Tremolo vs Vibrato: What's the difference

Some of the earliest effects available to guitarists were tremolo and vibrato.  These effects were usually built into the amplifier.  Between the vibrato, tremolo, and reverb there was little else available to the electric guitarist.

Leo Fender's company while prominent in the development of the electric guitar led to some great confusion with the mis-labeling of their amps tremolo channel as vibrato.

Seasoned guitarists have figured this out but for anyone who hasn't quite nailed down the difference here is a quick video to demonstrate to the difference between tremolo and vibrato.

Phase before or after distortion

Phase before or after distortion?

I won't bore you with my opinion on the matter.  We guitarists are all individuals and like what we like.  Sometimes you don't know what you like until you hear it and then it's all or nothing

The phase pedal or phase sifter has been use by many a guitar player.  Eddie Van Halen notoriously used one to enhance his solos. The sweeping shift of frequencies in and out of phase with each other seems other worldly.

  But where do you put it in the signal chain?  Only you know for sure.

Check out my demo of phase pedals before and after distortion.

Phase versus vibe pedal

Out of context one could argue that some Phase pedals and Vibe pedals sound the same.  Granted they both provide tons of swirly tones and some do a faux Leslie better than others. Still,the vibe and the phase pedal have similar qualities.

Eddie Van Halen certainly solidified the potential for phase pedals.  The likes of Jimi Hnedrix and Robin Trower certainly used the Uni-Vibe very effectively. So what's the difference.

Phaser, or Phase shifter pedals tend to use transistors and resistors to blend a dry signal with an out of phase wet signal. Vibe or the original Uni-Vibe used a photo resister and lamp to achieve a similar but usually more dramatic effect. In fact, the Uni-Vibe was first designed to emulate a Leslie rotating speaker. While it did not achieve the exact desired effect, it did achieve a sound all it's own

I decided to take my phase and vibe pedals and compare them side by side to demonstrate the similarities and the differences.

Check out the Phase and Vibe pedal comparison and see for yourself what each pedal does.

Cheap Analog Delay

Guitarists in general are mostly gear hounds. We love new gear whether it's a new guitar, amp, or stomp-box. Some of us are complete gear snobs and will not even consider anything that isn't top of the line or boutique. Some of us simply look at what the best tool for the job is.  I'm not judging here, i'm just stating facts.

I recently stumbled upon a budget friendly analog delay on Ebay that I simply couldn't pass up.  Now I own several delays from a Roland SDE1000 rack unit to a Zoom multi effect, and my favorite, the TC electronics flashback.  While I didn't need this delay I felt compelled to buy it based on the price and the very diminutive size.

This analog delay from Mosky Audio was less than $30 on ebay, but how does it sound. You decide.

Zoom Choir

Back in the mid 90's Zoom released a few pedals that had some really cool functionality.  The pedals had a number of different types of sounds as well as the ability to set a preset and a current setting that was foot switchable.

I was fortunate enough to purchase the Zoom Choir 5050.  This pedal offered chorus,chorus and reverb,chorus and delay, delay, aura, and dimension.  While I mostly used this  pedal for chours and delay the other sounds came in handy at times.

Below is a video demo of my Zoom Choir 5050

Scott's Superdrive

As you may know I've dabbled in the DIY pedal scene for a while.  I love the smell of melting solder and the fly by the seat of your pants "will it work?" feeling when making a pedal.

A number of years ago I started trying my hand at creating something different by mashing different pedal designs together. Some of these were non starters and others were OK.  This particular experiment came out quite well.

Scott's Superdrive took the Tube Screamer type circuit and married it to a Big Muff type tone stack. Of course each of these parts of the pedal received their own tweaking and modifications.  At the end of it all was a Mosfet output stage to recover some of the signal loss from the tone stack.

The result was an overdrive with more drive than a Tube Screamer, less buzz than a Big Muff, and an overall interesting characteristic all it's own.

Danelectro Pepperoni Phasor

Danelectro has had some great success with their pedals in the past decade.  Their small food themed pedals while not the sturdiest enclosures they are packed with sound.  I have purchased a few of these little gems and I think you get a lot of pedal for not a lot of money.

