Fender '63 Reverb Reissue

This is a 3-tube, brown tolex covered, built like a tank, reverberation dream. Three controls consist of Dwell, Mixer, and Tone. The Dwell adjusts the amount of signal sent to the reverb pan. The Mixer adjusts the amount of reverb sent to the output, and Tone adjusts how much higher frequency ends up in the mixed signal. Bottom line is that this thing can be mild or way under water.
The manual is short and perfect and everything comes neatly in a reseal plastic bag. There is a footswitch included for on or off of reverb signal.

No noise just reverb. I run this through a Fender Pro Junior, Fender Deluxe Reverb, Carvin SX100, and a Peavey Basic 60, depending on what sound I'm trying to get (or what mood I'm in).
I play surf and rock instrumentals mainly, and this box will greatly enhance a clean tone for surf.
Nothing else sounds like a Fender Tube/Spring Reverb.

The thing is built just like a Fender amp. Heavy, thick, and solid. There is a clamp to cushion the reverb springs against some padding when transporting the unit.

I've dealt with Fender and have not had problems with them. They have some outstanding dealers and some that are just OK. I keep buying their new stuff.

I've been playing 30+ years, on and off. On for the last 10. I have 3 Fender Guitars and a G&L S500. I like clean tone with reverb and few other effects.
The Fender Reverb Unit is the kind of effect that you purchase and keep forever. It's worth it.

If you've plugged a line of effects together before this should be pretty intuitive-if you haven't then this thing goes next to yer amp. Unlike some reviews I've read, mine came with a rather short and simple manual. Those not familiar with these things may not be aware of the clamp that holds the springs in place while in transit. It has a Dwell control-controlling the amount of signal coming back from the reverb tank, a mixer-controlling the amount of reverb or "wetness", and a tone control-which rolls off the treble coming from the tank. Simply fiddling with the knobs will explain their usefulness.

I got this to use with my reverbless VOX AC-30. It sounds like a very good spring reverb (I don't really know what else to say about this-it's alot better IMHO than VOX or old Ampeg reverbs and is much more flexible than an amp-mounted Fender reverb). Like any other spring reverb it makes big crashing noises (like on the front of Pipeline or all over the 2nd Dinosaur Jr. record) if you move it while it's on. It seems to soften the signal coming from the guitar a very slight amount (considering you need an extra cable for this it shouldn't be surprising). Unlike any amp mounted reverb (except the Vibro King reverb-which is one of these built into an amp)-this thing can do that giganto-wet surf sound.

It seems as sturdy as the '65 tank a friend lent me while Fender took their sweet time building mine. It seems almost as sturdily built as a reissue Fender amp and hasn't given me any trouble in the two months I've owned it. It comes with a Limited Lifetime Warrenty from Fender-so that's okay.

I've never dealt with them, but I've heard the stories. The store I bought it from (Rolls Music)claimed they could have one for me in 30 days. It took about two weeks shy of a year for Fender to ship out any reverbs (I had friends working for other stores keeping me up to date on the shippings). So don't be surprised if they're too slow for their own good.

It's the only thing to get if you want a new outboard spring reverb tank. Vintage ones go for about triple what they cost new, and good "other" vintage tanks (like a Premere) can be hard to find and have the same problems all old equipment does. If you're committed to spring reverbs I cannot recommend it high enough. Oh yeah-it looks mighty cool too-brown Fender amp graphics.!

Simple to use and dial up the sound you want. 3 controls: "Dwell" controls how much signal goes to the springs; "Mixer" controls how much of the spring sound is added to the straight signal; "Tone" lowers the treble of the reverb signal only. There was no manual provided, so I have to ding Fender a point on that.

This is the real thing. If you're doing surf, no built-in amp reverb or digital box can touch it. You can get everything from a deep, soupy space (tone control down, neck pickup) to a shimmering blast that'll peel paint (tone up, bridge pickup), end anything between. Turn up the Dwell, dig into the strings a little, and you'll hear that unmistakable whipping, boingy snap off the springs. Give it a little whammy bar, you'll get goosebumps. To give you an idea how much range this box has, when I'm playing heavy surf leads, I've got Dwell and Mix only halfway up and the Tone at about 1/4. The '63 Reverb is very quiet (no hum, no hiss). It does seem to darken the guitar tone a tiny bit, but with my Jazzmaster/Super Reverb setup, it's perfect.
Compared to a built-in amp reverb, this one lets a lot more mids and lows come through the springs (in a combo amp, the vibration from the speakers would mess it up). This lets the reverb work on more of your guitar's actual tone---not just putting a little shine on top like the typical built-in. Also, it uses a 6V6 tube (a real output tube) to drive the springs, so you can dial up a ton of depth.
Hint: For unbelievable wet sound, run the '63 Reverb into a Boss CS-3 compressor pedal before the amp. Set a medium/high sustain and no attack. When you hit a note or chord, the pedal pulls the volume down. Then as the note decays, the compressor opens up and a huge wave of reverb washes in. Very cool.

After about a year, I had to twist the RCA connectors that connect the chassis to the reverb pan (some oxidation had built up). Other than that, no problems. You do need to remember to lock down the pan before you transport the unit, or the springs could get damaged. I have hauled this thing around for a year and a half and haven't had any trouble. If your amp has reverb, then you have enough of a backup as far as I'm concerned.

Never had to deal with Fender on any of their stuff. No problems with their guitars, amps, or this reverb unit.

I play a mix of 60's, early 70's, surf, and new wave. This box is the ultimate for that 'verb-drenched Fender surf sound. I have about 6 other things that produce reverb (pedals, amps, Nanoverb), and none of them come close to this. It's just tubes and springs--- none of those telltale fake echoes or buzzes that scream, "DIGITAL". I would buy it again in a heartbeat because I can't imagine doing without it. There really is no substitute. And it has a pretty cool retro look to it, too.

Three controls - depth which is how much signal is passed to the reverb, mixer which controls the amount of reverb and tone which affects the reverb only (not the dry signal). On/off footswith supplied.

There's no hum at all using the reverb between guitar and amp (Fender's recommended position). The depth and quality of reverb available is amazing - much better than that found on pretty much any amp I've heard. As well as the Dick Dale surf sound the unit can also produce shorter reverbs of very high quality. Slap back effects are no problem - just increase the depth control.
One thing - it's best used into a clean or nearly clean amp. Passing the guitar through the reverb then a cranked preamp is more than a little weird (unless you like distorted reverb).
The valves in the unit do affest the amp tone a little - if anything I prefer the amp with the reverb on. For some reason it seems to make a valve amp a little more more responsive.
Problems? Only one really - if it gets knocked, even a little, there's an almighty crash, so it really needs to be stood on something solid. And it can feedback if put directly in front of (very) loud speakers.

I've been gigging with it for over a year with no backup unit (apart from the reverb on my Marshall which IO no longer find a need for). No reliability problems at all.

No idea of quality of customer support - I've never had a problem with Fender gear.

If anything happened to this reverb I'd buy another without a second thought. It manages to make everything sound much more classy than the transistor reverbs in most amps.