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Ok, so to start let me say I pretty mmuch run everything through the front of my amp (Fender Supersonic 40 watt) with the exception of my chorus, delay and reverb.

Not long ago I played on an Eletro Harmonix wiggler and loved it so I purchased it. The trem was very smooth and the leslie/hammond effects were a nice touch.

So for the longest time I ran it at the end of my signal path to the front of the amp (TU2>Buddah Wah>Keeley Phaser>Black Finger Comp>Keeley Luna Overdrive>Box of Rock>Wiggler) and thought it did just fine. However the one thing that bugged me (and I know you get this with all trem to an extent) was that there would be this awful pulse when the trem was engaged but I wasn't playing. What concerned me was that it almost sounded as though my speakers (4x12" Blue Dogs) were being, or could have been being, damaged. It was almost like there were mini kick drum pedals banging away from inside the speakers.

So though I love the pedal I decide to try something different and purchase the Red Witch Sisters Eve Trem which, to me, sounded very similar to my AC 30 trem at first listen. Only problem with this pedal is that its so subtle if the depth is less than maxed that it almost is inaudibl AND if it is maxed there's a volume spike that is unexpected and pretty abbrasive.

So, HERE'S my question:

What are your thoughts on my experience and could it have anything to do with the pedal going through the front of the amp as oppsed to the loop (might the volume spikes be less noticeable? Might the trem be not so subtle? Might the Wiggler sound less "thuddy" back there?)

Obviously I know some of the best ways are to try, but I'm at work and its on my mind and I was hoping for some insight and wondering how you all felt about Trem in the loop as opposed to the front of the amp.

I also read somewhere recently that if you put the trem in the loop at the very end, past th verb, that you'll get a very Fender sound based on how the old amps were wired. Any truth or thoughts on that too?



Thanks in advance if u read all that and share. I just found this board and it seems pretty cool. Glad to join the community.

I'll be honest, my ADD kicked in and I only read about 25% of your post.
In my defense, it was pretty fucking long post.

I'd do this:
Keep the Wiggler in front of the amp but in the loop of a True Bypass Looper and sell the Red Witch to some poor bastard that doesn't know it sucks.
http://www.loop-master.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=30

LOL! Sorry about that. Works boring and pedals are interesting. I really appreciate the suggestions. So you think that pedal you linked will serve as a buffer for the wiggler?

Actually, now that I've taken the time to read your post, I doubt my suggestion is what you are looking for.
The True Bypass Loop would only keep things quiet if you turned it off when you weren't playing,
which would basically be the same as turning the Wiggler off when you weren't playing (which isn't a horrible solution...is it?).
Does the thumping get louder the longer your not playing? If so putting it in the loop might help.
Like you said in your post though the best thing to do is just try it and see.

Sorry for the bad advice at the beginning, this is ILF and bad advice abounds.

I'm assuming single coils? Trem can make you much more aware of hum you might not notice otherwise. If this is it, work on your shielding, take advantage of hum-cancelling combined pickup positions, and experiment with your playing position to find where you get the least hum. A bit of hassle, but this stuff is cheap and generally worth doing.

The wiggler is a noisy design. You probably won't experience anything significantly different before the amp or in the loop, although if you've got all that other stuff in the loop, might as well put it there. I think your best solution is finding a better trem. If you want choppy I love the hummingbird. I also love the empress, even though I'm selling mine because I don't need all the features. Both are fairly quite on the noise. Havent tried the tremolessence but it looks dandy. Some trems will have a bit of a pulse, especially when boosted, but the wiggler was just real loud about it.

There's no real reason to run a tremolo in the effects loop of your amp.

D.o.S. wrote:There's no real reason to run a tremolo in the effects loop of your amp.

There is if you like it as the last effect in your chain and you've got effects in the loop.

The thumping is there regardless. It really sounds bad. Like maybe if u had the bass turned too high on your EQ and the speakers can't handle it. I don't mind a bit of noise as that's clearly expected, but this sounds detrimental to the future health of my amp.

I feel like trem in the effects loop would be mildly unnecessary, but I was interested after reading about how it would give more of a classic fender sound if u put it after ur verb.

I havnt had a chance to try things out yet but I def will see if there's less of a pulse in the loop. That's my main concern. That pulse is just awful on the wiggler. Great pedal, but main does it suck in a live enviornment.

When I said noise I was referring to the pulsing, sorry. I know the wiggler is noisy too. There are far better trems you should look into.

harpies wrote:When I said noise I was referring to the pulsing, sorry. I know the wiggler is noisy too. There are far better trems you should look into.

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