The Fender 6G15 Spring Reverb is a standalone outboard reverb unit introduced by Fender in 1961. Rather than building reverb into an amplifier, Leo Fender put a spring reverb unit into its own enclosure, added to the catalog alongside the amps1. It looks the part too: Guitar.com's Andy Price describes it as resembling a small amplifier head1.
What it does
The 6G15 sends the guitar's signal through a spring tank and back into the amp, and it keeps its controls simple. There are three: dwell, which sets how much drive reaches the springs, mix, which sets the balance of wet and dry signal, and tone, which shapes the character of the reverberated sound1. That three-knob layout is part of why the unit has stayed easy to understand more than sixty years on.
Its standing among players is considerable. As Guitar.com puts it:
"Regarded by many as the holy grail of old-school spring reverb, the sound of these classic heads would become a staple of..."
Related gear
Fender has returned to this territory many times since, both in reissue form and in pedals. The Fender '63 Tube Reverb and the Fender 6G15 reissue carry the same idea forward, while pedal options include the Fender Reverb, the Fender Tre-Verb, the Fender Marine Layer Reverb and the Fender Dual Marine Layer. For a broader look at the effect, see Reverb Pedals.
Videos
Bunkymark
Bob's Tone Review
Fang Teatown
Sources (1)
- All About… Reverb, Guitar.com, 2015-08-06
