Tremolos?

General Gear Discussion - effects, synths, etc.

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Christophe
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by Christophe »

+1 on the Semaphore with tap. Gorgeous sound.
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AlexGlassLungs
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by AlexGlassLungs »

I really want Ryan at Dr. Scientist to bring back his trem with tap tempo
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karmablock
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by karmablock »

AlexGlassLungs wrote:I really want Ryan at Dr. Scientist to bring back his trem with tap tempo
I talked to him about that awhile ago. They made a prototype but never got beyond because they started focusing on another pedal.
I tracked down an old Tremolessence and it's my favorite trem I've owned. Still would like to try a Gravitas but the stock ones don't go full chop so :no: .
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by AlexGlassLungs »

karmablock wrote:
AlexGlassLungs wrote:I really want Ryan at Dr. Scientist to bring back his trem with tap tempo
I talked to him about that awhile ago. They made a prototype but never got beyond because they started focusing on another pedal.
I tracked down an old Tremolessence and it's my favorite trem I've owned. Still would like to try a Gravitas but the stock ones don't go full chop so :no: .

Yeah, Chase Bliss does a mod for full chop, I had the Gravitas and honestly I believe it's best for studio use, like if you record tons of bands that want different trem tones and you can dial a sound for them catered to their needs. I don't find it as practical for live use. It could also be good for the bedroom player that likes to tinker, butt for a touring musician or even someone who plays out a lot, I don't find it practical. For my needs I like something pretty basic (around 5 knobs), tap tempo, and to not take up a lot of space. The Matthews Effects features are phinominal, it's tonal qualities just aren't that great, not bad by any means but also not inspiring... I used it for fast 1/16 note helicopter sounds at the time so that didn't matter but now that I want something different and more mellow it's not what I need.
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sears
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by sears »

I have the older Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter which is very adjustable.
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codetocontra
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by codetocontra »

You guys make me miss my Tremolessence because it was a pretty rad pedal. Not that I need it though, have a Twin Stags and a Twin Reverb in my possession.
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by BetterOffShred »

Stags is dope. My newly acquired Polypus Supreme is really pretty G. The built in sequencer is nutty. I'm about to build a Tremulus Lune too.. that's a good one
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by adamajah »

Nother tremolessence lover here. Looking forward to hooking up an expression pedal to it.
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Re: Tremolos?

Post by ubenjammin2 »

I have tried 6 different tremolos. Here are my thoughts on them:

Boss TR-2: The standard. Super natural sounding waveforms but limited in control.

EHX Super Pulsar: Pretty much the opposite of the Boss TR-2. Endless control but nothing natural sounding to be found anywhere. Inevitably you will start by blaming yourself. This tremolo can do everything! Why can't I get it to sound good? I must be doing something wrong. Nope. It is just a sterile and inorganic tremolo with lots of options. I also found that the noise floor was higher than other trems and for this reason the square wave trem effect was kinda hindered by hearing background noise instead of choppy silence.

Wampler Latitude Deluxe: Has tap tempo, pretty enjoyable throbbiness and the space control can give you some extra control dialing in how big the valleys between the peaks are. These can be picked up for pretty cheap and they are solid.

Eventide H9 / Modfactor: A great digital tremolo that does the choppy square wave thing perfectly. Its also stereo which is awesome and midi control. The other waveforms sound good but somewhat clinical in their precision. Sometimes that's a good thing though and in those situations it sounds great.

Abracadabra Audio Ayahuasca: These are impossible to get so this is probably somewhat pointless but its on my board and its technically a tremolo so why not? Also, the trem circuit is based on the Gravitas which IS readily available. The Ayahuasca is a fuzz first and a tremolo second. It is basically 2/3 of a gravitas with a fuzz on top. The thing is that 1/3 with the fuzz is the defining part of the pedal. There is no real clean tremolo sound to be achieved. The waveform is very controllable between the balance knob and the "modushape" you can have a square wave for the first half of the waveform and a sine wave for the second. Or vice versa. Or whatever you want. You get lots of control. Additionally, it can do harmonic trem as well as regular trem and it can even do both at once. Super quality and Joel's customer service is incredible. I will probably end up buying a Gravitas at some point.

Spaceman Voyager I: In some ways the Voyager I is the opposite of the Ayahuasca. It is a world class tremolo first but also an incredible dirt pedal if you want to do dirty tremolo. Seriously, if you told me that you bought a Voyager for the sole purpose of using the tiny little gain knob and having all the tremolo controls off I would not fault you. It is a great drive pedal. The Voyager also does a fantastic job implementing the envelope controlled tremolo depth thing. There are only two waveforms to select from, square and triangle and it does not have tap tempo. But it is hard to care when it just sounds so good. If you want to do the choppy trem to the beat "What's the Frequency Kenneth?" thing then this isn't the pedal for you. I'd recommend something with MIDI control or at least tap tempo for that. If you want tremolo that just adds depth and movement to your playing in the most pleasing manner possible? Then this is the trem for you. Both the square and triangle waveforms are the most natural sounding and "amplike" trems I have heard. The Spaceman build quality is unrivaled and the sound is bulletproof. LOVE this trem.
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