Voodoo Lab Tremolo

Rate, slope, volume, and intensity controls. Footswitch for on/off. Adjustments are easy and pots fairly linear.

Does a resonably good job. I have amps with tube driven trems that sound better, but this one is not bad. I use it only with my amps that don't have built-in trem. Tone shaping is easy with the four knobs.

The footswitch failed on mine after about 6 months. Was in the process of relocating so I threw it in a box and forgot about it for a couple of years. Not surprisingly, it still didn't work but CS was great. See comments below.

I emailed Voodoo Labs about the pedal and explained that I'd had it for over two years. They replied the next day and supplied me with an RMA to return the pedal. Took about 4 weeks to get it back and it works perfectly now (for how long remains to be seen). Best thing is that they fixed it for free even though it was long out of warranty. That to me is first rate customer service.

Hard to say. Tone and CS get good marks. Reliability was poor but with new switch I can't really say. Guess I'll give it a 6 for now. If it breaks again, I'll post that comment later.

Bought it on ebay, so I never had a manual - but the four knobs are totally self-explaining:
Intensity
Slope (=shape)
Speed
Volume

First of:

@nehevea11: it's really better, to place a tremolo in the fx-loop. I usely keep it this way:
guitar--> tuner--> (comp)--> wah--> overdrive/dist/fuzz--> chorus/leslie--> reverb--> delay--> amp

Since I don't use an amp with built-in preamp-distortion (old Roland Jazzchorus), I use dist/od/fuzz-pedals instead and don't have to place the tremolo in the fx-loop (which isn't featured by the jazzchorus anyway).

The Voodoo-Lab tremolo is really great-sounding, /w low noise. Most tremolo-pedals suffer from a volume-loss if switched on (for example the Boss 2). With the volume-knob on this unit you can forget about this problem.
Overall it sounds very sweet-"fenderish", but can also turned into a "helicopter-reproducing" sound-unit with a slight turn on the slope-knob.

It fits good with my main-guitar (Gibson Blueshawk), but also works fine with my Epi Les Paul or my Aria Strat.

I think I'll never have to look for another tremolo-pedal again. Don't think a tremolo could sound any better. Maybe I'll test the Boss FDR-1 one day, which has an on-board-tremolo-fx, too. But I'm still a bit sceptical since I heard not only good things about it. Ya know - why buy a copy, when you could have the real thing? Just needs more patience for saving money...

Well, mine has a loose contact, so I'll just have to fix it. Apart from that it seems to be very reliable.

Started off with a cover-band playing Stones, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley and some own songs. By now I'm a Reggae-musician, but still like the old stuff I played. It's a great match for my music. Just fun playing "Bang Bang" (Nancy Sinatra) on it.

I've been playing since 1995 now.

Four very simple knobs - intensity, slope, rate, and volume.

This pedal, when used in front of an amp, sounds superb with the clean channel and horrible with the distortion channel of my amp. If I set the slope knob to 100% on/off chop, and turn the intensity all the way UP, I can barely hear the effect - it is like 90% direct signal, and a faintly heard effect on top of the direct signal. This pedal won't work with the distortion channel of an amp, if it is placed in front of the amp - I don't know if things would be different if used in an amp's effects loop. Gets 9/10 for clean channel, 1/10 for dirty channel, for an average of 5/10.

I didn't own this pedal long enough to find out if it would hold up over time.

I didn't contact them - just sold the pedal on eBay.

Pretty useless pedal if it can only be used with the clean channel. I wanted to hear a good on/off machine gun stutter chop with the dirty channel. This pedal is not worth buying.

Couldn't be easier to use. Mine, at least, has full range on each of the 4 knobs, with no surprises or logorithmic pots.

I play an 80's Tele into a 70's Musicman 1x12. I put a tubeworks bluetube in the chain, either before or after the tremolo, since I've got one of the Musicman amps with a solid state preamp that doesn't have great distortion.

Clean or crunchy, the VL sound is delicious. I play side for an accoustic folk/blues group, and the smooth trem puts my sound right in there. This was the bridge I'd always needed between accoustic and electric guitar sounds. I shoped for a while, but I didn't really focus on anything above $200.

No problem for me after two years - and I bought it used. Eats batteries slowly, though it sounds its best with a fresh coppertop.

Never dealt with VL.

I love my guitar. I love my amp. I love my VL pedal. I'm happy this way, folks!

