# Best Non Boss Tremolo Under $150 Used



## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Looking to upgrade my Behringer Tremolo. Don't want Boss. Any tremolo pedals I should be on the lookout for?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Supa Trem is great, I owned the original and v2, both great, might find one in that range.


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

Guncho, if you're not adverse to building from a kit, check out the Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo pedal from Zeppelin Design Labs in Chicago. $99USD plus shipping, so it may end up being slightly over your budget. But this thing is amazing. There's nothing in the tremolo world it can't do.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

keto said:


> Supa Trem is great, I owned the original and v2, both great, might find one in that range.


I had a V1 for years and sold it when I thought I didn’t need trem anymore. Instant regret. It’s gorgeous and could maybe be found near the top of your price range. I picked up an Empress V1 on the forum last summer for something in the ballpark of $150 and it is also fabulous.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I should have mentioned that I don't have a pedal board so don't want anything bigger than your standard boss/MXR/Ibanez pedal.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

BYoC harmonic tremolo.
Send it to me with a $20 and I’ll build it for ya!

Probably end up around $150 total and have a far better tremolo than you’d get from any major brand.


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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

Guncho said:


> Looking to upgrade my Behringer Tremolo. Don't want Boss. Any tremolo pedals I should be on the lookout for?


May I ask why not boss.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

silvertonebetty said:


> May I ask why not boss.


You may. When I played in bands back in the day all there was available for the most part were Boss, Ibanez and MXR so now that I'm getting back into electric decades later and there are so many companies to choose from I just want to try something different. I do also prefer the small switches vs the boss switches. It's too easy to hit the Boss ones by accident. That being said, I am using a Boss TU-2 cause I got it for $60 and it works well.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Not in the listed budget but man I haven’t been playing anything else but a Bad Cat, P90’s and this since I got it.


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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

Guncho said:


> You may. When I played in bands back in the day all there was available for the most part were Boss, Ibanez and MXR so now that I'm getting back into electric decades later and there are so many companies to choose from I just want to try something different. I do also prefer the small switches vs the boss switches. It's too easy to hit the Boss ones by accident. That being said, I am using a Boss TU-2 cause I got it for $60 and it works well.


Well that makes sense . I don’t mind boss but there’s so much more out there, why limit yourself to one brand


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## David's gas station (Jul 26, 2020)

I had supa trem for years, hard to beat. Most recently i switch to a Fulltone Supa Trem jr, slightly larger than a single pedal but do have a tap tempo. You can find one for less than 150$. Otherwise you probably can find a Danelectro Tuna melt for around 40$, one of my favorite.


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## David's gas station (Jul 26, 2020)

David's gas station said:


> I had supa trem for years, hard to beat. Most recently i switch to a Fulltone Supa Trem jr, slightly larger than a single pedal but do have a tap tempo. You can find one for less than 150$. Otherwise you probably can find a Danelectro Tuna melt for around 40$, one of my favorite.


the supa trem v2 can also be used as a boost. Worth it.





Reverb







reverb.com


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

David's gas station said:


> I had supa trem for years, hard to beat. Most recently i switch to a Fulltone Supa Trem jr, slightly larger than a single pedal but do have a tap tempo. You can find one for less than 150$. Otherwise you probably can find a Danelectro Tuna melt for around 40$, one of my favorite.


Yeah I will be on the lookout for a Supa-Trem Jr. I'm not into the Danelectro pedals.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I've had a Voodoo Lab Tremolo (4 knob) for many years. The circuit is from an old tube amp. It has blend, volume, speed and shape knobs. Sounds great. With the pedal on and the blend off it adds something good to my overall tone. It can be used as a boost too.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

player99 said:


> I've had a Voodoo Lab Tremolo (4 knob) for many years. The circuit is from an old tube amp. It has blend, volume, speed and shape knobs. Sounds great. With the pedal on and the blend off it adds something good to my overall tone. It can be used as a boost too.


