Dunlop Rotovibe

Well i guess it's an eight, 'cause it's easy to turn on, but the question is whether you'd want it on, or whether you'd notice it.

What does it do?!?! What is the meaning or purpose of this product?!?! You turn it on and all that is noticeable is some faint, horrid, weak sound, apparently meant to be a vibrato or chorus, although I found it hard to make this out. The sound is so tinny and weak, it's absolutely awful.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'd want it to be a 10, because I can't break it.

Do not buy this. I could not get a good sound out of it no matter what I tried or what type of music I played. I would give someone money to steal it. I wish it made a sound that served a purpose to music making when engaged. Awful.

Really easy. There's a switch on the side to select between vibrato and chorus. The pedal is used to control the rate (speed) of the effect, and the knob on the side controls intensity.

I'm using this with a Fender Jaguar modded with a Seymour Duncan Distortion and Seymour Duncan '59, going to a wah, rotovibe and then into my Marshall JCM900 4100 with a Marshall 412 loaded with Vintage 30's. This thing is unbelievable to use with solos. My favorite thing to do with it is to start a solo, and as I build up the energy with the solo, increase the speed of the effect (usually vibrato), resulting in an extremely tense climax. FUN! The effect itself doesn't sound like a chorus, vibrato, or phaser. It really is its own sound. Don't expect a "Come As You Are" sound, or to copy your favorite Incubus sound. If you're truly creative, you could work this effect into ANY genre. I've found it most useful with gainier tones, but I usually find any effect to be like that. The music I write with my band defies genres, but think Alice in Chains meets Collective Soul meets Monster Magnet meets.... you get the idea. It's cool, and so is this.

I've dropped it onto concrete (I'm 6 foot 2), and it's only gotten dented...it's pretty much a tank. There was one occasion where it was acting up, but I opened it up, fiddled with the switch, and plugged it back in, and it gave me the same magic I've come to expect from this sweet piece of machinery.

Never had to call them....that's a good thing, right?

I play originals, mostly with a distorted tone, reminicent of Jerry Cantrell. Also, our band covers the Offspring, Guns n' Roses, AC/DC, and pretty much whatever else we feel like playing.

Not much to know: Push-button changes mode from Vibe to chorus.
Treadle all the way depressed to activate. While active, treadle controls effect rate. Intensity knob on side.

Very nice 'chorus' mode. I agree with the general concensus: it is almost a phaser in character. Think 50% Univibe, 50% MXR Phase 90. I actually like it. It's a very pretty effect. The pedal to change rate in mid-song isn't all that valuable, but heck sound quality is good.
My setup: '70s Ibanez Destroyer/Greco 'Paul/Mex Strat/Tele w/mini-humbuckers>Rotovibe>Tube Screamer>Buddah Wah>Boss Parametric (for slight low-treble tweak)>Marshall 6100 (EL34s)>Intellifex in loop> 4x12 with G12-80s.

Seems well-built. I bought used. Age unknown.

Unknown

I like it. Nice Phaser/Univibe. Vibrato isn't all that great, but it's acceptable. I don't really enjoy Vibrato, as such anyway.
Thought seriously about the rack-mount Black Cat, but it's sooooo much money. And this thing works great.

It's a pretty straight straight forward pedal. The rocker pedal controls the speed of the effect, the knob on the side controls intensity, the button on the side switches from vibrato or chorus (which to my ear is actually phase shifter) and the effect is turned on or off through the standard toe button like a wah pedal. The only thing keeping this from a higher score is that on/off button. On a wah, it's passable, but on this particular effect where the rocker pedal controls speed, it makes the effect freak out when you turn it on or off.

This is where the pedal redeems itself from the on/off switch complication. The sounds for both effects are pristine. The "chorus", albeit not chorus-like in any respect, sounds superb. Contrary to the other reviews, to my ear it does sound like a leslie. I like it a lot. The vibrato is subtle enough to keep you from sounding ridiculous, which is good.

Seems good enough. I've had pretty good luck with Dunlop effects.

Never dealt with Dunlop, because their stuff is good stuff.

