Marshall VT-1 VibraTrem

Just four knobs (although one is a 2 position switch) one input, two outputs and a footswitch. Not complicated, wide sweep to the speed and depth controls

There was a definate negative thinning effect on the tone, but the pedal was cheap, and its certainly good enough for playing with friends or a bit of home recording. However, this is only relevant if the pedal works...

Stopped working within 2 days. I wasn't impressed.

I have emailed Marshall, but with no response. I have also written to them with no response. They have no customer service at all, and so I have decided to have no further dealings with the company.

Garage rock, stuff like that. Not that the style of music I play benefits in any way from broken pedals.

this is an update to a previous review. I have used my vibratrem for about a year and a half now. My opinion has lessened of it considerably. Certainly its reliable, and it hasnt given me any trouble on that front, but tonally, it sounds pretty poor. The other day I was playing through a 70s Fender Vibrochamp, and I realized how nice good tremolo can sound. There was a warmth and musicality to the Fender tremolo, it could be on extreme throbbing settings and still sound "right". Whereas I have to fight to get my Vibratrem in that perfect position where it sounds "OK". I think part of it may be Fenders use a sine wave (I think) and the vibratrem on even its smoothest setting of the shape knob use a triangle wave tremolo. It sounds bad, I'll admit it. Unnatural. Its still a usable unit...but with other nicer trem units on the market, this Marshall pedal may be destined for EBay...

PAckaged with Marshall's customary user-friendly manual and attractive design, there are lots of recommended settings. Sadly they do not help. The pedal has four switches - the 'shape' of the effect, the toggle switch between tremolo and vibrato, and effect level and rate. The switches are fiddly.

I'm not too fussed with the vibrato setting, but the tremolo when it works has a reasonably warm sound through my SG and Rickenbacker 330/12. As ever the tremolo is lost behind distortion. Seems more mechanical than say, the Danelectro and Boss.

Well, I've had two of the things, and so has a friend. His both went back within weeks of purchase. Mine, bought sadly mail order to save costs (!), have both knackered and I'm having trouble exchanging the second. The thing is, it's unpredictable: mine both konked out at random. The effect light was coming on, but even on maximum setting, nothing was coming through. This is on adaptor and battery, a pathetic excuse the shop tried to lay on me each time. Supposedly I shouldn't use a battery as they're unreliable. The second time, they said I shouldn't use an adaptor if a decent battery was inside. Right.
I would not take this to a gig and use the vastly cheaper and superior Danelectro instead.

Never dealt with Marshall as they'd refer me to the company I got it from - Axemail.com in England. Fair enough if the thing's started working, but it's now happened twice in less than three months and has spent more time knackered than working.

When it works, it's great because of it's retro design and cheapness. The sound is fair but unspectacular, and not a patch on the Boss tremolo. But that's fair enough as the Boss is twice the price. But the Danelectro Tuna Melt is a lot less, and sounds much better. Incidentally, that pedal is very reliable and can plod on battery power for an eternity.
On sheer unreliability, and that I've known all four I've come across (bought from different locations) to go wrong, this should be avoided at all costs!

N/A

Extremely harsh and brittle. This pedal sounds "digital" as Hell! It also gets in the way of your main sound. In other words, you don't feel like the tremolo/vibrato effect is part of your sound. It comes up as an additional and very annoying layer that "processes" your tone.
Still, it remains fairly affordable and almost decent in its price range.

