Tremolo Pedals

[Brow]

Hey guys.

I'm thinking about getting a Tremolo pedal for when I can afford to build my new pedalboard and just wondered which 1's you guys would recommend I check out?

The 3 I'm considering at the minute are:

Marshall VT1 Vibratrem
Electro Harmonix Pulsar
BOSS TR2 Tremolo

I'm not looking for any super high end or expensive Tremolo pedal, as it's not an effect I can envisage using all that much.

Also, I'll be using the pedal in a pedal loop, so it'll be out of the signal path when I'm not using it. So I don't mind if it's not true bypass

Thanx for any suggestions.

Brow

[Elliot]

I use the Boss TR2 with the C4 capacitor cut out (you do it with wire cutters) - It has a good range from the classic tube amp tremolo sound on Fairport Coventions 'Jack of Diamonds' to wacky surf stuff.  It doesn't sound too bad to me, although it doesn't go into real extreme trem areas.

[Brow]

Thanx for your reply Elliott.

I've heard both good and bad things about the BOSS TR2, but haven't spent that much time with 1 myself so I haven't got an opinion of it yet.

Why did you cut the C4 Capacitor out of yours?

[dave_mc]

^ i have the boss tr2. It's nice for a vintage-type trem, but there's the volume drop issue (when you hit a chord, it seems to start on the "silence" bit instead of the loud bit of the stutter (assuming a square wave tremolo) and also is a bit quieter than your un-effected tone). also, i think that cap removal just plain makes the tone better, from what I hear, but I haven't tried it myself.

There are lots of mods available if you search the net for the boss tr2, which'll fix the problems.

I'm sure a boutique pedal would be better, but i'm like you- I rarely ever use mine, lol. I'll probably mod mine when I get round to it. This is nothing really to do with the quality of the effect- I just plain don't use tremolo all that much, lol.

Just basically try everything in your price range, and remember you can mod the boss one.

:drink:

[Brow]

Hey Dave, thanx for your post.

I've heard alot of good/bad things about both the BOSS and Marshall Tremolo pedals. A local shop about 4 miles away has both, so s'ppose I could go down 1 day and try them out :)

[namle]

ive tried the keeley mod TR-2 and i would say it sounds great... very full and open much improved

if not for me i would go for the catalin bread semaphore :D

why not try http://www.buildyourownclone.com/trem.html

:D

[Brow]

ive tried the keeley mod TR-2 and i would say it sounds great... very full and open much improved

if not for me i would go for the catalin bread semaphore :D

why not try http://www.buildyourownclone.com/trem.html

:D

Thanx for the suggestions :)

The Keeley modded 1 is a little too expensive for me at £125 but thanx for the suggestion :)

I've looked at the BYOC Pedals before but they've actually stopped shipping them to the UK. Maybe someone in the States would be willing to ship me 1, oh TO    :twisted:

[dave_mc]

Hey Dave, thanx for your post.

I've heard alot of good/bad things about both the BOSS and Marshall Tremolo pedals. A local shop about 4 miles away has both, so s'ppose I could go down 1 day and try them out :)

no problem, brow, glad to help. I think I tried the marshall one ages ago (like 3 years), and truth be told, at that stage I was trying out the overdrive or compression pedals (forget which, lol)- just the shop I was in had all the marshall pedals on a powered-board, so I figured I might as well try them all out!

So yeah, I don't really remember much about the marshall one, lol.

If you do decide to go for the keeley one, it's always worth bearing in mind, price-wise: should I go for a good, but flawed pedal that has been modded/improved by keeley (or analogman, or whoever) or should you go for a boutique pedal which has been designed as excellent from the ground up?

I have no idea, as I haven't tried any keeley mod pedals, nor any boutique tremolos (and very few boutique pedals of any type, but I've tried one or two), but it's worth bearing in mind- and hopefully one of the other pedal gurus can help you more with this...

the best bang for budget option is probably to buy the boss, and mod it yourself- but that's dependent on how good you are at soldering, and also whether the mod actually helps much (I haven't tried it on mine yet, I assume it helps at least a bit, but maybe not earth-shattering)... (oh, or the build your own clone, that'd be good value too, presumably)

Ah, I see this post is up to my usual standard. Leaving the threadstarter with more questions than he originally had. And next to no answers, in return! :lol:

sorry, brow...

:drink:

[Brow]

no problem, brow, glad to help. I think I tried the marshall one ages ago (like 3 years), and truth be told, at that stage I was trying out the overdrive or compression pedals (forget which, lol)- just the shop I was in had all the marshall pedals on a powered-board, so I figured I might as well try them all out!

So yeah, I don't really remember much about the marshall one, lol.

If you do decide to go for the keeley one, it's always worth bearing in mind, price-wise: should I go for a good, but flawed pedal that has been modded/improved by keeley (or analogman, or whoever) or should you go for a boutique pedal which has been designed as excellent from the ground up?

I have no idea, as I haven't tried any keeley mod pedals, nor any boutique tremolos (and very few boutique pedals of any type, but I've tried one or two), but it's worth bearing in mind- and hopefully one of the other pedal gurus can help you more with this...

the best bang for budget option is probably to buy the boss, and mod it yourself- but that's dependent on how good you are at soldering, and also whether the mod actually helps much (I haven't tried it on mine yet, I assume it helps at least a bit, but maybe not earth-shattering)... (oh, or the build your own clone, that'd be good value too, presumably)

Ah, I see this post is up to my usual standard. Leaving the threadstarter with more questions than he originally had. And next to no answers, in return! :lol:

sorry, brow...

:drink:

No worries mate  :D

Truth be told, I'm not really looking for a high end or 'boo-teek' Tremolo. Just something that sounds ok and gives me a Tremolo effect  :lol:

I'll more than likely try the 2 pedals out at my local shop and then decide from there. Although, the BOSS Tremolos are quite abundunt on Ebay UK at the minute  

[namle]

i think you should get the TR2 boss stock pedal

lets see if in future i can come up with any mods for it

im digging in modding for now

however i think the best is still the BYOC is the best for its price since you are not really particular about tremolo

[dave_mc]

if you REALLY don't think you'll use it much, how about the behringer one? It's about £15, lol.

but yeah, other than that, i say the boss one- at least you can mod it in the future, if you do find you'll use it...

:drink:

[Elliot]

Brow - have you considered the Behringer cheapo - its circuit board is pretty similar to the TR2 (as in a Tom Petty, RHCP type of similarity) and for an effect you dont think you'll use much its good value for money.

As to the C4 capacitor - there is a huge discussion about the mod on the Harmony Central review - it is an easy mod - it really opens the tone out, you get more extremity of tremolo (although not into wacky trem) and it seems to cure the problem in the cycle that Dave MC is talking about.  In fact I think the Keeley mod is pointless (although you get a volume control) as the C4 cap cutting mod does the trick for me.  

As I say its not bad: i wouldn't buy another trem - there is a tiny volume drop when you engage it, but it gets you into 60s Fender/Vox amp mode easily.

[dave_mc]

^ ah cool, I'll have to try that simple cutting mod, then!

:drink:

[headtheball]

Go for the Behringer. If you really want extreme tremolo, wire in a kill switch.

[March]

Danelectro Tuna Melt. It's a fantastic, cost effective pedal. Not edable though.