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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Tremolo Pedal

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I am in the market for a new Trem Pedal. what do you all love? I have had a Surfy Trem, Flint, Boss, Malekko in the past. Considering a new SurfyTrem or maybe a Carl Martin. Or perhaps a pipeline.

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I've been interested in this topic as well. At the risk of getting skewered, how much difference is there between tremolo pedals? There are always custom tweaks that can be added such as control over modulating waveform etc, but at the end of the day it's just low frequency amplitude modulation.
I'd been looking at a Mr. Black for awhile, and because I love my SurfyBear reverb tank, I'd toyed with the idea of getting the Surfy Trem. But after watching several videos about pedals from JHS Pedals on youtube, I'm starting to wonder if a $20 Behringer will be the same thing? It certainly wouldn't look as cool on a board and likely wouldn't last as long, but is that worth the extra $100-$300 you end up paying for something boutique? There has to be something I'm missing.

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Last edited: Jun 27, 2022 21:03:02

One thing to worry about with a tremolo is whether the apparent volume decreases when you turn on the tremolo. I don't know which ones compensate and which don't. The SurfyTrem seems to compensate. A cheap tremolo I have (and don't use) doesn't.

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
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Anything with a true bypass should have a volume knob to control this, no? I’m far from an expert so please correct me if I’m wrong.
Oddly enough, the surfy trem is NOT true bypass which they say is more in line with actual amp trem. The color is a feature.

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You can get into all sorts of conversations on the different types of tremolo, and that may be the big deciding factor for a lot of people. I've got a Surfy Trem board I built into a thing, and it's very cool with the brownface/blackface switch.

But for a stand-alone pedal, I've been really happy with my EHX Stereo Pulsar. You can feed it into two amps and have it bounce between them, which is a really cool effect.

And Behringer stuff can be just fine. The main trade-off is that their products are basically just copies of other things on the market and are cheaply manufactured in China.

edwardsand wrote:

You can get into all sorts of conversations on the different types of tremolo, and that may be the big deciding factor for a lot of people. I've got a Surfy Trem board I built into a thing, and it's very cool with the brownface/blackface switch.

But for a stand-alone pedal, I've been really happy with my EHX Stereo Pulsar. You can feed it into two amps and have it bounce between them, which is a really cool effect.

Would love to see what your board looks like. I have a mini board (tuner, Drive, Trem) going into a surfybear and a supro bigstar

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edwardsand wrote:

And Behringer stuff can be just fine. The main trade-off is that their products are basically just copies of other things on the market and are cheaply manufactured in China.

I’m not generally a behringer fan but tremolo seems like one of those basic effects that may not warrant the hefty price tag that some boutique offerings are trying to command. That said, I just realized the surfy trem is now on sale for $170 so perhaps it’s time to pull that trigger…

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I have the Pipeline Trem and one thing i noticed is that it seems to color my signal where it can get a little ice picky. I do have it on a board with 3 always on pedals of a catalinbread formula 5f6, a nocturne Mystery Brain and thru a surfybear compact into my tone master Twin Reverb. Because of the treble coloring im going to replace it with a SurfyTrem. However, i was on the surfy industries website, and at the end of july they will be launching the Surfy Trem DELUXE. Its mainly the regular SurfyTrem with a Volume Knob. So im holding out for that cause when utilizing the brownface setting, that pedal is amazing. But getting back to the pipeline.... I would suggest trying it out before buying (or getting it with a 30 day return policy, like amazon) cause i really was excited when i got it, but in the end it is very underwhelming.

BB_Bunny wrote:

edwardsand wrote:

And Behringer stuff can be just fine. The main trade-off is that their products are basically just copies of other things on the market and are cheaply manufactured in China.

I’m not generally a behringer fan but tremolo seems like one of those basic effects that may not warrant the hefty price tag that some boutique offerings are trying to command. That said, I just realized the surfy trem is now on sale for $170 so perhaps it’s time to pull that trigger…

I have a Boss Trem and i definitely preferred the Surfy and the Malekko over it. Just curious to try something new.

