T-Rex Tremster

The Tremster has 3 knobs (Speed, Depth and Volume). Speed and depth are the standard variables for a tremolo effect and both have usable extremities and smooth tapers, so it is easy to dial in the sound you want.

The volume control allows you to boost the pedal's output, which is a very useful feature, bearing in mind that there is a perceived volume drop associated with many tremolo effects. The boost available here successfully eliminates this and you can adjust the boost to specifically suit the effect you have created! Just set speed and depth, then toggle the effect on-off and set the Volume control until you are happy with the balance between wet and dry signals.

Also, there is a 'MODE' button, which, according to the manual, lets you select between tremolo and vibrato. This is potentially misleading, as the selection is actually between two different shapes of wave. However, both shapes are definitely a modulation of volume (tremolo) as opposed to pitch (the normal understanding of 'vibrato'). Regardless of the faux pas, having two wave settings adds to the versatlity of the pedal and I have found each of them useful for different applications.

So, there are as many truly useful features as you could wish for in a tremelo effect and they are all easy to manipulate (once you have got over the confusion with the mode switch).

Finally, battery access is through a hatch on the back-plate. No tools required (a small coin will do) and no need to remove the back-plate when you run out of juice. Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best tremolo effect I have used in pedal format (if not quite reaching the lushness of a valve-driven amp trem).

The rise and fall of both Mode (wave) settings is smooth and nicely shaped ... no square-edged nastiness here! The tone of the effected signal is warm and fat and seems to have gained a slight sheen (ALMOST like a valve amp trem) so the sonics are very much in the vintage style.

I don't find it a problem, but please be aware of a slight hiss, probably due to the otherwise brilliant volume boost. With the effect engaged, there is a hiss that rises and falls in voume with the effect that you have set. It is absolutely not a problem while playing - even softly - but you might find it intrusive during a silent passage in a song if the rest of the band are also quiet. I know that's a big 'if', but make sure you are happy with the noise floor before buying. I certainly don't find it a problem, but, if you do, it could be difficult to eliminate, as a noise gate may also remove the quietest part of the tremolo wave and ruin the sound of the effect. That said, all other tremolo pedals I have played have similar noise problems, so it's perhaps a little harsh to mark T-Rex down for not eliminating the problem from their design.

Utterly reliable in 2.5 years of ownwership. Solidly constructed. Neat on the inside. All solder joints look good. Parts all high quality, including circuit-board compnents. As with most non-distortion pedals, probably a good idea to use a power supply at gigs unless you have the battery voltage.

No opinion as no need to contact RE this pedal. The website is good though, with manuals available in PDF format.

I bought the pedal at London Guitar Show 2006 from the good folks of T-Rex at their own stall. They were exceptionally friendly, allowed me to take up lots of their time talking about and trying their products and they gave me a t-shirt and a pint of Danish lager! I know that's the name of the game at such events, but they stood out as being genuinely interested in the needs of whichever penniless muso walked up for a chat, rather than just courting dealers and rock stars.

So, no official score for customer support, but a ringing endorsement of an ambitious, creative (i.e. non-cloning!) effects manufacturer that values its customers.

The guitarist in my band used this pedal when required, until he bought a Vox amp with onboard tremolo.

I use it at home with a strat and a hom-built Tweed-style little combo for swampy, bluesy atmospherics. Think the music in the title sequence of Kill Bill!

I also sometimes use it when playing bass in my band ... not a traditional use for tremolo, but it holds the bass fundamental really well and adds an original, groovy flavour to certain passages. Try it! (But not when the guitarist is also using tremolo, as it makes the drummer feel sick.)

If lost/stolen, I would buy this tremolo again without hesitation. It's one of the few effects pedals I could honestly recommend to anyone without them hearing it. If you want a trem with some rich, vintage warmth (short of buying an old Fender amp) you will certainly be impressed by the Tremster.

Uhm, this is not a multi-effect, so just plug in you guitar and fiddle the knobs!

I just love this pedal. Just a bit of trem-flavour to the lead-sound can make it much more interesting. Use it also for a 007-sound or... whatever! I think the effect is great, quiet, and does not alter your incoming signal.

Certainly, this pedal would last for many years... well I hope so, but the case is rock-stable and the electronic seems well built to me (for I am an electronician)!

