Rocktron Pulse Tremolo

Nails the tremolo tones on my 62 Ampeg Reverberocket.

C'mon... super simple. 2 chicken-head knobs on top for speed & intensity, and a waveform switch on the side.

A true-bypass stomp swithc to cut it on or off, and a blue led to see when its on or off.

I don't use the trem very often, just on 2 songs in all our sets, so I didn't want to pay big bucks for the pedal. This was a little more than the tuna melt, but to me its smoother, almost tube-like, and I dig the true bypass so I don't have to run it through a side loop.

Another reason I chose this one, is that the metal case is pretty sturdy. I personally haven't had any problems with it, but we'll see for the long run.

Haven't dealt with them. Probably pretty un-reachable, though.

I can't even imagine using a trem often enough to invest big bucks in a trem pedal! But I do need it for a couple tunes, and so I wanted a cheapo. It was down to the tuna & this one, and the true bypass sold me on this one, but either would be fine, particularly if you had a couple side loops already in your setup to cut out the tuna when not in use. I don't like to carry around that much stuff, though. It works for me just fine.

Really easy to use, and to get a really nice sound. Just two knobs, one for rate and one for depth of effect, just fiddle to get your speed and saturation - you really cant go wrong!
From what I can tell, it's true bypass too, which means a lot to me. If you don't have a battery in it, your signal still comes through fine when bypassed so no need to worry about ever going dead on stage.

Theres only two things I can vote bad on here, that is the switch for wave shape should be a decent sized toggle on the top of the unit - this would allow for foot switching if you wanted. A triangle waveform would have been nice too.

The other is that I wish they had bothered to incorporate some kind of volume control, I know the less clutter on the pedal the better - but the effected volume is a bit louder than your normal signal - it will help cut through when engaged but I'd like to have the control as to whether or not it does that.

I play a bunch of stuff, at the moment I'm in a classic rock and blues stage so a tremolo pedal had to make it's way into the chain.

Most of the time I only use 2-3 pedals when jamming or playing, my setup is - G&L Legacy HB-Modded Vox V847-Double Muff-Rocktron Trem, I also have a Route 66 I use for compression if I feel like it - into a 50w Valve amp.

I havent noticed much noise from the unit when running off battery, there is a quiet sound you can hear pulsing with the tremolo, but I'm unsure if that's internal or just my signal. I tried using it with the adapter and found a lot of noise - but I dont like adapters anyway.

I think this was easily the best tremolo in my price range by far. I can select a slow super strong tremolo just like the sound in Countdown by the Black Keys.
You can also get the fast shimmer which sound amazing on chords - think Pink Floyd, Shine on you Crazy Diamond, or Money.

Waveform selection? Awesome!
The sine wave tremolo is really nice to give your chords a quite pulsing sustain which I really like, if you crank the depth up it doesnt get overpowering and sounds really smooth.
The Square wave has a much sharper attack and can be used for awesome effect when turned right up. With the speed set high it gives a really distinct shimmer.

So far I havent found a tremolo sound I cant reproduce with this unit.

I've given this an 8 because I havent played high end boutique tremolos . There is a volume and high-mid EQ boost when engaged which I would like control over. And a triangle waveform would be sweet too.

This is an amazing tremolo, the volume change isnt something that should turn anyone off this pedal, I just think it would have been better to have a level control - I guess i'm a control freak =P.
For the sound alone, I'd be happy to give it a 9-10

I'm impressed with the rocktron cases they are as sturdy as anything I've seen.
I opened the unit up and all the circuitry and wiring looks fine, and is fixed into place really well.
I definitely would use it for a gig without a backup, I have no problem using pedals which can be bypassed with no power input - this one won't leave you dead on stage if the battery was to die or the power supply fall out.
One thing I dont like is the size of the LED, I think it is slightly overkill - I really doubt it would draw a significantly larger amount of current but I guess Ill see how battery life is in time.

As I said above I will use this pedal for Blues, rock and the likes. I've been playing for about 4 years now, I've built pedals and worked on amps and this is a quality unit. I have a small obsession with tone, And tone it does very well.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd try some more tremolos but I guarantee there wouldnt be anything better unless I paid twice as much.

The only things I wish it did have was a level control and maybe another waveform to select. As well as the waveform toggle on the top of the pedal.

Anyone in the market for a tremolo should definitely look at this tremolo - certainly play one before purchasing the Boss TR-2 or something in the same price range.

yeah easy enough pedal only 2 knobs and a switch, after a short while you'll get the sound your looking for in a tremelo. manual is ok but these pedals should come in boxes not some cheap grocery aisle plastic case.

