Carl Martin Surf Trem

It doesn't get any easier than this- 2 knobs, depth and speed, and a footswitch- adjust to personal taste. I give it a ten.

I love this pedal. A few months ago, the connecting wire on my twin reverb snapped, and, as it needs to be retubed and isn't my main gigging amp, it has yet to be repaired, so I can't really give it a head to head with an old-fashioned, tube-driven trem yet, but I honestly couldn't be happier with the sound I'm currently getting from my setup. (Epiphone Casiino, visual sound jekyll and hyde, boss bf-3, surf trem, danelectro reel echo, peavey classic 50 212) It can go from Link Wray to U2 to Elvis Costello to Arctic Monkeys and back, and it's very easy to dial in whatever sound you want.

It seems reliable enough, being made of metal and all. I haven't had it all that long, but I definitely gig without a backup, so I'd say it's quite dependable. Because it's still new, I'll give it a 9 and let you know if any problems arise in the future.

Not applicable

I play powerpop, rock'n'roll, classic rock, rockabilly, and surf music, and this does it all with ease. At 89 bucks, it's a steal. I've been playing ten years, and it sounds as good as the trem in my twin reverb, so I'd say it's a definite bargain. I'd definitely buy it again if it were lost or stolen, and it's definitely better than the boss model or the electro-harmonix pulsar. Pick one up today, before they catch on and raise the price!

Two knobs, Depth and Speed. It doesn't get much simpler than that, just put these where you want them and that's it.

It sounds great, all the time. No matter how you set it, fast/slow deep/shallow, it sounds like a good trem.
I use it mostly for the rockabilly/psychobilly and surf stuff. (Link Wray, Poison Ivy, Dick Dale) and it works like a treat.
There is the slightest boost in volume when you turn it on, which is just enough to make the trem noticeable... Much more useful than most other brands that drop in volume. Also the Surf Trem does not colour your sound at all.
I'm using it with a cheap power supply, and there is no noise whatsoever coming from this unit, it is silent... even when it's turned on.

There is an upper limit to this pedal's capabilities, and it won't go up to doing ridiculous modern trem noises... but that's not really what it's for as far as simulating old tube amp tremolo it's right on the spot.

It's built in a really rugged looking/feeling metal case, the knobs are good quality, and I feel confident stomping on the switch.
I've had a look inside and it looks well built. I can't afford a backup, but I can't imagine needing one.

I'd like to give it a ten, but I got it today... it'd be like saying you have a steady girlfriend before you've finished a one night stand.

Not dealt with them yet.

I use it for Rockabilly and Psychobilly as well as "Sonic Youth" style guitar noise, and it fits in just great.
I've been playing a couple of years and I use a Dunlop Crybaby, a Dunlop Hendrix Classic Fuzz, and a Digitech Bad Monkey.
I just got a hold of a 70s Epiphone Crestwood which I'll be putting a bigsby on when it arrives, and amp-wise I'm using a Trace Elliot Super-Tramp (soon to be upgraded to a vox ac30cc).
If this pedal was stolen or lost I'd get another one straight away, it does everything I want it to and nothing everyone else wishes their's wouldn't.
I guess I'd like it to have a square wave function perhaps, and I'd love for it to have a rocker pedal controlled speed... But really I'd just like dunlop to bring back the TVP-1. It looks really cool too, but takes up sooo much of my pedal board space, I guess I could put the circuit in a smaller box one day, but it'll do for now.
Overall this is a really great pedal, if you get it cheap, people like to sell them for outrageous prices... just hang around ebay 'till you see one at the right price.

2 knobs, depth and speed ... it couldn't be any easier

89.95 from guitareffects.com

great sounding tremolo .... very thick authentic fender kind of tremolo. i really like the sound from this pedal. it sounds very natural.
the tremolo volume is perfect.

built like a tank.... if you take reasonable care of it you should have no problems.

i 've never dealt with the company.

******

I've been playing guitar for 31 years and I make my living from playing guitar .... I do over 300 gigs a year. I have to much gear to list here.
i really like this pedal, it sounds like the tremolo you'd here in a black face super or deluxe reverb. great "vibe" from it too.
I like the Surf trem much better then the boss tr-2... the tr2 sounds too sterile compared to the surf trem ... its like both pedals are water ..... the surf trem is a pool of warm water and the Boss tr 2 is like a pool filled with ice cubes .... which would you like to dive into?

two basic good-old-fashioned tremolo controls: "depth" and "speed".

"depth" controls amount of tremolo effect.

"speed" controls, well duh, the speed of the tremolo effect.

very intuitive and user friendly.

beautiful "old-time" analog tremolo sound.

a quiet pedal.

sturdy metal construction.

good push-button switch.

cool "chicken head" knobs.

bitchen aqua green paint job.

one of the best sounding and best performing tremolo pedals out there...and I should know, I've tried qute a few.

avoid the EH Pulsar...get the SurfTrem.

I am a vintage reverberated surf guitarist (Jazzmaster), and I am absolutely stoked with the "Surf Trem"!

If you are looking for that vintage Fender-style tremolo pulse...then, SurfTrem is what you want.

It's as easy as a trem could be- just the depth and rate knobs. Perfect. What I want to know is- if everyone is trying to emulate old valve tremolo, why do they keep putting all these extra knobs on it? Old Fender and Vox amps didn't have volume knobs and waveform knobs.

This has the bare necessities and that's the way it should be. And it is pretty hard NOT to get a decent sound out of a decent trem...

Fender USA Lead 1/Ibanez Talman TC420->Boss autowah->Boss bass overdrive->Boss feedback/distortion->Yamaha Jap flanger->trem->MXR Phase 45->volume pedal->Boss EQ->Boss delay/sampler into a varety of different solid state and valve amps (mostly Fender Super 210 valve).

This is the simplest yet most used effect on my board (aside from distortions). No volume drop.

I love trem and this is the best sounding one I've tried yet. Better than a Boss TR-2, smaller than a George Dennis volume/trem...and anything in the world was better than the Guyatone VT-2 trem that I owned for 10 days...

I've had it for just over a month but it seems bullet proof enough, as any metal cased effect should be. One thing- when I got it, the batter cover clip had broken. Now the guys at the shop probably did it, but it was because they were having such a hard time trying to squeeze the cover into the hole.

VERY helpful about the battery cover issue. Unlike Boss or Ibanez or even Maxon...(unless you've got a CE-1 or the first DS-1 or TS-808 ever made).

I keep saying trem is my favourite effect and that I love simplicity and sound quality. I'm already attached to it. The size of it is a bit of an issue, as real estate is valuable on my pedal board but the vibe and the simplicity is worth it. (it could be worse- it could be the size of an Electro-Harmonix Pulsar- what is with that??)I can say that we play indie-pop but it's meaningless- almost every genre uses trem to some extent.