Everything you need to know about Reverb, the most common guitar effect ever!

Learn how to make the most out of Reverb and understand the difference between Spring, Plate, Pre-Delay, Hall, Shimmer... all types of reverbs! We'll learn when and how to use each of them and talk about the best reverb pedals for beginners, plug-ins, and tips to use Reverb on the guitar - but not only! Reverb also works great on vocals, and it's a common trick I always use!

Justin highlights these Reverb pedals in this guitar lesson.

In this tutorial, we'll mostly use Boss RV-6 Reverb Pedal, but we'll also explore Neunaber Reverberator, Strymon, and Specular Tempus. Incredible reverb pedals to choose from!

So, let's get stuck in your ultimate guide to Reverb! :)

What is Reverb?

Reverb is an effect that occurs naturally in your everyday life. When you enter a hall or church, you'll notice your voice sounds different, a bit echoey. That's reverb! A footstep or a clap sound will last longer with reverb rather than the original sound. The sound waves bounce off, reflecting surfaces when you hear them back.

Reverb effects can add the illusion of space to an instrument sound, giving you a much bigger ambient and atmospheric soundscape. It's one of the reasons why recording studios have so much soundproofing: you're trying to remove as much of the natural reverb as you can. Then, you add the reverb later by using pedals or plug-ins.

Historically, you might have gone to a room that had naturally great reverb. There are studios, like Abbey Road or Ocean Way, where bands have a room with beautiful natural reverb. Now, we have loads more options! We can even have different reverbs on different instruments to create these clashes and interesting mixes of atmospheric conditions, naturally or not.

Abbey Road is known by his natural reverb!

Abbey Road is known for its natural reverb! In this image, you see Studio 2, where bands like The Beatles, Oasis, and Pink Floyd recorded iconic albums!

Reverb can make your sound pretty interesting, and there are quite a few different ways to get that sound. I usually use plug-ins, but you'll find plenty of amps with multi-effects and reverb pedals!

💡 If you've seen my song lessons before, I usually use a reverb plug-in for acoustic guitar and/or for my voice! Reverb is definitely one of my favorite guitar effects.

Before we get into the different types of reverb and how to use each one, let's look at the history of reverb and how we got here!

History of Reverb

The first type of reverb ever was the one you get in a room. Columbia's 30th Street Studio is a famous example of naturally occurring reverb in the room where Miles Davis recorded his legendary album Kind of Blue. Definitely worth checking out!

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis is a great example of music recorded with natural reverb!

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis is a great example of music recorded with natural reverb! If you're a more advanced guitar player, don't miss out on my So What guitar lesson. ;)

The record producer Bill Putnam is credited with the first artistic use of reverb. He used an echo chamber in his 1947's recording of "Peg o' My Heart" by the Harmonicats.

The first real artificial reverb machine was the EMT plate, a giant metal plate suspended in a box. I had one in my old recording studio - but they weigh 200 kilograms, so not the kind of thing you'll be lugging around on your pedalboard. But they sound incredible!

Now, it's time to explore the settings you'll usually find on a reverb pedal and the different reverb types you can explore.

Reverb Settings

You'll encounter different settings on different reverb pedals. We'll walk through the most common ones in this lesson and understand how to use them. Then, we'll explore the different types of reverb!

💡 I'm using the Boss Reverb RV6 pedal for this lesson. This is my favorite option for demonstrating the different reverb types. Its controls are pretty simple - great for new guitarists!

When starting with guitar effects, you want pedals without too many parameters. The pedals I like are the ones with an infinite number of different parameters and variables to play around with. But you should avoid that when starting out - it can be overwhelming!

A great trick to start is setting all your reverb controls roughly at 12 o'clock, which is usually a good starting point for a usable reverb sound. If you set everything at 12 o'clock, you can hear the reverb effect straight away. Check out the video tutorial to hear the difference. :)

Effect Level Control

Effect Level (E. Level), also called Mix or Blend, controls how much reverb you'll add to the primary sound of your dry guitar.

💡 When a guitar has no effect, we call it dry! We're making it wet when we add effects to your dry guitar. :)

So, the Effect Level control tells how wet we are making the sound and how much reverb we're adding to it.

Tone Control

The tone control is also common, and you'll find it in most pedals. Generally, when you turn the tone control clockwise, you make the sound brighter. If you turn it back the other way, you'll find the type of sound you usually find when entering a cave. It's a low-frequency reflection.

💡 On budget pedals, the tone can get too sharp and sound too digital. Be careful with it!

I prefer a brighter reverb sound than a low one, particularly with electric guitars. If you're in a band, you don't want too many bass sounds on the guitar. If you're playing on your own, it doesn't really matter, but I tend to go to the brighter side. :)

Time Control

Time Control tells how long the delay effect lasts.

💡 Remember, the Effect Level is how much reverb you get versus the original sound. Then, the Time Control is how long it lasts!

Generally speaking, very long reverbs will create an atmospheric sound, where you'll play a few notes that will last a long time. You're probably better off going for the digital delay in those cases, but explore it and see.

Reverb Types

There's no such thing as the right reverb type to use. It should really be a creative tool, but sometimes a reverb type will be more useful and adequate than others. For example, the spring reverb, which we'll explore later in this lesson, is perfect for adding a surf vibe to your sound.

