Fulltone Supa-Trem

The Supa-Trem is a tremolo pedal available from Mike Fuller at Fulltone, and it lives up to the Fulltone name. Fulltone uses a three switch and two knob format for this pedal, which is different, but very easy to navigate. One knob “Rate” adjusts the rate of the pulsing (there is a LED that blinks to show you the rate the pedal is set at), and the other knob “Mix” adjusts the amount of dry signal it gets mixed with. A bypass switch turns the pedal on and off, a speed doubles or halfs the tempo of the tremolo depending on how you set it, and the hard/soft switch lets you go between shimmer to stutter. True bypass switching , a large LED, and sturdy metal construction round out the features.

UTILIZATION

Many pedals have the same features as this pedal, but not very many of them have them available via footswitch. Most pedals use toggle switches to change between settings but using footswitches is great for live settings. Being able to double or half the rate of the tremolo is great for adding special effects to parts of songs. It is very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal, and with about any amp I’ve paired it with. I believe it’s harder to get a bad sound out of it honestly. The pedal is laid out very well and the knobs are sturdy and turn very smoothly. Fulltone manufactures their own custom potentiometers according to their website “because what has been offered as "Industry Standard" has a 20% failure rate within 2 years”. I’m not sure about that fact, but the ones they put out are very nice. The bypass switches are also heavy duty and designed by Mike Fuller.

SOUND QUALITY

This pedal sounds super. It uses a real vintage style photocell, so it gets those true “tubeamp-like” tones but there is no external clicking like certain other tremolos that use this technology. I love that all the tones can be adjusted on the fly using your feet, either on the switches or the oversized knobs that can be turned with your shoes. This thing really does get that classic CCR style amp tremolo that really warms up a rhythm tone, and at a flip of a switch it can get go crazy and get super stuttering effects for dramatic intros and the like. There is absolutely no loss in tone or added noise with this pedal, or any other Fulltone pedal I’ve played.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall this is the last tremolo pedal I will ever buy. Fulltone pedals are pricey, but worth it in my opinion. You’re getting a well made pedal that is going to last that has been designed and hand built by a musician. Putting a 5 year warranty on these pedals says a lot too. If I were just looking for a basic tremolo to use sparingly I would probably just stick with a Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo because really, it is a good pedal and is true bypass. If you’re looking for a few more options and an upscale tremolo pedal, you would be hard pressed to find a better one than this.

Bypass switch. Speed switch. Hard/soft switch. Rate knob. Volume knob. At face value this looks like a fairly boring pedal but innternally it's a real nice piece of work. True bypass too. From what I understand this is Fulltone's take on the old trem designed with some modern features.

UTILIZATION

First off, the true bypass works great. I haven't experienced any tone loss from this pedal and so I don't need to put it in my bypass looper. I would have to open it up to make sure but I'm almost positive this is an all analogue design except maybe the speed circuitry. My one big gripe with the supatrem is the fact that I constantly hit the knobs when I'm hitting the switches with my foot. They are way too loose not to move on accident and it kills me to say it but this may well be the reason I get rid of mine. It's inescapably annoing. The LED can also be very bright and that too is an issue during shows.

SOUND QUALITY

I use mine on a massive pedalboard that usually goes into some kind of single channel amp. Usually a plexi or AC30 variant. Sound wise this pedal is great. The soft hard feature is good to have because you can go from those crazy choppy trem sounds to the more subtle stuff. I hardly ever use the speed switch though. It's not really something that's realistically useful in a live situation I guess. You are better off moving the rate knob.

OVERALL OPINION

I wish it had tap tempo for this price, but sadly it doesn't. Maybe I have weird feet but the knob turning issue is a real deal breaker for an otherwise awesome pedal. In terms of sound quality, this might be the best trem I've ever used apart from maybe a couple $400 ones I have.