Using reverb live?

[screamingdaisy]

At home (by myself, Mark V, either high gain channel) I just barely turn the reverb up high enough that I can hear it when I stop playing, but I still find it muds the signal up slightly when playing fast rhythm stuff so I'll bypass it via the footswitch. I notice a subtle tone shift when I do this but it's not a big deal.

When I did this at practice the other day (same barely on reverb setting) there was a huge drop in presence. Not 'bright' presence like on the amp dial, but just 'presence in the mix' type presence. It was like the amp became much smaller and skinnier in the mix, or maybe like suddenly switching from a 4x12 to 2x12 type of effect.

I've never used reverb live before until this past band practice, so I don't know if this is common with reverb or what?

My other theory is that the reverb circuit adds something that makes the amp stand out in a mix and bypassing the 'verb bypasses whatever goodness the 'verb circuit provides.

I'll take the time to experiment next practice, but I was wondering if others had noticed this too?

 

[boogieman60]

I'm not a big verb fan...But I did notice that the amp sound is bigger with the reverb on. Not a lot mind you, but just enough to hear it ring out a little when you stop. could it be the extra tube in the circuit? Almost sounds like a slight doubling effect. I do use it live for this reason. Some rooms really suck it up and others you need to turn it way down. But I did notice a diff. anybody else?

 

[fjk1138]

I am actually quite a fan of reverb, though I use it more for jamming and bypass it for recording where I use the DAW's reverb. On the amp, I too set it for "just enough" depth.

Does it do anything to the sound of the amp? I hear a very slight difference on the Mark V when it's on. On my Triple Rec, a reverb through the parallel loop seemed to actually smooth the tone out a lot, by comparison.

Perhaps a test would be to engage the reverb switch but turn the reverb knob completely off to see if it affects the tone?
Just a thought.

In general, adding reverb to an instrument will definitely make it not stand out as much in a mix. It loses its focus and makes it sound farther away. That's just the nature of the beast. If playing live, that will be further affected by the size and type of room you are in, other instruments playing with you, etc. Might be best to turn it off completely in some situations.