Rumble is definitely one.

Canadian Surf

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Last edited: Dec 01, 2023 13:59:53

ldk wrote:

Are we talking about the traditional use of the term vibrato (change in pitch) or Leo Fender's use as change in volume?

As far as I know, Rumble has change in volume at the end, which is tremolo in the traditional sense.

Hey there! I’m talkin about the wobbly change in pitch.

I can find loads of Psycodelic bands that used it but can’t think of any Surf groups that utilized the effect

pavlovsdog wrote:

Vibrato units as we know them came out a little later and were largely championed by Hendrix, so mid to late sixties. There was some flanging effects done in the studio manipulating the tape reel, notable on the Big Hurt in the 50s, but that was uncommon for the time. The only thing I can think of getting close to that sound is on Les Jaguars Guitare Jet single I hear some flanging effect.

Awesome thanks for the info!

As a teen learning guitar in the early ‘60’s.
I can say that my dad’s Sears amp had a vibrato. He hated it when I would change his settings when he was at work.
I don’t remember any surf songs with a vibrato sound. But there was a lot of ‘doo wap’ songs that used the sound.
Anyway the sound was out there in the 50’s (I don’t remember a stand alone units, but they were in the Amps),
To me it just didn’t seem to be a big thing in the clean dry tones of the early surf music as I remember them.

The song Pavlov’s dog mentions ( The big hurt), is called a torch song. Because it has a sound like a welding torch flowing through it. Flanging.
It also has a good use of vibrato.

Last edited: Dec 02, 2023 12:31:28

B. Brock & The Vibratos!!

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www.soundofthesurf.com

The Good Guys/The Challengers from '64 - I think that's the vibrato effect?

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DaveMudgett wrote:

Lots of confusion about electronic vibrato vs. tremolo. Vibrato is pitch modulation, tremolo is volume modulation. As already stated, with the exception of the 'Harmonic Tremolo' of the upscale brown Fender amps, Fender 'vibrato' was tremolo. Vibrato is a misnomer. I think the vast majority of mainstream first-wave surf music using any type of modulation effect was tremolo, not vibrato.

The first major commercial-volume vibrato guitar amps were made by Magna Electronics (Magnatone) in Los Angeles. The big boys were the mid-late 50s 260 and 280. The signature songs using those old Magnatones were Words of Love by Buddy Holly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuojSU_hOY - a number of different hits by Lonnie Mack like Wham - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv8TmAUA7Rw and Memphis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfFrBQFnB_o - and of course, early Bo Diddley - you can clearly hear the vibrato effect on Crackin' Up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA4TaagzF8k - but it's clearly present on a lot of his early stuff.

In the 90s, I used a combination of a '57 Magnatone 260 and a tweed 58 Tremolux or blackface Deluxe Reverb with my rockabilly/surf and surf bands. The rockabilly band was called The Chrome Magnatones - that Magnatone amp heavily defined the guitar sound of the band for the first few years. Still have the amp, but I tend to use a vibrato pedal these days - just trying to keep the amp from getting too run down. There are plenty of good vibrato pedals these days. The TC Electronics Tailspin is a one-trick vibrato pony, but it sounds pretty durned good for that - for example - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TailspinVib--tc-electronic-tailspin-vibrato-pedal - and inexpensive to boot.

You can get a reasonable facsimile of vibrato by mixing a tremolo amp with a no-tremolo amp. The slight phase difference between the two amps gives a bit of perceived pitch change. Or if you have a two-channel amp with one trem and one normal channel that aren't totally out-of-phase with each other, they can often be mixed to get a sense of vibrato. Of course, there are the Univibe and related circuits - a bit different and came much later. Tons of other modulation options these days, of course, and they can sometimes be tweaked to get a reasonable facsimile of old-school vibrato.

Great post.

The reverb vs. vibrato definition has plagued us for years. I usually call vibrato tailpieces a trem’, knowing that I am sinning with my lips, every time; but I still do it. I’ve always wondered why Leo Fender chose the terminology he did, although if you use a vibrato tailpiece subtly the effect is much like tremolo, because when the string tension is decreased, there is a reduction in volume, so you can use the tailpiece somewhat like a tremolo.

Some amp tremolos sound very rich. The Bias-Varying tremolo used on smaller amps, can sound exceptionally rich. The Harmonic Tremolo of the first generation Showman amps, and its Bandmaster contemporaries, to the best of my understanding, basically splits the signal at a certain pitch and feeds these bifurcated signals into two Vibrato circuits, operating 180 degrees out of phase from one another. The result is a throbbing, but no real change in volume. The Blackface series amps use an Optical tremolo which is somewhat more abrupt than the beautiful sine wave of Bias-Varying tremolo.

I use a Source Audio True Spring, which emulates all three of the tremolos I mention above. I find that both the Bias-Varying and Harmonic tremolos sound great for Surf. The Optical tremolo sounds good in some situations, but to my ear, it can sound a bit choppy if you have the Depth set high when the Speed is also high. I also have a Source Audio Ventris which has these three tremolos, plus some other variations. I highly recommend either of these pedals, and will state that the True Spring, along with a blossom Point, is pretty much enough for anything I need to do.

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I can't answer the poster's question but one of the first examples that I can recall of a true vibrato effect can be heard on Have I The Right by the Honeycombs. I believe a Vox amp was used. The effect is exaggerated because the track was sped up for the final mix. Quite a landmark recording by Joe Meek!