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moosers
Published on 01/03/10 at 22:09
The Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem is a tremolo and vibrato pedal designed for use with electric guitar. The pedal has standard 1/4 inch connections and can be powered by either a nine volt battery or power supply. This isn't rackable - it is a foot pedal.
UTILIZATION
I've never had an issue using the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem, as everything is quite easy to understand. The pedal only has a few simple parameters in the form of knobs including those for mode (vibrato or tremolo), speed, depth, and shape (either sine or square wave). Other than these parameters, there isn't anything else that you really need to know about controlling the pedal. Even those without any experience with tremolo or vibrato pedals should be able to catch on quickly, so I don't believe a manual is needed.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem isn't anything to write home about, but will get the job done. Perhaps it is because I'm used to using vibrato and tremolo from vintage Fender amps, but the sound quality of the pedal just doesn't stick out for me all that much. Don't get me wrong, it will do its job and you are able to get a good variety of different tones, I'm just not a huge fan of the overall tone quality that the pedal has to offer. I have used the pedal with a Fender Strat and a Marshall JCM 800 head, so you would think that they would be compatible together well. I don't mean to bash the VT-1 too much as I think it will work well for those looking for some simple vibrato/tremolo, but I'm just not all that impressed with its overall sound quality.
OVERALL OPINION
Where the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem may lack in overall tone, it definitely makes up in price. This is about as cheap as you can get a halfway decent sounding tremolo pedal, although I do think that the Boss tremolo pedal sounds a lot better and is a similar price. If you're in the market for some tremolo and don't have the benefit of having it built into your amp, I'd recommend trying out the Marshall VT-1, but definitely also try out some other tremolo/vibrato pedals like the Boss TR-2, PN-2, MXR M-159, and Voodoo Lab Tremolo, as they are in a similar price range and in my opinion are superior sounding pedals.
UTILIZATION
I've never had an issue using the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem, as everything is quite easy to understand. The pedal only has a few simple parameters in the form of knobs including those for mode (vibrato or tremolo), speed, depth, and shape (either sine or square wave). Other than these parameters, there isn't anything else that you really need to know about controlling the pedal. Even those without any experience with tremolo or vibrato pedals should be able to catch on quickly, so I don't believe a manual is needed.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem isn't anything to write home about, but will get the job done. Perhaps it is because I'm used to using vibrato and tremolo from vintage Fender amps, but the sound quality of the pedal just doesn't stick out for me all that much. Don't get me wrong, it will do its job and you are able to get a good variety of different tones, I'm just not a huge fan of the overall tone quality that the pedal has to offer. I have used the pedal with a Fender Strat and a Marshall JCM 800 head, so you would think that they would be compatible together well. I don't mean to bash the VT-1 too much as I think it will work well for those looking for some simple vibrato/tremolo, but I'm just not all that impressed with its overall sound quality.
OVERALL OPINION
Where the Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem may lack in overall tone, it definitely makes up in price. This is about as cheap as you can get a halfway decent sounding tremolo pedal, although I do think that the Boss tremolo pedal sounds a lot better and is a similar price. If you're in the market for some tremolo and don't have the benefit of having it built into your amp, I'd recommend trying out the Marshall VT-1, but definitely also try out some other tremolo/vibrato pedals like the Boss TR-2, PN-2, MXR M-159, and Voodoo Lab Tremolo, as they are in a similar price range and in my opinion are superior sounding pedals.