What's inside? Behringer Spring Reverberation 636 teardown and sound examples

[@RaquelFoster]

It's really cool that you decided to open it up and noticed the spring needed attached! When I was in high school in the '90s I had a Fender Princeton Chorus with a big spring tank mounted to the cabinet, and as soon as you barely bumped it you'd hear the springs rattle. Honestly I didn't even know what the spring tank was I just tried not to bump it. Next time I get bored I'm gonna buy some Slinkys and do ... reverb research.

[@ruscor]

Yeah Slinky reverb research sounds like fun! I am guitar player too and totally remember the sound of the spring rattle in my Marshall Valvestate 40V guitar amp I had as a kid. Old spring love never dies!

[@sidsuperstar]

Thanks for taking the time. It is much appreciated!

[@jordanevo3]

That is a very quiet spring reverb. Much more so than my Doepfer or Fender amp. I agree the panel/case size seems a bit bigger than necessary, and not sure what these sell for, but I’m definitely more intrigued than I was. Thanks for sharing.

[@ruscor]

Glad you liked the video, thanks for watching! Yes quiet indeed - the most quiet spring reverb I have encountered yet.

[@unclemick-synths]

My first reverb unit was a Great British Spring Mk2. Two reverb tanks in a big 3 foot tube. Used to get a great thunder effect with a gentle kick!⚡ I sold it when the Alesis Microverb III came on the market. I can see why Behringer made this and why the original is a classic. If I recorded any type of dub music, I'd definitely get one.

[@ruscor]

Just looked it up that thing looks wild! Could imagine it was good fun 😁

[@zardoz53]

thanks for the in-depth review and teardown.

[@ruscor]

No problem!

[@adognamedshinji]

Sounds great! Love me some spring reverb

[@ruscor]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

[@JACK-YOUR-BODY]

thx for the vid ..its good job you did open it find the fault to fix ..the corner spring you reattached was going underneath the other 3 if you look sat differently not sure if it would effect overall but just so you know.

[@ruscor]

Thank you! Yes, I noticed this and corrected it before I assembled it again - I was just not filming at that point. I don't think the reverb sound would be affected by it, but it might make a small difference in acoustic isolation.

[@FoundationStepper]

Hi there, I enjoyed your 636 videos a lot. Thanks for letting me look inside your unit. I gave mine back to Thomann because of the shitty sound (in my opinion) bless up my friend

[@ruscor]

Thanks and likewise! Was fun listening to some of the sounds you made with yours. Hope you find the right spring reverb unit for you.

[@igormamaev87]

One of the best voice recording in KZbin video i have ever heard. What kind of microphone do you use?

[@ruscor]

Thank you, happy to hear that! The microphone is a Røde NT1.

[@davelordy]

When you reattached the spring, you left the other end in the wrong position - if you look at the little hole where it's attached it should be on the left side (like all the other springs) not on the right (where you left it).

[@ruscor]

Thanks for spotting that! I doubt it will make much of a difference but I will fix it for the ease of mind.

[@LipazMusic]

Belcat produces boutique amps, pedals, piezos... mainly guitar related stuffs. Likely spring reverbs too. :)

[@dwb1980]

Sounds good 👍

[@dwb1980]

A minor fault, fairly easy to correct. It could have happened during transportation. Do you think the tank could be changed? I used to own the vermona vr3 spring, sold it during a time I was skint. Fairly basic unit but good. Not sure how big the tank was but was sure it was the size of the unit, could be wrong. This one I think sounds better, quite a hot signal and no noise.

[@ruscor]

​@@dwb1980 The spring tank could probably be changed although you will likely have to make modifications to fit it. Never tried the Vermona spring reverbs myself but heard good things about them. Yes good sound and low noise for sure on the Behringer 636 for sure.

[@klstay]

Personally I am not surprised at all to see a basically no name 2 spring miniature tank inside. Not complaining; they have to hit this price somehow. Would love to know input and output impedance; unsurprisingly NOT in their documentation. For well under $100 you could easily swap the 2 connectors for something to a 3 way switch on an external housing you cobble up housing a quality vertical short, medium, and long tank.

[@HandsandFingers]

I would love to see that on a how to video. This is exactly what im trying to work out. I want a bigger reverb tank on this Behringer module but also wanna know what the particulars are if Im going to tackle the project.