N/A

N/A

I expected to get a lush and warm tremolo sound for oldie stuff, say Slim Harpo style swamp blues, or SRV approved vibrato to approach that rotary speaker effect but got none of that. It might do the trick if you add thick overdrive (think Robert Ward blues/soul signature tone) but don't expect much of it anyway. The bottom line : this pedal is definitely uninspiring and its good looks are not enough to convince guys like me who view pedals as toys or cheap replacements for built-in all-tube tremolo or even dear old Leslie cabinet. I sold it back after a few weeks and got a Guyatone micro-effects tremolo instead. it still sounds somewhat "digital" but is way smoother and usable, despite its annoying volume boost.

difficult to get a good sound. knobs seem to alternate between not enough sensitivity and way too much

I give it a two because I'm sure something out there has to sound worse. This thing really really sucks. It doesn't have a strong tone at all. It seems to strip character from your playing. I hate this box. I used it to add tremelo to a rhodes electric piano. It really kind of boosts the treble and at the same time thins out the sound a bunch by killing the lows and mids. It is like a really bad one setting eq pedal and tremelo at the same time. And the vibrato sucks so bad it isn't worth talking about. Mind you, this is on electric piano, not guitar, but I think the effect should translate.

mine quit after about 3 months of three times a week usage. However, other people seem to have better results. Actually the only time I liked it was after it broke. For about a month after the vibrato and tremelo functions stopped the pedal began to boost the signal very strong and clean. It was really cool actually, because that warmed up the signal before it got to the overdrive. But then that stopped as suddenly as it started and the pedal became truly utterly worthless

fuck them

do not buy this pedal unless you enjoy sounding like absolute shit. The danelectro tuna melt sounds ridiculously better than this pedal, at a fraction of the cost.

In tremelo mode it's pretty easy to get a good sound. I found it difficult to get a good sound out of the vibrato mode. They all sounded the same. As with all marshall pedals however, when you try to turn one knob, its really hard not to accidentally turn another. Also, the speed and depth knobs are VERY sensitive, so when you accidentally hit it, there is a noticable change.

1. My setup: Modified American std. Strat>>korg hyper distortion>>crybaby wah>>vibratrem>>fender hot rod deluxe.

2. There is a noticable volume AND treble boost when you turn the effect on. However, it doesnt color your tone when off.

3. The vibrato effect is pretty stupid. You can get a much better vibrato sound by wiggling a floating trem with your right hand while picking. Of course if you didnt have a floating trem you'd need a pedal but this one sounds too harsh.

4. The tremelo effect is ok BUT only if you dont want anything really pronounced. I had to turn the depth ALL the way up just in order to hear it. Like i said before, the speed control is too sensitive - the range is WAY too high to be usable so i was always fiddling around the 12 oclock region tryin to get just the right speed. The wave control doesnt work too well either. You basically have to turn it to either a perfect triangle or a perfect square shape to hear the effect. Anywhere in the middle and even with the depth all the way up, you simply WONT hear any tremelo at all. What a gyp!

5. Because of the sensitivity of controls and lack of depth, it was nearly impossible to get sounds like that on REM's Monster album (which is a good example of how a good tremelo should sound).

I could depend on it. it weighs a ton and is basically solid metal. knobs are metal and feel sturdy enough

I play all sorts of styles, generally some sort of alternative/rock. Been playin about three years. If this pedal was lost or stolen i'd grieve the 90 bucks i spent on it but be happy that it was gone. The Danelectro tuna melt trem pedal sounds better than this! This thing is basically useless. Doesnt cut through the mix when playing with the band. Doesnt go deep enough. the waveform isnt flexible enough. Speed is too sensitive. Vibrato just sounds like crapo.

The four knobs each have a very distinct function, so getting stuck is impossible. The manual is not needed, although it provides some useful settings. It is very easy to use.

My setup varies between a stock mexican strat to a Les paul Studio through the vibratrem into an old big Muff, a crybaby, then to a Fender amp. It's not a great setup, but even with the muff, it makes no hums or noises, and the true bypass is appreciated. Other comments say its too digital, and I agree, it's not "warm" like a vintage tremolo, but it's damn close. It has great sound, and a great feature was the speed and depth. Vintage Vox and other tremolos had only volume, and this makes about 8 distinct sounds for tremolo and 8 for vibrato which makes the box a great value. It sounds great too. The treble boost is very distinct on the tremolo which can be irratating, but the vibrato is silent.

