Marshall VT-1 VibraTrem

This pedal is very simple to use. I use the tremolo side of it mainly and despite the extreme temptations, i only use it occasionally. I bought it used with no manual included, but i very rarely read manuals, prefer to experiment with it myself and see what it can do.

My live set up is: PRS CE24 - Boss CS3 - Vibratrem - Boss GE7 - Boss DD3 - Boss CE2 - Boss PH3 - Marshall AVT150 half stack. As you can probably guess, this pedal lives with a lot of Boss pedals but fits in beautifully. I have not been able to replicate what this baby is capable of anywhere else and after a bit of experimenting, found a fantastic effect tip. using a crisp distortion (eg, a cranked marshall plexi)drop the volume on your guitar to about 5-6, whack the vibratrem on and belt out a single chord allowing it to fade. As the note/chord fades out, a clipping tremolo wave begins to fade in. I used this in one song and our singer began jumping around screaming "thats amazing".

This pedal goes to every gig and gets used a lot in the studio. It has had the crap kicked out of it on many occasions but has never once let me down. Typical marshall build quiality.

Who, what?

I play many different styles of music from early blues to modern hardcore and this pedal can sit in with any style what so ever. If you are thinking about getting a tremolo pedal, this is the one you want. Compared it to the Boss model and there was no competition. an awesome pedal and is at a fantastically low price

Very easy to figure out. No need for manual at all. There is a mode selector for Tremolo or Vibrato....choose your mode and tweak your rate, depth and for tremolo choose the shape of your waveform. Simple stuff!!!
I have a Vox AC30TB with the exceptional vox valve tremolo and vibrato built in, however i only use the brilliant channel on the amp, so a trem pedal was the call of the day for me. To set the unit up i match the pulse time of the VT-1 tremolo with the amps slowest trem speed setting, which is still fast enough, and that is the perfect rate for all of my applications of tremolo. Then i connect back into my brilliant channel and i use the pedals tremolo when required.

When i got this pedal first i was using batteries for power and i had all kinds of problems with the sound....firstly the batteries run down quickly, very very quickly, so problems with volume drop and very weak effect sounds would occur. I thought i had bought a dud or else the pedal was just crap...UNTIL, i constructed a pedal board and powered all my effects from the Boss TU-2 tuner. When this pedal is supplied with constant full power it works a treat.
I only use the tremolo effect and it cuts through lovely with a nice sparkle. It doesnt impose any tonal change only great tremolo comparible to the natural valve vox trem on the amp with the added bonus of being used on the brilliant channel.

In a previous band, i was the only guitar player so i used two marshall JCM602 amps run in sterio from this pedal (one at each side of the stage). That was an amazing setup and the pedal was fantastic for this use. Also the tremolo jumped between the two amps for an amazing tremolo effect, hopping from one side of the stage to the other. Since then i have joined another band and bought the Vox AC30 amp which is my absolute pride and joy along with some lovely telecasters. My sterio setup is sadly in the past to make way for another great guitar player in the band, but the trem still sounds great and i am a happier man with my present setup now anyway.
I run this unit after my wah and overdrive pedals, but before delay and reverb. I find effect placement is a very important thing but different people like different placements so there is no real right and wrong way....just whatever suits yourself.

The other guitar player in my band has the Boss tremolo which sounds great aswell but is not any better in sound quality than the VT-1. But with the VT-1 you have the option of sterio output and the use of a nice vibrato sound too. VT-1, is a better deal in my opinion.

I bought mine about 4 years ago. Never let me down. Built strong and durable.

Thought at first i had a dud BUT Use power supply and not batteries for best use....no problems with good constant power supply. Good strong effect and no volume loss.

Never needed...wouldnt bother!!!

Our band plays alt. rock stuff and i use this sparingly in some songs throughout gigs, rehersals and recordings. Sounds great but tremolo is not something you want to overdo IMO!!!
It does the job for me with no hassles and i dont wish it did anything better, which makes it perfect for me.
If this went awol on me i would buy another one, wouldnt fork out big bucks for a boutique tremolo...it doesnt get enough use....anyone with a boutique tremolo pedal has way too much money or just no sense!!! Overdrives are a different ballgame!!!
Anyway i have the best tremolo ever built into my amp and this little pedal is every bit as effective.

really easy to use but it has the shape button and the Vibrato mode, so it's richer than a simple Tremolo. There might be a manual, but sincerely no use for it.