[@guitarcheckermarc]

i'm still debating with my self if i should send it back or not! i unboxed it tested it and reboxed it, didn't like the reverb that much, have a fender unit that sounds much better to my ears! i liked the overdriven preamp into a tube amp really much for guitar. did it sound better after adjusting the springs in the tank? maybe i sould take a look there if my unit has a similar issue? hmmmm.....

[@herberdth]

The spring used is a standard medium 2 spring tank at 9.25". What gave the 636 it's main characteristica was the germanium transistors in overdrive. Good for crappy reggae. Giving warmth and space to snares and guitars. I would have liked to see if the transistors were actually Germanium or just TL71 op-amps. Putting this inside a big eurorack would likely pick up a lot of noise, just keep it in the case.

[@ruscor]

Thanks for the info. This was quick look to check out the spring tank. Hopefully someone else will have a proper look to inspect the transistors. Agreed, will be keeping this in the case for sure.

[@memorymanuk]

Define crappy reggae

[@reecedeyoung6595]

Twin peaks beat at the start

[@Ubi_Qui]

Hey mate, enjoyed the video. Should get yourself a little set of dental tools for occasions like this, real handy for getting in tight spaces, fishing out things, getting little wires to go where they need to.

[@ruscor]

Thanks for the tip!

[@Ubi_Qui]

@@ruscor Hey no worries, thanks for the vid.

[@eyesintheskies]

Think they did good with this one, 🤔 shouldn’t be to difficult to mod for use with full size tanks. Although quite surprised how good it sounds with the tiny tank, guessing the preamp plays a big part there.

[@aftertheendtimes]

Amazing intro song! =)

[@ruscor]

Thank you! 😁🙏

[@Haroun-El-Poussah]

LOL, I had the same spring verb on the 2nd guitar amp I built in 1987... Maybe you can mount a larger verb in the box: these small springs have really short verb time

[@CaptainAhorn]

You’ve been taking quite a beating lately!

[@JonMurray]

Nice one man. Thanks for the tear down video. Did you notice a difference in performance/sound with the spring reattached out of interest?

[@ruscor]

Thanks! No I didn't notice a difference. I don't think the reverb sound itself will be affected by it much but it will probably make the spring less isolated from outside acoustic vibrations.

[@matteonolli]

Good review!

[@ruscor]

Thanks!

[@Subtronik]

Did you notice any difference in sound quality after reattaching the suspension spring?

[@ruscor]

No not really. I don't think the reverb sound itself would be affected by it much. But it will likely make a difference in acoustic isolation from outside vibrations.

[@TheChindogu]

the tank seems to be exact this one on Ebay Spring Reverb Tank Guitar AMP Amplifier Part 2 Springs TPSB2EB2C1B Medium Decay New £23.66

[@ruscor]

Nice find! Yes, that looks like the one.

[@טלאוחנה-ר6ד]

if you have a splitter and want to get funky send one of the splitter's out to the aux in and get feedback.

[@ruscor]

Wow, cool idea I have to try that. Thanks for the tip!

[@l1fef0rm]

Immediately reminds me Squarepusher's "Our Underwater Torch". I really do not like the Dreadbox spring tank, its sounds too "springy". I love the chorus/flange and delay, but that spring reverb sounds really bad to me.

[@ruscor]

Nice, love me some Squarepusher! Lots of spring reverb on his tracks around that time. Yeah, the one thing I don't like about the Hypnosis is that the minimum value of pre-delay time of the reverb is 30ms. Not great for percussive sounds and beats because it gets messy sounding really fast.

[@hulkslayer626]

Absolutely no reason that they made it 72hp instead of the standard 70hp like the Wasp/Cat/Model D. I also thought it would be because the springs had to be that long... smh

[@ruscor]

Yep, strange choice. It was likely either to make it appear as the original (with the blank space on the left side of the front panel) or to get the string as far away from the power supply in order to keep the noise as low as possible. But I can't imagine how 2 HP of space would have made much of a difference either way.

[@SomeOne-pd6vm]

disappointing, because i would have loved to have a 2 tier stand with this and my wasp :P

[@hulkslayer626]

@SomeOne-pd6vm This, The Model D, The Wasp and The Cat all would have fit in a Behringer Go case... 😭

[@ktreier]

Very weird choice.

[@ktreier]

Typical Behringer quality (or lack of). I,ve had Model D, and Wasp with jammed Octave switches.

