, but my mini mixer has delay built in.

[woodpile]

Just a little bit of delay and reverb plus an EQ clean boost is always in there for me. Settings adjusted according to the room.

This pedal works great to cover reverb and delay.

 

 

 

[Len]

I use a Boss RV-6 on the Rev/Delay setting through  my effects loop for solos and such .... I think it sounds great

[Disturber]

For live I rather use a short delay.

[burningyen]

I absolutely use reverb live. In my Floyd tribute playing it's mostly on and I only turn it off as a special effect during the mid-solo break in Money and during the rhythm parts of a few tunes. In my Radiohead tribute playing it's mostly off and I turn it on as a special effect.