Let's talk tremolos - what are you using?

[Phil O'Keefe]

Tell me more about your tremolo... do you use amp tremolo, or pedals, and if it's pedals, what are you using? Do you like it? What do you wish it did differently, and what other features do you wish it had? Have any GAS for a different tremolo? If so, what do you want?

 

[Preacher]

I don't always use trem but when I do, I use the trems on the M9.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Any particular one in the M9 you prefer Preacher?

[Preacher]

Think I've been using Opto Trem, but I'd have to check on that.

[Fender&EHX4ever]

I love tremolo threads.

 

Right now I'm on a clock sync kick, and just recently discovered the immense joys of a clock sync'd tremolo.

My most recent tremolo purchase is a Cusack Tap-A-Whirl V3. With stereo outputs for ping-pong and pan, 36 trem settings, brake for ramping up and down speeds, and CV syncable... it is the most flexible tremolo I'm aware of.

 

My other recent discovery is using an EHX 8 Step Sequencer to control the Volume mode of an EHX HOG. No stereo output here, but I can customize my own rhythms

 

Probably my next most used tremolo is the BOSS PN-2. Glacier slow sawtooth panning for 3D atmospheres. I wish that it had sine wave panning, but I'm not going to complain about a classic pedal.

 

My Fender '68 SF Vibrochamp and '63 6G16 Vibroverb are currently at my local tech's house being worked on. When the tremolos on those are tuned up, they are luxurious. Nothing quite like amp trem.

 

My Vox Ultrasonic has a built-in Repeater trem that is the choppiest in the universe. Spacemen 3 Playing With Fire winsauce...

 

And at last the EHX Wiggler and the EHX Pulsar V1 round out my tremolo choices with really unique voices and shapes that don't sound quite like any other tremolos I've heard. PureTube classics.

 

I have to put in a mention for the EHX Worm, although the tremolo setting is undoubtedly my least used setting on that pedal. The Worm is all about the vibrato and phaser for me.

 

 

[Fender&EHX4ever]

The only tremolo I have some gas for might be the Strymon Mobius. I also wouldn't mind having a vintage EHX Pulsar

[RadioSilence]

Good ol' Boss TR-2.

 

I've tried others (Dano Tuna Melt, EHx Stereo Pulsar and Worm, Nobels TRX (actually I really liked this one and would get another if I ever found one) and even the Boss PN-2 (great panning but not that great as a straight tremolo, I felt)) but I always come back to this.

 

The guitarist in my band uses a Tuna Melt and it sounds great. I'd recommend that if you were on a tight budget.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I love tremolo threads.

 

Probably my next most used tremolo is the BOSS PN-2. Glacier slow sawtooth panning for 3D atmospheres. I wish that it had sine wave panning, but I'm not going to complain about a classic pedal.

 

 

Some people complain about noise issues with the PN-2. Ever experienced any of that with yours?

[Fender&EHX4ever]

 

Some people complain about noise issues with the PN-2. Ever experienced any of that with yours?

 

 

Yes, about a week ago I plugged in my Standard Tele with the PN-2 going to 2 EHX Dirt Road Special amps. There was definitely a noticeable clicking sound that became more prominent with higher rates.

 

But then a few days ago I plugged in the Z-Vex Lofi Loop Junky with the PN-2 going to my Focusrite Sapphire Pro 40 to record a panning loop, and I don't recall any noise issues.

 

So I wonder if it has something to do with impedance or current or grounding variations?

 

In all fairness, I have quite a few pedals that exhibit this behavior. I've just learned to work with it or around it.

 

What's been your experience?

 

[seifukusha]

Ive had a few (one of my first trems was the PN-2 back in the day. Now I have this, but Im not a big user of trem anyway.

 

 

[travisbrowning]

Used a few trems, TR-2, Tuna Melt, M9, Pulsar... gotta say the Tuna Melt rules, simple and sounds really good, wish the casing was a bit better.

