Wellspring // The Sweet Spot Machine // Review and Demo

[@peterkelly8357]

Glad you clarified the point about your Grandmother

[@JumboDubby]

😂😂😂

[@muzikman2008]

Mrs Slinky 😂

[@stuartboldt8441]

me too. anyone knocked my grandma's springs, there'd be murders.

[@GazWilliams]

Superb review Starsky! Thanks so much for reviewing this so brilliantly as my buddies who make these will be over the moon!

[@TheWilliamBogart]

Not sure I've ever watched a gear demo more than once just for the audio, but this was really beautiful.

[@StarskyCarr]

Unfortunately I can’t take responsibility for that… it’s all down to the Wellspring

[@richandglorious]

i agree - the music is on this is just the best

[@andyeccleston2472]

This beast is utterly incredible! Just ordered two (one for the missus) Many thanks Starsky for the wonderful demo.

[@esmoroglu]

Just got this 10 days ago from the wonderful people at Schneidersladen in Berlin, it is an exceptional unit. Thanks so much for teaching the machine, pun emphasized! Well done TM, I am an immediate fan of this brand, of their creative mind and immaculate execution. Bravo!

[@StarskyCarr]

A very nice pun 😀🎉

[@pjforde1978]

What this needs is a Chase Bliss style DIP switch for selecting which knobs can be controlled by the external expression pedal. Being able to gently insert some magic or springs while your hands are busy would make this an instant buy for me,

[@ianfermor6682]

The demo track with the Poly 800 is 👌🏻 I could have listened to that for much longer. Great review/demo and appreciated the editing too!

[@quimbas]

Thank you for sharing gear that others don't! This piece would look GORGEOUS with a Sub Phatty (and sound amazing).

[@devinbelangermusic]

This is genuinely so cool!

[@bassnsax]

Excellent editing between the two panned shots, Starsky! :D

[@pablowentscobar]

Yeah, that does sound much better then most spring reverb. It sounds thick and rich. Not twangy and sproingy. It sounds like it's using a big industrial cable sping and not a little wire pen spring. That's a nice looking bit of kit. I'll just be over here twiddling knobs on my $50 DMM clone if anyone needs me. Lol, good stuff Starsky.

[@StarskyCarr]

😂😂👍

[@mortenrobinson5421]

Very charming sound. I love all the subtle modulation.

[@0richbike]

That is up there with the sherman and the mutronic. Ive got try the magic feedback thing with my homemade spring thing. Another binding demo!

[@bonatoc]

Incredible sound sculpting tool.

[@timjim10]

The zen of a gear demo using just two chords. Sublime

[@StarskyCarr]

Haha.. there was so much going on in the fx it didn’t need any more.

[@intheblink]

The tracking shot looks awesome! Nice work!

[@rodnee2340]

I've got the Moog GM and you are right the spring reverb sounds a bit glum to my ear. I remember people raving about it, but a nice Valhalla verb sounds the business through it. This verb you have here is definitely on a different level.

[@StarskyCarr]

I was amazed that it goes into special FX/big ambient modulation territory - the sort of stuff only digital reverbs have been able to do.

[@loweroctaves]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds amazing. Definitely got to pick one of these up.🔊✨✨✨

[@scottlord5288]

Ouch! Straight on my wish list(!) I was also at Bristolica, but never got to have a go on it. I missed a gem, so very happy to watch the video :)

[@MUNRO13]

Beautiful sound

[@crjmccc]

Makes your Jupiter4 sound like the Streichfett. Lovely demo 👍

[@MarkusGeheim]

15:27 how to make an ambient-album in real-time with just 2 minutes of preparation. Anyway, great-sounding machine. It's Welldone!

[@StarskyCarr]

what do you mean 2 mins prep ;). haha. It does have ambient album written all over it.

[@MarkusGeheim]

@@StarskyCarr Plugging cables, switch everything on, press record etc. 😄

[@luisblanco3619]

Nice SpringRevert!!! Beautifull sounds.

[@irenasielewicz6061]

Andrzej S. Podoba mi się dzięk i możliwości, ale cena nie koncertuję. Dziękuję za materiał

[@analogholic3651]

Gorgeous!

[@thirstyCactus]

The moment you engaged the filter with the "Magic" turned up, I thought, "Heinbach needs one of these!"