Plate Reverb

Plate Reverb sounds like an EMT plate, which was basically a big metal plate with transducers. I really like plate reverb on voices and acoustic guitar; if you've heard my acoustic guitar in any videos, it had a plate reverb! I use it all the time, not through my Kemper or amp, but as an effect plug-in.

Spring Reverb

Spring reverb is the sound built into many of those early amplifiers. It adds a great sound effect to your guitar when playing notes fast. Check out the video tutorial for a real-life example of spring reverb!

Modulate Reverb

Modulation adds like a chorus pedal to the delayed sound. It's like adding a little bit of unicorn magic fairy dust stuff into your sound!

Hall and Room

If you've played in places like a school hall and there was no one there for your soundcheck, you know what this reverb type sounds like! :) It sounds like one of those wood-paneled floors with loads of echo, whereas if you were playing in a smaller room and no people in there.

💡 These terms for different reverb types, like Cathedral, Canyon, and Cave, describe their sound. It's very clever technology because it allows you to get reverbs that simulate different spaces.

You can get all sorts of reverbs that change the character of the sound you're playing. When you play in a very active room with lots of natural reverb, you'll have to pay attention to your guitar effects so it's not overwhelming. With time and experience, you'll find it easier to adjust to different situations!

Shimmer Reverb

Shimmer reverb adds a pitch-shifted reverb to your sound. It adds artificial overtones, like a unicorn fairy magic. Great on atmospheric stuff!

💡 The Strymon BlueSky is responsible for popularizing the Shimmer Reverb. If you want to explore this reverb type, consider that pedal! It's expensive, but a flagship!

Not my favorite one, but definitely worth exploring!

Delay + Reverb

Delay is like an echo. So, this effect is not really a reverb but a digital delay. It might be handy to have it on a reverb pedal, but I tend to use a reverb pedal for reverb and then a delay pedal for the delay effect.

Pre-Delay

Pre-delay adds a gap before the reverb starts. I don't tend to use it a lot, but it does have a place!

💡 You won't find a Pre-Delay in this Boss pedal. For this tutorial, we're exploring this effect with Neunaber Immerse Reverberator.

Without pre-delay, the reverb starts right away. With pre-delay, there's a gap before the reverb starts, and when it starts, it's kind of a bloom afterward. I'm not exactly this effect occurs in real life, maybe in a tunnel where the reverb occurs somewhere else.

Reverb Pedal Recommendations

There are plenty of reverb pedals to explore, and their prices will vary a lot! This Boss Reverb RV6 might be your best choice if you're on a budget, but if you're up for paying more, here are a couple more options to consider!

Neunaber Immerse Reverberator

This Neunaber's pedal is great, particularly awesome for plate reverb. It has a really rich sound! Their spring reverb is pretty good, and their shimmer is less drastic than the Boss one. Great pedal if it fits your budget!

💡 I use Logic, Apple's recording software. So, I tend to use many different plugins, and each one does a particular thing. I use UAD - Universal Audio, EMT250, a replica of the M2250.

BlueSky Reverberator

The BlueSky Reverberator is a legendary pedal! It's great for shimmer reverb, it has a little bit of pre-delay to it, and it sounds very rich! The spring effect on this one is incredible - it sounds so springy!

Specular Tempus

This is a reverb and delay machine, a super creative pedal that has loads of different parameters to play around with. So, if you're looking to get really creative and try to explore things, this is a great option!

Q&A - Reverb Effect on Guitar

I asked you to drop your questions about reverb on Instagram, and I have some answers for you! Let's take a look. :)

Q - Is there such a thing as too much reverb?

The answer is definitely yes! It hurts me to say that because I love reverb, and I'm definitely a musician who puts too much reverb on things. :) Sometimes that's okay, but sometimes it's not! You'll have to use your taste and judgment to experiment with what works best.

Q - How to choose the best reverb pedal for you?

It does come down to budget! If it's to pick one right now, it would be the Specular Tempus, but that's an expensive pedal. The Boss pedals usually have a good price and sound great, so they are definitely an option if you're on a budget. There are cheaper ones out there, as cheap as 30 or 40 pounds, but I haven't tried them. Reading shoppers' reviews might be a good idea before buying a pedal! :)

💡 The Boss GT 1000 is what I usually take on workshops and events. It's like all of the Boss pedals ever in one box! Very practical.

If you're looking for various effects, you can get one pedal with more built-in options. The Boss Katana has an incredible amount of effects built into it - it's an incredible option if you have the budget!

When I started playing guitar, we had to buy individual pedals for each effect. Now, we can get one of those amps with many built-in effects, which is very useful.

Q - Am I weird for playing completely dry?

Definitely not! A dry sound can be really cool! When I record, I mostly record dry and add the effects later so I can take effects off again if I want to. Recording dry is a really good idea, so you can add the reverb later.

It also works for vocals! I like the sound of a dry voice because it sounds more intimate, but I tend to put reverb on my voice when recording song lessons. It hides some flaws and makes my voice sound a little bit nicer! I'm still not super confident as a singer, I can sing okay, but sometimes a bit of reverb seems to really help me out!

💡 Interested in learning more about Boss Katana and even getting some free presets? Explore these lessons!

What Next?

I encourage you to explore the effects on your own! The more you do that, the more you'll start to recognize guitar effects in real life, and the easier it will be to copy sounds you hear.

But don't forget: great guitar tone starts here!