Never dealt with them.

I used to use the built-in tremolo of my AC30, but it is quite a bit noisy and i prefer this one. I just miss a switch for the typical "chopping sound", that is also built in the AC30. But probably, T-Rex will build a chopper in future?

This is just one of several effects in my chain and I admire the nice sound altought it was quite pricey. Probably, the 'speed' should go a bit faster but this vintage sound should not be overtuned - so I don't care too much.

I've replaced the chickenhead-knobs with MXR style knobs because if the guitarcable touches the knobs, they get a wrong position quite easily. Never mind, I've done that to all of my pedals :-)

My gear:
Hoefner-LP-Copy-->MXR-EQ-->DunlopCrybaby-->MXR-DynaComp-->
-->Ibanez-FL99-->MXR-Phase90-->T-Rex-Tremster-->MEK-PT80-->
-->MXR-Distortion+-->VOX-Bigben-->VOX AC30 (1969)

its a three knob trelomo pedal, how hard could it be?

A one trick pony. This pedal has a very short range, the knobs aren't very versatile.It sounds very stale, no better than any "vintage tremolo" setting on any cheap or mid priced multi-effect unit. It does have a "warm" vintage layer over it, but whats the point if the sound is bad to begin with.
Very small dynamic range.

Seems built fine. Its collecting dust so I don't care how reliable it is.

Been playing for 12 years

I play every kind of music jazz, blues,metal,industrial,techno, 60's rock, psychedelic, and everything in between.

I have two tremolo pedals , this and the Boss (I did the c4 mod). The boss is sooo much better, and I really don't care for boss effects, but it sounds better than this so I keep the boss in my chain for the tremolo.

Ive tried, owned and traded just about every effect pedal
out there. It sounds like it should cost 39.99.
Nothing special at all...

don't very easy to use!!!!

i don't like it to much!!!! i play my mustang '66, fulltone fulldrive 2 vintage cream, ibanez ad80, boss ce-2, trex tremster,into my '59 bassman. the trem switch it's ok but the vibrato is orrible !!!

!!!

for me it isn't a good tremolo, i think that the good tremolo are a diaz, voodoo lab, supatrem!!!!

Is is a very easy to use pedal. I agree that the vibrato switch is not very useful but it doesn't hurt to have it.

The sound is exactly what it is supposed to be. Great vintage tremolo. I tried a lot (7) different pedals before I bought this one at the London Guitar Show, actually directly from the Managing Director of the company.
I use it with a clapton strat, laney amp with e.g. Dynacomp, analogman TS9, crybaby wah, dd-5. No tone drain even though it is not a true by-pass. I think it is buffered.
Extreme settings are not possible but normally you don't need them.
Compared to other pedals, often over priced, this is a professional tremolo at an OK price level. If you are serious about your playing stay away from cheaper effects, it is better to save your money a buy good quality because if will affect you sound and tone.

Haven't had it for long but it seems very solid.

There is a two year warranty I was told by the MD. You don't even need a receipt, just sent it to Denmark and they will fix it for free.

The pedal has three knobs controlling tremolo speed, depth, and volume. It also has a button that switches between mellow tremolo, and deeper tremolo. Simple as that. The knobs are not too sensative and still cover a wide range of trem speeds and depths, a definite plus.

This pedal retains a very warm and natural tone (might be analog?). I play through a fender twin reverb, which has amp tremolo, and the tremster is much more versatile and sounds even better (the amp trem makes a clicking noise). This pedal is designed to create tremolo sounds that range from mellow and wavey to thick and pulsating. Sounds great through both a clean and dirty amp. However, this tremolo pedal cannot achieve choppy wave forms. It is always producing smooth swells while offering much flexibility over its controls.

Seemed sturdy and reliable.

This pedal is great to achieve that very classic sounding tremolo sound. I sold mine nonetheless to find something that offered more variation in wave forms, especially for the price (found a Lux FX Trem Lux on ebay, highly recommended). T-Rex claims this pedal to be comparable to vintage amp trem sounds, I agree with them. If you are looking to spend less money and thinking about an EH Pulsar to achieve vintage sounds, I wouldn't go there because it is a piece of.... I give the tremster an 8 overall only because of its wave form limitations along with expensive price tag. But no complaints on what this pedal is trying to do.

