Mr. Black Black LTD. Plates Reverb

“Reverb makes a great sound: beautiful.”

Until the late 1950’s the reverberation effect (commonly called “reverb”; very clever, guys) could only be created and produced by either recording the session in specially designed studios, or by recording a play back of the recorded track in a dedicated, tuned room, commonly known as an “echo chamber.” This new recording was then mixed back in with the original recording, adding a reverb effect onto the original recording. But, in the late 50’s an incredible technological breakthrough was made:

The Plate Reverb.

The first outboard plate reverb units granted studios a way to re-create the magnificence of this naturally occurring phenomena in a *somewhat* portable package, and this was a tremendous advantage over setting up and recording in massive, dedicated spaces.

In addition to allowing the studio to offer natural reverb in-house, these early outboard units afforded far more control of the reverb generated, and this “artificial reverb” could be mixed in and out as desired, and even isolated such that only the reverberations were heard! This was truly a breakthrough.

The physical and mechanical operation of a plate reverb is somewhat similar to the base operation of an electric guitar pickup: the input signal (instrument) is driven into a transducer which, when attached to a large slab of metal (the plate), vibrates the plate. As the metal resonates and physically distorts in response to the input signal, two (or more) microphonic pickups, much like those in your guitar, capture the movements of the plate, and create a reverberation effect.

While this is a drastic oversimplification of the process, there is no mistaking the soft, immediate and “floaty” sound of plate reverb.

In a word, it is: Majestic.

Jump ahead some 70 years, and we can now directly model and recreate the behavior of these incredible electromechanical devices in a box, roughly the size of a deck of cards! And that’s what the Plates does.

The Plates’ unique and proprietary algorithm directly models the movement and behavior of a large piece of steel driven by the instrument connected to its input jack, then captures the hundreds of thousands of reflections created as the sound travels across and through the plate, bouncing back and around as it reflects from its edges and surfaces, while gradually decreasing in energy, amplitude and direction, recreating the sound and feel of an 18 square-foot slab of metal, vibrating with the instrument.

Plates does not aim to directly mimic any one specific outboard plate reverberator, but rather to capture the sound and operation in the general form, allowing you, the player, to tune and adjust the reverb to your specific needs and desires. No two notes will ever ring the same, and that’s part of the beauty of such a complex and natural process.

Three simple and intuitive controls afford you full control of the ratio of your instrument to reverberations (WET/DRY), the length of time the reverberations will continue (DECAY), and a gentle high-frequency dampening circuit (HF DAMP) for softening the treble response as desired.

Powered by “industry standard” 9V pedal power, or an optional internal 9V battery, Plates not only sounds enchanting, but makes it easy for you to incorporate into your board.

Jack Deville original design. Limited run of 65 pieces.