Marshall VT-1 VibraTrem

Easy to understand settings.

I couldn't believe how bad this thing sounded in Tremolo mode. It doesn't do a sine wave. It just does triangle and square. It doesn't sound "vintage" at all like the instruction manual says it does. Just get a Dunlop. Much more smooth sound than this Marshall. If there is one word I would use to describe this pedal, it would be "harsh."

Sure it's reliable (heavy, built well) but I wouldn't use it on a gig no matter what. It will last a long time but I can't bear to listen to it.

I dunno.

I play many styles of music. Been playing like 6+ yrs. I own an Ampeg tube halfstack, a Gibson Blueshawk and some other BOSS pedals. Oh yeah and tomorrow I'm gonna go exchange this thing for a Dunlop Trem. It's VERY MUCH worth the extra $$.

This thing stops my inspiration dead in it's tracks when I'm using it. It's not warm sounding at all. *Shiver*


Blech!

The only good things I can think of about this pedal:

1. Built well
2. True Bypass (not really a tone sucker when its OFF)

East to use..takes some experimentation with your own setup to get
great sounds.

Using this pedal with a Blues Deville and the sound is awesome.
I use it through the effects loop which cuts most noise and keeps 100% of the strat's tone. Easy to get an "underwater" SRV "cold shot"
tone with the depth, speed, and shape controls about 3/4 up. The tremelo sound setting is different than the dunlop trem, which is more of a "pitch bend" than this one. The tremelo is just different...which does not neccesarily mean it's bad..and some nice psychedelic sounds are possible.

Like all Marshall gear..I'll bet it's about 98% reliable.

This is a great sounding, great looking pedal for the price. Great for clean blues-type songs requiring a leslie effect. The shape control is an excellent feature. If you want to save about $300, buy this instead of the Uni-Vibe..just be sure to experiment with the controls until you get the right sound.

I think a novice can get this right.
Much easier to use than a multieffect.

Strat to a Mesa, or Bassman or Twin, it sounds good
There is a volume boost that occurs with this so you have to deal with that.
This is OK for Trower, SRV, KWS, J. Lang etc. but like all choruses it does a good job on slow spacey stuff. Chords come thru great.
As a comparison, the Boss CE-1 does an equivalent job but lacks bypass.

Seems built well mechanically we'll find out how good electrically.

Korg is an empire I wouldn't expect personal service.

I bought it to use with an older amp that is without an effects loop.
I think this will work out just fine.
A little pricey but they have to put in a more expensive switch.

It is simple to get good sounds out of this pedal on both vibrato and tremelo settings. The manual is good - easy to understand explanations of what everything does.

I'm using a strat and tele with this pedal through a Fender Bassman and the sound is gorgeous - lush, full and sweet. The Vibratrem sounds just as good, if not better than the trem on a Fender Vibrolux amp. It's a bit noisy when the settings are high, especially when combined with distortion, but that's what makes it sound like a vintage effect. If you're looking for a sterile sounding, noiseless oscillation - get a rack unit.

Only had it for a month or so, so I have no idea about it's reliabilty. Seems well built - solid metal enclosure and knobs. At this point, I would definitely use it on a gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them.

I play rock, blues and country type stuff and this pedal suits my style perfectly. I've been playing for a bout 12 years and I also own a Vox Wah, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Bluesbreaker II, Danecho, and DOD retro-phaser. These are all great units with a vintage vibe. If my Vibratrem were lost or stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I love it's vintage, warm, sound - it doesn't affect the overall tone of my guitar either - it's very transparent. I originally compared this to the Boss Trem unit and the Marshall was far superior - the Boss sounds sterile / lifeless. This pedal produces very inspirational sounds.

I've found this pedal incredibly easy to use although the size is sometimes a problem on stage. The manual presets are useable which is unusual. It's easy to get the sound you want as the knobs do as they say. The waveform control is very handy.

