4ms Tremulus Lune

I just wanted to add a short update to my review. the NE4562NA I had was blown from use in another project, so it was not the op amp's fault that it was noisy. If I had a fresh one around I would pop it in there fer sure. I decided to go nuts today, so I put a 100uF electrolytic cap on the power jack from V+ to ground, and added a .01mf ceramic cap across the two used leads of the volume pot. these two simple additions (along with the earlier smoothing cap tweak) took this from a "fairly quiet" pedal, to a "man, that thing is quieter than a dead mouse" pedal, no matter how high the gain is cranked or what the other knobs are doing, it's silent! I am really happy about this, and it was at no expense to the tone (I A/B'ed), so I would highly recommend these mods to you tweakers out there, if you're having any amount of hiss, click, or noise. I picked them all up on the commonsound forums, great info on there. still loving this pedal, and still wish I had a Tremulator to go alongside just for the hell of it.

I was playing a show a couple months ago and a guy from another band came up all excited and wanted to buy this pedal from me, because he thought it sounded so great (I agreed, and ended up keeping the pedal)

this is a build of the 4ms tremulus lune, using the parts list on the commonsound website as of february, 2009. I ordered the pcb from 4ms pedals

the pedal is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of all the controls. it has two that are not commonly found on most tremolos (spacing, and symmetry)

beautiful! I wanted the 'ultimate tremolo', and chose this one because of all the sound shaping options with the extensive control selection. mine only has the single LFO. I used a photocell from Jameco electronics, and a 'superbright orange' 5mm LED. the pedal is slightly noisy, but not really noticeable in use, at unity gain. mine ended up having a huge range of volume boost, but I wouldn't use it for that because of the noise when cranked. I cleaned up the lfo 'click' almost all the way by increasing (only slightly) the value of the "lfo smoothing capacitor". ***I also found that with the recommended tone capacitor (the "331" ceramic) the pedal had a treble boost when engaged, as compared to the true bypass signal. I used a quality capacitor (poly film) valued at .001 uf (1,000 pf) and this took the sound of the pedal to a new level. it used to sound kind of "coo, coo, coo, coo" with the stock value..a little "metallic", now it's more "wow wow wow" and warm, which is what I wanted. with the depth set at zero the tone is a very close match to the true bypass signal.

with all the control options, you can go from swampy tweed style throb (higher spacing) to blackface style (higher symmetry) to chop, basically any kind of basic tremolo sound that exists can be gotten by turning the knobs to the right place.

my only remaining quibble with this pedal is the sweep of the 'speed' knob. most of the useful settings are found in the last quarter turn, it's a little sensitive to get it just right.

I experimented with opamps, finding the NE4562NA to be too noisy as the gain opamp, but it worked fine as the LFO opamp. for the gain amp I used a motorola LF353N out of an old compressor, finding it to have low noise. the opamp swaps didn't seem to make much difference in tone in this pedal (they make a huge difference in my Rat), only in noise. the recommended TL072 and 4558 worked fine, I just wanted to put the best op amps in that I had lying around

very happy with this pedal! total cost was something like $85 for all the parts. I might pick up a Demeter Tremulator someday, just to have an even tinier pedal with more simple controls, but this pedal meets my needs so well I'm not sure when that would be.

I fit it into a roughly 4x4" enclosure (the hammond one that's a little taller and a little narrower), but the way I laid it out doesn't allow room for a battery (I never use them anyway)

the circuit board is really sturdy... I also like the simplicity/ease of build of the board-mount pot design

My build is the 3 knob version with rate doubler and ramp up/down mods. It's easy to get a good sound out of the 'lune...EVERYTHING sounds good! However, it's sometimes hard to get a SPECIFIC sound...but, after twiddling knobs, you usually can. The only reason that I give an 8 is because the LFO cycles all the time...it doesn't start once you engage the unit. Therefore, tempo-synched trem can be done but, sometimes you're out-of-synch even though the rate is correct.

Sounds great alone. With distortion in front of it, it kinda gets lost. I've yet to try it before the dist...it'll probably be better. Hell, I'll try this tonight before band practice!!! So, I'll assume innocence until guilty and give a 10.

I built it and I use it for every gig. I put a crappy toggle switch in for the ramp up/down mod so that's sticky but still works. With good components, it's bulletproof! If it breaks, I'll fix it. Since I made it, though, I can't rate it's reliability.

