Reverb output

[Ronnboy]

I Built a RobRob single reverb head. I built a cabinet with the tank in it. My question is, would it be correct to assume that using the amp without the reverb out connected to the tank, be akin to running the amp with no speaker connected, or would it possibly be alright if the reverb control was turned all the way down? This issue came up when I took the amp to a friends house who had a cabinet but it had no tank.

 

[corliss1]

There's a lot of debate on this. My thought is....how many Fender combos have dead reverb tanks where the little tiny wires have broken off and that circuit has run fine for 40-50+ years? A lot. Is it ideal? No. Have I personally seen the amp guts explode disastrously from a tank not being hooked up? No. Do I even bother hooking up a tank up when a reverb amp is on the workbench? Not until the rest of the amp is working and it's time to test the verb.

You'll be fine.

 

[Ronnboy]

Thanks, The only concern really was the little reverb output transformer. I too have used combos with broken reverbs but since I didn't check their trannys, I would not be able to tell if something else in the reverb circuit failed and the tranny was still good, or something else in the reverb circuit failed which also ruined it's trannny, or if it was just the reverb tranny that failed in the first place. I can certainly see why this issue would be debatable. Thanks again.

 

[Paul G.]

That Reverb transformer is being driven with about 1-1/2 to 2 watts of power, as opposed to an output transformer's 15-100 watts, so I wouldn't worry. I have seen amps run without a reverb tank for many years still be fine when one is hooked up.