MOEN Shaky Jimi

I'm don't claim to be "The Trower Man" like the reviewer below. And I am not anal enough nor do I have the patience to put on a Trower record and try to perfectly match the timing up to this $50 Chinese vibe pedal. But I can say that if you have a hard time getting good univibe tones out of this pedal then you either don't have ears or you are running it incorrectly or with crappy pedals in your pedal chain. The Shaky Jimi comes with a little insert for recommended settings, but I didn't feel I needed it.
The Chorus setting could certainly be a little more "Chorusy", but I can still get great Hendrix type warble from it with a little tweaking. The speed and depth pots have a huge range for an analog(?) pedal so they can be a little sensitive. But I find that setting both at or near 12 o'clock gives me a good useable chorus and awesome vibe tone that I can switch back and forth to without knob turning.

Here's a list of my implements of sonic destruction:
Axe (Gibson SG Standard or Hwy One Tele w/ Alnico II's)--> Budda "Bud Wah" Wah --> Stomp Under Foot (S.U.F.) Violet Ram's Head Muff--> Budda "Zenman" Tube Driver --> S.U.F. Hellephant Fuzz --> S.U.F. Screaming Panda --> Retro Sonic Vintage Vibes Compressor (Ross Clone) --> Moen Shaky Jimi --> Hughes and Kettner Replex Tube Echoplex Type Delay / Reverb --> Amp (Rivera Quiana 212, Vox AC 15, or Fender Blues Deville)
The Shaky Jimi is true bypass so it doesn't suck my tone when bypassed. It is NEVER noisy. There is a slight volume drop on the Vibe setting. The Chorus setting adds a little brightness and presence. The pedal has true analog warmth that actually enhances the pick attack especially when run after my compressor. The Dunlop Rotos, BBE Soul Vibe, and the Danelectro Chicken Salad (that another reviewer recommended over the Shaky Jimi??) do not even come close to having the transparent analog warmth of this pedal when engaged.
The Vibe setting works perfectly for me. Other reviewers like "The Man With The Trower Tone" have complained about the timing not being dead on like an original UniVibe. Some have said that covering the LED's help that issue.
Personally I didn't buy this $50 pedal expecting it to be a mind-blowing exact reproduction of the halluconegen induced psychadelic 60's vibe tones. But I do think the Vibe tones are amazing. The timing never sounds choppy to me. Actually it is quite hypnotizing even at subtle settings. I don't see the need to cover the LED's, but I may not be quite the anal purist that some old "heads" are.
My biggest complaints are the volume drop when the vibe is engaged (and it's not a deal breaking drop) and that the Chorus setting is not what most people would think of as true shimmery chorus. It is more of a chimy but very warm warble that you can tweak but never get a great "Come as You Are" Small Clone type chorus sound out of.
It does an awesome Little Wing vibe, it's perfect for Gilmour's rotating speaker type solos, and it will even do justice to Mark Knopfler's Brothers in Arms subtle slow vibe.

Other reviewers have said the switch is shoddy. Mine feels rock solid. I bought this pedal used on E-Bay for $45 and it feels heavier and sturdier than my $200 Retro Sonic USA made boutique compressor. The casing and paint job are heavy duty. Someone said that the power input was unstable and the plug would fall out on him. I would bet that someone either kicked the pedal and jerked the input jack while it was connected or that the guy with that problem has a poor quality power cable. My input jack is perfectly stable.
I am a heavy guy. I have big clumsy feet. I am not always gentle with my equipment. I bought this pedal used and have used it daily for over 3 months in my studio and on gigs. And I have never had an issue with the switch or the build quality. It is a heavy duty pedal that I feel comfortable gigging without a backup. And if it does give me a problem I could buy a new one cheaper than I could pay a tech to repair it!

Probably no chance of getting any support out of these guys at Moen. Their webpage hasn't been updated in almost a year. And the pedals are made in China. I almost didn't buy the pedal for those reasons, but for $45 I had to give it a try.
I have never tried to contact Moen. As I said above, unless I could do the work myself, I would never worry about having the pedal repaired. I would just grab another one on E-Bay.

