I sat down with the new EHX Stereo Pulsar (an improved reissue of the last model), and after some time with fiddling knobs and testing out some settings, I decided to purchase it and play with the features a while longer.
The EHX Stereo Pulsar, for those who don't know, is Electro-Harmonix's flagship tremolo pedal:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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PRICE: $78.99 retail - pretty reasonable, I'd say!
SIZE: It's in your usual Hammond 1590BB enclosure, the same size as a SansAmp, Punch Factory, and a ton of other pedals out there using the same enclosure.
POWER: Any Boss-standard 9V adapter or 9V battery will work fine.
OUTPUTS: Stereo outputs. The cool thing about the stereo sound from this pedal is that it's panning stereo - as the volume is coming down on one side, it is swelling up on the other. If I could test it, it would, without a doubt, be the prize feature - imagine how trippy a stereo tremolo effect would sound! I'll try to get a Y-adapter to do a stereo clip sometime soon.
CONTROLS: Three knobs (Depth, Shape, and Rate) along with a waveform switch (Triangle Wave or Square Wave). Depth controls the intensity of the effect, ranging from a mild effect that's just like blending a clean signal with a tremolo signal, to maxxed-out tremolo, to warped modulated tremolo (I'll explain this in a sec). The Shape knob allows you to modify the waveform; for example, you can turn a regular triangle wave into a forward or reverse sawtooth, and you can do similar cool changes with the square wave. The Rate knob is straightforward, controlling the rate of the effect. The pedal's red LED reacts to and reflects the rate and waveform in a helpful way; it will fade in and out in sync with the rate and shape with a triangle wave, or flash on and off in sync with the rate and shape with a square wave.
SOUND: The first time I used it was when it came out several months ago, and it was the first tremolo pedal I'd ever played with. I thought it was pretty cool, but didn't really know how to use it at the time, so I didn't buy it. Now that I'm more informed, I felt it was worth a second try.
The beautiful part about this pedal is that it seems to preserve the entire frequency range (there is one significant issue, however, which I'll discuss up ahead).
The triangle wave is classic tremolo, and it's surprisingly warm. The LED fading is very useful for helping you follow the effect with your playing. Combine it with distortion, and you've got a great tool for some retro sounds, experimental riff, and droning background noise.
The square wave seems to be where the pedal gets its name from. With some shape adjustments, you can get the perfect setup for a creepy heartbeat pattern or sudden volume cuts in a sustained note.
Now... the problems. Given that it's a tremolo pedal, you know what it's supposed to do - toy with the volume. It's the nature of the effect. As this is the case with the Pulsar, expect the classic "volume drop" issue with certain settings, but it's not too bad.
It's variable in terms of volume, and it's all dependent on the Depth setting and waveform. The square wave tends to be louder. As you start with Depth at minimum on either wave, you get a virtually unaffected clean tone, with no volume issues (it might be boosted a bit... I'll have to double-check). As you crank it to 2 o'clock, you hit the maximum "clean" tremolo effect point (according to the manual)... you'll hit a volume drop there, although it doesn't seem too bad (I'll have to experiment with higher volumes when I get my main rig back).
Once you go past 2 o'clock, the volume comes back up to normal as you approach the maximum setting. The effect is now intense and coloring the signal - it's the modulated tremolo I was mentioning earlier. It's pretty cool stuff; the coloring is subtle, but pleasant.
I don't know at this point if the volume drop will be significant in a band setting, but it's something I'll find out in two weeks when I go back home.
SCORE: 8/10 - Cool warm tremolo effects, convenient size, stereo panning, great price. I just wish this thing had a volume knob - it'd help for the settings where the volume drops. If it's not a big issue in a band setting, I'll let you know.
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Soundclips: I posted three soundclips of the Pulsar in triangle wave mode.
NOTE: DO NOT USE THE HI-FI SAMPLES. They're coming out really weird for some reason... but Lo-Fi and MP3 work fine.
The EHX Stereo Pulsar, for those who don't know, is Electro-Harmonix's flagship tremolo pedal:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
--------------------
PRICE: $78.99 retail - pretty reasonable, I'd say!
SIZE: It's in your usual Hammond 1590BB enclosure, the same size as a SansAmp, Punch Factory, and a ton of other pedals out there using the same enclosure.
POWER: Any Boss-standard 9V adapter or 9V battery will work fine.
OUTPUTS: Stereo outputs. The cool thing about the stereo sound from this pedal is that it's panning stereo - as the volume is coming down on one side, it is swelling up on the other. If I could test it, it would, without a doubt, be the prize feature - imagine how trippy a stereo tremolo effect would sound! I'll try to get a Y-adapter to do a stereo clip sometime soon.
CONTROLS: Three knobs (Depth, Shape, and Rate) along with a waveform switch (Triangle Wave or Square Wave). Depth controls the intensity of the effect, ranging from a mild effect that's just like blending a clean signal with a tremolo signal, to maxxed-out tremolo, to warped modulated tremolo (I'll explain this in a sec). The Shape knob allows you to modify the waveform; for example, you can turn a regular triangle wave into a forward or reverse sawtooth, and you can do similar cool changes with the square wave. The Rate knob is straightforward, controlling the rate of the effect. The pedal's red LED reacts to and reflects the rate and waveform in a helpful way; it will fade in and out in sync with the rate and shape with a triangle wave, or flash on and off in sync with the rate and shape with a square wave.
SOUND: The first time I used it was when it came out several months ago, and it was the first tremolo pedal I'd ever played with. I thought it was pretty cool, but didn't really know how to use it at the time, so I didn't buy it. Now that I'm more informed, I felt it was worth a second try.
The beautiful part about this pedal is that it seems to preserve the entire frequency range (there is one significant issue, however, which I'll discuss up ahead).
The triangle wave is classic tremolo, and it's surprisingly warm. The LED fading is very useful for helping you follow the effect with your playing. Combine it with distortion, and you've got a great tool for some retro sounds, experimental riff, and droning background noise.
The square wave seems to be where the pedal gets its name from. With some shape adjustments, you can get the perfect setup for a creepy heartbeat pattern or sudden volume cuts in a sustained note.
Now... the problems. Given that it's a tremolo pedal, you know what it's supposed to do - toy with the volume. It's the nature of the effect. As this is the case with the Pulsar, expect the classic "volume drop" issue with certain settings, but it's not too bad.
It's variable in terms of volume, and it's all dependent on the Depth setting and waveform. The square wave tends to be louder. As you start with Depth at minimum on either wave, you get a virtually unaffected clean tone, with no volume issues (it might be boosted a bit... I'll have to double-check). As you crank it to 2 o'clock, you hit the maximum "clean" tremolo effect point (according to the manual)... you'll hit a volume drop there, although it doesn't seem too bad (I'll have to experiment with higher volumes when I get my main rig back).
Once you go past 2 o'clock, the volume comes back up to normal as you approach the maximum setting. The effect is now intense and coloring the signal - it's the modulated tremolo I was mentioning earlier. It's pretty cool stuff; the coloring is subtle, but pleasant.
I don't know at this point if the volume drop will be significant in a band setting, but it's something I'll find out in two weeks when I go back home.
SCORE: 8/10 - Cool warm tremolo effects, convenient size, stereo panning, great price. I just wish this thing had a volume knob - it'd help for the settings where the volume drops. If it's not a big issue in a band setting, I'll let you know.
--------------------
Soundclips: I posted three soundclips of the Pulsar in triangle wave mode.
NOTE: DO NOT USE THE HI-FI SAMPLES. They're coming out really weird for some reason... but Lo-Fi and MP3 work fine.
