Put a Sixties Fender Twin next to a modern Crate practice amp, and you won’t see or hear many similarities — besides reverb.
The effect is used to add dimension to your sound and help smooth out dynamics — to sound less like a textbook, if you will. Reverb is, hands down, the reason terrible singers think they sound great in the shower!
The StellarVerb by Center Street Electronics is a two-knob, true-bypass reverb pedal. It claims to sit between a hall and a spring reverb. The two knobs are "Tone" and "Reverb Level." The 9-volt power jack along with input/output jacks are mounted on the sides of the pedal.
First impression: I thought the Tone knob would be redundant, but the more I played with the pedal, the more it made sense. Turned up, it cops a bright Fender-style spring reverb; rolled back, it’ll give you a darker, ambient reverb. If you simply want your bedroom to sound like Madison Square Garden, leave the Tone at 12 o’clock, and it won’t alter your tone at all.
On to the clips!
Clip 1: Using a Strat, I wanted to see how close I could get my Bassman to sound like a Twin Reverb. The StellarVerb’s Tone is cranked up and the Level is about halfway.
Clip 2: I cranked everything up to get a drenched Sixties surf tone.
Clip 3: Here’s a more subtle reverb sound with the Tone at 12 o’clock and the Level barely on.
Clip 4: (After getting requests for heavier sound clips) Here’s an AMT Metalizer after the StellerVerb set with the Tone and Level both around 9 o’clock.
Web: centerstreetelectronics.com/stellarverb
Street Price: $149.99
You can't believe everything you read on the Internet, but Billy Voight is a gear reviewer, bassist and guitarist from Pennsylvania. He has Hartke bass amps and Walden acoustic guitars to thank for supplying some of the finest gear on his musical journey. Need Billy's help in creating noise for your next project? Drop him a line at thisguyonbass@gmail.com.