Fender Dimension IV Reverb

If you can't get this set up, you probably can't pour milk over your cereal and make breakfast.

The fast Leslie Sound of this unit is amazing. Some reviewers stated that the oil can and belt drive affected the sound. Here is another that is more simple and seeing as I had two of these units at the same time, might be a more simple solution. When viewing the unit from the back with the backplate off, you will see a trim pot at the right of the oilcan. There is a space to get at this pot that you could reach with your fingers. My two units did not have the same sound. I adjusted the trim pot (which is 1 Meg) on the unit I didn't like and then I liked it.

This product hasn't been made in years and I really don't see a reliability factor here. They won't work.

There will be no support on this item.

This is one of those items that get a bunch of bad publicity over the years, and then you see reveiws based on their ignorance of the item. Not stupidity of the item, just no (or very little) knowledge of the item. These are very easy to use, in/out on the back in order to place the effect in-line with the amps reverb (series connection). Turn it on, and play. The effect can be adjusted using your amps reverb adjustment. If your item is working properly, you will hear it planely. It is not a subtle effect, it works loudly, and clearly. I've rebuilt these things for people all over the world, I know how they should and shouldn't sound. It is a late 60's or 70's sound for sure.

I use a early 70's Fender Reverb amp with mine. It will work with any reverb amp, or an amp with a separate reveb effect. The sound expander when off is a true by-pass and will not effect your signal. The sound should be clear, with no static. Sound is spacey, echo chamber like. It is not for everyone, some like it, some don't. I think it is OK but not as good as natual tube distortion of course.

Here is where you get the neg. feedback from users. I hear everything from no sound complaints, weak signal, and many others. There is not really anything that can go wrong with these units except that the oil in the static-storage drum dries out and the belt dries out. The oil is not cancer cousing ( myth ) it is a simple polyalkylene conductive oil. It is made by Union Carbide as part number Ucon LB-65. The oil is mixed with alcohol until the conductivity is between 10 meg ohms and 200 meg ohms. The can holds about 1 1/2 table spoons full of oil, that is all. There is a graphite/rubber conductor inside the can that leaves a "recording" of electrons on the inside of the can in the oil film. Then as the drum turns, there is a reading conductor that reads the "recording" back. Reliability will be based on how well your unit is maintained, you know, like your amp? The 9 rating is because it is belt driven.

None available. If you need it repaired or maintained check with your local amp restorer.

I have been playing for about 20 years. My style and type of music has changed from time to time but I like blues and jazz. This type of effect is not useful to my style, I just added this reveiw to try to shed some light on a very simple effect that is getting a bad rap that is not justified. Stolen or lost effect? I have so many it would take me a month to find out which one is missing. I have never found an effect that can make the sound these make, I don't think one is made. If you want this sound, you have to have one of these oil can effects. The effect can not be adjusted for speed, which I thought would be nice, that is a negative. There are many web sites that can help you restore your unit if your the techy type. Just do a search using tel ray, that is who actually made these units. Once you get your unit working properly you will like it, it is unusual, and 70's. Enjoy your oil can delay the way it was intended, get it serviced!

All connections are clearly marked: 4 RCA/cinch inputs/outputs to put it in line of the reverb tank connection. 2 switches: Power and Reverb/Vibrato. When in Reverb mode it's out of the circuit and the reverb functions normally. In Vibrato mode it replaces the reverb springs and uses that circuit to operate. Adjusting Reverb Intensity on the amp increases the level of the effect.

I use it with a Fender Princeton Reverb Blackface Amp and a 1940s Gibson lap steel guitar. The effect comes very early - like 2 on the reverb pot. It's just one highly original effect, a shimmering "Leslie" kind of short delay with quite a few repetitions. It's like nothing else I've heard though I know there's a simulation available as part of the Protools amp farm. You could probably fake it with a tape delay running through an old analog chorus. I rate it an "8" because it's not variable.

I don't know. I bought it on ebay, the transformator that came with it was burned, now I have a new one from 220 V to the original 110 V, I had it checked, the rubber band was changed, it worked immediately. I wouldn't use it on gigs, just as a studio tool.

There ain't no more, but I'm lucky to have someone to care for old effects. Also there's a webpage with diagrams etc. http://www.geocities.com/tel_ray/

I play various kinds of music, blues, country, Hawaiian, experimental, compose for radio plays and films and there'll always be an opportunity to use it. Might be good for surf music, psychedelic stuff or for spicing up vocals, blues harp or organ. I'd be interested in a more variable version like the Fender Add'n'Echo, but this is absolutely rare. I like it.

Rather difficult to hookup. Had to aid extensions to reverb unit.
Using a '58 Gibson Vanguard amp.

Excellent quality, but somewhat noisy.

Never had problems.

What?!!

I bought the Dimension IV back in 1970 from an Engineer at Columbia Recording Studio. Why I bought it I have no idea but I have had fun using it on gigs and recording.

