Was perusing this morning and came across an article on reverb.
Now I'm all about using any kind of effects on my bass, but here's a rule that I never break: If the natural sound of the room you're in creates a reverb, then don't use reverb as an add on. If you have to add reverb that is stronger than the natural sound of the room, it has become an effect. If it has become an effect, leaving it on all the time defeats the purpose of the reverb in the first place.
If your guitar/vocal is soaked in massive amounts of reverb, don't bitch to me when you can't hear yourself in the mix. Reverb as an effect will push an instrument back in the mix. If you can't hear your instrument, start by turning off the reverb.
As you can see, I have a love/hate relationship with reverb. I prefer my mixes to be reverb-free, and let the room create the special imaging.
Hint: if your venue is a gymnasium or a concrete walled basement, skip the reverb and the mix becomes lots easier/better. A dry mix is a good mix. If you have to "fix it in the mix", you're already well on your way to a crappy mix. If I, as a bassist, add reverb to my bass tone, it only works in a very sparse mix that is playing as "solo" as the tune requires. (Read: less is more. I ONLY use reverb on my bass when I'm the only instrument playing. Example: a breakdown where it's just bass and drums, or just my bass. Guitars come in, the reverb is removed from my bass.)
Not sure why I'm ranting already this morning, but there it is. I'm sure many will disagree with me, and I'm also sure those same people can't figure out why they have a problem mix.