DOD FX22 Vibro-Thang

The VIbrothang is quite easy to use,4 knobs:speed,depth,doppler and image.When I first started playing with it I just spent ten minutes figuring out the setting and the thing is done...
However,I think that the "doppler"knob is useless.Well,on my amp.Does anyone know what's that?I bought it used so I don't know if there was a manual or a booklet.

It's the last pedal I've bought,worth because of the low price.
I'm using it with:Gibson SG-Big Muff-DS2 boss-SD1 boss-Phase 100mxr-
BF2 boss-Small Clone-Danecho/delay-Noise supp.boss-Valvestate Marshall.
It's not very noise,I owned pedals with more noise,but I don't care too much about it because I play noise rock so....Seriously,having a noise suppressor that's not a big problem,you'd better use a battery instead of the adaptor.The vibrothang is a little weak,when you kick it treble disappear...I always have to regulate treble knob on my amp,but since I use C-tuning,that doesn't bother me.
My favorite bands are Smashing Pumpkins,SOnic Youth,Nirvana,Pearl Jam,Led Zeppelin,Hendrix,Marlene Kuntz and many other alt-rock bands.
Useful for some Pumpkins stuff and for some strange noise a la Sonic Youth.

Sometimes I take it with me for the gigs,but I use with only with clean sounds and in noiseful ends....playing with the knobs can make some of the weirdest sounds I've ever heard

As I said,I play grunge-noise-psychedelic rock and vibrato is one of my favorite effects.I tried once a VB2 boss,the best vibrato of the world,but the price was too high(300 $!!!).This one is nothing compaired to it,but the price was reasonable and the conditions were good so I bought it and I find it helpful in some way.
I hate the annoying hiss it does without a noise supp.,but the rotary speak. effect is interesting.I wish it had more gain,it could be more useful for a live show...however,if I lost it(it's very impossible that one person can STEAL it...)I'd buy another one only with a low price.

It took a few minutes to get a feel for the Doppler and Image controls. I found that if you play a sustained chord and ran the Doppler and Image knobs through their full range you could "tune in" the tone you want.

I was very pleased at the tone. I had read about this pedal in the catalogs and was intrigued by the description. The vibrato effect alone is worth the price of this effect. The phasing is very subtle but makes it FUN and INTERESTING. I didn't notice any of the noise mentioned in some other reviews. If you want this pedal's sound to really expand put a chorus in front of it(ie:Ibanez CS5). (for my experimenting I used an old MXR Distortion plus (distortion set very low) into an Ibanez CS5 Chorus, into the Vibrothang, then into a DOD FX 96 Echo, then into a Boss Tremolo/Pan, and finally into two amps, then tweek the knobs for a good sound). I'm always searching for that leslie sound I guess.

I have never had a problem with a DOD pedal. I don't "play out" or gig but I feel they are reliable. I like the update of the hinged battery door.

I bought an old American Metal at a pawn shop and the battery cover was missing. I wrote to DOD and they sent me 3 spares immediately even though they knew I got it used. Most cool!

I play classic rock, alternative, retro, and any style with a lot of tone and texture variation. I love pedals and experimenting with various tones. I have been playing for 31 years. I have a black and white Japanese Fender hardtail strat ('84?) which is great for altered tunings, a Peavey Classic 30 with 112 cabinet, and Bandit 112. I play a Peavey Dynabass as well.
I would definitely buy this pedal again. It's fun!

Very easy to use (like any other pedal). Manual is OK.

I use a strat into a whah, into an overdrive, into this pedal, into a phaser and then into a chorus, into a Fender Blues Jr amp. It is not noisy. The effect is pretty strong. It drops in volume a tad, but that is due to the vibrato swell. I can manage to get a cool Trower sound with it, which I'm quite happy about.

It's a DOD. If you treat it right. It will treat you right. I always keep the original boxes for my pedals and always keep them there.
DOD has a good waranty plan.

never dealt with DOD. never had to (see above).

