Electro-Harmonix Pulsar Reissue

Because of the scope for various shaped waves it take quite a while to get to grips with this pedal. For instance, if you want a perfect on/off square wave tremolo you have to set the dept know to 70% not 100% as you might think.

But at the end of the day, it is just a tremolo, so it is quite a doddle to use...

Good good sound quality. Whether it's a warm or harsh effect you're after, this pedal is great. No problems or noise.

But what's classy about this pedal is the variations in tones. There's loads of scope in changing the shape of the tremolo, so you can get lovely helicopter effects or even some ring modulation. I love sticking a big muff before it and letting your guitar feedback into the pedal, and then mess about with the tremolo speed.

Another smashing feature is the LED that flashes at the same speed as the pedal... Gimicky, but nice...

Battery life is the only downside. It's not bad, just not as good as other EHX pedals.

N/A

I really rate this as a super tremolo. Nice scope for sounds. All you need I think... Quite cheap as well... Only disappointment is the battery life.

"Easy" to use if you know how tremolo works. This pedal contains unique wave forms, missing the point for what I was looking for (like usable sounds). Knobs are waaaaaaaaaaay to sensative, if you hear a trem sound and would like to hear it on your guitar, good luck! The first half of the knob is rediculously slow trem speeds and before you know, you're in ring modulater land.

I can't remember the sound quality because I was so amazed at how I couldn't get close to the trem speed I wanted. Completely lost interest soon after. Try before you buy this one. I think EH products have a reputation for varying from one to the next.

Returned it.

Additional tremolo pedals I have tried include T-Rex Tremster (which is great for vintage tremolo sounds), Boss TS-2, Z. Vex Seek Trem (unique sequencing tremolo), and Lux FX Trem Lux. The Pulsar was easily the worst, considering I like the other ones. The Pulsar reissue that I recieved from musiciansfriend was sent straight back. Not as interesting of a pedal as it may appear. The speed knob being the biggest issue on this one.

Lots of options means it's not the easiest pedal to use. Lots of good sounds in this though. I like how the pedal can get very extreme, from helicopter sounds, to very subtle like a regular trem pedal. There is a toggle switch that goes between square and triangle wave forms and then depending on where the toggle is set, there is a knob that adjusts the timing of the trem on either side of the center of the throb. To get a standard trem sound I use triangle toggle, with it set in the middle. Putting the knob on either side can get an almost 'backwards' sounding effect. There are tons of sounds in there. Inspired me to play with the pedal, and I think that is always the sing of a good pedal

I think the pedal sounds great. I play a fender strat into a deluxe reverb and I play surf - influenced indie something. The pedal is true bypass. I tested this by taking out the battery and removing all sources of power and the guitar signal was still present, true bypass, yes indeed. Doesn't suck tone or drop volume when engaged. Can sound warm or sci-fi-ish. Put this before a nice delay and watch out. There is a rate led that shows the tempos which comes in handy. Batteries seems to last a long time. Not noisy in my experience. I tried out the line 6 mm4 (nice trems, but that's about it - not worth 249), the line 6 tonecore trem (it broke at the store), the t-rex tremster (nice trem, but at 200 bucks simply not versatile enough) and the pulsar one hands down and it was only 89 bucks.

Seems well-built. I've never had a problem with Electro-harmonix's stuff. I've owned many of their cool pedals, and I'm a big fan. But it didn's come in a wooden box, that was a bit disappointiong.

don't know

Overall, a very nice true bypass, trem pedal with a ton of options, from traditional to far out spacey. I like that. I also like the fact that it runs on batteries and that the input/output jacks are at the top of the pedal, why aren't all pedals built this way, do guitar pedal makers actually play out? It's a damn cool affordable pedal. Keep it up EHX!

Not the easiest to be honest. However, with quite a bit of fiddling you will possibly get what you hoped for.

Using a Gibson 335 & a Fender Jaguar throuh a Fender blues junior. The pedal didn't suck the life out of it when the pedal was switched off, which was good. I found the sound when switched on however was quite light and not as strong as I hoped.

This item had a faulty LED on it when I took delivery of it. I will be sending it back for a full refund and NOT a replacement unit.
The construction of this pedal is pathetic. It creaks and groans when you gently squeeze it in your hands. I would fear stomping on it incase your foot went through the cheap-thin sheet metal and you ended up wearing it as a novelty shoe!
Extremely 'clunky' footswitch which if I kept this pedal would be bust in no time.

I have emailed the store I bought it from (not the manufacturer) and am yet to receive a reply.

I think the sound is something I could have worked with which is why I have given the ease of use and sound quality categories middle of the road reviews. You will however need patience.

My main thing is the overall poor build quality of this pedal. I expected so much more from E-H.

