Dunlop Uni-Vibe

Three knobs, as easy as they come...

With my rig, I definitely notice the Uni sucking the life out of my tone. I have the volume set at full--all the time. I've had it for two years. The sound does not--in my opinion--sound too much like an authentic Leslie, but it is still on my pedal board (with TS9, vox 847, mini bi-comp, Boss DD-3 and more). It does just enough to keep itself there. Does not blow me away by any stretch. If you're in the market for one, save an extra chunk of cash and get a true bypass unit...check for a boutique or analogman's vibe. If I had $300 laying around, I'd get rid of this one in a heart beat and upgrade.

big, heavy, metal...I think it's solid. Would gig w/o backup and if it died, I wouldn't be heart broken

Never dealt

Playing a range of stuff from the 60's to present day, I stomp on this effect every 3rd song or so in a set, maybe less. Depends. If you're looking for Hendrix, Trower, et al...this gives you a tiny flavor, but it's not the real deal. Granted most of their distinctive tone attributes came from their right/left hands respectively, so don't think this (or any pedal combo really) will give you an identical sound. Basically this is a "close, but no cigar" effect---yet I still use it. Plus it's big/heavy on the pedal board.

ESP Eclipse (med output stock humbuckers)->Various pedals->Uni-vibe->noise gate->mesa dual rectifier (6L6 tubes) 4x12 recto cab.... The uni-vibe vibrato sound is thick and the chorus sounds pulsy and i dunno bubbley-phasy? thick sound with round highs. I wouldn't call it a chorus. It's definatly a different sound i was expecting. I got it from Zzounds.com, knowing i could send it back if not satisfied. I actually like the sound character. It sounds much more pronounced if your using a compressor unit before it (as most effects do.) when the effect is bypassed you can hear the thick background hiss (quite loud with higher gain settings). but a noise gate hides it, and cleans it up real nice. Many claim that it 'sucks your tone'. for me the negative effects on tone is not that noticable. >i would definately recommend using a noise gate with this unit. or get a effects bypass unit to completely remove the effect from the signal path when not in use. i give it an 8. only because of the hiss.

seems fine

N/A

I think this is a great effect, the tonal characteristics are interesting. as with any effect, you should really try it out first at a store. (that was not available to me). I put rubber knob covers over the rate and intensity knobs ( the ones that come with MXR effects) so i could turn the knobs with my foot for kind of a real time control. I think this is a cool sounding effect, if you can get the noise under control when it is bypassed. I use it in clean, overdiven, and super high gain channels and i get a nice weird wobbly sound with the vibrato and thick pulsating sound with the chorus. i don't know if it really sounds like a leslie.... but this unit is a suprise/mistake that i was very pleased with.

This pedal is fairly easy to use...two buttons, the on/off switch and one that switches between the Leslie effect and vibrato. Three knobs: speed, intensity, and volume. By adjusting the intensity and speed to your desired levels, you can go from that slow "phasey" Hendrix like sound all the way to chorusy organ sounds and everything in between. All in all, after playing with it for a bit, you should be able to figure out how to get the sound you want.

I have a plethora of axes, but currently the one I've been using the most lately is my Epiphone Dot with Bigsby through Vox amps (AC30 or Pathfinder). The pedal is not noisy at all and gives me any sound I want from it, from that thick Hendrix sound to the faster, almost organ-sounding warble. The effect itself is nice and strong as long as the volume knob on it is pegged, as I've found. My one gripe with this pedal is that it tends to muddy the middle frequencies if you add too much distortion, but with just the right amount coupled with this...wow. By the way, the vibrato feature on this is decent, but why the hell would you use that? That's not why I bought the pedal and probably why you reading this didn't buy it (or are planning on buying it for).

Well, I bought this used and it does have one little glitch...the switch seems to be loose, so occasionally I'll step on it to turn it on and nothing will happen. Whacking it on the floor once or twice will fix that usually. I bought it as is for considerably less than they usually go for, so I can't complain too much. Otherwise, it's a tank...just look at it!

