# Which tremolo?



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

My little Traynor amp has a nice tremolo on it, but I'm thinking about buying a pedal that might be more useful. Nothing digital, and nothing I need a pilot's licence to fly (so Empress is out). Something old school, vintagey sounding, not arm & leg expensive. What are the options? I've heard good and bad things about the Diaz tremodillo RIs, so what else is there? Swamp Thang is similar right? Mojo Hand Sugar? How's the BYOC trem? I had a Boss years ago and didn't really like it...


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I was given a Line 6 Tap Tremolo, and it's a neat little pedal. Not as fancy as an Empress (though probably twice as heavy!), but it has some nifty features. It'll do auto-panning, and has a nice model of bias-tremolo that I find has a really nice vibe to it. Besides tap tempo (obviously) and waveform control (triangle thru square), the other thing it does is envelope-controlled rate. So, hit a chord hard, and the modulation rate speeds up for a bit before settling back down. You can adjust the sensitivity of that, and since it is digital, the increase is proportional to whatever the base rate is. 

The current EHX Pulsar has been very positively received and does some neat tricks as well, though not the same tricks as the Line 6 unit. The Pulsar's designer, Ton Barmentloo is quite approachable and has recently posted a mod or two over at the DIY stompbox forum.

I built myself a couple of EAN (Electronics Australia Now) tremolos and they are pretty decent for the cost and effort. Very nice vibe to them.

Finally, if you want to get really wicked, RG Keen has posted a solid-state implementation of the old Fender Pro amp vibrato: http://www.geofex.com/FX_images/FakeFenderVib3.pdf


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Our bass player has a Catalinbread Semaphore (he uses it on guitar, not bass). I've borrowed it a couple of times and its an awesome pedal - easy to dial in a great trem tone. I'd buy one, but its not an effect I use often enough to justify it. I tried to save a few bucks and I bought a used 2 knob Voodoo Lab Trem. Its nowhere near as good as the Catalinbread :frown::


http://www.catalinbread.com/SemaphoreTremolo.html


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## JMann (Feb 18, 2007)

*Trem*

Hi

I am certainly not a Trem connoisseur, but I had a Catalinbread Semaphore Trem and it was a nice simple but versatile Trem. Good chopper sounds and standard Fender-like Trem sounds. I got rid of it after I realized I don't really use Tremolo that much and frankly, wasn't too enamoured of the sound overall. I bought a Dan. Tuna Melt to satisfy my infrequent Trem ureges:smile:

One thing about the Catalin., if I remember correctly, it had a volume control as for some reason when a signal is proceesed through a Trem, there is a volume drop. So that onboard volume was helpful. People more technically proficient than me, please pipe in

Thanx,
Jim


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2008)

Faracaster has a Demeter Tremulator up for sale (or at least he did) -- which is an excellent balance between simplicity and sound: two knobs and a great waveform shape.

What in particular intimidates you when you look at the empress tremolo? If you ignore the pattern knob and set it to not be tap tempo it's a three knob trem: rate, depth, output volume. Plus a switch for the waveform: sine, tube, and square -- which you'd probably leave in the middle position (tube) if what you're after is amp-like tremolo. It sounds unbelievably good. Used it's about the same price as the Demeter.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

It's not so much intimidation as bells and whistles I don't need. If I'm going to shut off the pattern thing and the tap tempo, then there's not much point having them. Extra things to break too. Plus, doesn't the empress digitise the entire signal, dry and wet? 
Might have a look at Pete's - thanks for the heads up (Where does he get those wonderful toys???)


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

The Demeter Tremulator is a great sounding, no bells and whistles trem.

My Tremulator has been acting up,so I recently picked up a BYOC trem from axeandyoushallreceive. The BYOC is very cool and I like it as much as the Tremulator, although they have different vibes (and totally different circuits)

I'd say try the BYOC...


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2008)

devnulljp said:


> Extra things to break too.


It's no more or less sturdy then any other professional grade effect out there. I wouldn't sweat breaking it any more then I'd sweat breaking my ModFactor or my TU-2.


> Plus, doesn't the empress digitise the entire signal, dry and wet?


Not at all. The signal path is entirely analog. The pedal uses a digital microcontroller to control the effect: the rate, the pattern, the depth, waveform, etc. But the actual effect is applied to your signal in the analog domain.



> Might have a look at Pete's - thanks for the heads up


Here's his for sale post. Looks like it's still available too.


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

I have a Demeter than I like alot. 

