So for some reason I keep running across the new Danelectro Spring King Junior demo by RJ Ronquillo, where details are still fairly scant and I’ve only seen it for sale on the Loopers Paradise Webstore to date.
Apart from stating 9V DC [-] 50mA Current Draw - there are no further specs available, so I’ve kind of guesstimated the pedal length being near enough the same as the width of the White Whale V2 or around 170mm. The longest / widest is the Surfy Bear Compact at 250mm, while the Anasounds x Jack White La Grotte is at 144mm of height. The pedals are arranged in proportion to each other to indicate relative sizing and footprint!
These are all True Spring Tank Reverberators - while some have a touch more granularity, and where the White Whale V2 mixes in Analog Tremolo too. The trickiest of these to accommodate is the Surfy Bear Reverb - while it depends on the nature of your pedalboard size and arrangement as to which of these choices will best fit your circumstances!
I’m somewhat affiliated with Anasounds and Crazy Tube Circuits - so for my preferences would likely favour those two, while there is a lot to be said about the new Spring King Junior format also - which is long, but mostly with the width of a standard compact pedal - so it could relatively easily span a 2-tier board as such. For my preferences the Surfy Bear Compact is just too large - I would need to sacrifice too many slots in order to accommodate that.
Here are the 4 True Spring Tank Reverbs featured :
Further individual details, including controls, are to be found below as usual :
Outer Controls - Dry, Wet, Low, High.
Internal Controls - Preamp Gain ±, Pad : < 0dB | -10dB >, Fade In : No / Yes, Tail : True Bypass / Reverb Tails, Fade In Time ±.
This is a clever all-in-one take on Anasounds legendary Element 2-Box Spring Tank + Controller Combination - where in collaboration with Jack White - the 2 separate elements have been brought together into one - with a cool viewport into the springs - which also reveals that there is a third spring in the mix for more complex vibrations.
If I had to go down this route - then this would be the most appealing solution for me - both in terms of feature set - but also in terms of format and aesthetics - would inspire joy just to have that on the board - a really well designed device!
Controls - Reverb, Tone.
In contrast to La Grotte - this newest Danelectro take looks a little more budget overall - which is reflected in its price, and the overall aesthetics of the pedal, while its form factor will be perfect for many!
Controls - REVERB } Volume, Character : Long / Short / Medium, Dwell, Mix, Tone, Reverb Footswitch; TREMOLO } Volume, Speed, Mode : Tube / Opto / Harmonic [Hard/Soft], Intensity, Order : Pre / Post, Tremolo Footswitch.
My good friend Christos makes some excellent pedals and this everyday improved V2 iteration of his White Whale TremoVerb - sounds superb. This is such a classic combination of amp-style wholly Analog Spring Tank Tremolo and 3 Modes of Tremolo. It's form factor poses some challenges for me though, and I would find it tricky to accommodate this format on by board as such - I would need to sacrifice too many slots to accommodate it, and would therefore probably prefer to go with the La Grotte plus a JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk. While as for the Danelecto Spring King Junior - this will most definitely suit certain players' preferences. Really beautifully engineered and calibrated!
Controls - Volume, Mixer 1, Mixer 2, Tone, Decay, Dwell, Mixer : 1-2, Bypass.
A fantastic sounding proper surf rock style reverb with a full complement of surface controls, and switchable Mixer Options. By far the largest here at 250mm wide, versus the 170mm of the white whale and Spring King Junior, and the 144mm height of the La Grotte. You definitely need to be a dedicated surf-rocker to want to accomodate this on your board - its very size decrees that this is a major flavour within you rig. I selected the custom yellow version here as that fit best in with the theme.
I guess overall the White Whale is the odd one out here - because of its onboard 3-way Tremolo circuit - and there are different scenarios and use cases where each of these might be the best option for those circumstances - these all do that authentic Spring Tank Reverb thing very well - you just mostly need to decide on size and price!