I play a lot of blues with a little bit of acid rock. It's a very good effect for both. I'd reccommend this pedal for anyone who's looking for a subtle effect for any genre.

easy to use, nothing hard about it. just use your foot to dial in speed of effect.

i was using an american strat with a mesa boogie v-twin, ts-9, dd-5 the roto-vibe into a deluxe reverb. i had a gig in the east so i bought one of these to take since i didnt want to take my CE-1, man was i disappointed. couldnt get the thing to sound good. i did like that i could control the speed, but beyond that, the thing sounded too metallic and stiff. not warm and smooth. after one night of playing, i went out to a local music store and bought an ebs unichorus, which got a much better vibe sound. i tried using the rotovibe for chorus sounds as well as vibe sounds, and both of them sounded bad to my ears. try it before you buy it.

first one i bought had problems, had to exchange it... good thing the store was cool about it. second one i had didnt have any problems...

n/a

looking for a good chorus sound? it's not here.
looking for the ablility to change speeds easily and dont mind the way the effect sounds? this is it

Plug this mamma jamma in and you have a great sound. The chorus is should actually be called a phaser, while the vibrato/trem should be called 'spooky'. Forget the manual, you don't need it...you will sound great either way. It is very easy to use.

setup== tele-->rotovibe-->h&k tubeman-->dd5-->boogie rocket
very little noise at all.
the best setting is the chorus, adjust intensity to your taste...this knob really lets you taylor your sound. IT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE A UNIVIBE OR A LESLIE!!! it sounds like a rotovibe. a slow speed will add a dark roll to your tone, it is amazing. the speed adjustment (rocker pedal) is one of the best features, you can catch the tempo of the song or give it a slow or fast drastic speed change. VERY USEFUL, VERY SWEET, WONDERFUL! I cannot say enough.
the vibrato is actually harder to use, but definitely has it's place. try using it beside a dry signal (perhaps one side of an a/b split or stereo pedal).

Well, it is not a tank. I don't think you have anything to worry about if you treat your gear with respect. The only thing I can complain about is the fact that both lights are lit in the chorus mode. This doesn't bother me, but if I were to ever sell it (never) I would have to ask less because of this imperfection.

I've dealt with dunlop before when I blew up a phase 90. The lady that helped me on the phone was thorough and friendly, not to mention the fact that she fussed at me for abusing my pedal. They were very helpful and got it fixed within a reasonable amout of time...It was a good, but not perfect, experience.

I have had this pedal for several years. It has somehow made it on all of the recordings I have done since the day I got it. I play modern rock music, pop hooks with a little edge. I wanted a univibe when I bought the rotovibe, but I didn't have the cash. A friend of mine got the univibe the same time I got my rotovibe...he sold the univibe and borrows the rotovibe all of the time. Don't get me wrong, the univibe is a tone monster in it's own respect (I actually own one of those also now. I love it and will have to review it one day, but that's another story.) But the rotovibe is one of my favorite pedals in the world. The best example of how it sounds is the end of pardon me from Incubus--make yourself.

My advice...if you think you might want one=you do! If you want a univbe, save your money and get a univibe. Once you turn on the rotovibe, you might not want to turn it off!

I think the Rotovibe is an easy pedal to get a great sound out of. The only problem with it has already been stated by other reiewers: to turn the unit on one must go to the toe down position which sets the rate at a hideous warble. Other than that, set the intensity with the knob, press the little button to select chorus/vibrato, and find a range to set the pedal and you're off.

I used to use this pedal pretty much all the time, so I avoided the above mentioned problem with turning it on mid-song. I set the intensity knob somewhere below half and above a third and used the Rotovibe as my Chorus effect (back when I used chorus all the time). I traded my Rotovibe towards a used Digitech RPM-1 because I wanted a more authentic rotary sound and also because I got a TC Electronic chorus. Now I wish I had the Rotovibe back because I've realized that it has quite a unique sound to it. It's not a Univibe clone or really even a rotary speaker simulator (although Dunlop describes it that way in their literature), but does give you a good swirling, sort of pulsing, chorus, phasing sound. It really seems to be a cross between a thick chorus and classic phase shifter without being too overbearing (if you've ever stomped on both of these individual effects at the same time you'll know that the combination of the two can boost the gain and be too in your face; although sometimes that's exactly what we want, right?). Anyway, think of the Rotovibe as being a unique effect instead of it being like rotary or univibe emulators, although it kinda sorta has those flavors. I'm thinking of getting another one after being without one for a few years as I've been listening to some old tapes and really dig the sounds I got with it. But BE WARNED: don't expect it to sound like a univibe or HK Tube Rotosphere (yeah I've had one of those too), or a Leslie (ha-ha).

I owned it for a couple of years with no prob whatsoever.