I bet the Voodoo Labs would be fine, or for something inexpensive, I hear that the Dano pedals are really good.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm partial to the Diaz myself, and think it's a great sounding trem, but I have no experience with the newer models. I have an older one (blue with gold lettering) and it's fantastic. If you're interested, Scott at Axeandyoushallreceive had and older Diaz Trem for about $150 or so. They sound great for old Fender-ish trem!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

JMann said:


> Hi
> One thing about the Catalin., if I remember correctly, it had a volume control as for some reason when a signal is proceesed through a Trem, there is a volume drop. So that onboard volume was helpful.


Since the tremolo lowers and returns the signal level, the *average* volume may appear to be noticeably less than bypass in some instances, depending on the settings. As well, some folks think of tremolo as something they use for rhythm only, so they don't mind being a little lower in volume when the tremolo is engaged. Others think of tremolo as something they might wish to use for soloing, in which case a little volume boost is kinda nice. A tremolo circuit that adds just a bit of gain and provides a volume control allows you to have equal volume with bypass, a bit of toning down when you need it, and a bit of boost when you need it. Tim Larwill included a volume pot on the Retro-Sonic Phaser for that very reason. Nice feature for performing musicians.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

+1 on the Catalinbrad Semaphore Tromolo, really handy and seriously it's not that hard to dial up your tone with, very intuitive and the volume knob is really use full, had a boust that mix up so well with overdrive!


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## JMann (Feb 18, 2007)

mhammer said:


> Since the tremolo lowers and returns the signal level, the *average* volume may appear to be noticeably less than bypass in some instances, depending on the settings. As well, some folks think of tremolo as something they use for rhythm only, so they don't mind being a little lower in volume when the tremolo is engaged. Others think of tremolo as something they might wish to use for soloing, in which case a little volume boost is kinda nice. A tremolo circuit that adds just a bit of gain and provides a volume control allows you to have equal volume with bypass, a bit of toning down when you need it, and a bit of boost when you need it. Tim Larwill included a volume pot on the Retro-Sonic Phaser for that very reason. Nice feature for performing musicians.


Hey, you just cleared up one my life's minor mysteries, namely, why Trems have an inherent volume drop. Thanks



> Ti-Ron
> +1 on the Catalinbrad Semaphore Tromolo, really handy and seriously it's not that hard to dial up your tone with, very intuitive and the volume knob is really use full, had a boust that mix up so well with overdrive!


Yeah, I forgot about the Semaphore's boost feature. Now why the heck did I get rid of that trem in the first place:smile:

Thanx,
Jim


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

hollowbody said:


> I'm partial to the Diaz myself, and think it's a great sounding trem, but I have no experience with the newer models. I have an older one (blue with gold lettering) and it's fantastic. If you're interested, Scott at Axeandyoushallreceive had and older Diaz Trem for about $150 or so. They sound great for old Fender-ish trem!


Didn't you just get yours modded by Greg @ Solidgold...think I was kinda hoping you'd give up on that one and SELL IT TO MEEEEEE!!!!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

devnulljp said:


> Didn't you just get yours modded by Greg @ Solidgold...think I was kinda hoping you'd give up on that one and SELL IT TO MEEEEEE!!!!


haha, yes, yes I did.

It wasn't a mod, per se. He just added a 9v jack, a pulsing LED and upgraded some resistors and stuff, the circuit is the same. It made a great pedal even better in that I don't have to worry about batteries for it, and I can adjust the rate in the dark just by watching the LED. As for sound, it didn't make a difference, or at least not one that made me jump out of my seat. It still sounds like a great blackface trem.

As for selling it. Ummmm...no. Go get your own damned 'dillo!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I just added a pulsating LED to an EA Tremolo last night. Works great except for one thing: it appears to pulsate opposite phase to the volume. In other words, the LED gets brighter when the volume goes low. pretty, but messes with your head something fierce. OTOH, I had an extra hole in the chassis that had been drilled for something else, so the hole is now officially filled with something that has *possibly* some use!


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## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

David Grissom uses an unmodified Boss trem. No true bypass, no fancy mods of any kind...just a plain out of the box pedal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDv-oQqXGf8&feature=related


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## overdriver (Jul 24, 2008)

Not a trem but a vib. I am thinking on getting one of these Canadian made guys www.diamondpedals.com vib. pedal a bit pricy though.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You know, I'm impressed with Diamond. They make a decent product, but then so do many others. What impresses me is the way they put some thought into the performance features that might be added to deliver something a little different, while not failing to deliver on the expected. Nicely done.

FWIW, a few years ago I discovered that you could produce some REALLY interesting sounds out of a standard-issue Small Stone phaser by simply moving the ends of two capacitors. Not quite vibrato, not quite phaser, not quite auto-wah, and not quite tremolo, but a fascinating blend of all of them. VERY swampy. If you have a SS and feel adventurous, drop me a note and I'll nurse you through the mod.


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