NA

Like I said, I paid like $40 for all my parts. This is easily a $200 boutique pedal. You can get them for like $150 from 3ms and the like...overall, I love this thing! My vintage-freak friends say that the 'Lune absolutely kills the temolo on their vox and fender amps. Get or make one for yourself!!! If you want to hear it in action, go to my band's website: http://www.brotherlush.com

This pedal has 9 knobs and a switch. So considering, it is very easy to use. I had it customized with an extra LFO, a rate doubling foot switch, symmetry, a ramp up switch,true bypass, powersupply and a gain knob (volume boost or cut)and i could right out of the box make some killer sounds but this pedal is an experimental dream because the possibilities are endless that is exactly why i love it!

I am running mainly a Gibson studio gothic into my effects chain which is as follows in order from guitar to amp: "funky fuzz f***" (number 5/10 made i got it in france, amazing) snarling dogs whine-o wah, boss SD-1 super overdrive, boss BF-1 flanger, Ibanez classic Phase PH-99, 4ms tremulus lune, sabine rack tuner RT-7000 and then an ebtech hum eliminator. Then my effects loop has my Boss DD-20 delay, Boss digital reverb RV-3, Boss chorus ensemble CE-5 and a danelctro cool cat chorus. My amp is a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier solo 100 head (three channel) running through a Marshall JCM 900 1960A cab with celestion 75 watt speakers. That was a mouthfull. Anyways back to the tremulus it sounds amazing it is the clearest trem i have ever played i love it, i cant get a bad sound out of it and the tonal possibilities are endless. i really like the dual lfo because you can get some really trippy sounds when using a huge delay sound and some phase, amazing. The pedal is true bypass so it doesnt color my sound at all and it isnt noisey that i know of but that could just be my ebtech doing its job.

this thing is buit like a tank, enough said! i plan on giging with it all the time and i am not worried about it at all my band plays shows almost every week(www.airomusic.com check it out!) and this pedal is a permanent on my board!

Dann is amazing we emailed back and forth and i customized this pedal just the way i wanted it, he returned all my emails really quickly and this pedal has free lifetime repairs by dann , enough said!

this pedal is amazing i would get it again but i dont think i will have to. I suggest to anyone looking into buying a trem talk to dann and he will make you the best trem on the market for a really fair price!

Clarification: the company is now called 4ms Pedals but the pedal I purchased was a "3ms"... from the bargain rack. It was left over from before the name change. The great thing about 4ms is that their pedals have lots of nobs to tweek. Still, it was very easy to get a variety of good sounds. If you want to get that Fender or Vox amp trem sound, you can get it... and a lots more. This has 5 nobs: 1) Spacing: controls the time ratio of signal to silence within each tremulation. 2) Speed: self-explanitory. 3) Smooth: will make either an abpupt on/off signal or a gradual fade in/out. 4) Depth: adjusts from no effect to complete on/off tremulation. 5) Fine: a fine adjust for speed. It also has a blinking light to visually see the rate setting. I had what I was looking for after a couple hours of use.

I play a Gibson Les Paul, G&L S-500, Fender American Strat Floyd Rose Classic and a Jerry Jones Electric Sitar. Amp: Orange AD1512. This pedal is a very quiet true bypass trem. I'm knocking off one point here because although most sounds you dial in are good to great, it still sounds a little muffeled in some settings. By that I mean it sounds quieter that the bypass signal. This could be improved with a volume nob to boost the signal to your liking. Since I am working on a one man band project, and my drumming is the weakest part of my attack, I loaded up on devices to help me keep steady time. This will do that for me. I also want it to give me that cool James Bond soundtrack vibe (you know, with the simple, clean melodys on the lower E string). No problems their either.

I've only had it a couple days but it works fine. I don't suspect any issues since I have one of those velcro pedal board things with a carrying case. It souldn't get banged around when traveling.

Dann was pretty good about returning my geeky e-mails. I think 4ms will fix effects for free for life (minus shipping). I haven't needed it yet but you can't beat that.

As mentioned, I have a one man band featuring guitar, percussion triggers, bass pedal module, Theremin, vocals, loops, pre-programmed material, groove box etc. Style: prog, punk, jazz, techno, metal, crotch, quirk, geek rock. Been playing 20+ years. Other pedals: Loooper true bypass ABY, Electo Harmonix Octave Multiplexer (to Samson PA monitor for Bass doubling), Geoffry Teese RMC Wizard Wah, SIB Varidrive, T-Rex Replica. I would replace it if stolen.

