Frantone Vibutron

extremely simple to use. depth, speed and three waveforms to choose from.

i am a tremolo junkie. all of my amps have trem. at times i have owned 4 different tremolo stompboxes. trem is definitely my favorite effect. that being said i would put the vibutron on par or ahead of anything else i've ever tried. tremendous variety of sonic possibilities. very broad range of speed and depth and wave shape. there's a ever so slight boost in signal level when engaged which keeps your guitar and effect from becoming buried. there's something i can't quite put my finger on that this pedal does that makes itself sound like part of you amp instead of an effect layered on top of your tone.

functionally built like a tank. the paint is a little prone to chipping.

my only complaint is that the vibutron eats batteries like they're going out of style. i mainly used it on a pedalboard powered by a voodoo labs power supply. if you are going to use it w/out an adapter or power supply you may want to check your batteries before a gig. as a side note, the LED does not dim to alert you that battery power is getting low. you'll notice that the effect becomes gradually less prominent as the battery drains. this is the only reason i would give this pedal anything less than stellar ratings. bring batteries!

i've never had an issue or reason to contact frantone.

aside from the battery draining issue i mentioned above i can not find fault with the sound or function of this stompbox. if you're planning on running it of a power supply or adapter you should be golden!

i briefly contemplated selling it recently after switching to a very minimalist rig but quickly realized i'd only regret it later. this is a stompbox i'll never let go of even if i don't use it all too often. it simply sounds and performs too well.

Easy to figure out what the knobs do but as with my other Frantone pedal, there's no manual. Scratch one point for that.Depth and speed knobs produce a wide range of sounds raised exponentially by a choice of 3 waveforms. For me, sine wave is all I expect i'll ever need, still, it's nice to have a choice.

QUIET---very QUIET pedal. This pedal is the most 'realistic' tremolo of them all-genuine surfer/creedance/rockabilly trem-just like the vintage amps but without the noise. Works surprisingly well with a Piezo pickup. Unlike other trems I've tried, it doesn't get choppy when a distorted signal goes through it--stays rock-steady and true to its purpose. VERY warm sound, by the way--no harsh edge like some other pedals I've tried. Play through a Peavey Nashville and a Songworks super 50 amp. Great with both and stresses the character of each-keeps the Peavy clean sounding and the Super 50 edgier.

I don't gig so that's not an issue with me. However, the Frantone reputation is one of high quality and I see no reason to doubt that or to even open the pedal to look inside. I'll see a bunch of things I have no idea what they do. What's to be gained?

It sure looks nice from the outside! The switch feels solid and and the knobs and pots feel like high-end audio stuff.

My gut says its reliable.

Fran seems to be cutting back but still produces batches of her pedals so should I ever need support, I think I'll be able to get it.
Minus one for some uncertainty about Frantone sticking around.

Playing electric and electro-acoustic blues for some time now. Also pedal steel for country. Adding trem to an overdrive or slight distortion pedal makes for a great blues tone. I highly recommend it and from my limited experience with 2 other trems, (TS2-modded and a VooDoo Labs trem) the Vibratone is just in a higher class acoustically and the one to use. The only down side is the price. Its darn expensive and you don't see many on the auction sites (either Fran makes very few or folks love them--I suppose that's what makes them expensive). If lost or stolen, I'd be hard pressed to come up with the money for a replacement---but I would. Anything else would seem like I'm settling for second best.

Three knobs lie atop this lil' beauty- Speed (which acts as a brake- CCW is faster- CW is slower, I like this feature)Shape (Square, Tri, Sine) and depth. Very easy to dial in the right amount of pulse.

Well this trem has gained a lot of cred for the sound is produces. Every shape setting sounds beautiful and can be modified with the depth to suit whatever sound desired. I have tried many trems (Seymour Duncan SFX-07, Supa-trem, Guyatone Flip Tube Trem, Demeter, and Vintage Technology BFD- and this is my favorite. Very amp-like, lush and beautiful. The BFD is the closest rival in sound- and I would actually give the edge to the BFD for lushness- however, the lack of DC input and only the one shape- gives the Vibutron the edge and which is what bumped the BFD off the board.

Fran's work is amazing- open up one of these pedals and you'll see. I'm not worried about it one bit. I have her Sweet and had the Brooklyn and never have had any issues.

Fran is top notch. As I'm writing this Fran has closed her shop, but while she was still open for business she was always responsive to her e-mails and I had nothing but amazing customer support- see below for details.

