The winter solstice might be upon us but spring has sprung at Danelectro with the launch of an old favourite reverb pedal with an all-new look.
Meet the Spring King Junior, a mini pedal version of the retro cult classic Spring King unit that Dano launched at the tail end of the 20th century.
Now, we all had a lot of affection for the Spring King with its butter cream coloured enclosure hiding a real spring reverb tank inside, complete with a “spring pad” arcade-style footswitch you can hit to stimulate that mechanical spring and give you a sound not unlike kicking a Fender tube amp. But this might be more practical.
It will certainly be easier finding Junior a spot on the pedalboard. This is just a small slimline unit with two black chickenhead dials for Reverb and Tone, and a footswitch. The enclosure is a similarly pleasing shade of buttercream, like a counter top in some old ‘50s diner.
Under the hood, much, however, is the same. This has the same three-spring mechanical reverb as the original. So, theoretically, if you were to tap the enclosure you would get that same metallic splash.
That’s very much a bonus sound. Danelectro has done everything in its power to tread lightly on the mechanics, with a soft-touch footswitch a good idea. You don’t want one of those hard-clickin’ footswitches with those springs underfoot.
As for the sounds? Well, they’re almost as old as guitar amplification itself. You can dial in some bounce for first-wave rock ’n’ roll and rockabilly riffs. Real spring reverb can sweeten a jazz guitar tone nicely.
And then you’ve got the spring reverb maximalists, the surf rock set, all of the splash, all of the time. Shoegaze and those drawing to the wide open spaces of ambient guitar sounds will get a kick out of it.
The SKJ-1 is available now, priced £183/$199 street. Now, the brand announced it on Instagram, with the bold claim that, “The spring is the thing… Even better than the 1999 original!” But it ain’t on the Danelectro site just yet. You can however pick them up at retailers, with Sweetwater and Thomann presently stocking them.
