How's the reverb in the Studio preamp?

[Livingston]

I am a big fan of spring reverb. I love the "smeared", iconic spring sound. Reading the manual for the studio, Mesa make it sound as if they've tried to engineer out all the springy qualities. So my question is: how successful were they? I don't want a spring reverb that sounds like digital reverb, otherwise I would just use a good digital reverb. I want the spring reverb to have all the weird character that you would expect it to, so I would be bummed if Mesa managed to remove all of the quirks.

 

[JT_Marshmallow]

I'm no expert on spring reverb, or any reverb for that matter.

What I can tell you is that the reverb in the Studio Pre is amazing. This might have something to do with the fact that the reverb is tube-driven. It even has an option to make the reverb footswitchable on/off, like EVERY amp should, since I never use reverb on an amp's Lead channel.

It even beats the reverb in my old Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

 

[marantz1300]

It's a real spring reverb and it sounds like one as it should,warm and sprangy. It can sound a bit noisy when the amps idling, if turned above five. But you wont notice while playing. Sounds great to me.

 

[bpm91]

The reverb on the Studio Pre is pretty **** good.

 

[GodBlessTexas]

It sounds great, but it was implemented poorly from a mechanical perspective. There wasn't enough room for a tank, so they just mounted the spring element via 4 springs, much like it would have been mounted in a tank. The problem comes in with the way in which it is mounted: two springs on the back plate of the case, and 2 on the bottom of the case.

And this is what happens when one comes loose during transport. One of the springs on the left bottom failed, and the whole reverb unit was hosed. It's a $35 fix for a new element and a couple of minutes with a soldering iron, so it's no big deal if you are handy with one, but Mesa charges $120 + shipping both ways for the repair if you aren't handy with one.

 

[Steven Latch]

When I bought my studio preamp second hand, there was a strange honking sound when I moved it around. I opened it and the reverb was loose.

I checked the spring and they were old and weary. I ended up fixing the reverb unit with some double side sticky tape and it sounds fine.

Great reverb, very effective.