I'll keep my eyes out for one.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

David's gas station said:


> I had supa trem for years, hard to beat. Most recently i switch to a Fulltone Supa Trem jr, slightly larger than a single pedal but do have a tap tempo. You can find one for less than 150$. Otherwise you probably can find a Danelectro Tuna melt for around 40$, one of my favorite.


I was gonna say the Dano, but I didn't want to get beat up. Folks don't love them like I love them. 

Their original 4 metal case line up in the 90's were awsome IMO.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

tdotrob said:


> Not in the listed budget but man I haven’t been playing anything else but a Bad Cat, P90’s and this since I got it.


That Trem is to die for!


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Guncho said:


> I'll keep my eyes out for one.


I bought mine used 24 years ago. Still works perfectly.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Brunz said:


> That Trem is to die for!


It really is. Funny enough, I’m running it into a Danelectro 600 ms delay(seriously good sounding delay) into the front of my 6V6 Judah and it sounds just awesome.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

But after seeing the Quaverato I may have to get one and build it. I would rather skip the build it part though...


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Anyone tried the JHS Tidewater?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

player99 said:


> But after seeing the Quaverato I may have to get one and build it. I would rather skip the build it part though...


Dammit, that thing sounds excellent too!!!
I need to get off of this bloody website, I cant afford it.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Brunz said:


> Dammit, that thing sounds excellent too!!!
> I need to get off of this bloody website, I cant afford it.


It's not even that bad for the kit. $134 cad + $20 cad midi control option + $30 cad shipping. So about $200 cad + build time...


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

player99 said:


> It's not even that bad for the kit. $134 cad + $20 cad midi control option + $30 cad shipping. So about $200 cad + build time...


I had spent $0 dollars on gear in 10 years and $3k since I joined the forum a month ago. I stand by my sentiment


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## Epiphoneboost (Apr 10, 2013)

Danelectro filthy rich tremolo. Cheap, quiet footswitch. Internal trimmer for volume


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

David's gas station said:


> the supa trem v2 can also be used as a boost. Worth it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Technically V1 can too but the trim pot is inside the pedal/a pain in the ass lol


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Another one would be the Diamond Tremolo. Made in Canada. Performs really well too. If I am not using my Strymon Flint, that would be the one I would be using. I'm surprised with your comment about the Boss TR2 as IMO is one of the best tremolos around.


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## David's gas station (Jul 26, 2020)

jimmythegeek said:


> Technically V1 can too but the trim pot is inside the pedal/a pain in the ass lol


I know that's why i mention the v2


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

player99 said:


> I've had a Voodoo Lab Tremolo (4 knob) for many years. The circuit is from an old tube amp. It has blend, volume, speed and shape knobs. Sounds great. With the pedal on and the blend off it adds something good to my overall tone. It can be used as a boost too.


I think Voodoo labs is under rated for those who don't want boutique pedals. I had one and sold it.........wish I'd kept it almost immediately. Same with my Sparkle Drive.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

I have a Dano Cool Cat and an Empress Tremolo2. I bought the Empress used for a little more than you budget and it is great! The Dano I think I bought new for $40 and it actually is pretty darn good.


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

OK, so regarding the Quaverato....yes, you can hear plenty of impressive demos on YouTube.
But what does it *actually* sound like? Here's my cover of Sun King:


__
https://soundcloud.com/user-433381886%2Fsun-king-cover


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Okay I've decided to up my budget to $200.

I really like the sound of the Keeley Dynatrem and the MXR Tremolo. I really like the idea of dynamic tremolo and I think it's a must have. Anyone tried those?