I decided to break out the Pepperoni Phasor and run it through it's paces. Its controls are super simple, just a speed knob.  Even I can handle that. Even if you only need this thing to get the EVH vibe going it's well worth it. Boba Fett says "Get one of these or I'll encase you in corbonite"

Check out the demo...

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What's not to like?

The below post is from many years ago on my old guitar blog but still valid today.

Enjoy

 The BUM syndrome

Guitarists are a strange lot. We are quirky,superstitious, and neurotic at best. These traits lead us to exhibit some pretty strange behavior. One of these behaviors is the BUM syndrome. No, not being an out of work bum like your dad said you would be playing guitar but BUM as in Blind Urge to Mod.

Why is it that no instrument is good enough? I have seen countless posts out there stating things like “ Got a new super duper wanko master 3000, What do I need to change to make this thing killer”. How about,” just picked up a drive-o-matic 6000 pedal for $300 on flea bay, talk to me about chip swapping”

I have several guitars, a few amps, and a good selection of pedals. I too have been guilty of this condition but only to the extent that the mods help the instrument do something it didn’t previously do well. Sure I have a hacked frankenstrat but for the most part, all the rest of my guitars are stock. Maybe a pickup swap here or there but not all of them and only after the instrument was run through it’s paces as purchased.

I can get behind a few mods right out of the gate but these are practical mod’s rather than a mod just to mod. Strap locks are a must. A $20 investment can save you a hefty neck repair. Better tuning keys, sure. If they improve the tuning stability then go for it. After that I just try to live with the gear a while to see what it will do. Remember, all mods make it different, but different isn’t always better.

  

Russian Big Muff

I have a friend who had a Big Muff pedal that was intermittently cutting out. Knowing that I'm a tinkerer and build pedals I was asked if I could look at it. Of course my response was yes.

Since I don't own one of these glorious distortion devices I though tit would be a great opportunity to play around with this "Made In Russia" monster of sonic madness.


I initially thought it might be a faulty switch.  Once I opened it up and tested it with the circuit board exposed I came to the conclusion that the switch was fine but there was a loose connection somewhere.

Since EH uses a ribbon wire that is split off to the various connections on the pots, switches, and circuit board I basically started re-soldering all the connections on the pedal.

Fortunately, after I did the switch the tone control and the volume control the pedal came back to life and the sound was loud and proud with no cutting out.














Check out the demo of the revived and revitalized pedal.

Get by with a little DIY…..

How many times have you had a pedal that sounded good but you thought, “it could use a little more bass” or “a little more mids would be nice”. Maybe you think, “I don’t know if I want a fuzz pedal enough to spend the dough”. Maybe you’re just naturally curious and like to tinker. If so, the I’m here to help you get bit by the DIY bug.


I got into DIY pedals about 10 years ago simply because I wanted an octave pedal but didn’t have the cash to buy one. I had a new baby and I couldn’t justify spending the dough on a pedal I didn’t really need. So I thought, “I can build one”. Sure why not. I quickly found out that DIY does not equal cheaper, but it sure is fun.


I surfed the net and found lots of great information and some not so great information. Here are some of my favorite sites to get you immersed in the world of DIY pedals.

Kit Sites

• General Guitar Gadgets
• Build your own clone
• Officially Licensed Circuits

General DIY info

• DIY stompboxes
• R.G. Keen’s site
• AMZ

Required reading

• DIY wiki
• Geofex how to’s
• Geofex debuggin page

Basic Electronics references

• Basic info on Capacitors,resistors, etc..
• Ohms law calculator
• Ohms law chart

Parts

• Small bear electronics
• DIY stompboxes store
• Jameco electronics
• Pedal Parts Plus

These are just a few of the many sites out their devoted to DIY stomp boxes. Look around and you’ll find a whole world of information to get you on the road to building your own pedals.

Scott

T.C. Electronics Flashback Delay

Delay is one of those effects that seems to have two camps. One camp believes delay is a crutch to cover up poor playing and the other camp views delay as a vital tool utilizing multiple delay units for different purposes.

For the former camp, read no further, for the latter camp, the T.C. Electronics Flashback is definitely something you should have in your toolbox.

