updating a bad "shoebox" reverb

[mac1amps]

Has anyone out there ever had to retrofit an old [in this case, Supro] "shoebox" style reverb spring tray with a "modern" reverb tank?
Since those old "shoebox" spring/transducer units were so INefficient, replacing it with a modern style tray results in way too much intensity (too much for a "surf" player even!), that's even with the intensity turned to "1". I've tried reducing the gain of the drive/pick-up networks, but that hasn't helped hardly at all. I'm sure I could re-build the whole thing to a different design (most likely a Fender "stand-alone" ckt.), but that would [obviously] "kill" all it's vintage "mojo". This unit is also a piece of store inventory, where they would prefer to have it as original as possible, of course........so, any of you know of any "minimal modification" tricks to work with this "interface"?

[Mark Hammer]

Sometimes, it's not the level but the bandwidth. Some 25 years back, I bought a late 60's SS Gibson amp of some kind and the reverb was simply awful. Instant headache. I replaced the series cap limiting the low end going into the tank with a smaller value to shave off some bass. The tank behaved MUCH better as a result, and starting sounding more like ambient reflections than somebody kicking the tank with every note.

Maybe there's your strategy.

[Chuck H]

Provided all the impedances are compatible, you may not only have more output but more sensitivity as well. You could try reducing drive to the pan as well as gain from the recovery stage. And, as noted, you may shave bottom end off the drive signal. Got a schematic?