N/A

I play music that's an amalgam of Hendrix/Who/Zeppelin/Cream and Suede/Blur/Beatles. I've been playing for 15 years and own other pedals, but this one is a mainstay of my pedal set-up. I love the sound, esepcially the richness and depth of it. Another great feature I forgot to mention was the separate speed-control foot pedal...you have to buy it separatly but it's well worth the money so you don't have to reach down to adjust the speed. All in all, an awesome pedal for the price and about as close as you'll get to Jimi's Uni-Vibe sound without shelling out hard-earned cash (and time!) hunting down a vintage one.

Pretty easy to use

Hendrix used this device - but.......there is nothing here that cannot be achieved using a decent Phaser....i have a Boss PH3 and all i have to do is find a low modulating setting and of course play around with the rate....it achieves an identical sound.

Its not a good emulation of the leslie sound.....try the danelectro rocky road and you will be much much closer to the rotating speaker sound. you really dont have to shed the money out on this

seems sturdy

dunno

you could try this and like the sound enough to buy it.....but trust me....if you want a better rotary speaker emulation try the danelectro rocky road....needs a mod but it will be much cheaper and sounds much closer to the real thing.

If you want this exact sound (ie the sound the univibe produces...hendrix on start spangled banner) get the Boss PH-3 (phase shifter) - it can manpulate you signal in exactly the same way as this and hosts many other features...hence better value for your money.

In itself this is a good unit.....but ultimatly its over priced and has limited strength in a very competitive market.

pretty straight forward-3 knobs and 2 switches. You really don't need a manual.

15 year old clapton CS strat ( but I tossed the awful lace sensors and put in an amazing set of 70s Tokai PUs) >>> Carl Martin compressor >>>> old budda phatman with Raytheons >>>> univibe >>>> Ibanez AD99 analog delay >>> Bad Cat cub II. I have always liked the basic combination of good low output strat PUs and a classA EL84 so I don't use effects other than delay. But like all crazy tone freaks I have sought out just the right "vibe - trem - leslie - magnatone" effect to lay down a little shimmer behind that good tone. For years I thought a 'vibe' pedal was the answer and I've tried 3 - dunlop/fulltone/voodoo micro vibe. I was looking up the wrong tree. All these vibes took away the chime of my tone. The Dunlop was no different.

seemed very solid.

don't know

I have played 40 years - now in an R+B / poprock cover thing. - gig 1-2 times monthly. About a year ago I got smart and picked up a high end tremelo pedal - mine is made by Monster Effects - not too well known. This gave me the shimmer and doesn't take away my strat chime. I learned how to use just subtle amounts of effect and it really does what no vibes can do ESPECIALLY live. I sold my Dunlop and the other vibes and never looked back.

This is a classic effect. The uni-vibe was the only pedal I've seen that had the foot controller for the speed of the effect. I'm sure you can get it custom done for other effects. The effect is mostly pretty easy, one button selects if the effect is engaged, the other selects the type of modulation : vibrato and chorus. The is a button for "vintage" and "non vintage" that seems a little bit of a EQ difference , vintage is just like the old ones , and the other seems like the high end is clipped a little bit. You also have to have a STEREO, or a tip, ring and sleeve tip for the activation of the foot pedal. If you hook a mono tip 1/4" to the effect it will not work. The manual is specific on this , also how the effects function.

