The Topanga Burnside has all the springy, surfy mojo of
the original Topanga but now features a Trem knob that controls the
rate of a lush tremolo effect. We revisited the original Topanga and
found that placing the tremolo between cascading reverb stages yielded
the best results––the effect is not too choppy; not too washed out. Many
surf rock and skate punk bands use spring reverb, tremolo or both
simultaneously in order to get their sounds, and the Topanga Burnside is a nod to them.
Burnside is a reference to the famous Burnside Skatepark in Our hometown of Portland, OR. (shoutout to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater).
The Topanga is based on an outboard Fender 6G15 spring
reverb unit from the ‘60s. Part of its magic, and how it differs from
the internal spring reverb found in most Fender-style amps, is that it
is run *in front* of the amp, causing the reverb signal to distort and
sound more intense. Because there are additional knobs on the outboard
units, you also have more control over the reverb qualities. The Dwell
knob controls how hard the springs are getting hit by the guitar signal.
The Tone knob allows the treble to be dialed back to just the right
degree of brightness. The 6G15's front end is also essentially a tube
preamp, so it colors the sound going into the amp. All this adds up to a
very distinctive reverb sound with a lot of attitude and complex
nonlinearities that are hard to replicate. But we did just that!
Features
• The new Trem knob controls the rate of a tremolo effect
• Tremolo rate goes from ~1.9 Hz to ~9 Hz
• New black and white artwork from gallery artist, Tomo77
• Based on the outboard Fender 6G15 spring reverb unit
• Mix goes from fully dry to 100% wet
• Volume controls the discrete preamp for an extra clean boost
• 9-18V DC power supply (sold separately)