I bought this thing to replace my danoelectro tunamelt which i love but didnt care for its plastic case and volume drop when engaged so this fulfilled my expectations, though this has a very different sound not as warm and smooth as my tunamelt but its stereo type sound is very cutty and hip and goes very well with other pedals on my board so its just a matter of getting used to another tremelo sound but it does what its supposed to in my tremelo songs so I love this pulse sound in an apples and oranges way.

tough aluminum type metal casing with nice chiken head knobs seems very worthy of any pedal board.

my pedals so far: metal muff, boss dd3, boss bd2, boss dm3, verbzilla, boss bf3, rocktron pulse tremelo, small clone, korg dt10 tuner into a fender deville 212 and american/mex tele.

i play interpol, radiohead, beck, beatles type rock

nice pedal for the price! i was thinking about getting the pulsar by ehx but i have no regrets after getting this because i love the volume boost this pedals produces when turned on and the bright blue light. the color of the pedal case is blah. buying this pedal is an upgrade in my tremelo sound. ive tried the boss version as well and this be better so im very pleased with it.

Extremely easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. Actually I'd go so far to say that there're no bad sounds in it. There's lots of space between the two knobs and they're chicken head so are easy to manipulate. Switch is positioned nicely. Unit sits on the floor nice and steady.

I had a few gripes though:

First, the position of the wave select switch is less than ideal - it's this tiny micro switch in between the DC jack and the input jack. With my right angle patch cables and dc power plugged in it can be tricky trying to get to it. Ideally Rocktron should have built the unit with a second footswitch to go back and forth, but it's a strange placement when the back of the pedal is completely unused.

Second, this pedal has the biggest LED I've ever seen - it looks like it's 10mm in diameter. It throbs along with the speed of the LFO which is great but I reckon it probably bumps up the current draw of the pedal quite a bit, shortening the battery life if one were to chose to run it by this method, and probably unnecessarily so - 3mm LEDs are perfectly visible on stage.

Third, the maximum LFO speed is a little slow. I'm familiar with the EHX Pulsar which will go so fast that the effect almost sounds like a Ring Modulator. Even with the speed dial maxed this unit doesn't get anywhere near that fast. It's a minor gripe, but I've often found myself running this pedal with the speed maxed and wishing it would give me a little more.

This tremolo sounds great. The triangle wave sounds similar to a vintage Fender amp tremolo - it's very smooth and refined modulation to give your signal a bit of a flutter. The square wave produces are more intense pulsating modulation that, as you turn the intensity up, will eventually become a full on-off-on helicopter tremolo like in the intro to Green Day's Boulevard....

Yes there is a volume boost with the unit. By its nature tremolo is an effect which causes a perceived volume loss - the fluctuation of the amplitude of the signal causes your ears to hear the effected signal as quieter than the dry signal, when when the the amplitude peaks of the effected signal are just as high as the dry signal. The obvious thing to do at the design stage (which the designers of the Boss TR-2 forgot to do) is to bump up the effected signal to the point where its perceived to be the same as the dry signal by human ears. On this pedal the designers probably took it a little too far - the effected signal sounds noticeably louder than the dry signal, but that bothers me much less than a volume drop would. Actually, the volume boost will ensure no one in the audience misses the fact that you've switched a tremolo on. I haven't noticed any presence boost that a few earlier reviews talk about - my unit seems very tonally transparent. Actually I'd say it falls closer on the side of being warm than bright.

Too early to tell, though it appears solid. I was surprised how light this pedal was. I bought this used but I've noticed Rocktron are packaging their pedals like action figures - in a plastic bubble - like Behringer do. That appeals to the inner child in me (who bought a lot of those figures as a kid) but I think any attempt by them to present an image of the effects as serious and professional (as opposed to disposable toys) is tarnished somewhat by packaging them so.

This is a great little tremolo. It's warm with a good variety of tones and won't break the bank. Better than the Boss TR-2 as it doesn't have a volume drop. It's encouraged me to check out a few more of Rocktron's products, particularly the Hypnotic Flange and the Envelope Follower.

It's a tremolo...the toughest part is choosing which waveform to use, since they both sound great in their own way. It's the advantage of using this box over an amp with a built in tremolo. My favorite effect, I'd leave it on all the time if the band would let me.

Like the last reviewer said, there is a definite change in tone when the trem is engaged. It IS slightly louder, but more than that, the signal becomes really bright, like it's been sharpened up...sort of like engaging the 'bright' button on an amp, only more aggressive. I wonder if this is because the unit uses an LED and a photo resister for the effect? The change in tone is especially noticeable on the square mode...triangle mode is more subtle, vintage-sounding, but maybe too mild --compared to the tremolo I had on some of my old amps, it lacks their depth, and tends to get lost when playing with the band. I can't compare it to other tremolo pedals though, since this is my first...I'm on the lookout for a new amp with built in tremolo, but I'll keep this one around for the square wave mode, which can get really extreme. Not necessarily musical, but definitely fun.