I would suspect there are much better tremolo pedals out there than this one.

to ANON!!!!
first thing: shape knob in sine mode,
if the shape knob is turned all the way counterclockwise it will produce a 'rise' tremolo effect which IS NOT fender type of trem. if you want 'classical tremolo' square or sine you should leave the shape in the middle (12 o'clock).

second thing: you cannot turn the depth all the way down because then there's no effect, even around 12 o'clock it's too damn subtle.


Third thing: Pulsar is never going to sound like old trem units because it does not use optical sensors. pulsar rather sounds digital, but it's not digital. anyway, if you want to catch a very close sound to fender tremolos you should try Voodoo Lab Tremolo or Rocktron Pulse Trem, they both use photocells inside. Fender uses tube.

forth thing:
I have tried 4 different pulsars in 3 stores with several amps each and all of the pedals had the same problem: if put in front of the amp it will have the static sounds in it, and you can control the rate of static with rate knob on pulsar. this happens only when trem effect is off. thus the pedal is not true bypass.

Pulsar in my opinion is the worst waste of money you can have and I'd rate everything with a 1. but I did before so I don't need to rate it again.

i wonder if the people giving the negative reviews have the same pedal that i do. no matter what kind of music you play, you're gonna hear rave reviews about a certain pedal, try it out yourself, and be disappointed because it doesn't suit your personal style. (look at tubescreamer reviews. it's both the best pedal ever AND the most overrated one.)

well, let's get this straight: the EH PULSAR is a good pedal. whether it suits your style is a different question. it's a bit tricky so you have to spend more than a minute to find the sweet sounds that are there. and, yes, most likely they are there. whether it's a soft traditional trem or choppy pysch, you'll find em with a bit of patience.

let me put it this way. fendery tremolo is possible to approximate, but since a turn of one knob puts you way out into space-trem, you have to put your settings within a certain, rather limited range. going outside taht range puts you outside of traditional trem territiory. to get fender-like sounds you set it at triangle wave (with the shape knob turned counterclockwise), rate all the way over at between 9-10 o'clock and the depth WAY down. if you set it there and nudge, say, the depth knob, you go way out past fender territory. what this means is that electro-harmonix has packed a lot into this pedal. the rate goes so fast that it becomes a chirpy ring mod sound or so slow that it's not usable. the depth makes the trem disappear, make a subtle appearance, or create polyrhythms. so, for sound freaks like me, it's a pandora's box.

no, it doesn;t sound exactly like a fender but if you fiddle around it'll sound as much like it as most other pedals out there.

no boost, just pure sweet trem-o-riffic magic.
take any pedal you have in your chain, look up reviews for it and read about an awful hiss--or maybe a ghost signal--that you know isn't there with your pedal. i never ever never got hiss or ghosts with mine and have used it with 3 different amps as well as direct recording.
as stated below, sometimes your other gear just interferes with a new addition. don't ask ME why. i just PLAY pedals, i don't MAKES 'em.

Can you depend on it?
yes, i can. i really can.

no, i'm not from EH and there are many pedals they make that i don;t like. but this is a good 'un (and also the only one i have of theirs). so there!

the PULSAR is the most flexible non-boutique trem pedal in the world!! long live the PULSAR!
(well, i haven't tried out that line 6 thingy but it's expensive--not to mention from line 6.)
compared to the others, it has way more range and flexibility. it doesn't SOUND better cuz it shouldn't sound like anything. it's just offers more diversity for the same price. nice!

Very hard to find a tremolo sound, forget the "good and warm tremolo" sounds. It's so cold I can cool down my car's engine with it. But then my engine would sound sterile because of the pedal.

Pulsar works stupidly if you push it a little hard, like picking up hard, or using a booster before the pedal. The signal breaks up in a very ugly way. If you're using a tele or strat with vintage pickups you may not be able to push it that much, but if you're using a high output pickup, this turns into a nightmare. I use custom ESP, all maple with SD JB in bridge and JB Jr. in the neck. The Pedal is useless for my playing styles.

I play a lot of funk and this is not my pedal, not for anyone who plays with a sharp attack. It's not for softer players either because it's not soothing, pulsar's the coldest tremolo pedal I ever touched.
Horrible product electro harmonix. It's a very bad idea after making so many great pedals.

3 knobs and 1 2-way switch. it's pretty much like regular tremolos except SHAPE knob which makes this thing unique as I know. shape functions differently according to the wabe switch. in 'tri' mode it rises and drops the volume according to the chozen shape. in 'square' it defines how long the signal will be. it's hard to explain, but take a close look at the graphics on the pedal and you'll have an idea.
I can say it's easy to use because almost all the settings sound nice and even unusual which is very exciting.
it's hard to get the 'MAX' point in the depth which traditionally shoul make a total boost-cut. it goes over the limit (EH tradition) so finding that spot will not be so easy.

I just want to respond to Anon because of "i just want to respond to unky donald's comments below on the sound quality."

what u. donald is saying is completely true!!! THANK YOU U. DONALD.

pulsar is a good (not great) idea for a tremolo pedal.
HOWEVER, it is NOT TRUE BYPASS!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! IT"S NOT TRUE BYPASS. all of you people of this planet are dreaming. I'm a cursed person about these stuff because I'm extremely picky.