I play classic rock (robin trower, SRV, Hendrix..etc) This pedal creates some cool Vibrato. I don't have tremelo on my amp so this pedal works out good. I've been playing too long, since the 70's.
I used to use a Fender Princeton Reverb that had tremelo on it, but my new amp didn't so I bought this DOD. It sounds pretty good. I only use it on a few songs and it works fine.

This was a great idea for a pedal, and I could have had many long years of getting a range of mostly relatively subtle sounds from it. However, its faults rendered it fairly much unusable for me. Fortunately I had the option of returning it, which I did promptly, with great regret that such a great idea could fall so short. I know, I've already said that. You'll soon learn to tweak it, and I've given it an extra point for the picture of the man in the concrete mixer in the manual.

Oh, dear, here we go. Firstly, this thing hisses like a bag of snakes. I know things like this usually are a bit noisy, but I use an old Ibanez flanger which I considered to be fairly noisy until I plugged in the Vibro Thang. The thing is though, it hisses all the time, even with everything turned down. True, you might not notice this when you switch it on for the middle 8 of a song down at the pub with your drummer belting away, but I wouldn't be able to use this for recording or quiet trio stuff as I was hoping. Beef number 2 - when switched on, (again, irrespective of settings) this thing gives an enormous boost in low mids, which you percieve as a volume boost. Maybe it was an attempt to make it sound warmer. You could easily get someone to reduce its volume, I imagine (as it would be to change the range of its speed control) but then it would sound weak and undefined in comparison to a dry signal. I like to run my (valve) Fender Champ 12 just around its breakup point, so if I were to switch this on - hey bingo, overdrive! Not what I'd always want. Plus if I were using it as a tremolo, the amp would be pushed into overdrive only as the volume increased each cycle - could this be the new sound for the new millenium or does it just sound crap? Don't ignore this pedal on the strength of what I say of course, but be sure to play it through your own gear (always do this if possible when trying stuff out) and see if you can put up with its shortcomings to have access to a really nice range of sounds.

I don't even kick Boss pedals.

The unwanted noise is not unavoidable - I'll go back to using a trem pedal I built for $20, which despite other limitations, delivers pure unadulterated guitar tone with volume modulation. Maybe I'll try out a Marshall Vibratrem at some stage. Maybe I just got a dud one - it sounds like it's diferent to what other people have reviewed.

This pedal is really easy to get the hang of if you are using it as a straight ahead tremelo pedal, but it takes a few more minutes to get to grips with the phase controls. At first they don't seem to do anything, and it takes a few minutes to find the sweet spot.

Using it as a simple tremolo pedal this is amazing! I love it and there are no bad sounds in it when it's being used like this, when you turn up the image and doppler controls though, you can get it to sound really dump at first, and like I said before-it takes a while to find the sweet spots with these control.

But once you do, the phasor makes it sound ten times better (even though it's a subtle change)by making the sound more 3 dimensional.
The only problem is if used with a distortion box, you notice a slight drop in volume and a cut in high end eq.
Not a problem fro me cos I only use it with clean or mildly overdriven sounds (which it sounds great with).

I've had it 3 months without a problem. It's made of chunky metal and i don't mistreat my pedals (they're my babies!). I don't see the point in using a backup cos it shouldn't really break if you look aftre it.

they're supposed to be helpful but I've never had to deal with them.

I play mainly rock music (along the lines of Smashing Pumpkins) and using it on heavy parts doesn't work for me, however, that isn't what i bought it for.
I use it on clean or nearly clean sounds to play chords or single notes, and for me it does the job perfectly. I'd definately buy it again if I lost it, broke it or had it nicked.

The FX22 is very easy to use and I can always get a good sound out of it. First let me say that I'm a bit scared to write this glowing review of one of the best pedals I've purchased in a long time because there seem to be so many misconceptions of what this pedal is supposed to do.

I went to Guitar Center during the middle of the week when they open their doors and brought my Les Paul with me and plugged in. I had the store to myself and was able to listen without any distractions. I went to demo this pedal as a Leslie simulator and that's exactly what it does (despite DOD's naming it as a vibrato - nothing new here - we all know DOD has a real problem with their nomenclature; however, I must say they point out their stupidity themselves in the manual when they mention 'rotary speaker' sound).