[@ChromosomeSyndicate]

Sounds 👍

[@ruscor]

Thanks! 🙏

[@aseomg]

How to buy a Behringer product: Buy a DIY kit of the thing you're interested in, from whoever sells not named Behringer. Once fully asembled, take a marker & write Behringer on it...done. 😎

[@MrCrrispy]

I like the soviet look

[@lucianappleton1212]

I ordered one a while ago

[@DarkTrapStudio]

Great content man nicely produced thanks ! I though you were Russian hence the name channel but I guess youre not exept if you got prisitne accent. I like Russians they have a soothing way of talking and are usually more kind and educated than my French fellows !

[@symbiat0]

Instead of mounting in a Eurorack case, it might be better in a 19” outboard rack instead… 🤔

[@ruscor]

Yes, that would make sense. Unfortunately Behringer don't make any 72 HP compatible Eurorack Rack Brackets.

[@symbiat0]

@@ruscor True, but you could remount the 636 in a rack mountable case or use something like the Happy Ending Kit.

[@chupiconverge6034]

Amazing 😮

[@justcox]

My monk mind would bring the little spring in the correct position like the other 3.

[@ruscor]

Yes, someone else pointed this out and watching it back I can see it now. Rest assured I'll be correcting it asap :)

[@harmonicuniverse]

The tank is shorter, and that sounds shorter than a grampian. Dont know why they based it on the grampian as it sounds nothing like it. They didnt do anything in preamp to recreate the grampian sound either. Making it look similar doesnt make it sound similar.

[@EchoReverb6]

but this behringer sounds good to me

[@thetwlo]

Not much of a teardown, would be nice to see the circuit board to see the parts used.

[@ruscor]

This was just quick look to check out the spring tank so hopefully someone else more tech-savvy than me can do a proper teardown and inspect the parts used.

[@sunnypedaal]

I prefer the intelligel springreverb ,check it out

[@ruscor]

Looks great and nice to be able to switch between 3 springs. Do you have one? It's another price range of course and there are no springs included, but Intellijel makes nice stuff - I have their Mixup mixer module.

[@ismaeletyl0]

it's this mono?

[@ruscor]

Yes

[@Sycokay]

Bought a spring reverb from Dreadbox a while ago...sounds as shitty as this one^^. Analog is not always better.

[@ruscor]

Some people like the sound of springs reverb and some don't 🤷‍♂️

[@l1fef0rm]

@@ruscor One must be careful with spring reverb, it's all about subtlety. Never go full spring.

[@angeldc54]

Behringer (lack of) quality assurance doesn't disappoint.

[@MarioTorre]

Indeed you can always rely on Behringer!

[@MrMe4444444]

I was not impressed with the one in my grey 2600.

[@ruscor]

I have a Grey Meanie and I quite like the sound of the spring in it. Each to his own I guess.

[@jm6734]

Thinking of getting one, but can’t get over how big is. Apparently unnecessary. Behringer keep doing this. No sense for urbanisation where people have limited space. They should make compact stuff. Send Uli to Japan

[@DarkTrapStudio]

Especially in Japan yes, maybe make a 3D printed housing !

[@snörre23]

Not impressed - not sure why they did care to make this - waste of resources. I have a Carl Martin Headroom for Guitar and love the Erica Spring Reverb for Eurorack - can do lots of feedback sounds unlike this. The Doepfer is also nice fore the price. And both much smaller.

[@ruscor]

Yes the size of it is definitely a downside. The Erica Spring and Headroom sure seem like nice reverbs and more flexible too in terms of sounds.

[@surrealchemist]

They just re-use these cases it seems, like its off the shelf for them and they stick some new knockoff in there. Seems like paint by numbers where they just look at the original and fill in the colors till its complete. Not much thought into adding features or how its going to be used. The panel even just has some of the aspects of the original but looks goofy with all the empty space.

[@ruscor]

​@@surrealchemist Actually all their eurorack compatible synths are either 80 HP (Neutron, Pro-1) or 70 HP (Model-D, CAT) so this case is really an odd size at 72 HP. But yeah it seems like they're just cloning here instead of adding new features. It also seems like the blank space on the left side of the front panel is just there because the original has it. It might be the reason it's so big - to make it look more like the Grampian. I would have preferred some patch points instead.

[@googledriver8795]

Behringer quality control is awful, would never buy any of their products.