A wide range of delay sounds as well as the tone print technology allow you to dial in the perfect delay for your needs.

Check out this demo of the Flashback complete with a simple little trick to let you use the Flashback as a chorus pedal.

Plutonium Fuzz….Meltdown in a box

Fuzz pedals have been around for over forty years now. They were among the first pedals us guitarists had to use to create the distorted rock and roll sound we all love. A few years ago while learning the ropes of pedal building I built the Plutonium Fuzz. It was based on Fuzz Central's Axis Face which was a Fuzz Face variant. I did some tweaks based on information found on the various DIY sites and ended up with a really cool pedal.

I've had the schematic and perf board layout on the DIY stompboxes forum for a while but I think it's time I put it here for everyone to see.


The Schematic

The Layout



The Lowdown

This Fuzz is not subtle. It is not completely out of control either. It has lots of gain but with careful tweaking of the controls you can get a great maxed out fuzz sound while still maintaining some clarity and minimizing noise.

When building this there are a few things to be careful of. Make sure your input and output wires are as short as possible. Also don't let the input and outputs cross. Nor should you let any signal carrying wires cross the power supply wires.

 Fuzz circuits are a magnet for noise and you will be faced with some ugly hum, his and oscillation if your are not careful.

Here’s a link to a video demo from my old guitar blog days…..yes I probably talked too much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbTzIldEY4

Danelectro Chicken Salad Vibe pedal

The Original Uni-vibe pedal is one of the  most sought after effects in the world.  It's think swirling modulaiton made famous by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower are distinctive and mesmorizing.

For most of us, an original isn't an option.  They are pricey and somewhat noisy and cumbersome. Fortunealy Danelectro has produced a nice compact alternative that will fit nicely on the pedal board and wont break the bank.  While these aren't made any more, you can find these on ebay for around $30.  I myself own three.  :)

Check out this short little video of this awesome modulation pedal.

Danelectro Rocky Road Rotary Speaker Simulator

Danelectro’s Rocky Road Rotary Speaker pedal is a great little option for those who are looking for that signature Leslie sound without taking up too much real estate on the pedal board.  For such a compact pedal it packs in quite a few features to faithfully recreate the classic rotary speaker sound.

A speed knob, ramp button, and switchable fast or slow ramp speeds allow you to dial in the right amount of warble and switch between the underwater sounds on the fast side of things to the thick slow pulsing on the slow side of things.

The drive knob allows you to dial in a little grit simulating the power amp distortion often associated with the Leslie’s sound.  From a little dirt to full overdrive and everything in between.

Below is a short video demo of this awesome little pedal

MXR Phase 45 Reissue

Back in the 70’s MXR produced a number of pedals, the most famous of all the Phase 90 which was used generously by Eddie Van Halen.  A lesser appreciated pedal (at the time) was the little brother, the Phase 45. 

The Phase 45 was a two stage phase shifter which had a more subtle effect which to my ears is a little more musical.  The pedal was discontinued and seemed lost to musical instrument history with vintage examples popping up occasionally.  The circuit did find some life in the DIY world with many schematics and layouts for the original circuit.

MXR eventually decided to reissue a faithful recreation of this awesome little swirly sounding pedal.  The SCP105 ‘75 Vintage Phase 45.

From subtle slow swirl to fast warble this pedal produces some really great modulation that to me sounds more like a Univibe type sound rather than a phase shifter.
Check out a short demo  of what this pedal can do.

Ibanez Tone Lok series CF7 Chorus/Flanger demo

Back in the late 90’s, Ibanez had a great idea for their new series of effects pedals.The Tone Lok series allowed you to set your knobs then depress them and lock them in place preventing them from being moved or accidentally stepped on.

 

This idea in itself was great, but they went even further (at least with some of the series).  the CF7 Chorus/Flanger featured a “Krazy” switch to go between normal and “WAKD”.  The normal settings were average swirly modulation sounds but the “WAKD” setting allowed for Vibrato,Leslie, Ring Mod, and beyond. 

 

I acquired one of these pedals for about $30 on ebay and decided to do a video demo, similar to my “Yestergear” posts from my old blog.

 

Enjoy.