Crazy Tube Circuits Shrinks the Splash with New White Whale Jr Analog Spring Reverb Pedal
Experience real analog spring reverb and vintage amp tremolo in a pedalboard-friendly size. Discover the Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Jr.
Guitarists chasing authentic surf drip and vintage amp throb just lost their last excuse for keeping a massive footprint on their pedalboards. Crazy Tube Circuits has officially announced the White Whale Junior, compressing a fully analog, real 3-spring reverb tank and vintage-voiced tremolo into an unbelievably compact enclosure.
Priced at £259.00, the White Whale Jr solves a decades-old puzzle for tone purists: how to get genuine mechanical spring interaction without sacrificing precious pedalboard real estate.
Real Springs, Real Tube Emulation
Digital modeling has come a long way, but it still struggles to perfectly replicate the chaotic, mechanical "splash and crash" of physical springs responding to a guitarist's dynamics.
Crazy Tube Circuits refused to compromise on the hardware, cramming the exact same 3-spring reverb assembly found in their larger units into a chassis measuring just 15.4 × 8.3 × 6.8 cm.
Dwell
To make the small tank perform like a vintage standalone unit, the engineers built a dedicated analog power amplifier to drive the springs.
This driver circuit is meticulously voiced to emulate the subtle saturation and warmth of a tube power amp and output transformer. As you push the Dwell control harder, the pedal responds with the deep, musical compression characteristic of 1960s tube gear.
Deep Tonal Control
Unlike basic amp-style reverbs that only offer a single mix knob, the White Whale Jr features a comprehensive control suite:
- Dwell: Controls how hard the signal hits the springs, driving everything from subtle ambiance to aggressive surf drip.
- Tone: Shapes the brightness and presence of the wet signal.
- Mix: Blends the wet reverb on top of your dry guitar signal.
- Volume: A dedicated control to match your bypass level or act as a clean boost.
A Hybrid Tremolo Architecture
The right side of the pedal features an independent, amp-style tremolo circuit. Rather than strictly copying one vintage design, Crazy Tube Circuits combined the smooth, watery pulse of optical tremolos with the organic, hypnotic throb of classic tube bias designs.
Following traditional brownface and blackface amplifier layouts, the reverb stage sits before the tremolo. This routing ensures that your reverb decay pulses right along with your dry signal, creating a massive, three-dimensional movement.
The Verdict
Pros: Genuine 3-spring mechanical reverb in an incredibly small footprint; superb tube-saturation emulation on the driver circuit; highly musical hybrid tremolo; top-mounted jacks keep things neat.
Cons: Purists who want independent control over optical vs. bias tremolo modes won't find a toggle switch here—it's baked into a single voice.
The Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Junior is an engineering marvel for analog purists. It successfully captures the unpredictable, lively, and dynamic response of a real outboard spring unit without requiring its own zip code on your pedalboard. If digital emulations leave you feeling cold, this little white box is the ultimate cure.
Score: 9.2 / 10
Where To Buy
Priced at £259/€299 and available now from authorised dealers. Available at Andertons Available at Thomann
#Crazy Tube Circuits #White Whale Junior
- +Genuine 3-spring mechanical reverb in compact footprint
- +Superb tube-saturation emulation on driver circuit
- +Highly musical hybrid tremolo with optical/bias blend
- +Top-mounted jacks keep pedalboard neat
- +Clickless true bypass with preset memory
- +Entirely analog signal path
- −No toggle to independently switch between optical and bias tremolo modes—single blended voice only
Can I use the reverb and tremolo independently?
Yes. The White Whale Junior features independent clickless footswitches for both the reverb and tremolo sections, allowing you to use either effect on its own or stack them together.
Does it digitalize my dry signal?
Not at all. The signal path is entirely analog. Your dry guitar tone remains untouched and pure from input to output.
Can I power this with a standard daisy chain?
While it runs on standard 9V DC (110mA), a high-quality, isolated power supply is highly recommended. Because it contains a mechanical spring tank and an internal power amp driver, an isolated supply prevents unwanted noise or interference.
Will the pedal crash if I kick my pedalboard?
Yes—and that’s a feature, not a bug! Because it contains real, physical springs, bumping or shaking the pedal will result in that classic mechanical "clatter" or splash sound loved by vintage gear enthusiasts.