I think the effect sounds great. It might not be as clean as a Boss digital delay; but this effects is the classic sounds of the late sixties with hendrix and others. The end of "gypsy eyes" from the electric ladyland can be replicated with the foot controller uni-vibe. The volume of the signal in the chain comes down a little bit, but not much enough to discard the effect. I don't know any effects that are exactly going to perform with out altering the signal somewhat, it's all an approximation. The chorus sounds are nice classic as if you can hear the bulb inside gleeming with different colors, and the tremelo effect is great , especially when playing "willie and handjive" sounds accurate , it doesn 't modulate the pitch like the chorus, no "de-tuning per se. This is one of the best effects for psychedelic music becuase the foot controller allows you to control the oscillation of the effect, really trippy if done right, really cool with feedback. Like with any modulation effect sometimes distortion sounds to aggresvie; but this does have a nice sound ; however, it's not going to sound like the Roland Jazz chorus with the chorus selected. This isn't like the clean 80's chorus , like the Boss , Ibanez and others. It's not designed with stereo in mind, it's supposed to simulate a actual leslie speaker that deals with actual moving parts in the leslie, a leslie litterally spins the horns on it's axis. The reason the effect is so expensive is that this uses a small bulb to spin inside and create the effect. The uni-vibe works and sounds better after it's been on for about 10 min. So , I wouldn't be banging this effect around alot, I would keep in a pedal board case , or some kind of protection from shock. I've never had a problem, but the design isn't a chip and PC board like othe foot pedals. Basically , you need to check one of these out before the purchase, this isn't a effect that sounds like something else. I know there are pedals that say they can replicate the sound of the uni-vibe , but trust me they don't and can't.

Nice metal housing, nice metal knobs , buttons and switches. This isn't cheap metal housing , it's nice stainless steel , it appears to me, I've had mine since 1997 and never had a problem with the effect pedal. I did have a problem with the foot controller being to sensative, it kept on engagin with the slightest amount of stage sound; I would have to keep my foot on the back of the pedal to keep the pedal from switching the effect to "on". I called Dunlop and I've had great relationship with them ever since; I wish I had all Dunlop/MXR effects; maybe some day I will!

Dunlop is a great company, they will answer your questions and address your concerns. They handled a problem with a effect very professionally , so that made me believe in their products and philosophy of effects. I had since become a "artist in residence" with thier company with the hopes of being recognized by the company. I would endorse thier products; great company; great products! Very High quality stuff that's worth the price!

Great stuff, I really believe in analog effects for guitar. I'm not a fan of modeling and digital effects from a mixer or the like. Dunlop makes really nice effects , well built; and sound exceptional.

I am a professional musician in good standing with the AFM (11-637)

Plug and go! No manual needed

The chorus/rotary is very good BUT the tremelo is no tremelo! Shame really...

Up to now I have no issues.

Great Hendrix sounds but there is a loss in sound quality, the bypass is not a 100 % hardware bypass so there is a loss there too and is is noisy with a hi-gain amp. I have a Peavey 5150 and it overloads my noisegate... facit : I have to unplug it when the song does not need it or else it sucks tone - I am now even considering buying a a/b switch to select it when I need it.

Three knobs and two switches. If you can figure out a guitar fretboard, you can definitely figure this thing out. 10 for ease of use.

Sounds fantastic. Really hypnotic and fun to play with. Very warm tone. If you have come to know the analog vs. digital thing, you'll be able to put your finger on this one. Definitely analog tone. Good stuff.

Another guy posted that this thing sucks tone, well, I found this FAQ on the Dunlop site which describes the use of the Vintage Switch, which sounds suspiciously like the tone that guy claims was being sucked...

Uni-Vibe Vintage Switch

The Vintage Switch sets the Uni-Vibe's input to either "High" impedance or to the Original 60's Uni-Vibe's "Low" impedance. The choice between "High" and "Low" will offer two different sounds when a guitar with non-buffered magentic pickups is connected directly to the Uni-Vibe's input jack by stereo cable.



HIGH - (button in the out position) The "High" impedance setting preserves the full range of the guitar's output frequencies, letting through the crispness of the high frequencies, which is known as the "Unloaded Sound"



LOW - (button in the in position) The opposite is true in the "Low" impedance setting, which creates the "Loaded Down Sound" This setting causes a high frequency roll off, which is dependent on the type of pickups in the guitar being used. This made each guitar have its own, what was termed, "warm" sound. This was one of the simple, yet magical elements of the Original '60's Uni-Vibe. Although the "warm" sound was a wanted character, when the Uni-Vibe effect was active, you could not get the full sound of the guitar when the Original Uni-Vibe effect was turned off. The Jim Dunlop 90's Uni-Vibe takes care of that problem, by automatically changing the Input to High impedance when the Uni-Vibe is bypassed, allowing both the original warm effect and the unloaded bypass sound.

