Re: Reverb erb erb

["Roger Kirk" <rogerkirk@ttlc.net>]

Bill O'Neill
 queried:
>> Can someone explain this phenomenon?  The 
>> reverb. Not the Schlitz.
Dave Faneuf replied:
> ...I think the reverb back then was basically a 
> spring which is why it made noise when you threw 
> our empties.....uhhhh I mean tapped the 
> dashboard  

Dave's right.  A spring reverb (like the one in
the Shure Vocalmaster) consisted of a transducer (kinda like a speaker without a cone)that wiggled the spring with audio.  On the other end of the spring was another transducer (like a microphone without a diaphragm) that converted spring movement into an electrical signal.  Cheap, compact and durable.  (N.B.  In the 50's & 60's, recording studios like RCA used the same concept with a large sheet of metal (suspended in rubber in a quiet box) instead of a spring.)  Today, a $5.00 DSP chip can do the same thing.

Roger