JUNIORVERB DELUXE

JUNIORVERB DELUXE

The JUNIORVERB DELUXE is the second release from our “amp in a box” series of modules. This time round, we’re drawing inspiration from a legendary US combo with a 10” speaker, built-in tremolo and spring reverb. Despite its small size and low power rating, the amp has become a classic recording and giging machine that’s still highly sought after. Designed initially as a "student" practice amp, it has a smooth and spongey response that gives way to a ragged and raucous overdrive when pushed.

We’ve also added our “buzz kill” noise reduction system, variable room ambience, and a “mid-hump” dirty boost.

JUNIORVERB DELUXE handles mono or stereo inputs / outputs, and the stereo image is maintained throughout. If you’re using a guitar, route it to the left or right input, and use both outputs in stereo to get a room sound “spread” effect.

As you’ll most likely be using JUNIORVERB DELUXE with an electric guitar, we’ve added a handy monitor LED next to the input jacks. For optimal setup, the LED should typically only be blue if you’re playing otherwise too much background noise is being amplified - in which case reduce your input level. Also, the LED should only flash red when your playing is at its hardest / most aggressive. If the LED is red nearly all the time, then again, back off your input level.

The POWER switch toggles JUNIORVERB DELUXE between active and bypass mode.

Next up, we have a CAB SIM switch. When lit, this brings in our guitar cabinet simulator designed to mimic the frequency response of a tight and focussed 10” guitar speaker.

BUZZ KILL. Here at Waverley Instruments HQ, we love the sound of single coil guitar pickups, but we're not so keen on the mains hum they're also prone to picking up! It can be a real buzz kill. So... we added a BUZZ KILL switch to JUNIORVERB DELUXE! This is a noise reduction system aimed specifically at mains hum, switchable between 50 and 60Hz depending on where you are in the world. Due to the way it works, you might have to tweak your tone controls to compensate for the offending buzzy frequencies being attenuated. The centre position bypasses the noise reduction. Please note, if you’re using a humbucker pickup guitar, you’re unlikely to need this function.

BOOST is a switchable midrange boost very loosely based on a famous little green overdrive pedal. The added midrange (overly) compensates for the natural dip in the amp’s response around the midrange. Increasing this control also increases the amount of overdrive.

VOLUME is a master volume control designed to mimic the dynamics of a tube amp. Depending on the type of guitar you use, the sound will stay reasonably clean up until around half way, then break-up in a fairly undignified way! If the sound starts to get “flubby” around the low-end, try backing off the BASS control. The combination of a small cab and speaker meant that the original amp sometimes struggled to handle low frequencies when pushed really hard, so of course, we had to try and simulate that!

The BASS and TREBLE controls are based on a fairly traditional guitar amp tone stack. Please note that as per the amp on which the JUNIORVERB DELUXE was based, the overall tone is slightly scooped around the midrange.

The switch in the centre of the BASS and TREBLE controls can be used to bypass the tone stack entirely when not lit.

The TREMOLO has a dedicated ramped / soft bypass switch and SPEED and DEPTH controls. Please note that the TREMOLO comes after the reverb, just like a vintage tube amp.

REVERB adds a spring reverb effect. Just like an amp, the reverb feeds into the “power amp” so will distort if you really push the volume. We think this can sound great!

ROOM allows you to bring in a bit of ambience, adding to the illusion of a guitar amp in an actual physical space. This control also helps spread your sound out a bit, avoiding that “pin point” / dead-centre DI type effect.

The SMALL / MEDIUM / LARGE switch sets the size and damping characteristics of the ROOM ambience, from recording booth to large hall.

Ultimately we wanted to keep the JUNIORVERB DELUXE pretty simple, but add enough features so you could use it to get decent guitar tones easily and quickly for recordings or even for playing live.

We hope you’re tempted to give the JUNIORVERB DELUXE a go!

Credits: Many thanks to Ben at bensmithguitar.com for recording the demo clips and providing invaluable feedback during development.