Before I go into my glowing review, let me say that I just can't understand why people buy this box thinking there going to get a phaser then complain that the phasing isn't intense enough - true, this box has some phasing capabilities but they're there to combine with other parameters to yeild a Leslie sound or rich vibrato. If you want a real phaser, then go buy an MXR Phase 90.

I've tried many effects that try to simulate a Leslie rotating speaker and this one is the best in my opinion. What's amazing about this box is how slow it will 'rotate'. I knew someone in the 70's who had a Leslie cabinet and I know what they sound like. The problem with most boxes that try to emulate a rotating speaker is that they don't do the volume swell and drop as the speaker faces away from you and then returns facing you, nor do they do enough pitch variation for the doppler effect (remember your middle school science class? the classic text book example is you're stopped at a railway crossing and as the train approaches the engineer lays on the horn and just before the train passes in front of you, the pitch of the horn rises (goes sharp) and just after it passes, the pitch drops (goes flat)) Well, this box lets you control these parameters. Let me go over them from as they're layed out: SPEED-as I've said, can go incredibly slow and very fast as well; DEPTH-this controls the amount of volume drop-out, from no drop-out at all to almost complete drop-out cycling with the LFO speed you dialed in; DOPPLER-as I've described, this is the amount of pitch variation to immitate the doppler effect of a sound source in motion relative to a fixed point (in phasing, this is referred to as sweep depth); IMAGE-amount of filtered output sent back into the all-pass filter (known as regen., feedback, or resonance) this adds resonance and timber to make the effect more pronounced (with this turned down, the phase effect has warbbled vowel sounds, with it turned up, it sounds more pronounced with a bit of nasal resonance).

With these four parameters, and I should add that for once DOD named them appropriately, they all do as they're labeled (perhaps Image could have been named Res.), I can really do a very acurate job of immitating a Leslie: from EXTREMELY slow panning sounds to moderate speeds of lush swirling sounds to fast whirling trippy sounds. Again, I have to comment on the beautiful and gradual swell and decay of volume modulation that this box can do - it sounds just like a rotating speaker that slowly approaches facing you and then continues on its 360 journey away from you and returns back to facing you -- you combine this very realistic swell and decay with the slight doppler effect and phasing that's associated with a moving sound source, and you have, my friend, a very realistic model of a Leslie cabinet.

(Let me comment on the point that some people have made about this pedal reducing your tone, cutting highs, etc... The highs are actually reduced according to how you have the resonance (Image) set. This is all part of a true rotating speaker folks -- do a little test: go plop down in front of your stereo and pay attention to the highs, now get up and walk over to the speaker cabinents and turn them 180 degrees so they are no longer facing you, play the same song and listen for the highs -- they're not very crisp are they? Sound a little muffled? That's because the very directional highs are no longer aimed at your face, but rather a wall, curtains, other space, etc... so what you're hearing is reflected highs, not direct highs; hence they are going to sound flat and dull, turn the cabinets another 180 and you're back to your crisp highs. So, if you are trying to emulate a rotating speaker, this cycle of dulling/crisping highs should be part of your equation, and this pedal does that.)

Well, I should say I've never had any problems with my DOD pedals nor have I ever lost a battery cover; then again, I don't kick, jump up and down on them, throw them at a brick wall, drop them from a three story terrace, or use them to smack my drummer upside the head! My pedals stay mounted on my custom made pedal board with its own regulated power supply -- by the way, I'm interested in taking a survey to see if people would be interested in buying a pedal board like I built for myself: it is all plywood contruction with a suitcase type cover, has its own built in regulated power supply for up to 14 pedals -- is this something you would be interested in? Perhaps I will in the future market these over the internet -- let me know your thoughts on this - I would price competively with the SKB model but it would be a much sturdier and more powerful board.