Seems really well made. I've had it for almost a year, no problems. Battery life seems okay, but I've now switched to a daisy-chain power supply, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. Like I said, I still want an amp with built in tremolo, but in the meantime this will do (and I'm in no hurry to get a new amp).

Haven't tried, couldn't say.

I play rock n' roll, nothing fancy. The Pulse gets the job done really well, and for the price I paid, it's definitely worth it. If it were stolen or lost I'd buy it again if the right price came up, otherwise, I'd try a different tremolo. In other words, it's not a 'tone-defining' essential pedal, but it's nice to have.

Very easy to use, love the blinking LED. Makes getting the tempo you need a sinch.

The sound is amazing. Just a great, warm sounding tremolo.

Seems dependable.

Don't know.

Why a 5 you ask? Well I haven't noticed anyone else mention it, but this things seems without a doubt to boost my signal. Maybe it's just my unit, but tremolo natually when engaged takes a little of your volume away, you expect it. This unit seems to boost the signal so when I disengage the pedal whatever I play after it is sort of anti-climactic sounding as there is a drop in volume. I've been using Dano trems for a while and they function the way I would expect where at unity you get a little loss in intensity because your volume is being turned down every cycle of the trem. With this unit is sounds like your volume is being turned up every cycle. I'm suprised that no one else has noticed this, or maybe it's just my unit. Either way I thought I would mention it because I don't like this effect with tremolo. This is possibly the best sounding trem I have played, but I am going to have to send it back because musically the boost in level this pedal gives you when engaged does not work for me. Shame.

Like everyone else has said: two knobs. simple as can be. the switch to change the waveform is kinda hidden, but that was no problem for me. there's also a nice BIG LED to show the pulse of the tremolo. it could be a little brighter, but i'm not going to complain. 10.

i LOVE this thing. i've tried all the top analog tremolo pedals: electro-harmonix, voodoo labs, and this. i, personally, think this one is the BEST. it nails the exact tremolo sound i'm looking for. i love the analog tremolo sound; asymmetrical tremolo waves that don't have the precise, synthetic consistencies of digital tremolos like the BOSS one. the non-true bypass will be the only thing keeping it from a 10, but i will definitely send it out to get a true bypass installed.

it's a rocktron. literally, built like a rock.

i have bought 10 effects pedals in the past two months in order to move out of the sad world of multi-effects, and this is probably my favorite purchase. love it.

There are two knobs, Intensity and Speed and a tiny switch on the side the switches between the two types of tremolo. The more subtle/vintage setting is easier to get a good sound of but they are both very good.

I tried the VoodooLab Tremolo before this one and it is a fantastic pedal, true bypass, all that good stuff. BUT...the Pulse is just as warm and great sounding as the VoodooLab! I was blown away by this pedal by the price/sound/value factors. Also, being that it is NOT true bypass, I was slighty set off. However, it is absolutely transparent, I TRIED to hear a difference when disengaged but I could not! With the Intensity at about 3-4 o'clock and the speed at about 1-2 o'clock you get INSTANT gratification. A great example of this tone would be Joe Bonnamassa's "When She Dances". For all you players who love your modern tube amps but envy that old Fender and Vox tremolo, this is the answer.

I own some other Rocktron stuff and it's solid as a rock. They make great stuff.

I ordered this and it was in my hands in less than a week. Not bad for a non domestic company.

I defy anyone to find a better deal than this pedal. It's dirt cheap in our world of boutique pedals and big names, yet sounds fantastic. No matter what style I guarantee you would like this pedal. I've only tried a few pedals that have had that automatic "fun factor" and this certainly is one of them. I would buy 10 of these things if they got broken or stolen before I bought anything else.

very easy to get a good sound out of this. 2 knobs and a waveform switch. manual's okay, if you really need it.

current setup is: epiphone SG special > rocktron pulse > guyatone md-3 > direct into computer. (hoping to get an amp soon, but for the direct in approach works for now.)

haven't really noticed any noise when the pedal's on or off. when stomping on the switch, however, there's a noticeable click. not a big deal, but definitely audible, especially when i have the md-3 on.

haven't tried to emulate any particular artists, but was slightly disappointed that the speed doesn't go fast enough to get that pseudo ring mod effect i was hoping for. in all honesty though, this pedal sounds so good that i don't even really care about that. a really subtle setting that works really well is intensity all the way down and speed at full, either waveform.

if not for the click when activating the pedal, i'd give it at least a 9.

from the looks of it, this pedal won't be giving me any problems. don't currently gig, but i'd take this out without a backup with no worries.

never dealt with them.

style - experimental ambient soundscapes

shameless plug - http://www.soundclick.com/blueonblue

because of the click mentioned above, i'd try a few other pedals out before replacing this if lost or stolen. was also looking at the johnson FT-2 but no shops where i live had either in stock, so i went solely on reviews i'd read online.