[@hdsubstance1]

I desperately need one

[@MathHammer]

It sounds like the Magic knob mixes some of the effects into a feedback loop around the spring circuit. Both the Doepfer and the Intellijel spring reverb modules have taps and a taper for a similar feedback loop. One thing I noticed, at least from the YT video, is that this unit has a pretty low noise floor. It sounds gorgeous, and yeah, I did check the price halfway through your video (just got to the end where you gave the price). The price for a stereo unit is unsurprising.

[@philicordaphilicorda690]

The Wellspring 'magic' feedback only goes to the delays, rather than just around the springs. So you can add a little bit of delay and filter/pitch modulation, which stops the springs just picking a resonance and sticking there so much. The 'magic' feedback is also crossed over, so the total path is quite long: Delay 1->Filter 1->Spring 1->Delay 2->Filter 2->Spring 2->back to Delay 1. The result of all this is some quite complex and dense reverb sounds! You can patch this kind of thing with other spring reverbs and delays too, using multiple units, outboard delays and a mixer too. It's a lot of fun to play with, especially when the filters get involved. It does tend to end up with a whole pile of outboard gear though, which is one reason I wanted to have it all in one box! Frank (From Teaching Machines)

[@AnthonyCodringtonTopCat]

Very very nice 👍🏾

[@RaquelFoster]

3:40 This sounds really good, even though it's got some pretty aggressively bright metallic tones. Now I have to do some A/B-ing and try to sort out what it is that I hate about bright metallic drippy spring reverb. I always thought the stereo chorus on my little Fender Princeton Chorus amp did a LOT to improve the big clangy spring reverb it had.

[@Vim-Wolf]

I saw that Poly-800 sneak in at that start. The synth I know for containing a spring reverb is the ARP 2600 - which I found out when Jarre was doing a studio tour and thumped his (original one) to show you could get odd sounds out of them. Ouch.

[@unclemick-synths]

My Great British Spring mk2 made great thunder if I gave it a gentle kick!

[@hollywood4834]

That’s a very beautiful machine

[@phd_sound]

Holy f8ckin sh1t! Time to start saving my sheckels

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

this makes my gamechanger audio spring feel even more worth the money tbh

[@davids.688]

I’m sorry, but at 15:38 did you actually tap the physical exterior of this box and it added some turbulence and dirt to the sound being produced? Oh my God Starsky that’s awesome - imagine what a ball peen hammer or .22 round could do. Beautiful demo, sir. Cheers!

[@ElektronicCricket]

Indeed, what a difference … I’m also not a big fan of spring reverbs but this one sounds really nice, smooth, definitely high quality components inside. Also that tape delay is great …. . I should make a nice graphic for the front panel. That gray space above the control knobs are a bit boring … but that’s a little detail 😊 … love it

[@thirstyCactus]

Poly-800 is lowly, true, though I find it quite inspirational. Nice to see it get some time in the lime-light! :D

[@TeamHash]

Marvelous!

[@mwmfl8960]

I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of spring reverbs. But that one is a complete exception. Whoever designed the circuit must have known what to include to get around the limitations.

[@MoeShinola1]

I can hear the water dripping from the roof of that cavern you've been recording all this in.

[@anthonyman8008]

I got a couple of the behringer springs for 180 a piece and I love em

[@4CloudySky]

Oh, wow 🤯

[@klinkske]

I like the rack format. Further it just reminds me of a tape echo.

[@timweinheimer1]

Looks well built nice looking piece of kit as you Brits would say 🎉

[@StarskyCarr]

That’s exactly what is Brits would say 😀

[@fjfrancois]

🤣

[@ManCalledMif]

19:14 stereo vibrato is very nice

[@DavidLee07]

Mmm, the sound of luxury.

[@Amazology]

Tasty box mate

[@FLH3official]

Thanks for the video, Starsky, interesting product, sounds excellent. (Out of my financial reach now but it's not the subject). And for the recall of your favorite settings, take a picture. But obviously not with a smartphone, with a real Polaroïd camera as all of this have to stay in the analog domain! 😉 BTW we can imagine a v2 of this product with CV/gate and clock inputs for external controls.

[@jeffreyorion]

Crazy, I was just thinking of DIYing something like this the past week. What kind of delay is it using a BBD chip or a pt2399?