I have been playing, performing, writing, and recording music for 16 years. I play lots of soulful blues, classic rock, alternative guitar rock, and I write country music for other artists and bluesy/alternative pop rock for my own recordings. I have used many different boutique effects pedals. And I have owned the Chicken Salad, Soul Vibe, (close to the same price range) and the older Dunlop UniVibe clone (paid $200 for it). I scored this pedal 8, 8, and 10 in the above categories. This pedal deserves every bit of a 9 in this category, because it delivers better tones than all of the above pedals, it's built well with true bypass, and it does it all for $50 or less! I do wish it had a blend or mix pot to control the chorus (vibe blends perfect as is). I didn't expect to even keep this pedal when I bought it, but it has earned a full time spot on my board.
If you are looking at buying a cheap UniVibe type pedal that can do some awesome hypnotic Hendrix pulsing and some Gilmourish rotating, this is the best value out there. If you want a great cheap classic sounding chorus look elsewhere. This pedal has enhanced my tone and saved me some money. Apples to oranges there are probably better sounding boutique Vibes out there if you want to spend more, but this pedal pleases me so much, I probably won't ever consider shelling out $200 or more unless I luck up and find an original UniVibe for under $500 or a Bob Sweet vibe for under $200. For the price range this pedal is unbeatable.

O.K. here we go. Now there are reviews here that sound in favor of this thing. Yes it's easy to use and you can get a " so called good sound".
But not " the sound". If you put your Bridge of Sighs record Album on...opps, that gave my age away...I mean CD and try to match the exact flow of lets say the song Bridge of Sighs, you will notice that this thing is way to choppy if you increase it. Slow it down and the pulse is out of sink with the song's pulse. So what does this mean? It means all you cats out there that think you can play Jimi or Trower on this thing don't have real ears. You may thing you are playing it but without the correct pulse and swoosh it really isn't right. So in this sense this vibe does not " nail " Jimi and Trower.

Can it sound pleasant? yes. But mostly any pedal can have a descent sound to them. But to the distinct ear it's not the right sound.
The old Univibes had a pulse to them that made them very hypnosis and soothing to the human ear. Listening to Trower and Hendrix when they used these Unvibes was a real experience to the human ears that heard them for the first time. Like me...My body and ears understand this pulse of rhythm that those old Unvibes had. In the beginning of copying these the very very early Dunlop Rotovibes had it pretty good, way better then this "Shake Jimi". Then came the early Fulltone models, a more direct tone and the pulse was even closer. Others followed with pretty descent versions... Then Came The late great "Bob Sweet", the man that understood that old school pulse. His very early models capture this tone to the "T". His had That psychedelic sizzle that others did not and may never have. ( Although some others came close ---like Fulltone ). I am now 55 and and been playing Trower and Hendrix for a very long time. Trust me, this Moem vibe is not in the same ball field. It is at the bottom of the barrel. Now I am not tell you that it's a sucky pedal or a bad pedal, its just does not have a " true " psychedelic sizzle that the real unvibes had". I can say that there are others that are good or decent copies but I would call bob's Sweet version a perfect clone. Yes Bob's older "used" version can be pricey. On ebay they sell for a respectable 400 to 600 dollars but, that's cheaper then a univibe Shin Ei unit which can cost 1000 to 2000 these days.
But a real serious Trower - Hendrix player that has to perform this style of music on a regular bases has no time for something that does not " pulse " right. It just kills the spirit of the song.... My advice to you...at lease get an older Roto vibe. The older the better. Look for the JH models. You can still find them for 200 or less....and the pulse is not a deep but it's close in rhythm which is important.

Well I open it up and it's...cheap. And the foot switch is not gonna last a year with a heavy foot. Now cheap parts can still be reliable and sound some what o.k..
But it all depends on how you take care of and handle your stuff. I have a Chicken Salad Danlectro vibe that is 15 years old...cheap and still works fine.

aaa so, you need repair? we no take back...you stuck....

