Silvertone 1474 reverb tank

[rf7]

What's up with that crazy reverb cylinder in these amps? It looks like there is no reverb transformer like Fender uses in the circuit. Is that why the reverb is not so strong on these things? I measured impedances at each end and they were equal, somewhere around 180 ohms. Were they just trying to save money by leaving out the transformer?

[J Martin]

The reverb system is a little weak by its design, And yes, they were trying to save money. They can be converted to a normal short tank either capacitor or transformer driven. There is plenty of power in that 6CG7.

[Enzo]

Not all reverbs use a transformer drive anyway. If it is the one I think it is, the long spring is supported at the ends, and then a piece of piezo is stuck in the spring turns by each end - one to drive and one to pick up. At best it has all the tone of a screen door spring. I have found that when on good working order, they make a reasonable amount of reverb. Crummy sounding reverb, but enough of it.

Plenty of old Ampegs out there with transformerless reverb drives, if you want an example.

[rf7]

Thanks for the info, guys!

[Platefire]

Do you thinkthe 6cg7 could drive a long tank? I have one of these already. Thanks for the info

[J M Fahey]

It *VERY MUCH* depends on the tank impedance.
Measure and post the DC resistance you measure at each end, plus any code written on the tank itself.