I'm using a customised left-handed Hondo strat copy with Dimarzio bridge humbucker and OBl neck single coil into a (sob) 10W squier amp.I also use a Danelectro Daddy-O into the Vibratrem. The pedal adds no noticable noise to my setup but it does slightly cut the volume of the Daddy-O unless they're both on. It's easy to get the Radiohead, Gomez and Blur sounds with this combo so no complaints.Because I am apoor teenager i haven't been able to try the stereo option.

As mentioned previously the batteries do waste quickly, about a 15 hours compared to the Daddy-O which is on 40 hours now with the same battery. Having said that the knobs only come off if you force them offand the case is sturdy.The footswitch does seem a bit,um, rickety. Haven't gigged it yet so.....

Haven't dealt with them.

I'm a big fan of Gomez and this pedal has given me their sound.The virato can be dropped on to almost any riff or solo of any alternative/indie band and sound cool.It also feedsback seperately to my guitar which is extremely handy for extreme noise jams. I like this pedal alot but if it was stolen I probably wouldn't bother replacing it(I need a Wah pedal and I'm 15 you see).The waveform is a nice touch and only a mental pygmy would have trouble using it. It's a very nice pedal though and very cheap most places.

Easy enough, I guess.

God, this pedal sucks. Wish I hadn't bought it, even for #45. Should have saved for the Dunlop tremolo. Background: I use this with a 50's reissue strat into a 1950s Selmer Truvoice .. very clean, vintage sound. Until you turn the tremolo on. Instant hissy digital crap. I mean, how difficult is it to build an analogue tremolo? This thing just sounds awful. It boosts volume and upper range to unacceptable levels, which is pretty useless for tone freaks like me.

The Vibrato function sucks. Like cheap nasty chorus, but faster.

I use tremolo a lot for slow, strung out Blind Lemon-style slide drones, but this just doesn't do it. You need the depth up at half way just to begin to notice the effect. Also, on square wave there's no real way to get a gated on/off staccatto which is a pretty f**king big oversight. I don't know what it is about this pedal that I hate so much, but I really loathe it.

This thing eats batteries. Got through one the first night I got it. The next morning, the LED was still bright, but the effects were almost imperceptible. My power supply couldn't rectify the situation, so another battery. Which again lasted one session. Also the effect definitely starts wearing off if you play for an hour or two, especially on the triangle wave.

Oh yeah, the knobs fall off. Wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it, which will probably be pretty f**king far. I'm sure I'll find out some day.

Haven't dealt with them so far. retailers have these on back order in UK, so if it fucks up, as I'm sure it will, I recommend you get a refund and buy a Dunlop (pricey) or a Schaller (cheap and far better).

Look elsewhere.

Me? I'm building my own separate tube tremolo unit, based on an fender schmatic. And I just hate those a**holes who mod their old Fender tremolo amps to get extra gain stages. Buy a f**king Marshall! Even better, I'll swap a '69 Super PA 50 modded to sound like anything from a JTM-45 to a superlead (and everything in between) for a decent Fender amp with tremolo. Or a Silvertone :)

Oh, and I think the chrome casing as tacky as hell

I guess you could say it's compicated. Instead of the usual depth and speed on most tremolo pedals you also get a shape control which makes the sounds (In my explanation, anyway) sharper, more vibrant or smoother, and less vibrant. The battery compartment needs a screwdriver to open, which I don't like.

I'm using a Yamaha Pacifica Strat with a Peavey Bandit and a SoundTech PA system to get s true stereo effect. The reason I purchased the Marshall compared to the Boss tremolo was for the stereo output and for the vibrato to go with the tremolo. With a Danelectro Cool Cat chorus you can't beat the fullness of the sound when using the vibrato. I bought the pedal for the trem and use it more with the vibrato. Definitely need stereo for this pedal to work at it's best.

Only have it a few months. Using mostly Danelectro pedals (love'em) and and old DOD flanger. The footswitch button is hard to push on and off, we'll see how it lasts.

I play mostly 60's and early 70's rock & roll including a lot of Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, Santana. The trem is not used very much, but when it fits ot works great. The speed and depth controls range is fine. The only other pedal I compared was the Boss, which the VibraTrem blew away. If you play in stereo at all, this may be just the pedal you're looking for.