
A tiny and terrifically inexpensive ticket to spacious places.
Rugged, versatile, and easy to use. Super compact. Impressively affordable. Useful tone control.
Deeper settings can wash out the dry signal pretty quickly.
$45
TC Electronic Skysurfer Mini Reverb
tcelectronic.com
On the heels of its full-sized Skysurfer reverb pedal, TC Electronic has introduced the smaller and even more affordable Skysurfer Mini. TC, of course has a well-established and solid foundation in studio reverbs as well as a proven ability to miniaturize effects. And this tiny 3.9" x 2.2" x 2.2" metal box might just pack the most reverb value per-square-inch of any pedal out there.
The Little One
Though it's small, the Skysurfer Mini's control set matches that of its bigger sibling. That means knobs for reverb, mix, and tone (the latter of which alters the EQ profile of the reverb's decay, but not the dry signal). Just as on the bigger Skysurfer, there's a mini-toggle switch to select spring, plate, or hall reverb.
Recorded with a K-Line Springfield with Strat-style single-coil pickups using the neck pickup, into an AC15-style 1x12 combo set for clean.
Clip 1: Hall – Pedal briefly off, then on. Tone noon, Reverb 11 o'clock, Mix 11 o'clock.
Clip 2: Plate – Pedal briefly off, then on. Tone noon, Reverb 11 o'clock, Mix 11 o'clock.
Clip 3: Spring – Pedal briefly off, then on. Tone noon, Reverb 11 o'clock, Mix 11 o'clock. Near the end, Reverb and Mix turned up to 3 o'clock, guitar switched to bridge pickup.
The footswitch is non-latching, there are mono input and output jacks, power comes from a 9V center-negative jack on the crown, and the pedal draws 100 mA. The enclosure itself feels impressively rugged. And perhaps my only hesitation with embracing such a conveniently small pedal is that my ham-footed size 11s might be just as likely to stomp the knobs as the switch on a dark stage. Such are the risks with most mini-pedals, but your level of care—or klutziness—may make such complications less of a factor.
Surf’s Up
I situated the Skysurfer Mini in front of a tweed Deluxe-style 1x12 combo and in the loop of a Friedman Mini Dirty Shirley 1x10 combo, using a Les Paul and a K-Line Springfield S-style. It didn't take me long to find several favorite settings.
Each reverb mode, including the spring, has personality and can be extremely effective and offer cool creative options when used right.
The unit's overall tonality is bright and lively, which lends the feel of hard-surface reflections to most settings, rather than the soft, hazy edges you hear in some room or well-aged plate or spring reverbs. But you can easily dial in warmer reverb tones with careful use of the tone knob. Reverb snobs may quibble with the reality of some vintage-style settings. The spring setting, for example, probably won't fool old pros into thinking they're running through a '63 Fender Reverb. Yet each reverb mode, including the spring, has ample personality and can offer cool creative options when used right. For atmospheric reverbs, I found the hall with reverb and mix around 11 o'clock spacious, lush, and appealingly dimensional. When it came to the spring mode, however, I liked more aggressive settings with everything set around 1 o'clock, which is a blast for surf-punk riff mongering.
While the perception of depth and delay varies in the spring, plate, and hall modes, the taper in each control seems to favor wet settings rather than a range of subtle wet/dry blends. Given that deeper settings audibly dull the impact of the dry signal, it's often wise to start from modest reverb settings and ease into deeper territory, where the fun is. That said, some of the bias toward wet signals is made possible by the flexible tone control, which can lend clarity to transients and enables exploration of much more deep and drenched reverb settings without creating a wash of harsh overtones in the reflections.
The Verdict
The Skysurfer Mini may not always deliver the same lushness or depth you get from complex and expensive digital reverbs, but it's ideal for compact grab 'n' go rigs. At $45, this relatively versatile digital reverb is a fantastic bargain. It sounds reasonably realistic to expansive in all modes, and while more traditional players might want to rein in the depth in most instances, more experimental players can take the Skysurfer Mini to very lush and huge-sounding spaces. If you're on a strict budget, the Skysurfer Mini Reverb is very hard to beat.
It’s almost over, but there’s still time to win! Enter Stompboxtober Day 30 for your shot at today’s pedal from SoloDallas!
The Schaffer Replica: Storm
The Schaffer Replica Storm is an all-analog combination of Optical Limiter+Harmonic Clipping Circuit+EQ Expansion+Boost+Line Buffer derived from a 70s wireless unit AC/DC and others used as an effect. Over 50 pros use this unique device to achieve percussive attack, copious harmonics and singing sustain.
A 1000-watt speaker cabinet crafted for musicians who demand power and precision. Sunn Amps intends to reinvent the standard 4x12 configuration with the introduction of this new cabinet.
The Sunn Amps DoomBox is built to accommodate both guitar and bass, offering an impressive 1000-watt handling capacity—making it the first commercially available 4x12 cabinet with such high power handling. With four specially designed 12” drivers rated at 250 watts each, this cabinet provides clean, unrestrained sound levels that can maintain power integrity across all frequencies, ideal for high-volume performances.
Inspired and developed using feedback from artists and bands who rely on the depth of lower tunings and high volume genres, the DoomBox was engineered to meet the unique demands of professional musicians looking for a robust, high-efficiency cab that can translate the raw power of their sound without compromise.
Premium Craftsmanship and Materials
The Doom Box cabinet is crafted from solid finger-jointed Baltic Birch plywood, ensuring both durability and tonal clarity. Each cabinet is constructed by hand in the U.S.A. using original 1930s machinery, the DoomBox reflects Sunn’s historic commitment to quality, contrasting with some of the mass-produced, MDF-based cabinets on the market today. The cabinet’s aluminum basket, ferrite magnet, and custom Sunn weave Tolex with a custom grill design complete its professional-grade build.
Technical Specifications:
• Power Handling: 1000W
• Inputs: 1 x ¼”
• Impedance: 8 Ohm
• Drivers: 4 x Sunn 12S250
• Construction: Marine Grade Baltic Birch
• Dimensions: 29.25” X 30” X 14”
• Weight: 107 lbs
• Price: $2399.00
With clear low-end punch, even sound response, and ample air movement, the Doom Box ensures that every note reaches the audience with clarity and power. This cabinet is a game-changer for musicians who need high-performance, road-ready equipment that enhances their unique sound.
Does the guitar’s design encourage sonic exploration more than sight reading?
A popular song between 1910 and 1920 would usually sell millions of copies of sheet music annually. The world population was roughly 25 percent of what it is today, so imagine those sales would be four or five times larger in an alternate-reality 2024. My father is 88, but even with his generation, friends and family would routinely gather around a piano and play and sing their way through a stack of songbooks. (This still happens at my dad’s house every time I’m there.)
Back in their day, recordings of music were a way to promote sheet music. Labels released recordings only after sheet-music sales slowed down on a particular song. That means that until recently, a large section of society not only knew how to read music well, but they did it often—not as often as we stare at our phones, but it was a primary part of home entertainment. By today’s standards, written music feels like a dead language. Music is probably the most common language on Earth, yet I bet it has the highest illiteracy rate.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.