Carl Martin Surf Trem

2 knobs, how hard can that be? Though given only rate and depth, it is limited. I replaced it with Line 6 tap tremolo. Many more useful sounds there.

Sounds good, but on higher rate settings the signal bleeds through when you turn it off. I tried different power supplies, hooked it up differently, many different combinations but you can still hear it pulsing when off. FAIL!

Very well built.

Read above, replaced with Line 6. You can only do so much with speed and depth. I say go for Line 6 tap trem or EH pulsar for more options.

2 chicken head knobs spaced apart far enough that you can use your feet to adjust each separately.

It's not just for surf. Deep, rich, thick, even on lower depth and rate settings. High rate and low depth gives almost a chorus-ey shimmer. Very nice. Does not effect tone when on or off. That's not a signal drop you're hearing, that's the volume drop when the trem cycles. That's what a trem does, duh.

Plugging in/out of the jacks is difficult. These aren't those plastic Dano jacks. They're tough. Never had an issue with this or any of the other 2 Carl Martin Classic series effects.

I don't like to gush over things or give all 10's willy nilly, but for under 100 bucks, you can't beat this. It does take up a lot of space, but that's the price to pay for foot-controllable knobs. The people who complain about the huge footprint are the same ones who would say Boss knobs are impossible to turn with your foot. You can't have it both ways. It's not Lovetone size, but it's not MXR size either. I find that the wide top part fits nicely up against Boss/Mxr pedals. It slopes at just the right spot for the narrow part to go up against an angled cable end so you can kind of snug it in without wasting a ton of space.

Easy to use, 2 knobs. No manual. Changing the tremolo-speed by foot while playing works, chicken-head knobs.

When switched on, it sounds good, smooth is the right word. Can not make a comparison to a real tube driven tremolo from a Fender or Vox amp, still hadn??t the option to play this toy with a true amp with a tremolo inside. Sounds way better than a Vox Valvetronix - amp tremolo modelling. There??s a little volume-drop when the unit is on, not surprizing. Until here I give it a 10.
But:
When switched off I expected to hear the true sound of my amp... No, its not true bypass, it eats exactly those high and bottom end harmonics, that let a tube amp sound bigger and alive, it kills your amp sound. For this part I give it a zero.
So I think at the end its a 6 or a 7, because you??re bying an effekt box, not a bypass box.

Seems like it will last for a time.

Have it since a month only.

I??m playing since 15 years, since 5 years in a grunge-blues-punk-pop-indie band. Own since only 4 years a true (all valve) amp but I very fast lerned whats true tube tone and love it. I??m not giving out money for gear, when I can??t hear and understand the difference between the better and the worse, the expencive and less expencive. So now I??m a little sorry, that I didn??t spend 25 Euros more for a pedal with a true bypass and a volume control (t.c. electronics vintage tremolo, for example). Actually I like the surf trem and will keep it. I??ll probably buy a seagate black switch to geta a signal-path completely surrounding the surf trem, simulating a true bypass. Now it remains an 8.

No need for firmware, instructions etc. It's a trem. It doesn't even have a wave knob. You have to try to get a bad sound from this.

Just great for what it does. I'm using Fender Mustangs and a Jag into a string of pedals and a Laney LC-30 tube combo or, on special occasions, a Vase Trendsetter 60 valve head (through a Marshall 212 cab).

The only criticism I can find is sometimes there's a slight pop when engaging it, but a couple of my pedals get that, so it may be my set up.

I admire companies that just pick one sound (ie., one trem wave shape) and run with it, instead of having all the variations under the sun. Shows some confidence in their tone. I have an old old old MXR Phase 45, with only a rate knob. They banked on every other adjustment for the pedal being perfect- and they were right. As were Carl Martin.

I have a few tremolos, as it my favourite effect, so I have plenty of back ups. BUT I don't think I will ever need one. This pedal looks and feels very solid. I've had it for at least 2 years now and no problems at all.

NOTE: Someone has to confirm this but I'm sure that when I first got it, I emailed Carl Martin and they said that these pedals are not made in Denmark, nor is any of this line. They are budget pedals manufactured in the Far East. It doesn't detract from the quality of them but it's still noteworthy.

The clown in the music shop couldnt work out how the battery compartment lid fitted and snapped it trying. I emailed Carl Martin about it and they emailed back straight away. They had a new compartment cover mailed to me (in Australia) within a week.

Just does what it says it does. Emulates Fender amp tremolo. No harshness, no volume drop, no machine gun stutter. I'm so glad it doesn't have any other adjustments- just speed and depth, like a trem should.

I play indie stuff, but it should be great for surf, country or whatever genre you choose to invent (and please do).

