The Development Journey of Pathways Reverb & Tremolo

PathwaysApr 2, 2026

The development of the Pathways Reverb & Tremolo was a long and challenging journey. Its origins date back to the release of one of our most revered pedals, the True Spring Reverb. As soon as the True Spring was released back in 2018, it was wholeheartedly embraced by an enthusiastic and highly discerning group of spring reverb aficionados from around the globe. The pedal’s incredibly realistic spring reverb simulation finally captured a sound that had challenged pedal developers for decades. In truth, the technology found in the original Fender Deluxe Reverb combo amp is relatively simple, but the splashy, metallic textures it creates are extremely complex and difficult to capture in a pedal... until the release of the True Spring.

Another highlight from the True Spring Reverb is its Tank Reverb, a hyper-lively spring reverb sound inspired by the Fender 6G15 Outboard Spring Reverb. The Tank reverb perfectly captured the 6G15’s iconic “drip,” an essential element of surf guitar classics, James Bond soundtracks, and spaghetti western melodies dating back to the 1960s.

We can’t resist taking this opportunity to revisit a classic in-house video featuring Source Audio’s chief sound designer and creator of our Spring and Tank reverb effects, Bob Chidlaw. Bob shared some of his thoughts on the essential sonic characteristics of spring reverb tank and gave us a look behind the curtain on the process of capturing that sound for the Ventris Dual Reverb.

One of the early adopters of the True Spring Reverb included Scott Totten, the guitarist and musical director for The Beach Boys. For years Scott used the True Spring’s Tank sound as his primary reverb. In 2023, Scott left the band but the True Spring remained. John Wedemeyer, The Beach Boys’ current guitar player, also uses the True Spring when he’s in need of that classic surf sounds.

We had the chance to visit with Scott back in 2018 when they played in Massachusetts and he gave us a nice treat by playing a couple of classic Beach Boys riffs through the True Spring.

We also want to take this opportunity to let all of you know about on one of the best kept secrets in the world guitar effects pedals. The True Spring Reverb is more than just a reverb pedal, hidden deep within its owners’ manual lingers a minor detail about the pedal’s three incredible tremolo effects. Yes, you heard that correctly, the True Spring also features beautiful Bias, Optical, and Harmonic tremolos. Unfortunately, the only practical way to engage the pedal's tremolo effects is with the addition of an External Tap Switch. Clearly there were some issues that needed to be resolved. So... how do we fix this issue?

PURCHASE THE PATHWAYS REVERB & TREMOLO

Ta-dah!! Enter the Pathways Reverb & Tremolo! Our latest creation solves all the issues that came with the True Spring Reverb and adds a load of new sounds and features! Pathways also has all the perennial reverb favorites in its collection–the sounds that musicians turn to again and again. The pedal's vintage time-based effects like plate reverb, natural echo sounds, slapback tape echo, natural acoustic spaces, lush 80s rack reverb, and spring reverbs cover all the essentials for any genre: rock, country, western, indie, jazz, pop, hip-hop, blues, surf. Name a genre, Pathways has it covered.

And don't forget the tremolos! Combine any of the reverb and echo effects with Pathways' Bias, Optical, or Harmonic tremolo effects! The two dedicated footswitches allow you to run any reverb or tremolo independently or together. Both footswitches are pulling double duties, the Tremolo footswitch also works as a tap tempo for the Trem Speed and the Beat Division toggle switch lets you choose between quarter notes, eighth, and triplets. Also, independent knob sets for reverb and tremolo make it crazy-easy to dial in great sounds in seconds.This is a pedal ready-built for the stage.

The early reviews for Pathways have been glowing. 60 Cycle Hum (a.k.a. Ryan Burke) is YouTube's #1 enthusiast when it comes to drippy spring reverb tones. He was an early champion of the True Spring Reverb and often sited it as his go-to spring reverb pedal for his surf band. He said, "This is the one that I find myself recommending over, and over, and over again." Well, after seven years of turning to the True Spring, for his Fender 6G15 outboard spring sound he has been converted to the Pathways. "The era of the True Spring is over," said Ryan, "because Source Audio came out with the Pathways. It's everything that the True Spring is, and more. And more control on the face of the pedal. Now you can access tremolo with tap tempo. You can access a whole bunch of other reverbs. And it sounds amazing. This is it. This is the one I'm going to be recommending to anyone looking to get into surf sounds, or spaghetti western sounds."

Listening to Ryan play through the Pathways is pure joy. Check out his in-depth video of not only the Tank reverb, he also goes deep into all the reverb and tremolo sounds that Pathways has on tap.

But Pathways is not just for surf sounds. We also saw a brilliant video from Stefan of The Pedal Zone. He said that Pathways allows you to "create everything from classic black panel spring and bias trem tones to full-on oceanic waves of ambient bliss." Stefan pulled a dizzying collection of spiraling reverb and tremolo combinations in his superb demo video.

It doesn't stop there, Pathways also does wonderful things in the rock / indie rock / post rock realm! Check out the opening track in this beautiful Pathways demo video from Mark Johnston. He and his friends Andrew Schibilla (Ambient Endeavors) and John Bleeker (Signal Path), from The Anti-Zoia Zoia Club podcast, put together an excellent piece of music. Watch all of Mark's demo - he does a serious exploration of the many powers of Pathways.

If you want to really explore the Pathways Reverb & Tremolo a great place to start is in the Neuro App. It's free! We just released a great pair of Preset Packs with some excellent Pathways presets. Just hit the SoundCheck play button for each preset and hear the preset in action. When you find something piques your interest, open the preset in the editor and start tweaking the knobs and making changes. With SoundCheck you will hear all the changes in real-time. You don't even need to own the pedal.

"Pathways: Vintage Classics" - This Preset Pack is a great starting point when exploring Pathways. It's filled with all the time-tested reverb and tremolo combinations.