I bought this pedal becasue I was looking for a Leslie sound and as I said above, it does this the best I've ever heard from a pedal. I've tried the Dunlop RotoVibe (doesn't go slow enough and basically only produces the phasing part of a swirling sound) It is capable to use this pedal as just a phaser by turning up the Doppler and Image and turning down the Depth, but keep in mind, the phasing parameters of this pedal were designed to enhance the rotating speaker sound, not to be a stand alone phase pedal. Likewise, this pedal is also capable as a straight vibrato pedal by turning up the Depth and decreasing the phasing controls (Doppler & Image) But when you know how to blend all four of the parameters, that's when you can bring the ghost of Leslie into your rig.

If you're looking for that Leslie sound, no matter what pedal you may own now, you owe it to yourself to go demo this pedal, and please, take your own axe with you as you should do when demoing any pedal. Please don't miss out on this pedal because you think DOD makes adolescent pedals -- I know they do stupid things like giving them funky names and in the past they've confused everyone by labeling the parameter controls with vague and stupid names (they've actually stopped doing that), but your decision to buy a pedal shouldn't be based on what people say about them, what they look like, or what they're called, but rather, what do they SOUND like! Do they serve the purpose of the tone or mood your trying to convey in your music? The only thing I fault DOD for is for marketing this pedal as a vibrato pedal, don't get me wrong, it does a wonderful job as a vibrato pedal, just as good as it does the Leslie thing, but I thing they would have had more success had they named it 'Rotothang' Especially since the roto sound is so in again. But that's DOD's curse, they just haven't the faintest idea how to market their own products. They must have college interns majoring in corporate marketing working in their marketing department who have never picked up an instrument in their lives, have no practical application in the music world, and are making their decisions based on demographics and statistics for marketing colors and nomenclature. If you can overlook their assinine stupidity in marketing their products so that they actually DECREASE their own sales -- go check out this mistake of fortune.

Also, the Guitar Center has this pedal displayed with a $79 price tag, but when the cashier rang it up, it popped up in the computer as $64 -- good deal

No probs at all. All the pots are really subtle so you need to turn them lots for a noticeable change. It's really simple.

I use an Ibanez Destroyer II and a Marshall VS65R. The first problem is that the pedal seems to cut a lot of the volume out and the high end eq aswell. This is quite problematic when using distortion or other pedals with the unit. Secondly, it would have been nice to have a decent phasor on it. I know its only supposed to create a leslie type effect to enhance the trem but it would be way more versatile if the phasing was more powerful. The overall sound is really nice though and the phasing used alone with a distorted sound adds some nice dynamics and colour to the tone. On the strength of that I think its a pretty good pedal.

No problems so far.

Never required it.

I play whatever I feel like but broadly speaking I suppose you'd call it grunge. I use the pedal a lot when I just feel like adding something to my sound. I like using it with my guyatone wah rocker- this gives me a really synthesque sound when with a slow wah like a square wave amp LFO on a filter sweeped chunky saw lead. Othertimes I just turn the phase up max and put the rate on min and leave it on all time. If I lost it I don't think I would buy it again. I'd rather make my own trem and buy a decent phasor like a phase 90. All pedals help in a way. They're there if you need them and can only add to your infinite sound making possibilities. This one was a tad disappointing given the price (about $80) but then us Limeys will always have that problem.

DOD uses cutesy names for the knob labels, but on mine, they're labeled "SPEED", "DEPTH", "DOPPLER", and "IMAGE". It's fairly easy to figure out. I bought it in November '98.
The manual is okay. It gives some suggested starting settings (3 of them). I wished they'd have printing settings for various blues styles and rotating speaker simulation. (This pedal can do this.)

I use a Fender Stratocaster w/ humbucker in the bridge. I play through a Crate gfx-65 (solid state, yet there are some good distortions). I also use a Danelectro Delay pedal.
The other day, I figured out how to get a rotating speaker (Speed at 2 o'clock, Depth at 10 o'clock, Doppler at 3 o'clock, Image at noon). It did sound weak. This pedal doesn't do "big" effects. I usually use it for blues and blues based playing. With doppler and image all the way down, the pedal gives a normal vibrato effect. I've noticed that the effect is barely noticeable if the depth is below half-way up.
I've found that great sounds can come out of this pedal with the right settings. With the wrong settings, you can't even tell it's on.
I've noticed some noise, but it's not that bad. You won't notice it while playing. Just turn it off between songs.