I used to use the Rotovibe both with an electric set up and an acoustic set up with excellent results. In both cases I had it with a plethora of other effects (including various Boss, MXR, Electro-Harmonix, etc. pedals and Lexicon rack gear) and it always sounded very nice and very unique. I traded it on one of my many foggy quests for the "ultimate tone" not really realizing that after a while I just have to go out and try something else. The good thing is; I've used a boatload of great gear. The bad thing is; I've spent way too much money using a boatload of great gear. After almost five years of "searching" I am now ready to get back the business of playing serious psychedelic and folkadelic groove based tunes and just be happy with the gear I've got (after I get another Rotovibe) :-) Peace and play on.

It has one rotary knob for intensity, one small side-switch to change between chorus and vibrato and a footpedal.
Not an easy pedal to use. To switch on is a toe-down job a la Crybaby and then a quick ankle jerk to set it at the right speed. The pedal is VERY sensitive.
If you could switch it on/off via a separate footswitch that would be better.

Firstly let me state that the 'chorus' setting actually a phaser - certainly not a uni-vibe or leslie sound.
The vibrato is just that - pretty useless unless used very subtley.
When I first played the pedal in a little booth in a shop with a little amp I thought "Wow! Hendrix!" When I got it home and played through my silverface twin loudly I thought "Oh, it's actually just a variation on a phaser that isn't dissimilar enough to my existing phasers to warrant it's purchase" (or something like that!). I did open it up and play with the two micro knobs inside but still no uni-vibe sound.

It's great being able to control rate with your foot although the toe-down position is too much with full intensity whereas the heel-down position is too subtle with anything less than full intensity.

Judged on its own merits though (and not as compared to a uni-vibe) it is a good phaser albeit expensive. Not a typical phase effect - a bit more 'swirly' as opposed to 'chewy' or 'watery' if you catch my drift.
Sounds great with overdrive/distortion/fuzz.

Very sturdy. Eats batteries.

If you are looking for a dedicated uni-vibe simulator you will be disappointed (as I was). I already own three good phasers (a bit excessive I know but I am an avid phasing fanatic) and wanted a different effect to get me that Jimi at Woodstock sound.
The ability to foot control is excellent but the way you turn it on and off is a major pain in the ass.
If you don't already have a phaser then check this out - you may love it but check out other pedals first. I am now selling this pedal as I just bought the Danelectro Chicken Salad vibrato which IS a decent uni-vibe!

This pedal gives you a very good vintage Hendrix sound. And you can get modern sounds out of it too. Its got one knob for intensity, and a switch for Chorus/Vibrato. To turn it on and of you have to step on it hard like a wahwah pedal. The only down side to that is to turn it off the speed goes all the way.

I love it, the Chorus is very thick and phasey, and the vibrato can bend the pitch wildly. This is the same exact pedal as the univibe exemp you control the speed with your foot. I prefer the univibe though.

This pedal is built like a tank. Very awesome.

Have never dealt w/ Dunlop.

This pedal simulates a Leslie speaker. Sounds awesome. I love it and will never get rid of it. Lot's of artists use this because of how good it lush it sounds. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaugh, Kenney Wayne Shepard, Head & Munky(Korn). As you can see mostly Blues artist use it, but all other kinds of music use it too. Great buy, worth the money.

I bought it used, so there was no manual, but none is needed. One pedal for rate control, one button for vibe/chorus, one push-button switch under pedal for on/off (bypass not true, one knob for intensity control.

The biggest problem operating this pedal is the on/off switch. This can not be done without depressing the rate pedal all the way to fastest.

However, PROBLEM SOLVED !!
After removing the bottom, which is very easy, I found that the on/off
button provides a simple "momentary" short. Internal circuitry actually looks at this to turn on and off. I went to Rat-shack and
bought a momentary push-button switch and paralleled it with the existing switch. I mounted this on the left side of the pedal opposite the vibe/chorus button.
Works Great!!! now I can turn it on and off with either the original
button or with a simple press on my new button without affecting the
rate.

I use a Strat installed with Kinman AVn pickups (extremely silent), into a Marshall JCM602 combo amp. The Rotovibe adds very little
noise.

Chorus (phasing) has very nice vintage sound. I found that the vibe
setting is fine as long as the intensity knob is set low, however this
is just my personal preference. Some people may get-off on a strange
"un-bending" type sound.

No problems so far.

Would definitely try to keep this pedal for a long time. Gives
nice vintage sound.

Great for vintage sound, Hendrix, Trower
Also very good with distortion fed into it before amp.