If you can read you can hook it up. All connections are clearly marked. It had two switches, Power and Reverb/Vibrato. When in Reverb mode it's out of the circuit and the reverb functions normally. In Vibrato mode it replaces the reverb springs and uses that circuit to operate. Adjusting Reverb Intensity on the amp increases the level of the effect.

Difficult to give a number to this since it's subjective. Personally, I think that some judicial use of it in Surf and some old vintage guitar instrumental music is its forte. As previously mentioned, it provides an echo/warble sound; sort of like a reverb/vibrato on steroids. This it does very well, but's it's not for everyone. I like it since there's nothing else that sounds like it. There are at least two different models of this; mine is a stand-alone box with a "Silverface" look, so I assume it was made available in the late 60's or mid 70's.

Where the manufacturer (Tel-Ray Electonics) blew it is that it has only one speed. I spoke to a fellow who was involved in the design or production to some extent and he said they tried to use it with a pedal, but the motor would stall if it went too slow. As a Leslie-type of effect this doesn't cut the mustard for me. Actually, I'd like it more if it ran faster, but that's how it was designed. I'm thinking of replacing the motor with something that could handle a foot switch...I think that this effect would really be great if this works. It would also be handy if it had a remote foot switch to turn it on and off. It has a true bypass so in the off position there's no signal degradation.

I can't answer this question. I swapped a friend a guitar case I didn't need for it, and it was not functioning at the time. I rewired it and cleaned it up and it hasn't given me any trouble at all since. There's not much too it, really, so I don't forsee any problems with taking it out without a backup. Hell, where would you get a backup anyhow? One other thing; one of the other posters mentioned that the effect was very minimal. Well, so was mine until I cleaned it up and decided to tweak the pot that's inside it. This will decrease the effect to zero, no matter where the amp's Reverb intensity is, which will regulate the amount of effect. I just turned it up until it was maxed out, and use the reverb intensity on the amp to regulate it. It would be nice if the pot was an external control so that it could be used to balance it against the reverb intensity. Probably another thing I'll do when I get the time.

Del-Ray Electronics is a faint memory; been out of business for a l-o-o-o-n time. If anyone needs schematics for this thing, I have them.

I haven't compared it to any other products, so I have no opinion. I would guess that the closest thing to it is a Univibe, but as I indicated above, there's no speed control for it.

Hard to figure out how to get it wired in, but after that... its not hard to use - there are virtually no options! On or off!!

Excsellent sound quality if you like spooky/vintage sounds. Very cool leslie clone, very vintage sounding, nothing like a modern leslie at all. I wanted to submit a review of this thing because sucky sound quality as described in the other reviews is atributed to a non-functioning example (of which there are many!!) but when its working fine, it sounds incredible. Very Tchad Blake!

Possibly the most reliable effect in the world. I run my optigan through when I want to have a fun day in the studio. Then I know nothing will work right

None. Zero. Forget fender these days. "Dimension? Wasn't that a Boss pedal???"

Find one working and you'll love it if you're into weird, grungy vintage stuff. But it won't work forever and its pretty much unfixable (the dreaded oilcan syndrome) But its the coolest, weirdest, leslie clone I've ever heard. HOWEVER IT WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU OWN A VINTAGE STYLE FENDER AMP or something similar with a spring reverb tank, as it is an inline replacement for the spring reverb. That makes it difficult to figure out a use for it sometimes. But once you make it do something it is amazing.

It's a pain to hook up-two wires to the amp (reverb in/out), two wires to the reverb pan. Basically, it's an inline replacement for the reverb. It has one sound, no knobs or settings. What does it do? Hmmmm, it's an echo with prolongued repeats with a tremelo effect. In an amp where you can really turn the reverb up, it sounds quite cool-sort of a quavery ring after the chord. Better with higher notes, than lower. Not everyone's cup of tea, and the rubber band that runs the drum is a VERY weak spot, but if you have to own every effect ever-here it is>>>

It's 30 years old...

right!

Interesting effect, beware of non-working examples...

Fairly simple to operate though you have to plug it into the reverb in/out jacks on the underside of fender amps wich are kind of hard to get at. The effect intensity is controled via the reverb pot on the amp. There are two switches that don't do anything on the box itself

This effect is virtually unoticable and there is no way of making it more pronounced. If you listen real close you can hear it sort of echoey-vibrato-mushy-watery crap but, like I said you can hardly hear it. It would be like turning the distortion control on a pedal to 0.1

Heres where it gets strange, I mean REAL wierd. I turned it around, to look at it, I'm pretty good at fixing my equipment and there's somthing obviously wrong with this thing, what I found was: some wierd thing that looked like a chistmas light that glowed with more intensity the harder I played and an electric motor that turned a canister filled with some sort of liquid. The belt that turned the cannister was dry rotted of corse. I decided not to even mess with the thing

They probabally wounld't claim they made this thing.

Fender made these things for 2 1/2 years in the late 60s early 70s. I read some stories that the gunk in the canister causes cancer. If you're a collector or someone wanting mad scientist stuff then you might like it. If you're a musician wanting usable/reliabe equipment stay away!