Well I play music that heavily depends on that right pulse tone of a Unvibe. It's why people come to see me play. I am called the Guy with the Trower tone. There's a reason for that " nick name". I been playing this type of music for over 40 years and also teach others how to play these styles with a Unvibe sound. When I was a 15 year old kid, I was a friend with a person named Mr Wright, a 60 year old man who owned a little music store in NYC. This was my regular hangout with his older sons and other musician kid friends... Mr Wright loved me and was very surprised on how I could play guitar and never had a lesson by any of his guitar teachers. But his son's were older and were impressed with me too and taught me a great deal for free about music. All I had to do was show them how to play Purple Haze etc. This is back in 1968...One day Mr Wright said to me, "Hey kid, I see you like that guy Hendrix...well this is what I am told he uses.". He handed me in a simple card board box that simply read Uinvox unvibe...made in Japan.
He said I could have it for 60 dollars. I had no money. So he said " old joe is on vacation for 2 weeks so cut the grass and mop my wife's dance floor (in the big back room where she taught students to dance) and take out the trash for the next two weeks and you could have it." That was the best deal I have ever made as a kid. I grew up with that pulsing memorizing sound. It's been in my soul since 15 years old. And I still have that old Unvibe to this day. No I will not sell it...but it may end up in my coffin.....
So in short; if you buy a Shake Jimi I am not gonna say you made a poor choice but, what I will say is in time you will understand why the pulse thing in the Shake Jimi is all wrong. Good luck out there and keep playing and searching for your tone....Max

At first I was skeptical about this pedal due to the reviews and opinions I had heard about it. But after owning it for a couple months, I cannot see some of the issues mentioned even in the reviews here, but I have some others which I will share.

I bought mine "used" (it came to me like new in the original box with all the packing materials).

That being said, It doesn't get much easier than this pedal. Speed, Depth and a Chorus/Vibrato flip switch.

Here are my two (2) biggest concerns with this pedal;
1. The Speed has too great of a range on the fast side. It goes from swishy to harley-chopper before you get past 9 o'clock on the speed dial.
2. The AC adapter I use with it (Visual Sound 1 Spot) tends to fall out easily if I am not using the daisy chain adapter (for powering multiple pedals). It appears the AC plug is seated a little too far to the edge of the hole for the plug.

I have read where people say this is a thin pedal. Here is my response:
1. Use a brand-new alkaline industrial battery with any of your pedals to get the best out of it.
2. Check your patch cables. They are at fault for sounding like a nasal passage more often than not.

I have had no noise issues with my pedal. AC or battery. This is a very lush and rich pedal. I even use it with an acoustic on occasion. The Vibrato setting is more phaser to my ear, but the chorus is a very nice analog toned effect.

I have yet to have issue with the foot switch or any of the controls. I take very good care of my pedals and I don't stomp them like I am hitting the floor at a hoe-down either. So far so good.

No idea.

It may not be the top notch pedal for what it does, but as a mid-priced pedal (even among its imported peers) it works well. As for the country of origin issue, many pedals are being made overseas now. That's life at this time. I was surprised when I found out a company I used to rep had all of there pedals made in the orient, especially at the prices they asked.

If you are looking for another pedal to add to the collection, consider this one. If you are looking for a great chorus pedal under $150, I would recommend a Boss or Visual Sound. If you want that "authentic" Univibe sound, check out some of the modelers made by Line 6 or Digitech (Hendrix Experience pedal). If you want both and your wallet can't afford $350, do yourself a favor and check one of these out.

To Easy!! Just wanted to do an update on this pedal now that I have two.
It will do the Hendrix Trower thing, I recently bought a H&K Warp factor Distortion pedal now I have Cheap setup between the Shaky Jimi and W/F and adjusting your tone controls will give you all the vibe you need think of Robin Trower(Live) and this does it well with a good tube amplifier and 12" speakers. (www.bonepickerguitaramps.com)

I am searching for a way to include a tone control on the Shaky Jimi as it does seem a little bright cutting this brightness down will get you even closer to Trower Hendrix Bliss!!

Total cost under $100.00 for both pedals, How can you go wrong.

Doung the LED cover worked out well to smooth the timing out, the chorus has it's use as well for some Trower tunes as well as Hendrix (Rainbow Bridge).

I have two one for a back up and for when they stop selling them.
But so far in the Studio no need the foot switch has never failed yet but when you open it up you can see why they do fail after time.

China, Why?

I am a huge Univibe fan but for $2.000 for a used Univieb and $250.00+ for Deja Vibe no way I own a Prescription Electronics Vibe unit and it Kicks Ass but It was $300.00 and I never use it as I don???t want to trash it. This is $50.00 and useable and close to the real as I need.

Straight forward and easy to use. Just tweek the knobs until you get the sound you want.