Great pedal.

basic 2 knob pedal, which is why bought it. Just dial in the tone you want and leave it. it does take up a lot of pedalboard real-estate, though...

i use a cheap ***ed les paul knock-off, but it has a really clean/treble heavy tone. this pedal fattens the tone up a little bit, basically making my tone smoother, which i like. i have it on about 90% of the time, because i have it on a low-depth high-speed setting, making it more of a vibe effect then a real trem effect. i was looking at a Boss tremolo, but it was too sputtery and studdered a lot, and i wanted a really smooth sound. This does just that! It uses the same components as the trems found on old amps, but i think this sounds even better! it might be better for some if it could go a little faster, but i dont use fast settings so i dont care.

no problem yet...

havent tried.

good olde tyme vintage tone, looks and sound boutique.

Two simple settings, Depth and Rate.

This is a purely analogue triangle wave Tremolo, and the two dials are equally as organic and natural, so you can easily dial in the sound you're after.

As you crank up the Depth you can hear and feel the wave getting deeper, in a smooth as silk fashion. The Rate dial has just the same quality. It's speed increasing within a perfectly measured arc that you can tweak to perfection.

The tone of this pedal is thick and the two dials work together in perfect unison. These three qualities combine to create a a high fidelity, deep tremolo sound.

The only real down-side to the Surf Trem is that it's very limited in it's range of sounds. On slow settings the wave does have a slight asymmetrical sound, but of course you can only have that shape played slow!

A third dial to fully shape the wave would have been a nice addition (and given it a '10' rating easily).

Really, there's only about an eigth of the Rate dial that is useable for standard tremolo useage, but it's still very varied, even within that small space. It's taken as a given with Tremolo that you're rarely going to use excessively slow settings but it's there if you need it.

My first Tremolo pedal was the new EHX stereo Pulsar, and though the Surf Trem hasn't got the same diversity of sounds, it's sound and circuit quality are vastly superior. I'm just learning about the technical side of pick-ups amps and effects but even with my limited experience when I plugged them in side by side, going between one and the other, the Carl Martin's tone, sound and circuit build quality shone through, beating the Pulsar hands down.

(And if you're after a perfect cross between the Pulsar's versatility and the Surf Trem's quality circuitry, expect to pay about ??125 for the Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter. Eep!)

The 'Vinatage' series of pedals are built very solidly (with the exception of the battery panel).

N/A

This rating just is for the quality of the sound, and the fact that the basic Tremolo it offers is suitably authentic. If it had been a bit more versitile, it would have easily got an 8, as I think even a single pedal should offer a little bit more.

However, if you're after a no-frills tremolo with gorgeous tone then this is an 8.

Given that such a tremolo is very limited, you'd think it would be a little bit cheaper, but for it's quality it's worth the price even to my ears. And the amount of reviews I've read from experienced players (mostly right here) have said that the price is right for the quality, so if you're smitten with vintage tremolo then it's a must.

It's worth noting that it's quite big, and an awkward shape if you've got a pedal board, and if that's your thing then you'll wish these 'vintage' series pedals were more 'brick' shaped, but beggars can't be choosers. (Plus being a more practial shape would detract from Vintage series 'vibe')

This pedal seeks to emulate the tremolo of an old school Fender amp. It has two knobs: speed and depth. It's very simple. Unplug input to disconnect the battery, if you use one.

I have Fender Super Sonic combo amp (60W) with great reverb, but no tremolo. Back in the 80s I owned a black-face Fender Pro Reverb, with great reverb and tremolo. This pedal is exactly the ticket to give my new Fender amp the tremolo of my old blackface Fender!

I play a '79 Fender Stratocaster (Kinman Woodstock + pups, K9 switching) > Crybaby wah (Garmopat mod) > Carl Martin Surf Trem > TS-9 > Fender SuperSonic combo amp (effects loop: Ibanez Fl-7, Digitech x-series delay) > THD Hotplate attenuator.

The Surf Trem plays nicely with all my other pedals. I just got a little Roland Micro Cub practice amp (so I can rock with headphones late at night), and the Surf Trem plays nicely with that too.

It is dead quiet. They say it is not a true bypass pedal, but it achieves that effect in any case. No loss of my guitar's lovely tone when in bypass mode. The effect also adds very little noise when it's on. Just sweet, clean volume modulation.

Tremolo seems like a very simple and basic effect. I demo-ed a few boutique trem pedals (Smart People Factory, one or two others) at a local shop and found them all surprisingly noisy- added annoying, very noticeable hummy hiss to my signal. I bought a used Carl Martin pedal on eBay based on the strength of the HC reviews, and am really impressed with the sound.

It is warm, smooth, and has a good range of response on both knobs. Just like the effect in my old Fender amp. This is definitely my favorite pedal at this time. I use my digital delay less now that I have this.

