damping plate

With plate reverbs, a damping plate will effect the overall time of the reverb. The ones that EMT used could vary the reverb time from 2-5 seconds long. There are also several different ways to add one of these to a plate reverb. On the Ecoplate blueprints, they state that you should use Shasta ceiling tile (or any Owns Corning pinperf) cut into a lightweight steel frame. There are other reverbs that use regular fiberglass mounted to a plywood board, but according to Crossen Streams, who restored an ecoplate, doing that does not properly absorb the sound. I am guessing this is because it is fairly thin and the sound would go through it and come back without fully absorbing the sound.

Here are two pictures of the back of an old damping plate (Left) and a restored Ecoplate damping plate from Crossen Streams (Right):

I have also seen DIY projects with fiberglass inside a wider frame and not mounted to anything. I am not sure on the effects of that and I might have to try it when it comes to the damping pate of my project.

A damping plate seems pretty simple to put on my reverb. The only thing I would have to figure out is how to make it adjustable so I can use it for my needs. I will probably figure something out after this project for my class is done. My overall plan would be to have a motor for it so it can be adjusted very easily. Idealy what the Pluto plate reverb does with an application controlling the damper is what I would want to do if I make these for commercial use.