After about 3 hours of fiddling with it, the triangle sound wave failed to make a sound, but after changing the crappy green cell battery, it worked fine. So it does take up lots of batteries, but thats what a 9v adapter is for!

Marshall is a reliable company who makes good products. I opened this box up and saw numerous inspection signatures by several people.

My playing can range from metal to rock, to heavy blues, and I ventured into classical and acoustics for a bit, and this pedal doesn't really fit my style, but it's very original and suprisingly good with the music i play. If it was stolen I would probably shop for another pedal, because i got this real cheap and it was new. The tone is not vintage, its in between that and digital, but its real nice. The last comments were very harsh, and if you think you can get a vintage sound for $80, then your pretty whack. A great pedal.

This unit is somewhat easy to use, three pots, a mode switch, and a footswitch. One is speed, one is depth, and one shape (sine wave to square wave). The mode switch looks like a pot, but is only a two way switch that lets you select vibrato or tremolo. It has a stereo output and a 9v adaptor jack. Quite frankly, as much as I like this unit, it can be hard to get the right sound out of it. It is very easy to get a precociously overdone or underdone tremolo. Perhaps the range of the pots is too great. As far as documentation goes, why on earth would you need a manual for this???

I use this with my Rickenbacker bass in order to achieve a Chris Squire sound. I'm a big Yes fan. I used it the other day live with two amps for a stereo set up, lent a nice wobbly bottom end to some of our progressive songs. It sounds fine, no noise problems, true bypass, etc. I never use the vibrato...i hoped it would be a more literal vibrato. It turns out it is more of a screwy psychedelic modulating quasi-vibrato, reminding me more of a rotating speaker, chorus, or univibe. If it were a true vibrato I would use it to give a smooth sustained vibrato to my more legato parts. But the Chris Squire tremolo is there, and I love its uniqueness; I must be the only guy in my city who regularly uses tremolo on bass. All my musicians think I'm crazy, but it sounds good.

Absolutely no problems. Nice heavy metal case.

I've had my problems getting a Marshall amp repaired, but I cant blame the company specifically for that. No rating.

When I have this running, along with my Sansamp Bass Driver (for general tone) and my Fulltone Bass Drive (for overdrive) I can pretend to be Chris Squire without all those tube amps. Not that I wouldnt prefer a tube amp, but the budget doesnt allow one yet. It is so unique, I know Ive been running on about C. Squire, but this actually gives me a more individual sound and inspires more creative parts. I play in a three piece band, so I have more room to sprawl out bass parts under the guitar player. Great unit, does the job, nothing magical, but is an essential part of my rig.

Pretty easy to use, it comes with a pamphlet to help you, and it also provides a few suggested settings.

I play an SG special through a Crybaby-Small Stone-Big Muff-Electric Mistress-Marshall DSL. The Vibratrem gives a thin choppy sound which to me sounds pretty digital. It seems to give a slight trebble boost, and sounds quite metallic. The tone is not smooth at all, and the thing eats batteries. I'm not impressed at all.

It seems pretty solid, but you'll be changing batteries every five minutes

I think that most people will be pretty disappointed with this. Marshall can make a lot better. It is cheap, so I guess you get what you pay for, but I really wouldn't bother buying this again. It really is not anything to get excited about.

Tres simple d'utilisation, pour peu que l'on sache comment fonctionne un vibrato ou un tremolo!

Vraiment proche du son vintage des vieux ampli , tant que l'on reste a un parametrage du "speed" assez lent!
Je l'utilise sur une Fender Fat-Strat branchee sur un Peavey Bandit 112, et je suis satisfait de mon son!
Je pense qu'une Dunlop m'aurait plus convaincu!

rien a dire, car en fait on ne s'en sert que pour des besions tres ponctuels ! En aucun cas , le VT-1 contribue a mon son!

aucune idee

Pour quelques morceaux elle me convientparfaitement, mais j'avoue pouvoir m'en passer!