[@StarskyCarr]

It’s t he PT2399 … so could be argued that it’s not strictly analog, but it’s referred to as analog by so many that I’m going with that description - it’s not a ‘digital’ VA delay.

[@PorchBass]

The pt2399 just shares a lot of cheap pedal heritage - it doesn't sound bad here I don't hear crazy distortion on the repeats

[@StarskyCarr]

I think they’ve controlled it very well - the extra filters in the delay circuit are obviously helping. They’ve added saturation in there, but however they’ve done it … it sounds fab.

[@muzikman2008]

Definately better than my H&H guitar amp spring verb from 1979 😂👍 like you said, 1 million times better..

[@videomove]

nice! what’s the price tag? 6k? 🤔

[@StarskyCarr]

Haha not quite. £1.2k

[@minimal3734]

The sound corresponds with the price of the unit.

[@StarskyCarr]

Yeah., it’s not cheap. But neither’s the tone.

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

Looks like an interesting option for making a Jupiter-6 sound stereo.

[@StarskyCarr]

Oooh!! Yes.

[@jumpingman8160]

Damn... all it's missing is an Essemble like the ones on String Machines (I was hoping that was the Magic knob 😅)

[@StarskyCarr]

You can sort of get there with the motion and the delay… but even a simple little chorus switch would be nice.

[@brandonSpivey-vx4eu]

Yes that is really nice. !!

[@videomove]

poly 800 ⭐️

[@mynameistechno]

does it feed the spring back into the delay? this would be cool

[@StarskyCarr]

Yes… that’s the magic knob

[@tanvirchisti8422]

I wish I had a magic knob

[@StarskyCarr]

Is that Greg Wallace 😂😂

[@enochroot9438]

@@StarskyCarr 🤓

[@JBrm]

Sounds gorgeous. Looks like 3 rack units though, so where the hell do i put that? (Besides the fact that I need to think at least twice before spending that amount of money on an analog effect box 😅 Did you notice it to be sensitive around other electronics (e.g. lcd monitors, power supplies,...)?

[@TheDinnermoney]

Hi, I'm one of the owners of Teaching Machines. It can be fitted with rubber feet to stand on a surface. Yes it can pick up hum from nearby transformers so it needs to be positioned carefully.

[@Kenny_Blacksmith]

'Kin hell... you are going to bankrupt me

[@fjfrancois]

It seems like no one is selling this beauty yet, I followed the links, and there’s not showing up in the stores.

[@StarskyCarr]

I think it’s only available directly from them. I’ll add a link

[@kevindewinter8235]

It is actually true that a good external hw eq or compressor add’s a pro edge.

[@Dogboy73]

Looks and sounds amazing. Just seen the price though ............ think I'll stick with my Intellijel Springray2 😀

[@Lord_UND_Himself]

That thing is massive for a rack. The extra effect sections are such a “magical” inclusion, though. I think I’ll stick with my Vermona DSR-3. For now….👀

[@StarskyCarr]

😂

[@JayKaufman]

The lack of a resonance knob is a tad disappointing given the cost of this thing. It seems like an oversight. It does sound beautiful though!

[@SYNTHWARS-d2c]

love reverbs but definitely not a fan of spring reverbs.. I guess I can tolerate this one.. lol.. thanks Professor

[@JumboDubby]

That’s right 05:38

[@boblove2912]

Sounds great but its very expensive.

[@oblitafier]

You called the manufacturer “Teacher Machines” in the video.

[@StarskyCarr]

I do say teaching machines, but the auto subtitles function has transcribed it as teacher not teaching.

[@AlisonWilder]

Damnit, I'm going to be telling myself that I don't need this to pair with my UDO Super Gemini for probably WEEKS. (That's how long it will take me to give in and just buy the damn thing.) Seriously, that sounds gorgeous.

[@StarskyCarr]

I'm about to have a play with the Super8!! I promise I'll throw it through this just to annoy you ;)

[@AlisonWilder]

@@StarskyCarr EVIL! :D My SupGem is coming today...I think I'll be satisfied w/ my verb selection...I'm particularly excited to try it through the Ursa Major Stargate 626 for some epic vintage vibes. But I'll keep an eye out for that Super8 video for sure! (Just sitting on my hands and trying to concentrate on other things atm. VERY stoked for this one.)