At first I tried this in the Effect Loop, and it's definitely not its place even if I found it logical there. So now it's in front of the amp and it's working well. I use it for twangy sounds and warm jazzy progression both with single coils and humbuckers and it works fine. Some call it digital, I call it precise, I don't want to loose definition in complex chords just because a dorkey told a cutoff would sound analog. Maybe a LoFi HiFi knob would make everyone happy. I send it to a TS9 then to my Laney LC15R, the sound is cool. Vibrato is a great addition since I didn't buy it for this, in open tuning you can get some interesting Stones-ey sounds. Both Vibrato and tremolo with low depth values add amplitude to arpeggios, middle position on the Tele the sound is really good. Stereo setups may also be interesting but I didn't test yet. The trem is generally more nervous than what you have on a Fender kind of trem, some say more mechanical, maybe due to the traingle waveform.

The box seems solid, we'll see...

No idea, if it breaks I'll go see my tech.

I was looking for a DanO Tuna Melt, I got this one used, it does the job pretty well. The vibrato is an interesting add on, it's not the big magical thing of my sound but I really like to play with it. At this price I would certainly buy it once again. I'm not into Hi Cost vintage hardware thing, if it does the job it's OK. And it does.

Absolutely easy. Four knobs, one switch.

I'm using this thing in different setups. (1) Framus Sorella -> Compressor -> Wah -> VibraTrem -> Polytone MegaBrute. (2) Strat -> Compressor -> Wah -> VibraTrem -> Phaser -> Randall RM4 Preamp -> Marshall Power Amp.
The sound I prefer is a trem sound on a rather slow setting (something I always liked in Marc Ribot's playing), and I mostly use it for clan sounds. I had compared a lot of trem pedals before buying this one. When switched on, I found this one a lot less noisy than the Ibanez sound tank, the Schaller tremolo, Electro Harmonics' "the worm" (terrible effect!) and some other pedals I don't remember. I did not note any coloring of the sound when switched off - as far as I can see, the bypass does a good job.
Soundwise, the only other pedal that came close to the sound I wanted was the Boss pedal. If you like a rather soft setting, you'll have to be very precise in using the knobs on the VibraTrem, since it has a very wide range of speed settings. I found that it was easier to use to find and fine tune a good sound on the Boss - hence a 9 for the vibra trem.
Where to place it in your effects chain? As I said, I'm using this before getting into the preamp, and I'm happy with the sound I'm getting. If I wanted a harsh stuttering distorted sound though, I think I'd place it behind the preamp.
I'd also like to comment on the volume boost: Like other reviewers, I noted a boost in volume when the VibraTrem is switched on. This is a feature that I consider a plus! When using other tremolo pedals not at home or in a music store, but playing in a band, I always got the impression that once you switch the pedal on, you can't hear the guitar as well as before. I think this lies in the nature of tremolo effects: The peak tremolo volume is exactly as loud as the unprocessed sound, and inbetween the effects obviously produces gaps, so the overall hearing impression is that the guitar is not as present. So this is what actually is pretty smart about the VibraTrem: When switched on, the peak volume is louder than the original sound, but within a band context (at least for my uses) you don't really think that it's louder. It just keeps the guitar where it was.

I haven't had any problems with it. But as other used pointed out: I eats batteries. But once you know that you can bring enough batteries or a power supply.

Never dealt with them.

I got this pedal three months ago, since then I have used it frequently for both rehearsals and gigs (funk, jazz ballads, trip hop). If it got lost I'd get another one, and I wouldn't trade it for any other tremolo pedal you can get at more or less that price (I haven't tried the Fulltone or the Roger Mayer which are a lot more expensive). This is a very nice effect, with a volume boost that I found very useful. It has true bypass. And all that at a very reasonable price.

Its pretty easy to use if you know what the dials mean. which the instructions tell you.and if its used, u can download them from the web.

Epiphone SG G400/Squier Strat ----> Danelectro Danowah ----> Marshall Jackhammer ----> Marshall MG100DFX combo amp. i place this in the effects loop after my Rocktek CHR1 Chorus.

Theres virtually no difference in noise when you are not playing, and there is a slight volume boost when its on.i rectify this by changing the FX loop mix dial on my amp to about 2 o clock so theres a little more of the dry signal. The next point is something i MUST STRESS with this pedal. IT EATS BATTERIES MORE THAN MY MATE'S IBANEZ BASS CHORUS. and that ate a lot.basically you need to have this after your pre amp (that is it has to be in an fx loop) to sound good at any kind of volume. if you put it before distortion pedal (or between your guitar and amp) and turn the distortion up both effects will sound weak to the point you cant hear them at any high volume. keep it in your effects loop or before your distortion pedal. another thing is, DONT USE BATTERIES. use a power supply so your always getting the most you can out of it. i hardly use the tremelo except to make wierd noises, but the vibrato is VERY GOOD if you know how to use it. its a very very good effect, its just gotta be put where it wants to be

its as hard as nails, heavy as my dad and has lasted me about 4 months now. iv never heard of one dying so i dont know how half of the reviews say they died after 2 days. maybe the batteries just ran out...........i never use any backup (rebellious am i) because i cant afford them.....yet....

never really dealt with the company, but Jim Marshall does look like a friendly man in the manual....