Hamer/Ibanez/Kramers with humbackers-Devi Ever Dizaster Fuzz-Modified Wah-Modded Tubescreamer-Moen Shaky Jimi-Devi Ever Shoe Gazer-AmpegVH140C Combo. This effect satisfies my need for a Vibe pedal. I wasn't about to shell out $300+ for a Fulltone, etc. so this thing gets the job done. I will say that I only use the Vibe side of this pedal, as the Chorus is about useless, but that is not why I got it. You have to experiment where you place it in your effects chain, because it was overpowering in behind my Devi Ever Shoe Gazer so I put it in front of it and the sound is great. Hendrix, Trower, Gilmour tones are in there.

Built like a tank.

No idea.

I have been playing for 20 years. I have played in bands ranging from Country to Hardcore and I could use this pedal for just about any of them.

Very easy to use. It has two knobs, and a 2-way switch to get all the mind-bending, swirly goodness you desire. It didn't come with a manual, but everything is labeled and is self explantory. You plug it in, and play.

I run a PRS McCarty directly into a Mesa F50/Fender Blues Jr. The pedal sounds great with my setup. Some people run the Shaky after distortion/OD, but I find running it before distortion sound better and more interesting. The knobs have a huge range. The rate knob can go from very slow and smooth to blinding fast. The entire range is usuable because the rate knob interacts differently with where depth knob is set up.
I bought this pedal to add some depth to arppegios, but I found out the chrous portion of the pedal is also great. I'd been using Boss Chorus Ensemble, but this pedal tends to give me more natural sound (analogish?) Overall, it's a great pedal for $50

Looks solid. It's heavy, and purple. lol Anyhoo, I'm sure I'll lose the screw that holds the battery door cover.

Made in China. But, the resellers were very easy to deal with.

Yes, this pedal will get you the Hendrix sound. The first thing I played was Star Spangled Banner after plugging it in. :) Anyways, this pedal can get you all types of "vibe" sounds, and it does it at $50. I've tried Micro Vibe, and Univibe, and didn't feel the connection I have with the Shaky. It sounds right.

Very easy to use. Just a couple of knobs. I don't like the jacks on the sides. With a pedal this size they should be up the top to save pedal board space.

Is this is a joke? The CHORUS mode on a real Univibe is neither a CHORUS sound nor a LESLIE sound - it is the UNIVIBE sound a la Hendrix/Trower etc. Yet on this pedal it's like they want Vibe setting to be Univibe and chorus to be some sort of? chorus!?

Anyway it's not very thick, it has no bass, no treble, totally the wrong pulse pattern, it just goes . . . not .. .. .. and basically is a slightly chewy phaser sound. A Dano Chicken Salad is a more authentic vibe than this even if it doesn't say Jimi on it ;)

So really this sounds like it sounds, which is fine, except if you name it Shaky Jimi well you kind of shoot yourself in the foot if it sounds nothing like a Univibe. I could remind some people of that sound sure, but it's a long way off. It's more a typical phaser sound. SO how do you rate this thing? Well it's a disgrace to have the word Jimi on it. The connotation is this pedal will sound like Jimi Hendrix, it's a disgrace! and an outrageous claim!

Made in China so it's the barest step above throw away stuff. The switch is bad, and it's down hill from there.

Ever tried to return anything made in China? Throw it out!

Calling it the Shaky Jimi is really a very big call, and just sets the product up for a fall. It totally misses the mark soundwise which is the main purpose of any effect, but also it's pretty cheap stuff inside. Every pedal I've seen come out of China is a piece of garbage. The main Chinese brands, Moen, Belcat, Biyang, Daphon and Artec are more marketing than substance. They really do fall short of real product lines and people are basically wasting their money buying them. Not ONE of their analog delays is actually analog! they just tell lies like in the opening ceremony. You think the cute kid is singing but no she's not. Things are not as they make them out to be.

The Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe is the sonic equivalent of a 1969 Univox Uni-Vibe. People should save their money and buy a Micro Vibe in as new condition on eBay. If you want to be a tightass get a chicken salad. Sure they are cheap crap, but they have it where it counts a lot more than this one.

A vibe is fairly specially built and tuned circuit. You're not going to get the right sound with a cheap Chinese mass produced piece of crap. It's not even built with a light globe and photo-resistors so it was never going to be right from the start. If you make the mistake of taking a chance on one of these and buying one, just put it on ebay and hope someone who doesn't know any better buys it. It's just junk.

