This Spring Reverb Pedal Sparked a Bigger Creative Conversation

Hey y’all!

I’m personally a HUGE spring reverb junkie. I get genuinely excited whenever the opportunity presents itself in a production or mix to use it.

There’s something about that twangy, splashy character that I absolutely love, and a certain metallic edge that just feels inspiring every time.

Beyond spring reverb plugins, I actually do a lot of re-amping through guitar pedals. The spring reverb in my TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 is a frequent star in my workflow, adding vibe to everything from vocals to snares, basses, and more.

So when Orange County Pedal Company dropped their Laguna Beach Spring Reverb pedal, I was instantly intrigued.

I’ve been using their Buena Park Boost and La Habra Clipper for a while now, and I’m a big fan of both their sound and design philosophy. I previously spoke with Evan, the founder, about his approach to pedal design which you can catch here- so I was genuinely looking forward to diving into this one with him again.

What stood out to me most in this conversation wasn’t just the pedal itself, but the philosophy behind it- especially around simplicity and creative flow.

A Different Approach to the Spring Reverb Pedal

I asked him: “What sonic qualities did you want to capture in Laguna Beach, and what was the sonic process like designing it?"

He said: “I actually didn’t start off as a spring reverb fan! When I was like 13 I got this little Epiphone guitar amp that had a real spring tank built in. Because washier verb was becoming popular at the time and spring is obviously a very different thing from that heavy, ambient style, verb. I was pretty turned off by spring. As I got older and more experienced my tastes changed or became more nuanced and I realized the magic that was a good spring reverb. 

Fast forward to our newest pedal, the Laguna Beach Reverb. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted when I entered the design phase but I knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want another reverb pedal with a million parameters, there are tons of those types of reverb pedals on the market already. If you want something with a dry volume, wet volume, tone knobs, etc. you’d be so much better off with something from Strymon or Source Audio.

When Simplicity Creates Better Creative Flow

I wanted to design something that would be extremely simple, effective, and would require minimal thought. This, my theory is, better facilitates creative flow by eliminating that second guessing, parameter tweaking, almost compulsive behavior we musicians can get bogged down in.

What I wound up with was a one knob, spring-adjacent, reverb. It reads as reverb in context but it’s really more of a slap delay with a long decay. It doesn’t require a tone knob or any more wet/dry control than it already has in the single blend knob because the slap keeps your transients intact allowing it to interact with your playing, rather than swallowing it up. 

As an aside, I’m a big synth fan. Anyone who knows me is keenly aware of my obsession with Depeche Mode. Because Laguna Beach is digital and not a purist spring sound I’ve found it to be extremely useful in recreating some of the ambience that Martin Gore and the gang used on albums like Ultra up through Memento Mori. I assume it shares similar design principles to euro rack reverb units so that tracks.”

Why This Spring Reverb Pedal Philosophy Matters

Chatting with Evan is always a blast! What I really took from this personally wasn’t just the sound design approach, it was the philosophy behind it.

There’s something really intentional and awesome to me about choosing less control in order to create more musical movement. In a world where we can endlessly twist knobs and tweak decay, tone, modulation, diffusion, and size, Evan is essentially asking, what happens if we remove decision fatigue entirely?

That idea of simplicity really connected with a lot of what drives us at Safari Audio, honing in on that instant spark, that quick creative energy where ideas don’t get slowed down by overthinking or endless parameter diving.

It actually made me think a lot about our own approach with Lady Bug Reverb. The Spring setting especially captures that philosophy for me. You’ve got the reverb itself, a lo-fi control, compressor knob, input/output, and blend. That’s basically it. No dozens of hidden parameters to disappear into. The sound is the sound, and instead of spending twenty minutes sculpting the “perfect” reverb, you’re immediately reacting to a vibe and blending it to taste.It’s always inspiring to see other creatives implement this philosophy in their own way and to watch how it translates into the tools they build, and ultimately into the music itself.

Thanks so much Evan for sharing your perspective. :)

Catch you next blog!