Beam Reverb
Beam Reverb
From dark, tucked-behind ambience to bright, shimmering modulation, the low-pass filter and mix control let you decide whether it lives in the background or steps forward in the sound. Independent gain and feedback controls further allow you to take the reverb from a subtle space to unstable, self-oscillating textures.
Specifications
- 1/4” mono, top mounted jacks
- 2.1mm, top mounted DC connector
- 9VDC centre negative power
- 100mA minimum current draw
- True bypass
- 122mm x 66mm x 39.5mm enclosure size
Controls
Rev - controls how much of the reverberated signal gets blended into the dry signal.
FB - decides how much reverberated signal gets fed back into the reverb input. Can go from a subtle tail to on the edge, washy textures or full blown oscillation.
Gain - affects the reverb path only and decides how hard the signal hits the reverb’s input, it can add subtle compression to the reverb to wild distorted reverb sounds.
LPF - sets the cut off frequency for a low pass filter on the reverb path. Clockwise allows all the high end sparkle and modulation through whereas counter clockwise gives a much darker, vintage feeling decay that sits back.
Vol - the global volume control, which can be set to unity or below if crazy gain and oscillation is your thing. Can even go slightly past unity to give an op-amp style boost.
Further Details
The Beam Verb is built around a Belton brick - something I’ve always been excited by because it feels like the most analog way of approaching digital reverb. It has a slightly more organic, textured character, and makes for a great foundation to build from.
This pedal has gone through several versions, both aesthetically and electronically, before landing where it is now. Each revision came from hours of real-world use - recording, playing live, running into low-wattage amps at home, and pushing higher-wattage amps at volume. I wanted it to feel musical and usable in as many situations as possible.
That road testing led to a number of circuit refinements. The most significant in my opinion, was the addition of a low-pass filter, which really expanded the range of usable tones. Combined with the gain and feedback controls, it allows the reverb to be shaped in a wide variety of ways - from a bright, modulated reverb that floats around the dry signal, to a darker, more aggressive wash with a feedback tail right on the edge of oscillation.