a few reverb questions

[cshsfg]

so i'm planning on building a super reverb-ish amp in the near future and i've been considering two different basic configurations for the reverb circuit. both of them will use an actual power tube as the driver, be it a 6k6, 6v6, 6aq5, el84 etc, and i'll ask something about them later. the first one is the typical BF-style reverb taken after the second gain stage, and the second one is a vibro-king/onboard reverb unit style circuit that basically has reverb before everything.

1. how would the two of these sound and how would they compare with each other?

2. i've heard from several people that the BF-style circuit has some major issues, but none of them really seem to elaborate. could i get an explanation and aside from using the power tube, is there a way i could improve it?

3. how well would the different power tubes above work? i know the 6k6 is the traditional tube and the vibro-king uses an el84, but would any of them be better suited for the application?

4. i've noticed on all the BF schematics there's a 3M3 and a small capacitor paralleled in the dry signal path where it combines with the wet signal and then has to feed into another gain stage to regain the lost signal. is this really necessary? i've got a gibson amp with reverb, and IIRC it doesn't have anything like it.

thanks in advance,
matt

[tubeswell]

I built a 6G15 clone last year using a JJ6V6s biased with a 1k cathode resistor into a 5K RT driving an 8R pan and it sounds quite amazing with my tweed amps (if I say so myself) - can do all the surf stuff as well as gritty blues and '60's-themed guitar stuff like Pete Green. Make sure you use transformers with good shielding and steel end covers.

Anther option for a power-tube driven pan in a 'single tube' verb is a 6BM8 (with the triode side as the recovery). I haven't built one like this yet but its on my to-do list after hearing some of the guys on the dumble forum raving about the tone.