Effects Kit - Mod® Electronics, The Wave, Spring Reverb
The Mod® Electronics Wave is a versatile stand-alone, tube-driven analog spring-reverb-unit kit. It can be used in front of your guitar amp or as a line-level analog reverb effect for the recording studio. Two controls allow you to serve up a wide range of wetness from just a touch to over the top psychedelia. The Dwell control adjusts the input signal level driving the tank and the Reverb control adjusts the level of output reverberations from the tank. The Wave’s all tube design utilizes four dual triode vacuum tubes - three 12AX7s and one 12AT7 - and comes with a MOD® three-spring reverb tank. MOD® reverb tanks are deemed the closest to the original reverb tanks from the '60s made today. The Wave’s reverb function can be switched in and out pop-free via the front panel toggle or with a foot switch (purchased separately).
The Wave has standard ¼ inch in-and-out guitar jacks in the front for use with your guitar and amp, and standard RCA in-and-out jacks in the back panel for use in a recording environment. The Wave is equipped to be rack mounted using just under 3U of space and is approximately 11 inches deep front to back. Four large rubber feet allow the Wave to be safely placed on top of most contemporary guitar amplifier heads and combos for stage use, and it fits into a rack without having to remove the feet. The Wave comes with a pre-punched powder coated steel chassis, easy-to-follow instructions and all necessary parts.
The Wave is equipped to be rack mounted using just under 3U of space and is approximately 11 inches deep front to back. Four large rubber feet allow the Wave to be safely placed on top of most contemporary guitar amplifier heads and combos for stage use, and it fits into a rack without having to remove the feet. The Wave comes with a pre-punched powder coated steel chassis, easy-to-follow instructions and all necessary parts.
For use in countries with a 240VAC mains, P-T290WEX can be used in place of the included power transformer. The P-T290WEX cannot be substituted in the kit and will need to be purchased separately.
| Height | 5.25 in. | ||
| Length | 19 in. | ||
| Rack Units | 3U | ||
| Width | 11 in. | ||
| Packaging Dimensions | 22 in. × 14 in. × 12 in. | ||
| Weight (Packaging) | 14.3631 lbs. | ||
 Assembly Drawings | All Models |
| Instructions | All Models |
| Line Out Mod | All Models |
| Min Dwell Mod | All Models |
| Schematic | All Models |
| Troubleshooting Supplement | All Models |
| Parts List Drawings | All Models |
 Sound Sample | All Models |
| Sound Sample 2 | All Models |
| Sound Sample (Swells) | All Models |
Product Reviews
very fun build and excellent sounding unit
This was my first point-to-point project, though I've built lots of pedals, headphone amps and other DIY audio. My build was fairly straightforward and enjoyable, and it worked perfect on the first power-up! I can't claim to be an expert on spring reverb, but this sounds really good to me. I may swap in a medium tank someday because this does have quite a long tail. One star deducted because of a few minor kit issues, but the end result is really nice.
Like all DIY kits, you have to zone in on the instructions' own internal logic, but once you do it's mostly easy. The instructions are inconsistent about telling you when it's okay to solder something immediately, vs when you should wait because other connections share the point. Check the drawings frequently to know for sure. One point of confusion in the instructions: they tell you to remove the rubber grommets from the spring tank for some reason. Don't do this, leave them on and mount it that way, it works great and you need them to dampen vibration and prevent feedback. My kit also came with extra black rubber grommets which were not mentioned in the instructions; perhaps you are supposed to use those instead of the ones that come on the tank, but it is not specified.
There were a few issues with my kit. I received an extra 1.5k resistor, which drove me crazy for a little bit, wondering if I'd missed it or if the instructions were incorrect somehow. I did not receive any of the #10 lock washers, but they're not strictly necessary so it was fine. Best to take inventory before you begin.
The JJ tubes work and sound fine, but consider at least upgrading the 12AT7. A better tube is very noticeable in V4 and will take the Wave's sound from good to great.
Very good kit, very good end result.
The site lists this as a "5 of 5 difficulty" and the instructions warns even experienced builders may have problems. I didn't find this, I rate this one as a 3-3.5 difficulty. The only challenges were the amount of *stuff* on tube V1 and making the danged RCA cable. But if you have experience with point-to-point it's pretty straightforward, and the enclosure is big enough and shallow enough that there's never a problem getting your iron and solder in to do work. I have been building kits since 1970, so I might be a little biased.
But a great result at a great price.
I had only built and modded some guitar pedals and made some small repairs to amps prior to building this kit. I was a little intimidated at first but all the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. Props to the guys that put this together! I did have to pull up the colored instructions on my phone for a few things. My only tip would be to make sure you cleaned out all the paint in and around the ground points well. I shipped fast and I was able to put it together on a Saturday. Might attempt an amp next!
Great kit, great instructions. No missing components. If you can solder, you can build a true tube driven spring reverb tank. This kit sounds great. I have wanted to build this kit for a long time, and I finally decided to order one. Amplified Parts shipped the kit right away. I’m glad I ordered it, and I should have done it a long time ago.
Great experience...prompt delivery. The kit was fun to build and works well. Thanks !!
I bought this over a year ago and did a simple yet interesting mod to it while I was building it, I added a switch and used 2 of the rca jacks on the back as a external reverb tank connection instead of their intended use, and i used a 2 spring tank on the unit, as i prefer the more lively sound of a 2 spring, and put the 3 spring tank in a tank bag (like in fender amps) and ran rca cable to the external tank. So now I have 2 types of spring reverb in the same unit with a flick of a switch. The 3 spring offers more of a hall sound and not the "boingy" sound from 2 spring. Really impressed with it, and for the price compared to other tube spring reverb units/kits, its unreal. And the controls do alot more then the reverb control on most amps, it can produce a extreme amount of reverb. Really like it having a dwell/drive control, it makes it alot more controllable and interesting. It is input-sensitive, i usually run a preamp after pedals then into it, but sometimes have to turn it down to prevent it from distorting, its made to plug a guitar directly into it though so its understandable. I would like to eventually add a tone knob to the reverb recovery, sometimes it would be nice if it was a tad brighter sounding or even a bright switch on the recovery. Great kit, it was really fun to build, even with what I added to it, i had it done in like 3-4 hours I think it was. And no issues, everything worked great from the start! Highly recommended!
This was the first time I built a kit from Amplified Parts™. The instructions and drawings provided with this kit made it much easier to verify the component placement than simply using a schematic. I'd recommend reading all the instructions and reviewing the drawings before getting started so you'll know exactly what you're getting into. It only took me about a day to complete and the unit works very well.
This company is second to NONE in customer service and build quality!!!! Great instructions, super fun, and this reverb sounds better than any I have heard. Blows my 64 epiphone pathfinder amp reverb out of the water which used to be my favorite. My Lexicon pcm 90 is shaking in its boots. When I had trouble after building the unit, contacted MOD and they responded within 5 hours......WTF? AMAZING! Better still, had me up and running with their fix (lets be honest was my fault) which took a couple of email responses, each response in quicker time then the last. GREAT customer service!!!! I love also that they post modifications to their products also....Diy is alive and well! Thank you so very much, could not be happier. Greg, Minneapolis, USA
What a great kit! Easy build, but exceptional sound. Best reverb ever! I really enjoyed building this kit. The instructions were superb and the clarity was amazing. I have built many effects boxes with limited instructions (if any,) so this was a joy from beginning to end. I really just can't say enough about this kit. Buy it, you'll love it.