Have only had it a couple days and no problems. But having read all the bad experiences reported here, I'm going to get Guitar Center's Performance Guarantee for this one. It's too expensive to be stuck out of luck if it does fail.

N/A

It's a great sounding pedal and it fits well into my rig Strat->CryBaby->Uni-Vibe->H20->Big Muff Pi->Mesa Boogie Road King. I can nail any tone I want and it's the real analog deal (other than the H20 that does a respectable job of making a digital delay sound analog).

Simple to use yet near imposible to make it work ;)

This thing is not worth the money like most of the Dunlop products it is based on circuits from the late 60's drug labs. Well this sounds as lo-fi as it should and that's part of it's nostalgic charm but really what use is it in the modern age if all you want to do is Hendrix sounds? The uni-vibe is another effect to as poorly used and abused as the wah wah has been by every helicopter crash test dummy Hendrix wannabe from 1970 to the present day.

Use it, but in your own way and not to imagine you are nailing such and suches sound in your head when in reality it actually sounds like a very sad imitation.

For KA "When it comes to foot pedals, the rule of thumb is to put your modulating effects first in-line then your fuzz/distortion."

What planet would that be on?? If there is any rule of thumbs it's that all modulation effects go AFTER distorsion and before delays and reverbs you idjit.

The Uni-Vibe is pretty simple to use, three potis interacting in output and sound, one jack for input, one for out plus pedal-control. But watch out: it needs a SPECIAL DUNLOP EXPRESSION PEDAL(!!!) to use this function, no other will do!

So here's what it's all about: I've been testing this device with nothing but the finest Planet Waves patch cables for making sure that it does not alter the sound when bypassed. This was my first point of interest since so many of you guys claimed it to be from ultra quiet to feeble and noisy. And here's what I came up with: Yep, it DOES alter the sound in a very negative way. It robs definition, directness and upper mids, further dynamics are reduced. I was very dissappointed for there is no way in my effect chain when choking my signal, so I sorted it out from that point on (even my girl-firend was able to hear the difference!!!). But of course I wanted to know whether it is the real thing when turned on. I compared it to a) the Line-6 MM-4 Uni-Vibe modeling, b) the Boss V-Wah's modeled sound, c) the Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe and d) the Voodoo Lab's Mico Vibe. In comparison it's effect was thick but edgy, not at all subtle or creamy. When turned faster this proved to be an advantage for it sounded much more 3D, swirls a great deal. I liked the Mico Vibe's smooth but fat sound most (last not least for it's true bypass!!!) and think the Voodoo Vibe to be the best deal overall (infinite possibilities, true bypass, expression pedal jack that worked with everything, tremolo sounds, etc.). The Uni-Vibe's Vibtrato mode is really feeble; go and look for a Boss Vibrato at eBay or use the Line-6 MM-4 modeled one, it's superb!

I'm working at a guitar store for two years and we had two Uni-Vibe units to be repaired. I was told that the problem is a machanical one: the switches tend to break the circuit's board. Futhermore sometimes the speed poti didn't do it's proper job at all times (Does it have to get warm? - I guess so...). I would not rely on it on tour.

Since I's writing from Germany I would be evaluating the german distributor... wouldn't make any sence, would it?

For studio use to get that Hendrix swirl for one or two songs, it's great. To get the Pink Floyd swirly chorussy sound, get yourself a Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe. When you are in need of using the expression function, the Roger Mayer Voodoo Vice the real deal for you. When looking for the Vibrato sound mode at it's best, the Boss Vibrato is THE thing and may be found modeled tremendously in the Line-6 MM-4. Hope I cound REALLY help :o)))