[@StarskyCarr]

@@AlisonWilder Now THAT's a flex :)

[@AlisonWilder]

@@StarskyCarr this is youtube man, if you've got it, flaunt it 🤣

[@ZdejPoham]

I'll try to recreate something similar with a Proton and any of the reverb pedals I have.

[@StarskyCarr]

Let me know how you get on. Sounds like a fun evening.

[@ManCalledMif]

Mono in, stereo out?

[@StarskyCarr]

Stereo in, stereo out. In parallel it’s like 2 mono units.

[@MusicLovesFood]

Yep looks and sounds like a DIY project

[@StarskyCarr]

If only I had the skills.

[@MusicLovesFood]

@@StarskyCarr Your skills are way superior tbh! Keep doing what you're doing!

[@ABC-bm7kl]

Good Gawd!

[@ABC-bm7kl]

Glorious!

[@jadedsean]

Please check out austica audios new synth, i beleive its taken from a Jupiter eight. I would love to hear your thoughts are on how close they got.

[@tyromelive2851]

I'm not a massive fan of spring reverbs , U R now🤣

[@infindebula]

It sounds great, but once you consider its parts (BBD delay, filter with LFO, spring reverb) I’m not hearing much that you couldn’t do with those three devices and a small mixer with some sends.

[@StarskyCarr]

Have a go, it’d be a fun challenge. The LFO mod would be difficult I think, duplicating the stereo mod on both simultaneously, as would the ‘magic’ feedback using individual units. It’d be interesting to hear the results. If you manage to do something close, report back and let me know how it goes. Possibly another video!

[@infindebula]

@ I will indeed have a go. And I’ll share. But when I do it, I won’t be needling over your video trying to do the exact same stuff - just to try to achieve similarly lush results with some gear I’ve already got. It might take me a bit to get around to it … but I will!!

[@NamelessSmile]

Alan partridge moment 3:22

[@StarskyCarr]

I do t even have to look to know what you’re talking about! You know that moment when your brain says ’really?…you’re going to say it out loud?’ 😂

[@UncleMilty]

Would look nice in a wood cabinet.

[@apolloc.vermouth5672]

Mmmm, sounds a bit like Irmin Schmidt's custom FX box from the 70s

[@grindhouseglitch]

Want it so bad!

[@alanshewitt]

Would love to hear it across a drum bus

[@stuartboldt8441]

it's taken a wee while. but i've figured out which kidney i'm going to sell / keep - i'm ok - i don't have a problem 😐

[@theDelinquenC]

I've had a magic knob my entire life. Also this shits on any plugin i've ever heard. Sounds so fucking nice.

[@StarskyCarr]

Plugins are a weird thing.. they’re so useful, so incredibly good value etc. but once I sit down for inspiration it’s rarely with a plugin. They don’t quite do the ‘special’ stuff lots of hardware can do - and not necessarily expensive kit. I’ve just been playing with the NYX from Dreadbox and all sorts of lovely stuff pops out.

[@thirstyCactus]

That delay sounds digital to me. Not bad by any means, but digital. I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment. 😅

[@Thoracius]

Wouldn't say that sounds like a good spring. Sounds severly bandlimited. Muffled mid-range lofi. I have both the Surfybear and an old fostex 3180. Now those have a nice full spectrum response.

[@nickjones5641]

ah, should have been an analog BBD chip not a digital delay chip.

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

I heard Ti-Tsjing and thought it was Chinese

[@StarskyCarr]

Haha wow… that’s unexpected 😂

[@audiosuy]

sounds good but it´s way overpriced you can put together a similar system for much less and even have more options for each part can´t stand why manufacturers charge so much for a spring reverb since a spring tank is really cheap and the electronics you need to run it properly are dead simple

[@StarskyCarr]

It's for people like me who haven't got a clue about electronics, or the time to put one together myself.. I guess thats the same for loads of things. They seem like magic unless you know the tech.

[@audiosuy]

@@StarskyCarr didn't mean build one yourself, just buy an analog delay, a filter and a spring reverb to put together something similar using pedals or modules

[@StarskyCarr]

@@audiosuyaaahh 😂🤦‍♂️

[@d3tuned378]

1500 samolians. Too rich for my blood.

[@pjforde1978]

oh, shit. this is not helping my GAS

[@devtank]

Its cool, but I think its boring looking.