Making the Tape Op DIY Plate smaller

Just reading through my old copies of Tape Op...
Their article stipulated a sheet metal size of about 2 metres by 1 meter (if I remember rightly).
How small is reasonable to go with downsizing those measurements?

When plate area gets smaller, you need thinner plate material to get the "reverb" part of the sound louder than the "metallic" part..

So you can't go much lower in size, and still have both decent reverb quality AND a plate material thickness that allows relatively easy handling and fixture.

After all, there is a good reason why EMT made them like they did..

Jakob E.

thanks - jakob
just trying to find something that can fit in the room and not in the garage (and have to drill holes through the walls to send the lines out and back)

i am looking at the spring reverb - but am having diffuclties understandign the electronics required for the driver amp and the pickup amp - I knwo what they do - but all the info and schematics on the web seems to be about Guitar Amps
I will come back when I have done some more reading

check this for dedicated spring reverb circuitry:

http://members.tripod.com/~roymal/

ed

[quote author="edanderson"]check this for dedicated spring reverb circuitry:

http://members.tripod.com/~roymal/

ed[/quote]

That sure brings back memories. I built that circuit a couple years ago to drive the spring reverb tank in a Peavey MX-VTX amp. Wanting to bypass the solid state preamp and use the tube power amp, I lost the reverb driver so I built an external one.

The circuit worked well, but my build quality was lacking. I should try again now that my DIY skills are considerably better, largely thanks to this board. :thumb:

just trying to find something that can fit in the room and not in the garage

Click to expand...

If what you mean by this is putting the plate in your control/mixing room. You have to be a bit careful about doing this because the plate is a microphone & can easily pick up what your speakers are putting out.

THUD!!!

Rob - that was me smacking my head and sayign to myself "duhhh...."
Thanks for that .......
Back to the drawing board...
Lots of Reverb threads recently

I believe that the AKG BX series of spring reverbs sound good & they are supposed to be OK in a control room.

Hi,
In case your plate reverb project is still active I can give you a contact that sells parts, i.e. the driver and pickups + has a lot of good info.

I am doing a plate reverb myself as a slow side project and recently ordered the parts. Haven't got them yet though so I won't guarantee nothing.

Regarding plate size, the smaller it goes, the thinner it must be and the thinner it gets, the harder it is to stretch it without damaging it, and the lesser the stretch, the uglier the bottom response.
Smaller plates would also have lesser bottom response, but that doesn't need to be a bad thing if it sounds smooth.
Recommended thickness is from 0.4mm to 0.9 i believe.

Another note:
Cold rolled steel --> Smooth hall like sound
Stainless steel --> More metallic sizzle

So in other words, if you want to downsize you should try cold rolled steel as thin as you can get it. Sheet metal is pretty cheap so you can experiment in that department.

Good luck!
hejsan

I'd propose that anything that sounded kind of good when you tapped on it would make a reverb plate.

Not one that sounded like an EMT... But a valid effect nonetheless.

I have a 2' x 2' plate, and two 8' x 4' plates laying in the garage that I'm intending to get to someday :roll: (can anyone say RUST REMOVER?)

I was thinking about a combo pack for the smaller plate - - - a rectangular notch in the center which housed springs with adjustable tension on them. I was going to stuff it all into this giant briefcase that I have laying around.

Someday... :roll:

Try it out, just don't stretch it so much that it deforms.

What do you intend to use for frame?

Regards,
Hejsan

Merry x-mas everyone :grin:

Here's how I made my plate.

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=10718&highlight=tape++plate

I put up a few soundsamples so you can hear it. Dunno how close it is to a real EMT, but I'm very pleased with it so who cares ?