Tremolos: 2-speed ramping in smallest package?

bongomania · #1 11-10-2011, 01:45 AM

Arrrright, I already know the answer is probably "Empress", but I wanted to see what other options I might have missed or underestimated.

I love tremolo. I especially love ones that allow ramping/sweeping between two different rates. Not just switching, mind you, but that gradual ramped increase/decrease between two set speeds. So that absolutely rules out all trems that only have one footswitch, as well as all that just robotically toggle between two speeds.

Oddly I'm not that fond of tap tempo. I "get it", but it just doesn't feel organic to me. I'd rather be out of sync than do the "tap tap tap" during a song.

I'd like to avoid buying a giant space-occupier like the Goatkeeper, Ultrem, Fulltone, Pigtronix, or GigFX Chopper. They're cool, but too big for me. I'd love a Powerglide, but honestly when we get over $300 I start to look elsewhere if I can. So let's say $300 is my upper limit.

What about the Cusack, is it bigger than the Empress? Of the lot, which has the best (most groovy and organic) ramping between speeds? Do the Cygnet, Rockett, Red Witch, Jauernig, Diamond, or the newest Semaphore do ramping at all?

Who did I miss?
Of the ones named, why pick one over the others?

lowfreq33 · #2 11-10-2011, 02:00 AM

Hughes and Kettner rotosphere sounds like exactly what you're looking for, and sounds incredible, buuuuut it's freakin huge.

hairyampdroolin · #3 11-10-2011, 02:23 AM

Juan Alderete Interviewed by Janek Gwizdala - YouTube

Juan Alderete has a few in the first half of this video, I can't remember what they are though.

mikkejohansson · #4 11-10-2011, 02:46 AM

The Cygnet would do ramping, but with an exp.pedal...not quite the same.

bongomania · #5 11-10-2011, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hairyampdroolin

Juan Alderete has a few in the first half of this video, I can't remember what they are though.

Thanks, cool vid, but nothing there matches what I was talking about.

The trems Juan demos there are the Guyatone Ultrem, GigFX Chopper, and a little Boss or Behringer (couldn't see and he didn't say). The Ultrem is huge, and annoying to program; the GigFX is huge; and the little one doesn't do speed-changing.

Jared Lash · #6 11-10-2011, 12:32 PM

The Cygnet (at least version 1) does not have ramping. It has a multiplier knob (expression control is an added option) that can increase the rate as a multiple of the original rate but it does so abruptly which is an incredibly cool effect but not what you're looking for.

The three trems I've had that did ramping are the Empress, the Diamond and Cusack.

The Empress Tremolo lets you set both speeds however you'd like and then use the Tap stomp to ramp between them.

The Diamond's tap stomp is also a "Doubler" ramping from the tapped speed to double that. But you can also let go at any point to stop at that speed. Tapping it again ramps back down to the starting speed.

The Cusack Tap-A-Whirl has a brake function that will always slow down the tempo when first turning the pedal on, but will speed up the next time you hold it down. Whenever you let your foot off it will stay at that speed.

None of the three have any way to control the rate at which the speeds ramps up or down.

Sizewise they are all pretty similar though technically the Empress is the smallest and the Cusack the biggest. But if it makes a difference the TAW has top mounted jacks which could make it the best fit depending on how your board is laid out.

Hope that helps.

bongomania · #7 11-10-2011, 12:44 PM

It does indeed!

mikeythekid · #8 11-10-2011, 01:50 PM

I have the line 6 roto pedal which does a sweet tremolo with stereo/mono output and is only slightly larger than a typical boss enclosure.

You can adjust the ramp up/down speed between slow, medium, and fast rates by a simple half depression of the footswitch and it can do anything from crimson and clover style trem, leslie organ sounds, to crazy wobbles. I love this pedal because it has a drive knob that gives it a nice saturation if desired and when used with a fuzz pedal this thing sings!

JBTucci · #9 11-10-2011, 07:15 PM

I've been wanting to try the new Catalinbread tap Semaphore. It has a ton of wave shapes including ramp up and down. Seems to be the same price as the Empress but with more features

Anyone checked this out yet?

Bjazzman · #10 11-10-2011, 07:40 PM

4ms tremulus lune?

bongomania · #11 11-10-2011, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBTucci

I've been wanting to try the new Catalinbread tap Semaphore. It has a ton of wave shapes including ramp up and down.

Small but important distinction: they are using the word "ramp" to mean "sawtooth wave", while I am using it to mean "gradual change of speed".

bigchiefbc · #12 11-10-2011, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bjazzman

4ms tremulus lune?

The tremulus lune (or at least the one I had) doesn't ramp between two speeds, per se. It has an auxiliary LFO that sweeps the primary LFO's speed up and down. It's a really cool effect, but slightly different thing than what bongo is asking for.

Feral Feline · #13 11-11-2011, 12:30 AM

Diamond with an expression pedal would be my vote, albeit a space hog due to the added Xp pedal. Add an expressionater and use the Xp pedal for other pedals, too.

EDIT: ARRGGHH... I was thinking of the Diamond Vibrato pedal, which can accept expression pedals. The Diamond Tremolo is a two-speed, but at least it has smooth ramping between speeds.

The SolidGold FX's Stutterbox has 2 speed operation, dual independent controls ...

hairyampdroolin · #14 11-11-2011, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Thanks, cool vid, but nothing there matches what I was talking about.

The trems Juan demos there are the Guyatone Ultrem, GigFX Chopper, and a little Boss or Behringer (couldn't see and he didn't say). The Ultrem is huge, and annoying to program; the GigFX is huge; and the little one doesn't do speed-changing.

Sorry, I missed the bit about ramping, I was thinking about the 2 speed trems. Yeah, the Guyatone is huge.