[t_e_l_e]

i don't have an amp with a trem

 

i have a first generation catalinbread semaphore, which i purchased here from kayzer.

 

just for fun i bought for our bassist an ehx stereo pulsar (xo version) for his birthday some years ago

i have to admit by side by side comparison the semaphore and the pulsar sound pretty similar

 

the semaphore has a slow/fast mode switch and it has a volume knob which i think is a inside trimpot in the pulsar and its not stereo

 

if you get along with just the basics, speed, depth, triangle/square shape you can safe a lot of money with the pulsar

 

yep newer version of the semaphore have more features, but you need to ask yourself if you need them

[Stubacca]

Anyone have experience with the Strymon Flint? Heard that both the trem and reverb are quite good. I've always wanted to try it but I LOVE my BlueSky and thought it might be overkill to have the Flint as well.

[GuitarSlim101]

I have two amps with great bias-varying tremolo, an old Univox U-305R and a homemade Supro 1624T clone. Delightful throbbing goodness. When I'm using my 5E3, I use a Tuna Melt. That little yellow devil is a fantastic pedal, but my sinewave/squarewave switch is starting to crap out on me. I want to rehouse it and throw my Cool Cat vibe in the same box. I love mixing vibe and trem.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

 

Yes, about a week ago I plugged in my Standard Tele with the PN-2 going to 2 EHX Dirt Road Special amps. There was definitely a noticeable clicking sound that became more prominent with higher rates.

 

But then a few days ago I plugged in the Z-Vex Lofi Loop Junky with the PN-2 going to my Focusrite Sapphire Pro 40 to record a panning loop, and I don't recall any noise issues.

 

So I wonder if it has something to do with impedance or current or grounding variations?

 

In all fairness, I have quite a few pedals that exhibit this behavior. I've just learned to work with it or around it.

 

What's been your experience?

 

I don't have a lot of noise issues with mine. I suspect you may be correct and that it may be a grounding issue or something because I think it becomes more noticeable to people when they're running it in stereo... but I have an iso transformer in my rig to eliminate ground loops and buzz, which may be why I don't usually notice it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I have two amps with great bias-varying tremolo' date=' an old Univox U-305R and a homemade Supro 1624T clone. Delightful throbbing goodness. When I'm using my 5E3, I use a Tuna Melt. That little yellow devil is a fantastic pedal, but my sinewave/squarewave switch is starting to crap out on me. I want to rehouse it and throw my Cool Cat vibe in the same box. I love mixing vibe and trem.[/quote']

 

Did you build the Supro clone from the ground up, or did you use a kit?

 

The dual vibe / trem rehouse project sounds interesting. If you do go through with it, please post lots of pics so we can follow along.

[Preacher]

I want to rehouse it and throw my Cool Cat vibe in the same box. I love mixing vibe and trem.

 

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[Fender&EHX4ever]

I have an iso transformer in my rig to eliminate ground loops and buzz

 

​I'm not familiar with that. Is that something I could purchase commercially?

 

[WRGKMC]

The Tremolo in my Music Man 65 head is actually pretty good. Its very unique too. It does a single pulse up to about 50% where it begins to double and you can adjust how much doubling you want from there up. Its really not a true tremolo because it doesn't bend the pitch, its like most fenders which just pulse the volume up and down.

 

I have a few pedals that do that too but they just don't sound too good. I can do it with my Marshall chorus pedal too but I usually have that set for a slow chorus. Recording I just use a plugin so I can get the timing to match the music tempo.

 

I wouldn't mind a pedal that either has tap tempo like echo units do or some kind of mic you can plug in to sense the drummers beat and have it trigger off the beat. The big problem with tremolos is the drummer cant maintain a beat with a tremolo any better then they can with a metronome, and having it drop out of sync really screws up its effectiveness. Maybe one that lets you vary the speed with a pedal would be best. Maybe even be able to limit how much that pedal varies the speed so you don't overcompensate. for tempo drift.

