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Audiofanzine FR
Published on 12/01/08 at 10:40
(Originally written by solo84/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Analog tremolo effect with optical operation launched in 1982. It was conceived by James Demeter for the guitarist Ry Cooder who wanted an effect pedal that provided the sound of a Fender tremolo. And it's a success!!
Very sturdy housing in pedalboard-friendly MXR format... Sober black finish. You'll have to unscrew the housing to get to the battery!
Two controls: depth and speed. Both knobs feel good and are reliable.
Using a screw driver you can turn a small trim knob on the side panel to adjust the waveform,which ranges from sawtooth to smooth and round!
1/8" jack for external DC PSU.
Notice that the first model version was labeled THE TREMULATOR and had red knobs. The newer models were labeled Tremulator (and also had red knobs). The picture shows the current version. Unlike other modern pedals, the production quality increased for two reasons: the connectors are not soldered directly on the PCB anymore (which improved the sturdiness) and the depth control has a wider range allowing more extreme settings.
The pedal has no true bypass but my A/B tests with a loop pedal showed the pedal doesn't color the signal when the effect is off! So it's a high-quality device that doesn't alter your sound!
UTILIZATION
It's quite difficult to accurately adjust the effect speed because the control response is very precise. But the quality of the components makes it easier.
I give it a 9 because you have to unscrew four screws to get to the battery!
SOUND QUALITY
Some people say this tremolo effect is the best in the world and I understand why. I compared it with my Carl Martin Surf Trem and in the beginning I found it only sounded slightly better... Since I started using it for recording sessions, I'm very impressed! The sound is wonderful, accurate, responsive and warm!... It's really a professional effect pedal!
The settings are very effective! If you set the depth control to max it sounds almost like a trance gate effect and the speed goes from very slow to ultra fast!
OVERALL OPINION
Very high quality analog tremolo for an inimitable sound! Excellent product!
Analog tremolo effect with optical operation launched in 1982. It was conceived by James Demeter for the guitarist Ry Cooder who wanted an effect pedal that provided the sound of a Fender tremolo. And it's a success!!
Very sturdy housing in pedalboard-friendly MXR format... Sober black finish. You'll have to unscrew the housing to get to the battery!
Two controls: depth and speed. Both knobs feel good and are reliable.
Using a screw driver you can turn a small trim knob on the side panel to adjust the waveform,which ranges from sawtooth to smooth and round!
1/8" jack for external DC PSU.
Notice that the first model version was labeled THE TREMULATOR and had red knobs. The newer models were labeled Tremulator (and also had red knobs). The picture shows the current version. Unlike other modern pedals, the production quality increased for two reasons: the connectors are not soldered directly on the PCB anymore (which improved the sturdiness) and the depth control has a wider range allowing more extreme settings.
The pedal has no true bypass but my A/B tests with a loop pedal showed the pedal doesn't color the signal when the effect is off! So it's a high-quality device that doesn't alter your sound!
UTILIZATION
It's quite difficult to accurately adjust the effect speed because the control response is very precise. But the quality of the components makes it easier.
I give it a 9 because you have to unscrew four screws to get to the battery!
SOUND QUALITY
Some people say this tremolo effect is the best in the world and I understand why. I compared it with my Carl Martin Surf Trem and in the beginning I found it only sounded slightly better... Since I started using it for recording sessions, I'm very impressed! The sound is wonderful, accurate, responsive and warm!... It's really a professional effect pedal!
The settings are very effective! If you set the depth control to max it sounds almost like a trance gate effect and the speed goes from very slow to ultra fast!
OVERALL OPINION
Very high quality analog tremolo for an inimitable sound! Excellent product!