To Reverb or Not to Reverb...

pjrake

Inspired
That is definitely the question! I'm coming from years of playing modern heavy rock music using tubes and reverb was never a part of my rhythm tone. However, after watching Scott's video on creating a preset, he mentioned that he likes using reverb to create some space. I've been using reverb during rehearsal and it's a little hard getting used to it and really can't tell if it's creating separation with my other guitarist and band (he also uses an Axe FX).

Thoughs, suggestions?

PJ
 
Reverb has two purposes:
1. Create actual environment space.
If you play dry and the rest of the mix has a sense of space, your guitar may not sit in the mix and stand out up front from the other instruments. Obviously if your trying to create a mix in which all the instruments reside in the same space, going dry "may" not be the best idea.

2 Used as an effect.
Listen to guitarist like Eric Johnson who really like the open ambient distant tones to craft an overall song.

Just remember to think as your sound stage to also have front to back perception. This is the reverb, or ambience that creates where each instrument sits.
 
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Generally good to avoid in a rhythm tone most will say. Especially if its fast tight metal stuff. With slower stuff there's more time for it- cant go without it in a solo tone mind! In saying that, I do enjoy tracking with a dash of room verb on as it helps my playing somehow.
 
I do enjoy tracking with a dash of room verb on as it helps my playing somehow.

LOL!
I hear you there.
I agree, if it sounds good to you, you're more apt to play better on the track.

If you track with headphones, a good solution is to have the engineer send reverb to your headphone mix, not to the recorded track.
You can always add it in post.
 
I use spring reverbs a lot on clean fenders, like my super reverb patch. I saw Robben Ford at the Iridium in October using a super reverb and he was using a lot of reverb, it sounded great.
 
It totally depends on what you're doing. I find that sending the heavy rhythm guitars to a little bit of the same room verb as my drums helps the guitars sit a little better, but that's recording - I'm creating spaces. I can't imagine that using verb on aggressive hard rock/metal in a live band situation would work out so great. Reverb on high gain tends to just add to the chaos of all those compressed high frequencies bouncing around. Remember that Scott Peterson is playing old school hard rock like AC/DC at the heaviest. He's a great guitarist and a great FAS coach, but his suggestions aren't always going to cross over to the realm of heavy music.
 
I'm only using it as an effect. I even stripped reverb from my basic clean preset, only adding it when necessary using an IA. Omitting Reverb increases punch and attack and presence in the mix IMHO.
I'm only talking about live tones here.
 
Of course, live events are always going to be different, especially if you play in a room that is real live on its own.
 
I've never used reverb live .... the room does that. I prefer a bit of not too prominent ADT to thicken the sound while keeping the punch.
 
I like it in a Clean Patch but only 10% Mix.
On a Rhythm Patch I use VERY little, usually around 2.3%
Solo Patches I use 2.3% on some and 10-15% on others.
But overall, I use very little.
Too much more and it sounds to eighties to me.
 
For cleans and solos I use it, and I try to get away with quite a lot of reverb without sacrificing definition. For one particular preset I wanted to have a huge reverb and I found a handy tip on this forum to set the difference between the predelay and tail times to about 110 ms (somewhere in the advanced settings), and that works like a charm! Masses of reverb without (much) loss of tonal clarity. :)

For overdriven and distorted sounds I tend to leave it out though, or maybe use a small room reverb. In those cases I find reverb quickly muddles up the sound.
 
It's really a matter of taste and what's appropriate for the type of music your playing.

For me, I never use reverb or delay of any kind while tracking, not even to monitor. I want to hear what's going on. Of course, I'll add either or both of these in the mix later when I can hear the track as a whole and can control the amount in context. This is for recording direct, if you record an amp in a live room, then you can always add in a room mic to capture the sound of the room.

The exception to this would be if the reverb/delay is really part of character of the sound.

As for live, it depends on the venue. Most places will have their own ambience, so it's usually not necessary. That's just me though - whatever sounds good to your ears is the way to go!
 
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For rhythm tones, you may not need a "reverb block" to get the amount of reverb you need

Turn up the "room level" in the cab block to around 30- that may be all the space you need
 
I use it; but attach an expression pedal to the "InGain" and add or subtract it as needed per the room and/or song on the fly, hands-free.
 
I play through in-ears and I have a small amount of reverb on each patch because I know everyone monitors dry. I also like to have just a bit of space on my tones, but I use a relatively small amount.

Terry.
 
As others have mentioned, I'd say that it depends on what you're trying to achieve:
I might put some low level reverb on a heavy preset when recording direct to create some illusion of natural space, but most likely not (or at least less) on a heavy preset for live use. On the other hand, I'd probably use more reverb on a typical clean Fender preset both for recording direct and live, where I'd use the reverb more like an effect than to create some illusion of natural space.
 
I am also using in ear monitors and have a bit of reverb on my patches. If you play through "real" cabinets there will always be a natural reverb coming from the room in which you set up your equipment, I just like to have this room in my Axe patches too, and yes, I also play them live
 
When I play live, I have just a smidge of verb on the patches. Recording, I prefer to have the verb in the DAW so there is more control.
 
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