Well, I always had my eye on a Vibutron, but the cost alone was always a little off-putting. So, I happened upon an auction on the bay that listed this little beauty for $79 including shipping from a reputable music shop in Boston. They said it wasn't working- so, I took a chance (I know my way around a circuit board). When I got the pedal, low and behold it wasn't working. After much trouble-shooting I gave up trying to solve the issue- I wrote Fran and told her of my situation and she said to send it in and she would look at it. Well, less than a week later she wrote me back and said it was a faulty chip- she replaced and updated the pedal to the latest specs for $45. So, including shipping the pedal to Fran I bought an essentially new Vibutron for $133- which to me is a GREAT DEAL. After having this pedal for a couple of months now- I would truly pay the retail price for it- it is THAT good. Trem is an essential part of my sound- I hover between alt-country, and indie- goodness...so, I am happy to have this pedal in my arsenal. Again, it is truly one of the best trems I have ever heard and owned. Fran is a wiz at design and I imagine her pedals value will one day go through the roof much like other vintage, quality pedals.

Very easy to use, let your ears do the choosing. Base you wave rate on sounds, NOT looks.

None better. I own a brown fender concert amp and this is VERY close to that sound. Look no further for the best tone. Sounds better with a wall wart plug. Batteries die fast and don't sound as good.

The best.

Fran is the best in the biz. Im sure she would help whenever / ifever anything happened.

The best.

real easy to use , but i find it not to be a vibe pedal...a exc. tremelo pedal..my univibe and rotosphere mkII are vibes...

top of the line FOR A TREMELO PEDAL.

solid for a tremelo pedal....

what can I say...I bought it...works and looks and built 10/10...but this is NO vibrato pedal...no way...its a tremelo pedal...put it next to any univibe/hughes and kettner rotosphere...so Im stuck w/ a great tremelo pedal

I was not the only one who thought this is NOT a vibe pedal at all....its a super tremelo pedal...much like a tremadillo, but theres NO pitch and bend...you are not going to do any typical trower or hendrix with this.....
id buy from Frantone again, but be careful what you buy,make sure it does what you would expect it to do...it should be called a TREMATRON....lol

I tried this pedal out next to a T-rex tremolo at Rudy?s in NYC. I was prepared to spend the extra 30 bucks on the American made Frantone but I wanted to test it with something else of similar quality. (T-rex hails from Denmark) At first glance the T-rex had more options but after careful consideration and listing I fond the Franton to have more "useable" sounds. It?s very easy to use. Has 3 knobs and sounds great at all settings. This is a pedal made to sound good live with a group not just in the music store or in you're bed room. If you play out often you know what i'm talking about.

I play a stock American strat and a Gibson 335 into a couple different amps, for small and jazz gigs I use a sliver face Fender musicmaster bass, for most gigs I use a peavey classic fifty 410 (don't laugh till you use one live). I also have a mojotone tone machine but it?s in the shop. At Rudy?s I used a demo strat with fralin pickups (I think) into a Victoria brown face clone and a Carr maverick. This pedal is clean quiet and user friendly. I will mention that their is a slight change in tone with the effect on if you turn the depth knob down all the way so the effect is off but the pedal is still on you will notice a slit loss of highs. I say this only because a another reviewer said their was no change. This is not a big deal because it has a true bypass and would be nearly imposable to correct in an analog effect. It sounds great for what I play. It?s subtle not to drastic with the mode knob turn to the right, in the middle you get a more pronounced sound and to the left it's square wave time. Think kill bill 2 sound track.

Just bought it seems tough. I work my gear hard but I've never broken a pedal.

N/A they are made by a couple out of NYC haven?t had to call them but if I did it would be to compliment them for making a good product.

I've been play ten years now. I study jazz at the univisty of Maine at Augusta. An awesome school to learn at. I play jazz gigs and I have my own R&B, funk, pop, blues, and play to the crowd bar band. We usually play out once a week or more. If my pedals we stolen I would not be able to afford to replace them all, so lets not think about that. This pedal was a good investment. Here is some thing that very true; good music is comprised of three elements, space, time, and tone. Tone is a very important element in music. We've all heard bands with good guitarest that have bad tone. So when you pick your effects think about what will sound good live and don't be afraid to spend a little more if you can afford it.

Vast palette of tonal colors that span a wide range of our hearing spectrum. Reds, crimsons, blacks, blues, greens and yellows. No manual; plug in and expereiment, you'll find some mojo in this pedal for sure.

