tremolos.....help

dudemanvic · #1 02-17-2009, 01:13 PM

ok, so i've been looking at adding a tremolo to my pedal board and I've got it down to 3. the EHX stereo pulsar (though i never do stereo, only mono if thats gonna be a problem let me know please), voodoo labs tremolo, and a boss TR-2. I've looked up videos, gotten my guitarist's opinion (he works at GC and plays with the pedals all the time especially since he's lookin to make a board as well) the only thing I haven't done is tested them myself but I never have the time to, so if anyone could give me their opinions on these pedals, hell maybe even reccomend another brand o' tremolo (please keep it under $200), that would be friggin' awesome! thanks in advance guys!

-Jake Shrine of the Silver Monkey www.myspace.com/silvermonkeymusic

rratajski · #2 02-17-2009, 01:19 PM

No TR-2 unless you're going to get it modded to correct the volume drop.

chrisisnotevil · #3 02-17-2009, 01:29 PM

just got me the ehx, very happy with it but i find the rate to be WAY too wide for me, the only usable frequencies are bunched right up on one side of the dial. it's really flexible with the waveform though, and i can't notice much of a volume drop. there's some guy on here who makes custom build pedals with awesome paintjobs, you ought to have a look at his site too

dudemanvic · #4 02-17-2009, 01:52 PM

what's the site? thanks for the help so far guys! really appreciate it! what's this volume drop deal with the TR-2? doesn't play well with bass frequencies or somthing?

chrisisnotevil · #5 02-17-2009, 02:04 PM

he's posted in this thread and it's not me

i think it's an overall volume level drop problem, rather than bass frequency specific, but i've only read about it on here, never tested one, but it's why i didn't get one.

bigchiefbc · #6 02-17-2009, 02:08 PM

No it has nothing to do with bass freqs versus treble. All tremolo pedals that do not have a boost built in will have a perceived volume drop. The reason why is that tremolo is like constantly turning your volume knob up and down, so only at the very top of the cycle will you be at unity volume. For the rest of the cycle, your volume will be lower than unity. Thus, the ear perceives this as a volume drop. Some of the boutique builders thus build a boost into their tremolo circuits to fix this. The Catalinbread Semaphore comes to mind, and is under $200. But there are others, as well

dudemanvic · #7 02-17-2009, 02:33 PM

so if I got like the EHX stereo pulsar (won't lie my eye is heavily gazing on it), would getting a booster pedal be an ok kind of thing to add with it, or just try to get somthing with a boost built in?

Jared Lash · #8 02-17-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

No it has nothing to do with bass freqs versus treble. All tremolo pedals that do not have a boost built in will have a perceived volume drop. The reason why is that tremolo is like constantly turning your volume knob up and down, so only at the very top of the cycle will you be at unity volume. For the rest of the cycle, your volume will be lower than unity. Thus, the ear perceives this as a volume drop. Some of the boutique builders thus build a boost into their tremolo circuits to fix this. The Catalinbread Semaphore comes to mind, and is under $200. But there are others, as well

+1

Good info here. I like a tremolo with a gain/volume knob for this reason. On my old tremolo (

) I always had the gain a bit above unity. Even though the peaks were now louder than before the overall effect to the ear was that the volume stayed the same rather than dropping slightly.

To answer your question about those three pedals, I like the Voodoo Lab the best as it has a wide usuable range and is low noise. But it doesn't to a hard cutting square wave. The Pulsar is a bit better in this regard, but the Boss does it best. I couldn't take the volume drop, but I think a modded version would be a solid trem. I didn't really like the Pulsar.

Earthquaker trems might be worth checking out as well.

Just my thoughts.

Bassist24601 · #9 02-17-2009, 02:39 PM

you can grab a ebs tremelo for less than 200 at theperfectbass.com, if not its on ebay brand new. great sounding pedal meant for bass

Jared Lash · #10 02-17-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassist24601

you can grab a ebs tremelo for less than 200 at theperfectbass.com, if not its on ebay brand new. great sounding pedal meant for bass

I haven't tried the EBS but I think their stuff is high quality so I'm sure it's a good trem.

But do they really market it as "meant for bass"? What would be different about a tremolo to make it bass friendly?

dudemanvic · #11 02-17-2009, 04:26 PM

would the boost pedal idea work?

Jared Lash · #12 02-17-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dudemanvic

would the boost pedal idea work?

Sure, but obviously you'd have to hit two pedals every time to turn them on and off.

Plus, unless you already have a boost pedal, buying it AND the trem would run you as much as upgrading to a trem with a volume knob. Not to mention, if it isn't a quiet trem to begin with, adding a boost will obviously amplify the cycle noise as well.

rratajski · #13 02-17-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Sure, but obviously you'd have to hit two pedals every time to turn them on and off.

Plus, unless you already have a boost pedal, buying it AND the trem would run you as much as upgrading to a trem with a volume knob. Not to mention, if it isn't a quiet trem to begin with, adding a boost will obviously amplify the cycle noise as well.

Confirmed. Just look for a trem w/ a volume knob!

manveru · #14 02-17-2009, 06:48 PM

i love my Tr-2

Mudfuzz · #15 02-17-2009, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rratajski

Confirmed. Just look for a trem w/ a volume knob!

I agree in a way but I wish more builders made it a internal control, i.e. one less knob to make sure it is in the right spot if you're just going to set it and forget it.

rratajski · #16 02-17-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfuzz

I agree in a way but I wish more builders made it a internal control, i.e. one less knob to make sure it is in the right spot if you're just going to set it and forget it.

I don't know man...having the volume on the outside is kind of important for me. If I turn down low to play at my house, I might have to turn the volume on the trem down...

A set and forget pot on the inside lacks the versatility, IMO.

afroman · #17 02-17-2009, 09:58 PM

I'm also looking at a tremolo pedal and have decided on those small Catalinbread Valcoders. Sounds great and small makes it even better.

The light pulses to tempo too.
Check it out.

Lud · #18 02-17-2009, 10:17 PM

get a used moog ring mod. then you'll have a great tremolo and awesome ring mod/chorus/leslie effects. if you don't like that idea, get an old dunlop tremolo. the big stereo purple one. ts9 i believe. ring mods are the way to go though, to me. then you won't find yourself wasting even more money or real estate on your board.

newbold · #19 02-18-2009, 12:41 AM

EHX Worm.

Give that a try.

jetofuj · #20 02-18-2009, 12:51 AM

Some time ago I wanted this:

http://www.peptoneelectronics.com/botrtrpe.html

It's modded Boss tremolo.