BBE Soul Vibe

The list of features is short but sweet.

Vintage vibe/rotary speaker simulator
Speed and Intensity controls
¼: inputs and outputs
True hard-wire bypass
9V battery
AC adaptor included (North America only)
Metal housing (With a cheesy graphic! Think "Shaft")
Stomp-switch

UTILIZATION

The Soul Vibe is incredibly easy to use. It sets up just as any effects pedal would - no fancy controller pedals or anything of that nature. Basically, all that's needed is to plug in your guitar, plug it into the amp, step on the switch, turn the knobs, and then play some Jimi Hendrix or Robin Trower. I didn't get a manual with mine since I bought it used, and I didn't need one at all. This pedal has incredibly simple features, so there's not much to say here.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound of this unit is definitely good for the price level. It sounds like a reasonable facsimile of Robin Trower-era Univibe tones, from the Bridge of Sighs album era. Expectedly, it's not as lush or detailed as an original Univibe or any of the myriad boutique vibe pedal, but it'll do the job with warbling abandon without emptying your wallet.

OVERALL OPINION

All I can say is that this is a great pedal for vibe tones on a budget. It's a simple, no-frills vibe pedal. If you are on a cover band gig and need to play some "Bridge of Sighs" or "Machine Gun" in your set, and are strapped for cash, this pedal will do nicely.

For what I don't like about the pedal, the graphic is a bit cheesy, but it's also kind of fun at the same time. People looking at my pedalboard always commented on this pedal first, so maybe the cheesy graphic isn't a bad thing. The pedal takes up about as much space as an MXR Phase 100, so anyone extremely conscious about spatial requirements on a pedalboard setup should consider that.

Overall, a very good pedal.

The BBE Stomp Ware Soul Vibe plug-in is one that’s a part of the Stomp Ware bundle of plug-ins developed by BBE and Nomad Factory. All of the plug-ins the bundle (eight total) are modeled after real guitar pedals that are issued by BBE. It’s basically a Leslie/rotary sort of effect, but designed for use with electric guitar, although suitable for use with any instrument desired. Installing the full bundle at once is a breeze, as is operating the plug-in. It’s only got parameters for speed and intensity, which is a pretty standard configuration for effects of this type. A manual isn’t going to be necessary here at all…



UTILIZATION

I’ve got the Stomp Ware bundle and the BBE Soul Vibe plug-in currently running on my home recording studio’s system. It’s running in Pro Tools LE 8 that I run on a Mac Book Pro computer. The lap top has 4 GB of RAM and a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, while I’ve got a Digi 002R audio interface to run Pro Tools. This plug-in really doesn’t take up any processing power however, so I’d be surprised if everyone wasn’t able to run it.


SOUND QUALITY

While there are a few useful plug-ins in the BBE Stomp Ware bundle, the Soul Vibe isn’t one of my favorite ones. It doesn’t sound awful, but I just can’t see myself using this much more in the future after having tried it out on guitar on a few sessions. I like using my Digidesign Voce bundle of plug-ins for effects like this in the box, which I think sounds a lot more realistic than this one. This bundle really couldn’t be any cheaper, especially when you break it down price per plug-in, but I’d still probably recommend putting the money into a single plug-in of a higher quality.