The Danelectro DSR-1 Spring King is a spring reverb pedal that puts a real, working spring tank into a pedalboard-sized enclosure. Where most reverb pedals model springs digitally, the Spring King drives actual springs, and its signature feature is the Kick Pad: a rubber pad on top of the pedal that, when kicked or stomped, physically shakes the spring tank to produce spring crash effects1.
Danelectro's Spring King is a spring reverb pedal built around a small 3-spring Accutronics/Belton tank combined with digital circuitry1. Danelectro later released a compact version, the Spring King Junior2.
A real spring tank in a pedal
The Spring King uses a small three-spring Accutronics/Belton tank combined with digital circuitry to achieve what the product page calls the essential "drip" sound of surf rock1. The design is not 100% analog: the springs are real, but digital circuitry sits around the tank. For a player, that means the reverb character comes from actual springs in motion, including the physical noise and crash you can only get from a driven tank.
The Kick Pad is the distinguishing control. Stomping the rubber pad on top of the pedal shakes the tank directly, giving the percussive spring crash that surf and spaghetti-western players use for accents1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Sets the reverb level |
| Tone | Shapes the brightness of the reverb |
| Decay | Sets how long the reverb tail lasts |
| Kick Pad | Shakes the spring tank for crash effects when stomped |
All three knobs and the Kick Pad are described on the product page1.
Power
The pedal runs on a 9V battery or a 9V DC center-negative adapter with a maximum draw of 300mA1.
Battery life is short, so external power is recommended. At up to 300mA, the draw is high for a single pedal, so a dedicated 9V output is a safer choice than a low-current daisy chain1.
Where it stands today
Videos
Immortal Instruments
Questions
Is the Danelectro Spring King true analog?
No. The Spring King uses a real spring tank, but the tank is combined with digital circuitry, so the pedal is not 100% analog. The design still aims to capture the character of a genuine spring reverb rather than model it entirely in software.
Can the Spring King run on a battery?
Yes, it runs on a 9V battery, but battery life is short, so external power is recommended. It also takes a 9V DC center-negative adapter with a maximum draw of 300mA, which is high enough that a dedicated supply is the safer choice.
What springs are inside the Danelectro Spring King?
A small three-spring Accutronics/Belton tank. The springs are real and physically driven, which is what lets the Kick Pad on top of the pedal shake the tank and produce spring crash effects when you stomp it.
Is the Danelectro Spring King discontinued?
The original Spring King is no longer available new. Danelectro brought the pedal back in 2024 as the smaller Spring King Junior, a compact reissue of the 1999 design priced at $199.
Is the Spring King good for surf guitar?
It is built for that sound. The three-spring tank combined with digital circuitry is described as achieving the essential drip sound of surf rock, and the Kick Pad adds the percussive spring crash that surf players use for accents.
Sources (2)
- DSR-1 Spring King, Pedalfilter
- Danelectro Spring King Junior: Surfs Up!, gearnews.com, 2024-12-18