I play mainly rock & roll, high gain stuff, and this is great for intros and outros to songs and for rhythm licks and solos alike, just put it where it likes to be, know how to use it, and theres infinite fun to be had!

easy enough!

o.k listen pepole!!! you dont want the volume boost?
so place this b e f o r e your overdrive and distortion!
that is it! try using the out 2 insted of the mono out for little less subtle effect, this pedal sound subtle only with a high gain sound, it's a very good pedal if you understand the concept of effect placement!!!

works very well since i got it (3 years)

didn't try them.

very good , musical pedal ,you got 2 pedals in here both do a really good job!

its easy to turn the 4 knobs!!!!

i run my '80 les paul std into a fasal wah into a modded (black box) marshall blues breaker-od into a modded pro tube 50 watt laney head into an emp100 yamaha multi (in the fx loop) into a v-30 equipped fender 4x12 fender cabinet.

this effect is a piece of garbage....it a vibrato and tremelo but does niether one well.

the only good effect marshall amp ever made was the old bluesbreaker.

dont know......ive had it for 2 hours and unhooked from my chain and will return it asap

it blows and really, all marshall products post 1988 do as well

It takes a bit of playing around to get the sounds you want but that's the fun. Also the knobs are too close together (a minor complaint though)

Both the Tremelo and Vibrato sound very nice, not too over-powering and not too quiet. I use it with a '91 Strat and a Peavey Butcher with various floor effects and it sounds (er, sounded) great and it's not noisy. Sure it's not as good as a vintage pedal but hey, it's a hell of a lot cheaper!

My first one died after one week. I got it fixed but then it died again after a month. This is a shame because it's a nice sounding pedal.

No need. Luckily I have friends who can fix electronic equipment.

It's a nice sounding pedal and the option of Trem/Vibrato in the one pedal make it very appealing. But it is not very reliable and from reading the posts here it seems other people have experienced the same problems. A shame really...

knobs are too close together. Speed selection is great. Wave form lacking variations. trem/vibe switch should have been a smaller slider swith. Mono output should be labeled "output 2", stereo output should be labeled "Mono".

READ THIS REVIEW: I think the Mono and Stereo Outputs are mis-labeled. I NEVER use this effect in the mono jack (effect is to subtle) but in the other jack, this thing sounds AMAZING. Bypass is very effective. The waveforms are a bit limited. Square wave sounds to a bit to mechanical and not completely square ("how soon is now?" by the smiths doesnt sound quite right on this pedal) but thats my ONLY gripe. The depth and speed is great. Every depth(dry to 110% wet) and speed(slow swells to machine gun speeds) you'll ever need is accounted for. More usable speeds than a dunlop stereo trem. Tremolo sounds vintage and doesnt make too much noise. Vibrato sounds just like the tremolo with the addition of a little high end resonace and a slight pitch oscillation. I prefer the vib most of time. Really not too much difference between the two effects. Vibrato sounds more unique with my guitar's tone on "0". This will give a good Zeppelin "no quarter" vibe sound. Keep in mind that with the main output, the depth is almost nonexsistant. People that gave this pedal bad reviews for being too subtle, either used the wrong(mono) jack, or have defective pedals. This is my main reason for reviewing this pedal. People that said the danelectro is better should get off the crack rock.

no problems yet. Seems to be buit well.

n/a

These pedals arent as sought after as boss trems so much cheaper. I think it's a best buy for $40-$50. You really cant do better for this price range. Boss will give you easier-to-turn knobs and a better sounding square wave. Dunlop has nice big knobs and nice big price tag. If you have no use for a good square wave, like most traditional players, go with the Marshall.

Straightforward, easy to follow.

Using a Fender Strat, G&l Asat classic and an SG special through a Marshall AVT 50 combo. Primarily I bought this pedal as I really liked the vintage tone and the fact that you got a vibrato and tremolo effect in one unit.....Ohh, and the price!.

Unfortunately, I had THREE pedals die within a few months of each other. The first pedal I bought I had to take back straight away as it didn't work when I got it home. The second pedal lasted a relatively long time, five months before it went to pedal Heaven. I exchanged it for another, that lasted a weekend. When I tried one more in the shop it committed hare kare on the spot. This was the last straw, so I ended up buying a Boss TR2 instead. I am disappointed as I really liked the sound of the pedal.

I didn't contact Marshall for the pedal, but I have dealt with them in the past and they have been, in my experience ,really good.

I mainly play pop, rock, blues and the Vibratrem when it worked fitted in very well with my other effects ( Marshall GV2,Vox Wah, Vox distortion booster and now a Boss TR2 ). Now it is discontinued I guess I will not be able to give it a fifth chance!. C'est la vie!.