Forget my setup, I've got everything from cheap to way to expensive, from mass market to custom built one-of-a-kind. Unit is not noisy at all on any setting no matter the extreme. I also use the Fulltone Supa-Trem (the new one without the mandatory volume boost) just after the Frantone. I bought both thinking to A/B them and send one back, but found sounds in each one the other did not possess. Gotta have 'em both. I checked out everything else. This Frantone has got the hoodoo kudu - positive vibes here!

From the contact i've had with Frantone, I can rest assured if this unit blipped they would straighten me out. I never gig without a backup and if everything went bust, I'm able to stand up and do it with my voice alone anyway.

I own and use more than one Frantone pedal. I've had nothing but the most positive experince with customer support. They are into doing what they do totally on the level. First class, correct path people.

I've been playin' forever, I'm a lifer. If you want, www.nowik.com. If it disappeared, for sure I'd get another one as fast as I could. I look at pedals as instruments and this pedal is musical instrument of the highest.

It's three knobs; speed, waveform, and depth. If you're looking at this review, then you know the basics of the trem/vibrato effect and its controls...no hidden surprises. It will not take you very long to get comfortable with this pedal. Straightforward set of instructions, but you really won't need them.

Here's my rig: Heritage 535,Gibson Les Paul, and Gibson ES-225 played through a Holland 2-10 Jazz Amp. Other effects include a Klon, Fulltone Fatboost, Clyde Deluxe, Distortion Pro, and Choralflange, Boss Delay,and an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. Everything is powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedalpower II. The Vibutron works great with this setup. As promised in their literature, there is no change in volume or tone when using this pedal nor does it introduce any noise into this chain. It's also true-bypass. Best of all, it sounds like its part of the amp and not an add-on effect. I was extremely pleased that it blended so well with the amp and the other effects. I had forgotten how good an overdriven vibrato/delay tone could sound. The Holland is a very unforgiving amp when it comes to effects. Even though I use quite a few pedals, I do not want anything in the chain that takes away from the tone; and I do compare the tone of the pedal straight to the amp vs in the chain with the other pedals before I commit to using it. The Vibutron passed with flying colors. No noise from the pedal and sounds equally good using a battery or ac power.

I have only had the pedal a few weeks so I can't truly comment on its reliability yet. I would say it appears well-built and I haven't had any problems thus far.

I have not needed to contact the company for anything but I would say that the pedal is just as they described on their site. No extra hype or b.s. claims. They appear to deliver what they promise.

I've been playing for over 30 years and I do gig regularily. I've also spent time in the studio. Been fortunate to own a few choice pieces and can appreciate good-quality, reliable equipment regardless of price. My band plays blues, r&b,and classic rock so a good tremelo/vibrato sound is somewhat essential to the music. A few years ago, I finally switched from blackface Fender amps to Holland amps and although the Holland amps are sweet sounding amps, they don't have built-in tremelo/vibrato. I had been using an old Boss Tremelo pedal for years and it actually wasn't bad sounding once you got past the volume drop. What started my search for a better sounding pedal was that when I was in the studio working on our last CD, I used the vibrato sound in my original "road tested and gig-approved" '65 Twin Reverb for a few songs and when it came time to play those songs live, the Boss didn't cut it. The best description I can give you is that the Boss sounded like an effect whereas the Fender's vibrato was the real deal. I was pretty set on ordering the Fulltone Supra-trem, when I happened to come across the Vibutron in a local music store. I arranged to try it on a gig with my rig (the only real way to be sure something is going to work for you) and I was sold. There was no guesswork in getting the pedal to do its job and in minutes I had a vibrato sound that nailed the sound of the Twin Reverb. Thats no easy task in my opinion. From a mellow barely audible sound to an in-your-face on/off delay tone, this pedal is outstanding. I can't believe I'm the first person to post a review.

Granted, $280 list is a lot for a pedal; and before you jump, I bought the Klon years ago, before they rose to the price levels they are going for now on E-bay. If I spend that kind of money on something, I've got to be fairly sure its a keeper. It didn't take long to realize this one's a keeper. If there was one thing I could add to the pedal, it would be a fast/slow switch like the Fulltone has. In all fairness, I have not played the Fulltone but I heard it used live and tone-wise the Framptone and the Fulltone are in the same league. Keep in mind that tremelo/vibrato pedals are not as widely used as overdrive or distortion pedals so you may not find that many pedals out there to try for comparison. There are probably even fewer high-end vibrato pedals out there. But if you're looking for a true authentic sounding tremelo/vibrato pedal, then give the Framptone a try. Believe me, you will hear the difference. It's that good.