Need tremolo...but only if you can help

[Kabal]

I need a tremolo for a recording and I need it to be something special. Right now it's just going to be for studio as I have no band if that makes a difference.

I'm deciding between....

Catalinbread
Dr. Scientist
and iron ether

At the moment I only need a really good triangle wave but as I don't plan to sell the pedal after I'm done with its immediate use I'd like it to bring me joy in my latter days. I'm kind of leaning away from IE simply because it has more stuff than I need right now but I may be convinced otherwise.

Is there really a huge difference in the quality of these pedals or are they all really nice and can do what I want equally awesomely?

[Jared Lash]

That's a tough question to answer in a few ways. If all you're really looking for is something to do a good triangle wave then the Danelectro Tuna Melt would do you fine. Great sound at a great price and no extraneous features.

Also in the simple and great sounding category but with a higher price tag is the Voodoo Labs Tremolo. More amp like IMO and with a great vintage tone.

Also, I'm not sure why you'd say the Iron Ether has more stuff than you need since the other two you listed also have a number of additional features and one of the features it DOES have (tap tempo) I think is really useful.

The Dr. Scientist is a great trem though you may have trouble finding them. They are scarce to begin with and the old version may be harder to find now that Ryan is about to release the new, feature packed version:
Dr. Scientist Tremolessence Tremolo Pedal

The Catalinbread is a great trem as well with low noise and great sound. But neither of them are all that much more simple than the IE or something like the Empress for that matter.

As with any effect it comes down to what features you need and which ones you don't and your budget.

[Crabby]

I just recently picked up one of the new Black Cat Mini trems and its fantastic as it has a built in adjustable clean boost so there is absolutely no loss in volume when kicked in. Its really rich sounding and has a tone control and a double speed footswitch which is really quite cool. Worth looking into.

[teleharmonium]

I have the Catalinbread Semaphore trem, I like the sound of it but have found it very frustrating for live use. I could see it working better in the studio where you have more time and better light.

The volume control and depth have a huge range in a small amount of turn, the knobs get bumped a little in transit or inadvertently while you are playing (all the controls are tightly spaced) and then you're in trouble. Now I'm using one of the compact Malekko trem pedals instead. (I use the same pedal board for guitar and bass.)

Personally if I'm using tremelo or vibrato on a recording, it tends to be either a built in effect on an amp - some of those are really spectacular - or else I'll add it as a plug in so that I can sync it to tempo. I suppose there are tap tempo trem pedals but I've never bothered.

The typical trem sound from something like a blackface Fender amp is not so special that I wouldn't use a plug in instead, but no plugin can sound like the vib effect in my old Vox AC15 or Ampeg B12-x or even a more basic bias modulation trem because being part of the power amp, they have a smoothness in the way the gain structure and compression change and the noise disappears as the signal ducks down that you can't quite get from a pedal.

[bassbrad]

If you are looking for something special for studio use consider the Roger Linn AdrenaLinn III. It has a very good tremolo, filter tremolo and vibrato all which can be beat synched to internal or external time as well as lots of other nifty and great sounding effects. Mine lives in the studio ready to go for all sorts of fun and goodness.

AdrenaLinn 3 Guitar FX Box

[Swift713]

I haven't used any stand alone tremolos but I did really like the tremolos on the Line 6 M9. It has the ability to speed up in response to your dynamics which has a very nice organic sound. I think I preferred the bias trem, it was pretty warm and smooth and with the touch sensitive speed it really becomes part of the instrument rather than a robotic interference.