I was looking for a trem... and also a reason to support 4ms in whatever way I could. I stumbled across their website and I just liked the whole concept of their collective. I saw the "Crazy Billy Tremulus" on the bargain rack for $115 and I figured for the same price I could either get a Voodoo Lab Trem or get this "one of a kind" for the same price. I chose the latter. I added one mod: power supply for an extra $10 and I was set. It sounds great and was an excellent value!! 4ms pedals look cooler than all others and no two are alike. Although this was a bargain rack item I was happy that this one of a kind looked better in person than on the site. Altough I'd like it to have a volume nob, this one is still a keeper. I plan on getting a Triwave in a few months.

This is not your typical tremelo and thats why I like it. Very easy to get any sound that you are looking for.

sounds awesome~~!! Very low noise. I have the dual speed tremelo so I have 2 speeds going at the same time and it is the sweetest sounding trem I have ever heard. I built this one myself with the help of their "KITS" section and Dann Greene. Dann is the best guy around the pedal business. The 4MS company is exactly the opposite of the big corporate companies like Boss, Ibanez etc. etc. and I love that. That is the main reason that I started doing business with them.

This trem can go from hard to soft and from super fast to a slow painful pulse. Both speeds can be set to match each other or completely different speeds for a haunting sound especially at loud volumes :-) Run their Phasuer through this trem and it will blow your mind~!!

They have a forum for any questions that you may have about their products or help in modding or building their gear. They offer a lifetime warranty if you buy one that they build for you, you can't beat that~!!

Dann greene is the best most down to earth guy around. So is everyone else in the 4MS family~!! Very cool people that you can't help but care about.

I play all different kinds of music and the trem goes well with anything you need it for. It will inspire you to make music and thats what it is there for. Buy one and make your music come to life.The 4MS effects seem to have their own soul, something intangible that you don't get from a production run effect. You can also get custom artwork done on your specific pedal so It will be yours, one of a kind~!!!
Check them out at www.commonsound.com and see what I am talking about.

this is a tremolo pedal, so you must know at least what kind of sound you're expecting. there are 5 knobs: depht, speed, smoothness, spacing and fine, that means that you have to tweak to get the sound you want.

the sound of this pedal is excellent and very natural. The depht control the amount of volume that the original travel, the speed control the speed of the volume changes, the fine to me sounds like a aqnother speed control but with some differences, the smoothness control the shape of the wave from square to sine(if you use the sine you can get some cool volume swells), the spacing control where you want to hear the tremolo is like that move the tremolo signal from left to right (i'm not speaking about speakers or stereo thats a panner). Is really friendly with other pedals, another good thing is that the led keeps you in time of the tremolo pulses this very good if you want to do some swells.

yeah, i would gig without a backup.

they're very helpfull and offer a lifetime warranty for the original owner.

I play alternative rock music, and its great. I'm thinking of getting the duo distorter and the phaseur fleur. I highly recomend this pedal for you who likes to experiment and always want new sounds, if you want check the sound samples on their pages. to me this is the most smooth tremolo pedal on the workld

this tremolo is somewhat more complicated to get a "Normal" tremolo sound, but this feature make is more flexible than any other tremolo on the market. I can get Chop trem like kay tremolo and the smooth ultra rounded sounding fender tremolo with only a tweek of a knob!

the sound quality is fine, but i modified mine with extra precision resistors and high grade caps, and i housed in a hammond box.. the sound is awesome, no clicking from the LFO is truly the finest and the more usable tremolo for me.

i can depend of it cause i modified it, but i have no doubts that this product is a true quality release from 3ms. the housing is a bit cheap-o but quality goes inside

i don't think that i'll need customer support. but if i do, i think i can repair it by myself.. cause the circuit desing it neat and practical.

i play mostly alternative rock or experimental noisy music. i've made some pedals and i definitely recommend this pedal to anyone that wants a flexible tone and options. but if you only want the tipical tremolo effect i should advised that this pedal is a little bit complicated cause it's to flexible.. but sound as good as a fender tremolo.. with more options!

Not a hard concept to grasp. The fine tuning knob is real handy, and the LEDs that show the speed make things really easy. One of the controls (spacing) is somewhat of a mystery to me. The shape control is pretty obvious; makes it smoother or choppy. High-speed choppy is a trip.