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

This thread inspired me to order a beat up Boss TR-2 from Reverb, lol.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have a Line 6 ToneCore Tap Tremolo (among numerous others). Weighs a fricking ton, but has several redeeming features. One is that has tap-tempo. Another is that it is dynamic and can be set to increase speed when you pick harder. Finally, it has a nice emulation of tube-bias tremolo, in addition to the usual wave-shape found on so many other tremolos pedals. Some folks like tap tempo, although personally I have little use for it. But the envelope-controlled speed is great for creating moods, and the bias trem is lovely. The only thing I wish it did is harmonic tremolo.

They can probably be found cheap, used, simply because people don't like the weight.

Harmonic tremolo is often confused with a Uni-Vibe. Though not at all the same effect, I can sort of understand the confusion. Uni-Vibes are phasers, whose phase-shift stages are rigged to yield broad shallow dips, rather than focussed deep notches. So the sound just feels "animated" and never feels like it goes away, in the manner that phasers do when the notches end up in the same frequecy band as the note you're playing. Similarly, harmonic tremolo divvies the signal into high and low bands (with some overlap), and applies tremolo to them reciprocally (one goes up when the other goes down), so the sound never "goes away"/gets silent. Because the effect is kind of a gentle ripple, it's the sort of thing you can leave on, just like you can with Uni-Vibe. A less gimmicky sound.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Guncho said:


> Okay I've decided to up my budget to $200.
> 
> I really like the sound of the Keeley Dynatrem and the MXR Tremolo. I really like the idea of dynamic tremolo and I think it's a must have. Anyone tried those?


Well at that budget check out Empress and Diamond used, go Canadian!


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

If you want a great sounding vintage Fender like Trem, the Joyo tremolo is really good, and like $40 on Amazon New.

If you are lucky, you might be able to find a Caroline Guitar Company Parabola, I’ve seen them used for $160. It’s got some mojo and a op amp gain control that’s worth the purchase price alone.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Chito said:


> I'm surprised with your comment about the Boss TR2 as IMO is one of the best tremolos around.


I have the BOSS Tremolo, and I love it. I honestly don't think I use it to it's full potential, but for the price. It's a great pedal. The BOSS tuner on the other hand blows chunks! hated that thing!


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

SWLABR said:


> I have the BOSS Tremolo, and I love it. I honestly don't think I use it to it's full potential, but for the price. It's a great pedal. The BOSS tuner on the other hand blows chunks! hated that thing!


Which one and what was wrong with it?


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Okay Player said:


> Which one and what was wrong with it?


The TU-2. But, I may have sounded more harsh than I had intended. It “tunes” just fine. But, if you want to tune to anything other than standard it’s not as user friendly as say, TC Polytune. 
To get into Eb you need to hit a button to change modes. Which is fine if you’re always in Eb. But if you want to go back to A440, remember to hit that little button. On stage… in the dark… during a quick song break/changeover. 
It can do open G fine, but it can’t (in any mode I found) do open E. the G# is beyond its capabilities.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

SWLABR said:


> The TU-2. But, I may have sounded more harsh than I had intended. It “tunes” just fine. But, if you want to tune to anything other than standard it’s not as user friendly as say, TC Polytune.
> To get into Eb you need to hit a button to change modes. Which is fine if you’re always in Eb. But if you want to go back to A440, remember to hit that little button. On stage… in the dark… during a quick song break/changeover.
> It can do open G fine, but it can’t (in any mode I found) do open E. the G# is beyond its capabilities.


Ah, okay. I picked one up a couple years ago at L&M for $35 and have been happy with it, but aside from occasionally tuning the low E to D, I only play in standard tuning.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Chito said:


> Another one would be the Diamond Tremolo. Made in Canada. Performs really well too. If I am not using my Strymon Flint, that would be the one I would be using. I'm surprised with your comment about the Boss TR2 as IMO is one of the best tremolos around.


How do you find the TR-2 compared to the trem on the Flint?


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## PTO (12 mo ago)

L&M has limited in-store stock of the Voodoo Lab Tremolo on sale for $169. I bought one and am enjoying it. It’s unavailable a few other places so I wonder if it’s being discontinued?


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