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Mikejazz3 wrote:

I have the Pipeline Trem and one thing i noticed is that it seems to color my signal where it can get a little ice picky. I do have it on a board with 3 always on pedals of a catalinbread formula 5f6, a nocturne Mystery Brain and thru a surfybear compact into my tone master Twin Reverb. Because of the treble coloring im going to replace it with a SurfyTrem. However, i was on the surfy industries website, and at the end of july they will be launching the Surfy Trem DELUXE. Its mainly the regular SurfyTrem with a Volume Knob. So im holding out for that cause when utilizing the brownface setting, that pedal is amazing. But getting back to the pipeline.... I would suggest trying it out before buying (or getting it with a 30 day return policy, like amazon) cause i really was excited when i got it, but in the end it is very underwhelming.

Good to know. i would prob get the original SurfyTrem as i don't need stereo of the new one

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BB_Bunny wrote:

Anything with a true bypass should have a volume knob to control this, no? ...

Between songs, you could always fiddle with a volume knob somewhere, if not on the peddle. That seems annoying. For a song like Rumble with tremolo added during the song, it's a problem.

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ldk wrote:

Between songs, you could always fiddle with a volume knob somewhere

Right, so if there's a volume knob on the pedal you should be able to set it so that the volume is the same whether the pedal is on or off, right?

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Mikejazz3 wrote:

However, i was on the surfy industries website, and at the end of july they will be launching the Surfy Trem DELUXE.

I do mainly studio/production work so the Surfy Trem Deluxe and the Surfybear Studio are SUPER interesting to me. I've had to reamp stereo signals twice through my Surfybear Metal to get an authentic spring reverb sound on stereo tracks, so I'm super happy about this. Now if I could just scrape together ~$900...

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Last edited: Jun 28, 2022 09:59:25

BB_Bunny wrote:

Mikejazz3 wrote:

However, i was on the surfy industries website, and at the end of july they will be launching the Surfy Trem DELUXE.

I do mainly studio/production work so the Surfy Trem Deluxe and the Surfybear Studio are SUPER interesting to me. I've had to reamp stereo signals twice through my Surfybear Metal to get an authentic spring reverb sound on stereo tracks, so I'm super happy about this. Now if I could just scrape together ~$900...

looking at the block diagram, the stereo signal is summed to mono through the reverb path and mixed back in with the dry stereo signal.

would be cool to have two of them for very spacey and hard panned stuff.

cosmonaut wrote:

looking at the block diagram, the stereo signal is summed to mono through the reverb path and mixed back in with the dry stereo signal.

would be cool to have two of them for very spacey and hard panned stuff.

Gah! Good to know. So the main selling point of the surfybear studio is that it can take line level signals and they've added a gate feature. For whatever reason, I thought it would end up being two discreet reverb chennels. I guess this makes sense. The unit would likely be a lot bigger if it was going to house two tanks.

I can't wait to see more info on the Surfytrem Deluxe. I can guess how it handles stereo/mono signals, but then again I was wrong in my assumptions about the studio reverb.

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edwardsand wrote:

But for a stand-alone pedal, I've been really happy with my EHX Stereo Pulsar. You can feed it into two amps and have it bounce between them, which is a really cool effect.

Hey that things looks awesome! Gonna order one quick so I can dump the Fulltone stereo trem. Heh heh, I also have an order for a very especial stereo tube harmonic vibe pedal. I use wet / dry so two discreet channels is a must. Thanks for posting that pedal!

Daniel Deathtide

.

Daniel Deathtide

Last edited: Jun 28, 2022 17:27:34

Tried many. Best for me is the Source Audio Vertigo. The trem shapes, EQ voicings are just right. Sounds so fine.

Basic Audio Throbby is quite good also.

After years of using the Keeley modded Boss TR-2 (part of the mod is a volume control), I got a Surfy Trem about a year ago. It's awesome. I doubt that I'll ever feel the need to use anything else.

Bob

Last edited: Jun 28, 2022 18:36:41

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