Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale V2

Inspired by the match-made-in-heaven of vintage effects found on 60s American amps, the second version of the White Whale sets out a new objective to pack bigger real spring reverb and tremolo sounds in the same pedalboard-friendly enclosure (17 x 12.5 x 7.5 cm).

The 3-spring reverb tank assembly housed inside White Whale’s enclosure has remained the same, but Crazy Tube Circuits has upgraded the power amp driving the springs for increased headroom and wider frequency response. Following the signal topography of vintage units, Crazy Tube Circuits has also upgraded the dwell control to allow users to dial the right amount of signal that goes into the springs for a mellower or splashier reverb sound. Real spring reverb found in 60s American tube amps and external reverb units featured a tube power amp driving the spring assembly via an output transformer, so Crazy Tube Circuits has delicately tuned an analog circuit to emulate the tube and output transformer saturation that was produced on higher dwell settings.

Each of these vintage units had its own reverb effect qualities, so Crazy Tube Circuits tried to categorize them according to the most emblematic ones with a toggle switch selecting the size and decay. Users can select between the thinner and milder reverb qualities of a short to medium 2-spring reverb tank, the liveliness of a medium to long 2-spring reverb tank as found in most blackface amp designs, and the dense reverb qualities of a long 3-spring reverb tank assembly. A reverb’s tone control comes after the recovery stage at the output of the reverb tank and affects only the wet sounds for lively and drippy or smooth and mild reverb tones. Users can use the mix control to blend their desired amount of wet signal on top of the dry guitar signal. Higher reverb mix settings tend to get lost in the mix, so Crazy Tube Circuits made sure users will be heard loud and clear by incorporating a volume control capable of up to 20dB boost.

The tremolo section has also been upgraded to feature harmonic tremolo, besides the opto and tube bias found in the previous incarnation of the ‘marine mammal’. This hypnotic and mesmerizing effect originated on certain models of the brown and blonde era amps and does frequency-based modulation by shifting between high and low frequencies compared to the amplitude-based modulation (opto and tube bias) that shifts between volume levels. Crazy Tube Circuits made sure to include the two most significant variations of harmonic tremolo, as found in the original amps, that differentiate in the range and sweep of pulsating frequencies. The depth control sets the intensity of modulation while Crazy Tube Circuits extended the range of the speed control beyond the span of vintage amps to maximize users’ creativity. The volume control will boost the signal if needed, even in the hardest throb settings.

Another upgrade found in the White Whale V2 is that the two effect sections are now completely independent, and users can select the effects order so that the tremolo effect comes before the reverb or vice versa. This gives users the option to make heavenly combinations as optical and tube bias style tremolo usually sound better when placed after (post) the reverb effect while the harmonic tremolo usually sounds better when placed in front (pre) of the reverb effect. The two onboard footswitches are used to engage or bypass each effect section and feature a power-up bypass/engage pre-set function. That way, users can select which state their pedal will go to when they plug in the power supply. White Whale V2 also features a remote switcher input jack where users can control the bypass state of each effect section remotely via their favorite external effects switcher or via the matching artwork remote control dual footswitch (sold separately). Reverb’s mix can also be controlled via an expression pedal, and tremolo’s speed can be controlled by either an expression pedal or external tap tempo footswitch (expression pedals/tap tempo footswitches are not included).

The surf-friendly light green color adds to the overall drippy experience of a real spring reverb and tremolo that will fit on your pedalboard. If your amp setup doesn’t have these effects by design, you have now found your perfect match.