Easy two knobs and a switch for tremolo and vibe.

This is the second review I have done on this pedal and now on my second Shaky Jimi not that the first one went bad I just like these pedals Cheap Univibe is all I have to say!!
I used this on a gig last week and we played Armageddon???s Silver tightrope and it brought tears to my eyes how we all sounded tight and smooth with this pedal the band just fell into the groove.
We did some Trower and sounded right on never had a problem with this unit.

No issues as I have two and did the LED mod I did to the first one, smooth timing.

N/A

Cheap and does the Univibe well!!
Get one you will agree.

Just want to add an amendment to my previous review. The DPDT switch broke on my unit from bedroom use only (= barefoot). I've replaced the the switch; which was relatively easy to do, (all the connecting wires are numbered) but the switches are a bit dodgey on Moen pedals IMO. I also took the opportunity to place black heat shrink tubing over the internal LEDS and this has improved the pedal's sound quite a lot. The volume drop has been slightly reduced and the effect's sound has a deeper more brilliant rersonance to it. Well worth doing!!!

2 knobs - rate and depth + 1 switch to toggle between chorus and vibrato mode. It's so simple. Manual isn't needed and is basically only fit for the rubbish bin. The pedal is brand new off eBay Australia, and can't have been made too long ago!!

Wow - what a suprise this pedal is. I had been bidding on a S/H Danelectro Chicken Salad on eBay, as I just had to have the Univibe sound in my rig, but the price just kept going up and up; and it ended up cheaper to buy this pedal brand new. I'm glad I did, as this thing in vibrato mode has Hendrix and Trower on tap. My god; the vibrato is so watery it can make you sea-sick when the rate is turned up too high. My girlfriend told me to turn the effect off because it was making her feel ill - so I switched over to my distorted channel, increased the rate, switched on my EH Double Muff and began to let the guitar feedback - it's sounded like Hendrix's "1983: A Merman I Shall Turn To Be" wobbly water noises - very cool!

I'm playing through a variety of well made Custom Guitar Workshop guitars; some equipped with GFS pickups and others with EMG Select pickups - TE-1 Telecaster copy, TE-3 Semi-hollowbody Telecaster Copy, LP Artist Les Paul copy, 2 Strat Copies amongst others. They're all going into a "Black and Silver" Peavey Studio Pro 112 Tanstube fitted with an Eminence Delta LFA 300w 12" speaker.

This pedal sounds great coupled with the Moen Pretty Dolly Delay pedal and is addictive. The only problem is there is quite a large volume drop when the pedal is engaged, but only in vibrato mode. The chorus mode retains your regular guitar volume. It's not overly bad but it is noticeable.

Some people have suggested the chorus mode isn't so great; but I think it's got its own thing going. The modulation is pretty radical and it sounds a lot like a lesie to me. I prefer the vibrato for Hendrix and Trower tones but the chorus will have it's uses for certain passages.

The pedal seems to sound better with cleaner tones and when you pick more lightly. With more gain and a harder attack it begins to sound a little robotic - which may be good for some songs. But, it's like compression - the harder you hit the strings the less output you seem to get and it sounds more like wooshy, wobbly fizz rather than a guitar.

Still, all effects have some limitations, and whose not to say that the real Univibe didn't react in the same way - except someone whose actually used a real Univibe unit!!

Seems fine to me. I had a Pretty Dolly with a defective switch that needed to be replaced but this was probably just from a bad production batch. No problems with this pedal that I can forsee. It seems to run on slightly flattened batteries too; which is nice once your high drain pedals have finished chewing through your money - you can hand it down to the Shaky Jimi.

Heavy casing too, very solid feel to it.

Who knows - But they do have a good English website with sound clips of their pedals.

Yes, Yes, Yes. Univibe sounds for $79.95 AU. I play lots of bluesy 60-70s type rock music and some jazz/fusion stuff to: suits me perfectly.

Volume drop aside, this pedal is a great and I'd get again if I were to lose the one I have.

I can't turn it off and I keep playing Trower sounding chords and licks , as the vibrato sound just makes you gravitate to minor chords and blues scale. An awesome unit for the price.