I haven't used it for a long time, yet I've had no problems with it. Keep a fresh battery in it though.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing about a year. I'm still experimenting with amps and effects, but my Stratocaster is staying! I bought the pedal for the sounds that I could get from it, plus I wanted a vibrato effect. (My Crate doesn't have built-in vibrato.) BOSS had a tremolo pedal out, but I'm not paying $160 dollars for it.
I'm still looking for "my" sound, but I think this pedal will be a crucial part of it. I'd buy it again. This pedal can fit blues, and surf guitar (the manual tells how to get this), but if you're looking for the Pink Floyd sound, this pedal won't do it all.

this pedal is basically a tremelo, with a phaser. you can combine both to make some truly trippy sounds. there's 4 knobs in all- i've got one of the newer ones, so there's no goofy-ass labels on the knobs.. depth controls how deep the trem goes, doppler controls how obvious the phaser is, image makes the phaser sound more like a wah (?) and speed controls both effects. if you're buying this for a tremelo pedal it's a good buy. however if you buy it for a phaser, don't waste you time with this. the phaser sucks.. it doesn't have enough variety in sounds for my liking. the phaser's there just to enhance the tremelo effect. buy a EH small stone if you wanna great phaser. But i love the eels/rem sounds from this baby's trem section so i think it's a good buy, consider the Boss tremelo costs almost twice as much as this!

as i said before, the phaser sucks for anything apart from wobbly noises, but the trem is great. use a les paul on the middle setting- pure bliss. it sounds really cool thru the sound city valve PA amp head i just got, but still sounds good with a solid state amp.

in my experience with dod pedals (metal maniac, stereo chorus) the footswtich is always the first thing to crap out. but i did buy those pedals secondhand, so someone could've been kicking seven shades of shit out of them, 24/7. so i guess they could be okay.

no experience yet.

i play mainly modern rock, occassionly jazz or whatever. i think this pedals really a one-trick horse, but what a trick!

this is a really easy pedal to use. It has 4 knobs. rate, drop, intensity, image. The image is the only control that took me a couple minuites to figure out. it's just controls how much vibrato, or how much phase you want. it doesn't make much of a difference. I'll give it a 9 because names could be a little more straitforward. rate: rate of vibrato drop: depth intencity: regen image: explained above

i'm using it with a Epiphone SG and a shitty samick 20 watt. it's in line with 5 other pedals which aren't in a loop. it's a really quiet pedal when you're not playing unless it's running with a really overdriven distortion. the depth (drop) could go deeper and the rate could go alot faster. i think all the parameters should be made larger. this pedal isn't a really good tremolo for surf music if thats what you want.

it's broken a few times. just in the switch and the input. i put too much weight on the crappy plastic on/off button. i'm not fat, i'm just stupid. the input was faulty when i bought it so decied for yourself. most DOD pedals are made well, all my others were. I just wish they'd make the switches like the BOSS ones. the caseing is heavy duty metal, so if your drummer sucks, you can beat him/her with it.

whenever it was broken they fixed it free. i think it has a 3 year warentee, which gives you plenty of time to kick your drummers ass with it before it costs you anything (other than drummers hospital fees)

if you're using a distortion box make sure you put it in front of the FX22. otherwise when your fuzz is on at the same time, it'll sound like shit. if i just happened to accidentaly throw it away because it was evedence for a case that involved a drummers death, i'd buy a boss TR-2. the rate is better, and so is the depth. if you set the rate on 3o'clock way with a flange or a phaser, it sounds really cool. no offence to any drummers out there, i'm not going to beat you to death with this pedal. if your looking for a light sounding tremolo, this is good for you.