Wellspring is the first product to be released by Teaching Machines, a new audio electronics company based in Wales, UK. Housing a pair of spring reverb tanks and providing a range of built-in modulation capabilities, the device aims to offer an interesting new take on classic spring reverb effects.
Wellspring contains a total of four springs, with two per channel, promising to deliver a wide and rich stereo reverb sound. A pair of stereo delays feed into the reverb tanks, each equipped with delay time parameters that can be synchronised or used separately, as well as feedback controls.
Using the delays in conjunction with the reverb allows the creation of extremely long tails, which can then be processed further thanks to the unit’s Modulation and Filter sections. The former allows the creation of pitch and filter modulation effects, with sine and sawtooth waves capable of running up to audio speeds, whilst the latter is equipped with sweepable high-, band-, low-pass and notch filter types, and a dry/wet mix control.
The Magic section located on the right of the front panel then provides access to a feedback loop which offers some even more dramatic sound design capabilities. Featuring a single Intensity control, the section allows users to route the output from the spring tanks back into the delays — with the right spring fed to the left delay an vice-versa — making it possible to create almost infinite reverb tails. As it can introduce some extreme effects, the company are keen to point out that it’s worth being a little careful with this particular control!
Four quarter-inch TRS sockets on the rear panel of the device offer stereo line-level inputs and outputs, and a high-impedance instrument input is also provided on the front panel. Wellspring is equipped with rubber feet which allow it to be placed on a desktop, or it can be rackmounted using a pair of attachable rack ears. For those interested to hear what the unit sounds like, there are a range of audio demos available on the Teaching Machines website.
Pricing & Availability
Wellspring is available to pre-order now for £975 including VAT, with the next batch of 50 units expected to ship in August 2023.