Idiot proof

Very good. I had owned a few before: Nobels, Danelectro (great for price but will fall apart). Since it has been years since I tried a combo with Trem' it's difficult to compare, however the Tremster nails that sound. It's nice having a bit extra boost as this will give a thicker tone. The Vib' switch is a waste of space, don't need it. I use a Gibson 336 > Bad Horsie Wah, Sparkle Drive, Tremster > Tech 21 TM60 amp. I love getting new clean sounds this is a delight. Great for Country Ballads and Blues.

Looks strong, don't know.

Will soon find out when I enquire about battery life.

If it was cheaper would rate higher. Good product and it's European. I don't like buying Boss pedals (reliable but everone else uses them) as I have never been one to go with the crowd.

I've also heard that Voodoo Lab pedal is nice also.

Took a minute to figure out what to do with the volume and mini-button - after that I was home-free, because the speed and depth knobs and footswitch work the same way a Fender amp's vibrato controls do.

My advice to T-Rex would be to get rid of the volume knob and mini-boost button. Their claim to a 1:1 volume match when the knob is at 12:00 doesn't prove true in my case - maybe because it's used or the battery is getting tired. Mine has to be almost all the way up to match the amp's volume level. Since the amp and guitar both have volume knobs, this feature seems like an unneeded complication.

The mini-boost switch is also redundant. When the boost is up, the depth knob lets you roll it back to the sound you'd get with the boost off. And since it's a tiny button placed behind a big speed knob, it can't be used by foot anyway - you have to bend over. It's easier to just leave the boost on and spin the depth knob - a big chicken-head you can move with your toe.

Without the volume and boost it would be an easy 10.

Gorgeous. They call it a "warm, buttery, seductive" tone. Sounds more like suntan lotion than a stomp box, but it's actually a not-bad description.

Bottom line: it's a big improvement over my Fender amp's vibrato. Like the Fender's, it doesn't color the sound. But since it's outside the amp, it doesn't turn the ambient hiss of the amp into that extremely annoying ss-ss-ss-ss that becomes more pronounced as the depth is turned up.

It also doesn't click like my old Twin's vibrato did. Just pure tremolo for those swampy moments.

Dunno -just got it.

Bought it used.

I like guitars that sound guitar-y. The Tremster is right-on.

Very easy to use:depth, vol, speed and a trem/vib switch.

I play a Gretsch Hollowbody with Dynasonic single coils and an old Yamaha SF-1000 through a Gibson GA-15 and an Orange AD 30R amp.I had a lot of trem-pedals in the past (Voodoo Lab tremolo, Electro Harmonix Wiggler, Dunlop TS-1 etc.) but this one ist the best. It sounds warm and it's not a noisy pedal like the Wiggler. I aggree with Nick that the vib-mode sounds like a weak tremolo. But the trem-sound is amazing.For me it's not a 10 because of the weak vib-mode.

It looks like very well built. It has the same size as the Voodoo Lab Tremolo. I ould use it without a backup.

I've never dealt with T-Rex.

I play Pop/Rock/ and Blues.
Like I said befor The T-Rex Tremolo sounds amazing. And for the price I paid it's a great deal. If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again.

depth,vol and speed plus a vibrato/trem switch.You must be in serious mental trouble if you can't get it going within 5 sec!

I've owned almost every trem pedal ever made (I am a trem freak I guess) and this one is on par with the best.My fave one until I've discovered the T-Rex was the tube Guyatone trem but it was noisy (although great sounding) and required a 12v addaptor which created a mess in my large pedalboard.The T-Rex sounds just as good and it is very quiet.Deep and warm sounding tremolo when in the Trem mode,the vibrato mode doesn't sound like a vibrato at all though,more like a weak tremolo.I just wish it was stereo but I have a BOSS PN2 for stereo panning in my pb so it is ok with me.Be aware that this pedal can not do the chanka chunka who type shine wave trem,only sweet vintage tremolo.

To new to tell,looks very well built though.

This is a great pedal that really nails the vintage trem sound,it is also not a bulky pedal (just a bit larger than a Boss) which is great for large pb like mine.I think this small company will do very well.I've also got a compressor from them for and it is the best sounding comp I've ever heard.I deduct a point for the absence of a stereo output and the lame "vibrato" sound.