Question about Catalinbread Semaphore

[pibbs]

So I got to try the smaller Semaphore this weekend and I fell in love with it. Particularly, the easy-to-control range of wave shapes and just how slow I could make the rate. SO slow. I loved it. Only problem was that it didn't have a tap tempo, which makes it useless for me.

Obviously that means I should get the bigger Semaphore, that does have a tap tempo. Now, I couldn't try the new one as no store within a 500 mile radius of me carries it. Does anyone know if it's just a simple upgrade of the old one? Can I control the waveform as well? Does the rate get as slow as it did on the old version? I would love to know before ordering one.

Thank you!

[zRobertez]

Hey man, I've got a tap semaphore (brand new) that I'm returning soon. I've had my fun with it for the past 3-4 weeks but I'm thinking of trying out like a one or two knob tremolo to see how I go about with that.
Anyway, yes it goes very very slow, slower than I could use it, haha. And the subdivide makes it pretty easy to tap in slowslow tempos or crazy fast. It's got the biggest speed range out of the (like 2?) tremolos I've used. And the shapes are all fun. The shape knob is pretty useful too, I might add. My favorite is a bouncy triangle kinda thing with the triangle wave selected and the shape knob at max. It seems like one of those "all you would ever want in a tremolo" type pedals like the tap-a-whirl or goatkeeper.

If you're interested, though, check out my post in the BST
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=29903

[Mike]

The Catalinbread Semaphore uses the exact-- exact same LFO as the MusicPCB tremolo, and several other commercial tremolos-- the Electric Druid TapLFO. You can check out any of the Youtube videos of the MusicPCB trem to see exactly what the Catalinbread trem is capable of doing.

The LFO is variable from 0.025Hz to a theoretical 50Hz (never gonna happen, though). That means that at its slowest, you are looking at a 40-second period.

If you are interested, the difference between the MusicPCB tremolo and Catalinbread (as far as I can tell) is that the Catalinbread uses jfet gain stages, whereas the DIY varieties use jfet-input opamps. Both tremolos are optical. You also get an expression pedal input to control the rate, and a tap input jack w/ the Catalinbread, but those are trivial add-ons.

Mike

[Ryderuveze]

So I got to try the smaller Semaphore this weekend and I fell in love with it. Particularly, the easy-to-control range of wave shapes and just how slow I could make the rate. SO slow. I loved it. Only problem was that it didn't have a tap tempo, which makes it useless for me.

Obviously that means I should get the bigger Semaphore, that does have a tap tempo. Now, I couldn't try the new one as no store within a 500 mile radius of me carries it. Does anyone know if it's just a simple upgrade of the old one? Can I control the waveform as well? Does the rate get as slow as it did on the old version? I would love to know before ordering one.

Thank you!

First off, I love my TT Semaphore. I bought it when it first came out and it's not going anywhere. I owned the small box version before that. The rate can go just as fast or slow as the original and wave shape control is the same as well. The tap tempo and subdivide settings makes it very easy to tap in fast rates. Also you get more waveforms including a true sine wave. The expression input can control either the rate or the depth.

A really cool added "feature" that I just discovered is that you can use it as a very good quality boost. The small box version had enough volume on tap to boost as well, but w/ the TT version they actually designed the audio path with boosting in mind. They say to rival that of vintage tube delays. Meaning you can keep it always on as a signal booster and use the expression pedal to control when you want the trem effect on or off.

This little discovery took the TT Semaphore from "the only trem I need" category to such an integral part of my rig that "you'd have to pry it from my cold dead hands" category.