Know anything about reverberators?

[ew1usnr]

I just made a spur of the moment purchase of a "StudiSonic" reverberator off e-bay. It said "$40 By It Now" and it seemed too good to pass up. I have not seen these very often and they usually go for a lot more:

Reverberator 5.jpg

They are shown on Page 36 of my 1963 Falcon Owner's Manual:

IMG_0047.jpg

IMG_0045.jpg

A glitch is that the jacks were cut off:

Reverberator 8 wires.jpg

I know that they mounted in the trunk, and these are evidently the mounting tabs:

Reverberator 7 tabs.jpg

But .... that's all I know. Has anyone ever had one of these and/or know how the wiring works?

This was the description given on e-bay:

Seller Notes: “Rare studio sonic reverb pulled from a 1963 Falcon Sprint”

"I have a rare Studio Sonic Reverb unit taken out of a 1963 falcon sprint. It was located in the trunk and appears to be in great shape. These units were put into your car to make your radio sound like it was in a studio. They were put in Falcons, Comets, Fairlane's, and most early 60s ford cars.
This one still looks intact, was not water logged or taken apart, all electric parts are intact inside the unit. I do NOT know if this works or if it is broken.
The wires are all there, the turner switch was cut off of it as well as the single speaker but there is plenty of original wire to splice and make it work.
These are rare radio speaker enhancers that make a collectible accessory in your falcon. I have only seen these in 1963 Falcon Sprints or Futuras, but were available for other Ford cars.
Again I do NOT know if this works nor, have I tested it so you would have to buy it AS IS. The only numbers I found on this is on the back side:
MOTOROLA R1200 112444 then stamped 413 40"

[Luva65wagon]

Dennis,

I think the wires would go to the radio (source for sound), speaker (from the reverb unit), and the "mixer control" (I assume ran up to the dash) - though it's not clear from anything I've found so far. Here's a thread on a Mustang site with some pics. You could "register" on the site to gain access to some of the members-only pics.

http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vi...ck-wiring.html

The sound these made would be interesting to hear someday. My guess is, compared to today's sound quality, it will be a bit on the cheesy side. Reverb is to make the sound "fuller" as though in a concert hall. The main way this was done was to stretch springs in a box and the springs vibrating cause the reverb. Lots of interesting "what is reverb" videos on YouTube. Usually it was the speaker making sound against the springs to cause the reverb. You see them most commonly added to guitar amplifiers, but I can see that as "hi-tech" for a 1963 car.

[ew1usnr]

I can see that as "hi-tech" for a 1963 car.

It will go nicely with my "Futura" theme. It's the car of the Future, ... Today! I do like the way my car spells "F U T U R A" across the back in big chrome letters. It makes the people behind me look at it and think ... "Huh?"

I was somewhat mystified as to how to wire this thing in place, but I found this web site that explains it well and includes schematics: http://www.mustangtek.com/E…/FordStu...undsystem.html

StudioSonic_001.jpg

StudioSonic_002.jpg

Here is a complete 1964 kit that is listed on e-bay for .... $1,400!

s-l1600.jpg

The system in its original configuration included a floor-mounted on-off switch and a dash-mounted fade/reverberation control. I will be non-authentic because I am not going to drill holes in my floor or in my dash. So, I will build a little switch panel and mount on the lower edge of the dash. I will also need to get another rear shelf, a rear speaker, and a speaker grill. The actual 1963 Ford rear shelf speaker grills pop up on e-bay ever now and then, but they are pricey.

StudioSonic_003.jpg

When I get this rigged up, it should be pretty cool to flip a switch and get concert-hall echo reverberation. What will Ford think of next?

Cool! Here is a 1962 Caddy playing music from a Redi-Rad (which I also have) through the radio with a Motorola VibraSoninic reverberator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zw3gnkdfis

[SmithKid]

Has anyone mentioned that when you hit a bump with the reverb activated, the springs that cause the reverb effect will make a pretty loud noise and fade out?I had one back in that era installed in my '55 Ford. Of course, I considered it pretty cool to have the reverb set to max, and then gradually adjusted the effect down because of the distortion when bumps were hit (my hometown didn't have the smoothest streets in the area).

[ew1usnr]

Has anyone mentioned that when you hit a bump with the reverb activated, the springs that cause the reverb effect will make a pretty loud noise and fade out?I had one back in that era installed in my '55 Ford. Of course, I considered it pretty cool to have the reverb set to max, and then gradually adjusted the effect down because of the distortion when bumps were hit (my hometown didn't have the smoothest streets in the area).

Man, I am really stoked to figure this thing out and get it installed. It is so cool that it is electro-mechanical, with the reverberation effect created by .... springs. Springs, bouncing up and down.

Falcons are old, but in my mind they are still modern cars. Your 1955 Ford sounds really nice. Did you have a Y-Block V-8? I would love to have a 1950 Ford with a flathead V-8.

1950_Ford_Custom_Coupe.jpg

[SmithKid]

My old '55 wasn't really a very cool car. It was a 4-door sedan with grossly bad paint. It was a (Y-block) 292 w/heads from a 312 supercharger motor and several configurations of induction (but no supercharger). Made respectable power but certainly wasn't king of the local streets. I remember that I had to put quite a few transmissions in it until I discovered the Borg-Warner T-85c (predecessor to the T-10). My wife and I went on our honeymoon in that car and we sold it shortly thereafter.