You can sound like Peter Buck on the REM's "Monster" album (with lots of additional fuzz), or like Creedence back in the day, or like any surf guitar hero from the DelTones on down. Set speed to max, the trem is a very nice complement to some overdrive for a frenetic, punky, new wavey sound (think Sonic Youth). Everybody from Carl Perkins to the latest 14 year old garage rocker needs some tremolo sometimes!

I've only had it about 4 months now, but it seems really solid. I would gig without a backup, because I'm too poor to own much/any extra equipment. This company's reputation is very good. My rating here is a gimme.

No need for contact. No opinion.

I play surf guitar, rockabilly, and 60s-90s rock 'n 'roll. Against all odds I now find myself in a church band.

This pedal is exactly what I was looking for, which is the trem effect of a blackface Fender amp that my modern Fender tube amp lacks. I can't imagine a pedal that does this better.

I use it in a variety of ways. Slow (several second) sweep, with depth set around 10:00, faster vibe (3 sweeps/ beat) with more depth, high rate augmenting my overdrive pedal.

I'm about to get a compressor, and assume I need to put the compressor upstream of this pedal so it doesn't strive to cancel the trem's effect.

I would replace this pedal without a second thought if it were lost.

I love the powerful, glorious teal color and sturdy metal case. By far the most attractive pedal on my board. It is rather large- I could probably fit two Boss pedals in the footprint this one occupies. But I could defend myself in a bar room brawl with this thang; it's big and solid. Rubber feet make it hard to velcro to the pedal board (same problem with my wah). I'll work that out someday.

As simple as this can get, just like the Fender controls it seeks to emulate. Great sound.

I use it for secular music and it fits the bill. Only problem is that the switch is loud, so changing it in the middle of the song may be problematic. Also, unlike the Dan-O Tuna Melt, it doesn't have the "hard" machine-gun like switch, it only has the smooth, soft tremolo.

Built solid, only thing I might switch is the switch.

Great Fender-like tremolo, and very easy to use, with large knobs. Great for the secular type of stuff I play. I also have the Dan-O Tuna Melt mini-pedal, which I think matches the sound of this, but with the large knobs, this would be easier to manipulate on stage, and also this is built more solid than the Dan-O. p.s. The Dan-O is great and cheap!

No problems here- dwell and speed of effect. Very easy to find the sound you like. On/off by- pass switch

Sound quality is better than I expected. I have always used Fender amps for the vibrato (BF Vibrolux Reverb, and Fender Concert Pro Tube 4x10). Dwell and speed control very reponsive. This is as good or better than my Vibrolux. Very lush, and sweeping. No noise, and there is a slight vol increase. The only thing I don't like is the on-off switch is not silent (kind of loud click when switching) For 89.00, its very minor. I use to have a Vibrothang, which was cool, but not near as retro and old school as this, which is what I was looking for

Carl Martin makes quality stuff- its from Denmark, and the components look to be top notch. Too soon to tell. Would use it without back up. The only complaint I have on this- you can't remove the feet to put on a pedal board. The feet keep the bottom on the unit. I have this mounted on a Pedal Train board, which has slots between the mounting surface, so the unit staddles the board between the slots. Works for me

Never had to call them

I play in a church worship band; this was the last part of my rig- Fender EJ Strat (a great strat) (to Wireless) >FullDrive 2 > Marshal Edward the Compressor > Ernie Ball Vol Pedal > Boss DD-5 Delay > Carl Martin Surf Trem >TC Electronics Chorus Fender Hot Rod Deluxe ( the new white lightning model- looks cool and this is our house amp). Been playing worship for 14 years, playing guitar for 35 years (should be better than this by now) Played semi pro for a while in a blues band;

I would recommend this to anyone that wants that Fender retro vibrato/tremolo sound; it does exactly what its designed to do. Very happy and would definitely replace this if needed.

bloody easy... although each song has a new SWEEEET spot tempo.

easily adjustable with your foot too!

bloody amazing. has such a sweet sound. the wave from is just right. none of that thumping bizness. studio quiet operation. before i had a behringer ut100 or something and it was shite... thumping, harsh tones, crappy design.

a truly gentle, vintage-y sound. very radiohead

rugged and solid, no issues with design, footswitch is soldered to the PCB tho...

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an awesome buy - ebay 30 quid. would buy again, not as versatile as the TR2 due to wave form restrictions (u cant get the harsh rage against the machine tones from it but gentle tones that make you want to spend the rest of ur life making background music in jazz clubs) yep, very lovely - does what it does (surf trem) very, very well.
check my band out: myspace.com/justnorrismusic and i will be eternally grateful....