1st. thing is you put a tremolo effect wherever you like, I mean before or after preamp, dist, effect, delay... whatever you like and works is GOOD! this is the only RULE we all know in the world of effects.
so, let's say I hate how trem sounds after dist. it just simply lowers and highers the volume, sounds unnatural to me somehow. but it's me.
however, I loke trem before dist. A-HA! now it sounds amaizng. trem in a moderate setting will cut and boost the signal to dist causing a low gain-high gain effect! please try it once.
by doing this you'll get this effect: if you hit the notes you won't hear the trem until the sound starts to fade!!!
portishead anyone??? using trem before amp so the mind blowing awe!

does pulsar do this? YES! BUT!!!!!!!!! if you disengage the effect you will hear an enormous parasite like noise!
I can tell you how to reduce the noise and that is to turn your RATE all the way down.... sounds ridiculous, ha?
turn the rate all the way up and enjoy that noice in a louder faster and stronger way.
let me share one more thing with you all beautiful people.

I have used the pedal to get the noise! put the rate at max, depth at zero. turn the pedal on, no noise. turn it off to have the noise. it's a very nice flavour IMHO. but this is definitely not the purpose of the pedal, right?

so, you have the idea now. if you use pulsar after preamp-dist stages it should sound fine.

I also noticed a very slight treble boost or hiss when the unit is one. no biggie.

now the most important part!

SOUND QUALITY IS BAD, because it sounds so damn sharp. too edgy, very digital like. I know it's analoque but it's not soft or round at all!
so, in square it chops perfectly but cannot do any milder more buttery trem trick.

oh, and the 2 way switch isn't a good idea because there are so many delightful sounds right there between these two positions which you can never have with pulsar!

I gave it a 2 just because of the noise issue that I could add to my dist sound :D
otherwise it's a 1, or even a minus 10

built liek the other EH pedals. I guess I would be able to use it for years. be careful about the paint job, scratcing is so easy.

but again, I would never use this so it will last forever and ever.

no idea, but EH has a bad reputation about this.

well, if a fender twin reverb amp (that is magix) or a Voodoo Lab Tremolo never existed, I would think 'tremolo ain't good'.

this is my opinion but if you want some crazy tremolo-like THING go for pulsar. you can even get close to some ring mod tones!!!
but if you want a traditional, nice and soft trem, go for a Voodoo Lab or a Boss PN-2 (not TR-2, that's horrible)...

A bit more to it than your average trem pedal, but still easy to use. You just have more control over the sound e.h. sine vs square wave (and a knob to adjust the 'squareness'

Excellent. No tone sucking when on or off, no change in level (a real plus), qiuet in operation. Modulation only, it doesn't affect the tone, which is exactly what you want. It is capable of all the usual trem sounds, but is felxible enough to allow some extreme settings not possible on other trems.
It sounds great with guitar, but I actually bought it for Fender Rhodes piano.

Built like the proverbial. It's also huge, which is not really a bad thing unless you already have a crowded pedal board. I would definitely use it without a backup.

Never had to deal with them, so can't comment.

Great for guitar and also for Rhodes (mono output only though, so no L to R ping-pong). I agree with comments that the manual is almost non-existent and the lack of info regarding a suitable power supply is pretty rubbish considering there is no labelling on the pedal itself as to which kind/polarity to use. However, common sense lets you work it out. The socket itself is metal, meaning the 'shield' part of the connector is connected to the case of the pedal. In this situation, it can only be a 'tip positive, shield negative' supply, otherwise the positive voltage would be going to the case! Still, EH should make this clear - they have a reputation for doing this because they want you to buy an EH PSU, which is no more special than one you can get anywhere for less. This minor niggle aside, it's a great pedal. Extra control, no volume boost/drop, no tone sucking. These points alone put it above every other trem I tested.

i just want to respond to unky donald's comments below on the sound quality. the one thing i love about the pulsar is that it's silent. i've played a single coiled yamaha and a 70s electra with high-output humbuckers and i've never had a problem with noise.
i realize that u.d. suspects a problem with the unit itself but i wonder if it's a problem with a combination of gear. for example, i read somewhere just before i got the pulsar that a trem should go at the beginning of the pedal chain, which didn't make sense but i tried it. and i got the same ghost that u.d. mentions. i then put it after my o.d. + distortion units and presto--no sound whatsoever. and i've played through it deafeningly loud. so if there is a sound problem, the solution might be changing the pedal sequence, putting the unit in a loop, etc.

i'll mention once again (my review was the first one down there) that i love the fact that the pulsar does not boost the signal--no treble boost or mids-boost (which also sounds like a volume boost), etc. i have another trem in my chain (dod's vibrothang which also does vibrato and a nice leslie) but the oulsar is a keeper because of its versatility and bypass qualities.