[GuitarSlim101]

 

Did you build the Supro clone from the ground up, or did you use a kit?

 

The dual vibe / trem rehouse project sounds interesting. If you do go through with it, please post lots of pics so we can follow along.

 

 

I bought the chassis and transformers here http://www.turretboards.com/guitar_amplifier_parts_supro_model24_style.html, used their layout and sourced the other bits from various electronics suppliers. It's a cool circuit, uses 6973 power amp tubes, which behave a lot like 6V6s with a bit less compression, and they're pretty near impossible to blow up. They were used in jukebox amps because they could handle being run all day, every day for quite a while.

 

And if I do put the vibe and trem in the same box, I'll definitely make a thread.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

​I'm not familiar with that. Is that something I could purchase commercially?

 

Sure. I have one from Gigrig (the Humdinger), but the Radial Bigshot ABY switch has an iso transformer built into it and is probably more readily available / easier to find. If you want to run two amps in stereo but avoid the ground loop issue, connect Amp #1 to your pedals in the usual way, then take the cable you'd normally run to your second amp, run it into the Bigshot, take Output B from the Bigshot and run it into Amp #2. Set the iso switch to the "on" position and you're done.

 

I can't guarantee it will take care of your PN-2 noise issues - maybe it's something else causing it - but it will take care of any ground loops and hum you may have experienced when running two amps in stereo. The Bigshot can also be used as an A/B amp switcher too for those who would rather run their two amps as a clean / dirty pair, instead of running them simultaneously in stereo.

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thanks!

[Fender&EHX4ever]

 

Sure. I have one from Gigrig (the Humdinger), but the Radial Bigshot ABY switch has an iso transformer built into it and is probably more readily available / easier to find. If you want to run two amps in stereo but avoid the ground loop issue, connect Amp #1 to your pedals in the usual way, then take the cable you'd normally run to your second amp, run it into the Bigshot, take Output B from the Bigshot and run it into Amp #2. Set the iso switch to the "on" position and you're done.

 

I can't guarantee it will take care of your PN-2 noise issues - maybe it's something else causing it - but it will take care of any ground loops and hum you may have experienced when running two amps in stereo. The Bigshot can also be used as an A/B amp switcher too for those who would rather run their two amps as a clean / dirty pair, instead of running them simultaneously in stereo.

 

Aha... I understand now. Thank you, Phil.

I recently picked up a Voodoo Labs Amp Selector, and unless I'm mistaken I think it has isolated transformers for each of the 4 outputs. I didn't realize this until you explained

[groovezilla]

I tried the voodoo labs microvibe. Major tone suck, killed the high frequencies. I'd love to get a true Leslie tone without lugging one of those beasts around.

[Danhedonia]

I am currently using an older Pulsar, an El Rey Chicago Electric Typewriter, and the 'repeater' on my Acid Fuzz Sonic Boom boost/fuzz/repeater. I also love my Boss GS-10 tabletop's trem because of it's incredible tweakability. I have other trems I am not really using. My old Peavey Classic 212 has a delicious tremolo.

 

I like the Pulsar more than the Chicago Typewriter; the Sonic Boom's repeater has a wonderful feature in that you can adjust the frequency cutoff for the repeats, so you can have lower notes sustain while upper register shimmers. Neat-oh.

 

Here are two layers of features I'd like to see in 'the perfect tremolo.'

 

Must:

* Gain / level adjust

* Speed / depth controlled by dials, but with digital readout

* Stereo pans

 

Would be nice:

* wave shape editing functions similar to my GS-10 (shape, rise vs. fall, etc.)

* a few adjustable presets / memory settings

 

After doing some recordings with the GS-10, I have come to vastly prefer the accuracy of a digital screen for BPM settings (as opposed to tap tempo). It's just a higher level of creativity to me; setting a trem to mathematical multipliers of a track's BPM can create some amazing soundscapes.

 

When is the tremolo you've been asked to design going to be available?