Car Reverbs

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CAR REVERBS, '64-'74

MUSIC FOR REVERB

CAR REVERB KITS

HOW THEY WORKED

CAR REVERB HISTORY

INSTALL A REVERB: Ford Studiosonic

INSTALL A REVERB: Meyer 1966 Kit

INSTALL A REVERB: Meyer 1967 Kit

INSTALL A REVERB in a Modern Car

CLASSIC REVERB SERVICING

CAR REVERB GUIDE: OEM Reverbs

CAR REVERB GUIDE: Aftermarket Reverbs

CAR REVERB GUIDE: Kit Reverbs

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Nostalgia for Reverb on the Road

“Stereo” reverb. Reverb amp with mini-tank mounts under dash. Drives one speaker. Reverb—Balance—Volume pots. 1969 Allied Radio catalog, pp. 148-9. ($29.95)

LRE® (Lafayette Radio Electronics) offered two under-dash reverbs. Basic unit from Lafayette '68 catalog, p. 67. ($11.95)

Sweat Equity The hottest summer of the decade came in 1968. Around here, air conditioning was a dream. Sure, the movie theaters had it, if you could afford to go. My friends and I hired out for seasonal work. Tried to raise some cash. And good honest sweat felt good and did the job. My buddy had bought this “reverb installation kit.” Over the weekend, he'd hooked up the gadget.

At lunchtime, he waved me toward his '62 Ford Falcon. Nice set of wheels. New wax job. Gleaming whitewall tires. Snappy red upholstery. He folded back the seat for me. I slid into the back. Some of our other compatriots filled the remaining spaces. He inserted the key. The engine turned over. On came the radio. It was a stock AM radio, standard in cars of that vintage. We were listening to rock and roll from the local “50-thousand-watt blowtorch.”

Then I noticed the gleaming “reverb box” below the dash. With a few secret hand motions, my friend transformed the music in ways indescribable.

A rear speaker sprang to life. The once familiar music seemed to grow and spread. Soon, it penetrated everything in the car. Instead of listening to the band, we were inside the notes.

Moments later, the last morsel of my sack lunch rested on my tongue. My friend flipped off the music and opened the car doors. Then I realized that we hadn't left the parking lot.

Who Sold Reverbs?

Ford, GM, Chrysler, and AMC offered car reverbs as options. Stores like Radio Shack, J.C. Whitney, and Allied Radio sold aftermarket reverbs.

Reverb Types

Under-Dash (Boman) Reverbs. Most car reverbs fit under the dashboard and connected to a speaker on the rear deck. Older reverbs had an under-dash fader and switch. A spring tank and amplifier lurked in the trunk.

So-Called “Stereo” Units still operated into a single, rear-middle speaker. That was fine, because reverb isn't directional. That is, while stereo expands width, reverb expands depth.

The Reverb Circuit

Inside, most reverb units were simple. The car radio excited a miniature reverb spring tank. The tank was three inches long, and had one or two springs. The tank drove a one-transistor recovery preamp. The preamp fed a single-ended, Class A output power amp (PA). The PA drove an autotransformer in its collector circuit. The transformer coupled power to the rear speaker.

Under-dash Kinematix® (KX) reverb units from Radio Shack '68 catalog. (Top: $12.95. Bottom: $19.95)

Transformer. Another purpose for the autotransformer was to deemphasize low frequencies. Reverb sound had too much bass and not enough treble. For a natural tone, the transformer flattened the frequency response.

Controls & speakers. The reverb genie was easy to invoke. Most reverbs only had a single control. It was a power fader with a pull-on and push-off switch. The fader controlled reverb strength and mixed “dry” and “wet” audio. The dry sound (no reverb) came from the front speaker. Wet sound (reverb) came from the rear speaker.

Partial schematic, Allied reverb

Partial schematic, Ford Studiosonic® reverb

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♦ NOTICE: Schematics. I don't have, nor do I provide schematics. For detailed technical information, buy a Sams PhotoFact (schematic) set from Sams or eBay.

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•URL: http://www.hawestv.com/amp_projects/reverb/reverb_car01.htm •Webmaster: James T. Hawes
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Contents

• Nostalgia for Reverb on the Open Road

• Allied reverb

• Sweat Equity

• Lafayette LRE^® Reverb

• Who Sold Reverbs?

• Reverb Types

• The Reverb Circuit

• Radio Shack Kinematix^® KX Reverbs

• Partial schematic: Allied reverb

• Partial schematic: Ford Studiosonic^® reverb