Hi.
I am an intermediate guitarist, if you can call me that. I am not a beginner but nowhere near a pro. I am an x ray technician and been learning guitar since COVID. I have an acoustic.
Most of my favourite songs are based on electric guitar, so I got a squier tele recently. Also got a small solid state combo amp, which has no reverb.
I had borrowed a friendās memory man delay (re-issue version) pedal. I only liked it if I used it for slapback settings. I have never experienced how reverb sounds. The only pedals I own are TU-2 tuner and RC-1 looper. I donāt have any friends with whom I can play, and my apartment is acoustically dead.
Should I buy a reverb pedal or a simple 3-knob delay for slapback?
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Hey Ashton,
I canāt answer your question exactly but since itās the first time you post, welcome to the community!!!
All I can say is that IMO an amp usually sounds a bit better with some reverb (mine both have built in reverb), but I canāt say if itās better to have one of those than a delay pedal. They do different things and both can sound great when used correctly.
Iāve got a Squier tele too (Affinity). Itās a lovely guitar. Even though I have more expensive ones, it still gets a lot of play.
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Iām an outlier in this space in that I never use reverb unless Iām performing. I find it makes it easier to hear any issues in my playing - if Iām not fretting cleanly or not muting well enough for example. Iāve just become used to it.
Most people like a bit of reverb as it just makes things sound ābetterā, but donāt overdo it.
You can buy an inexpensive reverb pedal second hand - and if you donāt like it then it should be easy to recoup your costs.
Go and play in your bathroom - normally tiled walls / floors will give you some natural reverb.
You will often see reverb and delays in one pedal, might be worth looking at those.
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Hi Ashton
The Memory Man is a pretty good pedal, I have one and it is very versatile, it is actually possible to get pretty good reverb from it. Have you tried to do so? There are quite number of videos on Youtube on how to get the best out of it.
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Thank you.
I get confused by too many knobs and options, so I like to keep it simple.
I had fun at a couple of open mic nights playing my acoustic previously.
My friend from whom I had borrowed the delay said that he likes to leave it at home because he is also a singer in his band and plugs straight into a tube amp on stage.
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understood. everybody needs to find their own sound and their own preferences. thereās a good chance that the tube amp has its own reverb. mine does and I tend to add just a little bit. not all do, of course. I know people who use a couple pedals to achieve their āsignatureā sound and donāt mess with them beyond that.
just remember, itās only as complex as you choose to make it.
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My Tele is also an affinity.
I would like to be advised on buying new reverb pedals in 100$ range. I would have bought a delay pedal, but I wont use it apart from slapback, and I would like to get either a delay or a reverb while I play alone at home. I have poor experience with buying used pedals (EHX looper stopped working and TC tuner switch failed).
I cannot play in my bathroom to simulate a reverb because there is no power outlet there and the closest one is near the apartment door while the bathroom is in a corner.
My friend does not use reverb while gigging.
Your Ultimate Guide to Reverb | JustinGuitar.com
You can certainly find a 2nd hand one online in your price range.
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Hi Aston & Welcome to the Community!!!
Iāve had good luck with my Behringer DR 600 Digital Stereo Reverb pedal.
I bought it brand new for about $35 usd about a year ago, itās apparently up to $44 nowā¦
Very similar to itās Boss counterpart but it has a very sturdy plastic housingā¦ I donāt gig so itās pretty safe on my pedalboardā¦
Have fun deciding on which bit of kit you want!!!
Tod from New Mexico
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I found this for 25$ with free shipping at a used marketplace. Thinking of buying it after looking at a demo.
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If I had to buy my first pedal again, I would definately start with reverb (given that amp did not already have that ability). I spent about 2 years learning with no pedal or Fx other than OD on my amp. Eventually I started to accumulate distortion, chorus, delay etc. Now I have modeling amp with all the bells and whistles.
With all of the options at my disposal now, I would say every other Fx is on SOMETIMES, but Reverb is on ALL the time. For me this goes for Acoustic and Electric. Obviously I dial in more or less, but some reverb is always there.
Hope that helps.
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I am gonna check out a local store which has listed an amp with reverb for 65$.
I think it would be less of a hassle to upgrade to it, instead of buying another pedal which will need a purchase of patch cables from me since I have only one, connecting my TU-2 to my RC-1. I would also need to buy a power supply, right now I am just daisy-chaining them to a boss power adapter.
Friend who has experimented with a lot of pedals said that an amp with reverb is always a good idea than a reverb pedal, because I like to keep it simple and I wonāt be recording any soon. Recording may require specific reverbs like āplateā or āspringā which are available on the behringer reverb pedal mentioned above.
Yes, this sounds like the best option for you. Iām the same as @Svoisone
Keep it simple and have it on the amp. I sold my reverb pedal when I switched to an amp with it built in.
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Hi Ashton! Nice to meet you 
This is a different take on answering your question, hopefully its useful. I do not have a guitar amp, I use a Fender Mustang Guitar headphone modeller. Mostley to not disturb my wife when Iām playing late at night but it has the added benefit of having 25 amps and effects. This may not be ideal if you want to play through an amp, but I find it ideal for my needs. Anyway, its an option to consider.
MustangĀ® Micro ā Fender https://share.google/xriFZ7kUlq0cqDjgE
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I was finding my amp ālackingā, so I checked out few amps with inbuilt reverb and also a used DD-5 delay in a store.
The reason my amp seemed weird was because itās two 3 inch speakers were probably damaged in some way.
I found a solid state combo amp with 10 inch speaker, and it solved my issue. It does have reverb on board, but I switch it off so that I can āhearā if my hand is really fretting properly. Itās made by a company named monprice. The name is barely visible.