I got the two-LFO mod ( I forget which one), which is just plain great. My favorite setting is a somewhat normal speed on one, and a superfast speed on the other. Max out the reverb and you have something pretty darn weird. Plus, I got the expression pedal speed control, which works on the main LFO. (I use a Line 6 pedal.) With the pedal you can go in and out of the double-random epilepsy-fit inducing stuff quite nicely.

As for noise, a slight hiss, but my house has grounding problems, so everything is noisier than usual. It's true bypass, so the tone is fine when off.

I use a Strat through a Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr.

Well heck, the switch is not the most heavy-duty, and the battery holder is sort of iffy, but the case is durable as all get out.

Dann answers all email, and is informative. Repair is free forever, for the original owner. I will be the only owner of this thing.

I play jazz/blues/undefinable random stuff. When I use this pedal, I tend to emphasize the random stuff. I've been playing for 36 years. I would buy it again, and will eventually get some more of their wacko stuff... just trying to decide which one. I didn't try any other tremelo pedals, just read about them. I think this is the most versatile one. It's the ugliest damn thing you've ever seen, but that just adds to the mojo. Perhaps the biggest selling point is the overall non-commercialness of this oufit. Ex-hippies like me find it irresistable.

Mine is heavily modded, extra knobs, footswitches, etc., and is still fairly easy to figure out.

This pedal is extraordinarily low-noise; sounds real good, and is equipped with true bypass. One thing I notice, though, is that even with depth all the way up and "smooth" all the way to the left (i.e. running as a square wave as opposed to sine wave trem) the guitar doesn't ever completely "disappear." Comes real close, practically unnoticeable in clean mode, but with distortion on it's like having the guitar switch back and forth between dirty and clean. (Kind of a cool sound, actually.)

All that said, there is no other tremolo effect on the market that is this flexible. Mine is equipped with an expression pedal input to control overall speed, a "speed doubler" footswitch, *and* a second LFO that controls the rate of the basic tremolo LFO. You can get anything from yer basic (and authentic-sounding!) Fender tremolo sounds on up to chaotic, off-kilter rhythms that may cause seizures in epileptic children. There is a very wide range of speed available on board. And with the right settings between first and second LFO, you can create either predictable and dope rhythmic patterns or something closely resembling randomization of pulses. The doubler switch is incredibly useful as well. You'll pay a bit extra for these mods but they're well worth it.

Anyone looking into the purchase of a new 3ms pedal should be aware that their pedal will likely be built by a member or several members of the "commonsound collective." This means that several elements of construction have been simplified, *possibly* at the expense of durability. The circuit board is literally made of hand-drilled cardboard (what Dann calls "CBCB"), wired lead-to-lead perfboard-style in a rather tight space, with the board hanging loosely inside the box. I am going to be VERY careful not to drop this thing or put it into a moist environment. The battery will also remain outside the box until I can get a suitable holder to glue in, since I'm afraid of it jostling around in there and breaking or shorting connections. And the switches on 3ms pedals have never been the monster, mega-pricey Carling variety, they're usually a little more delicate than that (at least in terms of feel, and again, I don't plan to try my luck).

If all this bothers you, never mind... build your own to your own specs. Dann makes the layout, schematic, parts list, and building instructions readily available. Anyone with an interest can join the collective, or just build the pedal for themselves (provided they're not reselling the design for personal gain). The standard-issue mods can be done by Dann for a nominal charge; you can do the rest into whatever kind of circuit board and enclosure you like. (I'm presently building a Noise Swash onto perfboard, with a heavy-duty DPDT stomp switch replacing the usual "flimsier" footswitch... we'll see in a day or so how that comes out.)

Simply put, Dann Green (the 3ms designer and the founder of commonsound) rocks. You will never find a pedal builder with a less capitalist perspective, or greater willingness to help his customers and builders. If you have an idea for a pedal mod, odds are that he has already thought of it; even if not, he'll probably be incredibly enthusiastic about trying it out, maybe even adding it to the list of "standard mods..." and all this at a price that should make the other boutique guys bow their heads in shame.

The stock Tremulus can do yer standard tremolo sounds quite well, at a price that is as reasonable as anything on the mass market, and it can go far beyond its competitors at that price point. Add a few mods-- namely, the second LFO-- and this thing has NO competition. Each pedal is its own work of art, totally unique... Simply put, if you're into unique/experimental sounds, you probably already know about the 3ms line... if not, get on the waiting list already. The new url is www.fizziwigs.com/commonsound/3ms.