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so the only tremolo pedal I own is the boss tr-2. it has done it's job for a few years now, but i think its finally time to invest in something that will really make me love tremolo. I have watched some youtube vids of the lightfoot labs goatkeeper, and that seemed pretty nifty. although the roger mayer voodoo vibe+ seems really useful as well (trem, vibe, and chorus in one box!). if anyone who may own either has any input (pros or cons) i'm all ears. or if anyone knows of something else that is unique and awesome then shoot.

J-Fuzz wrote:so the only tremolo pedal I own is the boss tr-2. it has done it's job for a few years now, but i think its finally time to invest in something that will really make me love tremolo. I have watched some youtube vids of the lightfoot labs goatkeeper, and that seemed pretty nifty. although the roger mayer voodoo vibe+ seems really useful as well (trem, vibe, and chorus in one box!). if anyone who may own either has any input (pros or cons) i'm all ears. or if anyone knows of something else that is unique and awesome then shoot.

One that you might like to look into is the two-knob tremolo made by MojoHand (I dont recall the specific name of the pedal). It has a really wide speed range (everything from slow, vaguely phase-y pulses, up to stuttery sixteenth-note pulsing.) and a depth knob that goes from smooth, sinewave tremolo to a sort of 'round-shouldered squarewave' chop.

I have yet to own one but if I had the money I'd get it immediately.

http://www.4mspedals.com/tremulus.php

Maybe someone who owns it could back me up on this with some demos. It's cheaper than the Goatkeeper and Voodoo Vibe + as well. (Provided you don't get all the extras and mods)

If you're looking for a cheap option, something like a Pulsar would always be a good choice.

mwfx tap trem

I recently got a Goatkeeper, which is the only trem pedal I have owned save for the Boss PN-2 that served me well since the late 90s. The real selling point of the GK, and why I finally sold my beloved Boss, is the sequencing of trem speeds. If you just want a trem with saw / sine / square waves and a depth control, the GK is total overkill. Of course it does those, and many more (and you can program your own waveshapes, which is going to be killer once I have time to invest in doing that) and does them well and with tap tempo. Awesome.

One thing that it lacks that I have found myself sort of reaching for on occasion, is a knob to set the trem speed. Tap works fine most of the time, but sometimes you just want to nudge it a bit to sync up with a delay or drumbeat or whatever. Minor thing, though... if nothing else, it has improved my ability to tap in tempo!

Noise... wrote:If you're looking for a cheap option, something like a Pulsar would always be a good choice.

Seconded, also you could check out the EHX Worm, 'tis a analog multi effects, it has wah, trem, phaser, and vibrato, and an expression pedal input to control it, that or manually, for like $110 I don't think it can be beat, or you could always send your Tr-2 of to Keeley adn have him mod it.

Two great options would be
The Dr. Scientist Tremolessence or the Catalinbread Pareidolia.

Both are outstanding.

MM

metalmariachi wrote:Two great options would be
The Dr. Scientist Tremolessence or the Catalinbread Pareidolia.

Both are outstanding.

MM

seconding the pareidolia

The4455 wrote:

Noise... wrote:If you're looking for a cheap option, something like a Pulsar would always be a good choice.

Seconded, also you could check out the EHX Worm, 'tis a analog multi effects, it has wah, trem, phaser, and vibrato, and an expression pedal input to control it, that or manually, for like $110 I don't think it can be beat, or you could always send your Tr-2 of to Keeley adn have him mod it.

I dig the Worm as well. They can be had for next to nothing used, and get the job done well. Some are noisy, but really, what big box EHX pedal isn't?

The Flanger Hoax does tremolo and all kinds of other bizarre sounds as well. I still hate myself for selling mine. Worst gear mistake ever.

I'll put another one out there for the tremolessence. Especially if you wait a couple months for the new version. Ryan's putting all sorts of cool into that box. And maybe some candy.

The Iron Ether Cygnet looks pretty nice for the price too.

futuresailors wrote:I'll put another one out there for the tremolessence. Especially if you wait a couple months for the new version. Ryan's putting all sorts of cool into that box. And maybe some candy.

Yeah, I actually holding out on my trem for that. I thought tap would be cool so I've been looking at others as well but with the cv it has I can hook it up to my MP201 and do tap with that so I'm sold on the thing.

If cash isn't an issue, I'd look into the Diamond Tremolo, 4ms Tremulus Lune and Catalinbread Semaphore. Of those three, the Tremulus Lune is probably the best middle ground. Good quality and versatile enough while remaining quite 'warm' sounding. I've heard the Semaphore can sound a bit 'artificial' or 'thin'. The Diamond is amazing, but with less wave shaping than the Lune, but you do get rhythm modes and tap tempo. It's what I use, and one other benefit is that there seems to be a buffer in there somewhere as all the high's from my strat are maintained. If there was even just one more wave shape it would be perfect! (But expensive)

Or if you want to keep things simple, an inexpensive, just get your TR-2 modded for an external volume control. (Check out Monte Allums website) Because for what it is, the Boss pedal is pretty fine all-round no fuss warm sounding tremolo. Better than the EHX pulsar, IMO, which was more 'thin' sounding and uses a harsher triangle than a smoother sine wave, though with that you get more choice of wave shapes. It depends what you're after really.

Or.... you could try a clone of the old vox tremolo. The EQD hummingbird is probably one of the best clones on the market. It's a very unique tremolo wave shape, like a really steep triangle slope. Not square but very pulsey. FWIW (I think) it's used on Link Wray's Rumble. Infact I'd say a modded TR-2 and the hummingbird would be an enough trem for anyone unless you wanted tap tempo and/or rhythm options.


Ones to avoid? I really wasn't that impressed by the Seymour Duncan shape shifter. Not bad, just 'meh'. Plus the Demeter Tremulator is overrated. The boost on it is awful. It's really loud and when you crank the depth it just evaporates rather than boosting the trem so it seems totally pointless. And you have to tinker around with a bloody screwdriver to changed the wave shape AND it uses a non-Boss style PSU. Way too awkward in all respects.

I love my dr scientist trem.

Cheap - Dano Cool cat, not gonna lie, I fucking love it.

However I will be purchasing one of the new tremolessences around my birthday...