Alesis Ampliton

Easy to understand and easy to use. I just plugged it in and played, the manual isn't necessary.

It is a basic processor which combines tremolo and autopan. A nice idea, but really pretty basic and not much to get too excited about. It sounds pretty much how I expected without impressing me beyond that. I kind of expected it to be more exciting, with all the different modes and wave shapes, but it just does what it's supposed to, without ever really blowing me away. I guess, technically, that's disappointing, but not the product's fault. How creatively one uses an effect like this could certainly lead to interesting results, though.

I wouldn't ever expect to get that 'real' (tube amp) tremolo sound from something like this, so no surprise that it doesn't offer it.

Some settings sound pretty cool, but nothing to get crazy over. The subtle sounds are best for me. The settings go to extremes, which someone else might like but I think are hard on the ears, mostly because of the digital-ness. Some heavier settings are trippy though. Countering the trem and pan in different ways is fun, but harder to dail in. It's easy to make it sound like you've got a bad cable connection somewhere though, if that appeals to you!

It's not true bypass. The one I got is not noisy, though the tone is colored by the processing, which I expected and doesn't bother me for my purposes.

I use this mainly for keyboards, synths, etc. so far, but I imagine there's several interesting electric guitar set-ups that would sound cool as well.

Seems cheap but who knows.

N/A

Great value, if only OK as a processor goes. I like that it's small and easy to move around and easy to set without any programming, and the tap tempo is a very nice feature. I like the "real time" controls.

Maybe playing with it more will open up more of its potential. Right out of the box, played by itself, I was a little underwhelmed. But, again, what can you expect. I think I'll be much more excited to hear it in a mix, of course.

Anyone interested in this type of effect should check out the Adrenalinn pedal, which does very cool stereo effects that are much more 3D than this. The Alesis is good in a pinch, though.

I have no problems getting really good dubby auto pans and lush tremolo with this little box. So far I have used every sample setting in the manual as a starting place and tweak from there. I mainly use this box with analog synthesizers, although I plan to also use it with the sampler and possibly the drum machine or even a mic. I haven't had any noise problems with this box, but I am not chaining it up with other boxes either. I like using the triggered mode on each side while in sync mode to get a ufo taking off type sound.

Sounds great. I haven't gone to tape yet, but sounds clean through monitors and flat headphones. This box doesn't do a lot of different things, but what it does do is sweet sounding especially if you like working with dub or electronica.

This is a studio piece, but has been completely reliable (like all my alesis gear).

These people are the best. My brother gave me a sick quadroverb once. Didn't matter how used it looked they treated me like I was the original owner and were totally nice. Qverb works like new.

Not a floor pedal. Probably not good for live guitar. Great in the studio. I home record electronic music and can find many practical applications for this little box. I have two other sources for autopanning, but this one has knobs for adding human touches (needed to warm up electronic music). I love the size, sound and tweakability. Would have loved seeing the whole mod fx line summed up in one rack with a bunch of knobs.

I'm not sure if this box was intended more for keyboardists or guitarists, but I'm using it in a guitar rig. There's no On/Off switch, and the unit can only be powered via a dedicated mains adaptor. There are four knobs that control rate and depth for the tremolo and pan features, and rocker switches to choose the degree of modulation.
I've never seen a more detailed manual for an effect unit-- it's seriously about 70 pages thick. Idunno that you would need to read through all that to figure out how to connect an instrument and turn four knobs, but it's useful for working with the triggered and tempo-based effects.
I'm rating this low because of issues I talk about in the next category that affect the unit's ease of use.

I'm using this with an Epiphone Elitest Dot through a bunch of higher-end boutique pedals and into a pair of modded Epiphone Galaxie 25R all-tube amps. I got this on clearance from Musician's Friend for some $30, marked down from $99, so I assumed its sound would put me in the ballpark of a Boss PN-2. In short, I guess it would, except that I CAN'T STAND HOW NOISY THIS EFFECT IS!!!!

I've tried placing it in different parts of the effect chain, running it through different power sources, and it just won't stop buzzing. The manual dedicates a couple of pages to making this thing quiet- some I have tried and some I have not. Honestly, it is louder than all 8 pedals in my board combined. Really, it buzzes more than my OD & Fuzz together. And it's a digital, unpleasant buzz too. It comes through especially when changing settings with the rocker switches. I just don't understand how a new effect with a relatively high price could sound this bad.

IF-- and this is a big if-- I can get the noise issues to subside, the pedal is capable of some nice tremolos. Like the TR-2, you can select the tremolo waveform between triangle and square, but can also select a triggered waveform that reacts to your pick attack. The dynamics on the rate knob go too far in either direction to be useable-- from way too slow, to so fast that it sounds like a ring-mod.

The autopan feature can be combined with the tremolo for some nice stereo effects. Additionally you can set the tremolo and pan at different rates-- a feature that is lacking on the PN-2. I really hope I can work through this noise issue because I really do like what it can do.

Idunno-- it doesn't really look like it's made for a guitar. The unit is plastic and can only be engaged by pressing a small button on the front. I think you can attach a footswitch to activate the effect. We'll see if it sticks around long enough to require that.

I just got the box last week, played around with it a few hours, and shelved it. I'm going to write to Alesis to see what they recommend and hope that I just got a bad unit. If so, I will post my results.

I've been playing a few years, a lot of shoegazer music a la my bloody valentine, ride, catherine wheel and what have you. My pedalboard is pretty new, having switched over to single pedals from a Boss GT-3 that I never really settled into. A friend of mine had a Midiverb that worked pretty well, and I've had good experiences with their synths. Again, I'm just amazed at how poorly this performs. I'm suspicious because it was a Musician's Friend clearance item and was stamped NON-RETURNABLE. Hopefully I'll be able to work out my differences with the manufacturer.