Lost or stolen? I'd get another asap. Although reading all the negative reviews here makes me think I'd look for an older used model first. Maybe they don't make 'em like they used to?

BONE HEAD SIMPLE

VERY SMOOTH, Very fendery,(is that a word?) Very Quiet, TRUE BYPASS silent switching

First, I read all the reviews before mine and I need to add this, Mine is the older one with only 2 knobs, I bought it used on ebay 5 years ago it gets used weekly , NEVER had a problem. I never understood why They started putting 4 knobs on them. Sometimes simpler is better. Also like most products today, companies have to cheapen things in order to remain profitable, which in the long run is a slow death due to defective merchandise and returns, thereby prompting reviews on sites such as this one. Bottom line The older ones are better. you be the judge.

Never dealt

Fairly easy to use. Personally I can do without the Slope control, as there's only one sweet spot there anyway, and I would prefer it be set at that spot, like a lot of other trem pedals. The knobs work well and aren't easily jarred, one of the better design features.

Manual was OK.

One of the worst design features are the four screws on the bottom that have to be taken out every time you change the battery. Much better would be a swivel-type door or pinch latch like you find on Boss, Visual Sounds and many other pedals.

Yet another design failure is the cheap neoprene pad on the bottom. It began compressing with nicks on the very first gig and had completely crumbled away within six months. TAgain for the price I would have expected much better.

Sounds are quite average for this pedal. For the price I expected more. I have a cheap Danelectro tremolo (can't recall the name) that sounds as good or better.

At this price range a Demeter is better but a lot of cheap pedals get the job done more easily and less expensively. I got suckered on this one.

Mine began working properly only intermittently after a month of regular use. For a while sometimes when you plugged it in, it worked and sometimes it didn't. It finally stopped working completely after six months. Not reliable, definitely would not gig without a backup. In fact I wouldn't gig with it at all, having tried it out under normal working conditions. Maybe it would do OK in the studio.

Didn't try customer support. I bought the unit in the US but now use it in the Far East, doubt they have support over here.

I play rock, classic and alt, mostly originals, in a band. I wouldn't buy it again, guess I'll sell it as is soon.

Too many negatives: 1) Bad design on bottom lid, hard to change batteries; 2) Poor quality, thin neoprene on the bottom. Why not just leave it off altogether and use good quality rubber feet around the screws? At least then you could remove the screws quickly without a screwdriver (like on a Vox wah). 3) Slope knob is overkill since there is pretty much just one narrow slope range that most guitar players need. Unless you're Jonny Greenwood maybe.

Easy to use. Very easy to get good sounds. Rated 8 because I don't get much difference between a square and round wave type.

I am using single coil guitars with this (tele, strat, etc.) through either a 77 Marshall JMP or a 67 Epiphone Pacemaker. Sound quality is very good and is quiet through these old tube amps.

Bring a backup. The switch is designed with 6 poles going through the circuit board, so it will eventually break (and sometimes other parts crap out as well). In addition, the input and output jacks have some plastic parts, so I recommend using a pedal board to make this last. I love the sound, but I don't recommend this pedal to someone who will be gigging with it based on its tendency to break down.

Customer support called back after a week or so, and I have been unable to get the pedal fixed. They were very nice, but they were not very helpful.

Overall rating is 5 primarily due to reliability and what I consider to be design shortcuts using plastic where metal parts are needed. However, I LOVE the sound of this pedal and would buy another in a heartbeat if I could count on it. The sound is a good match for what I play, which is a little of everything using tube amps and guitars with single coils.

4 knobs, huge array of tones, its harder to find a bad tone than anything...

Very smooth, almost 'tube' like trem. Probably the warmest trem I've ever played through!

No signal level drop present like there is in other trems I checked out (TR-2 which I owned for years, Dunlop Trem, and DanoTrem)

Has a lot of play, there is a huge array of tones available for use. From soft and subtle, to the heavy machine gun style trem.

Have had this pedal in my board for 2 years, more reliable than anything else I've owned!

never had to contact them

I play heavy alt rock with an AC30, JCM900, Gibson Les Paul, and Gibson ES-335. This trem is perfect and just what I've always needed in my rig.

My two secret weapons are this Trem, and my Crowther hot cake. If I got those two pedals I can do almost anything I need to.

If stolen or busted...I'd have a new one ASAP

10. This pedal has four knobs, as you most likely know. I just took mine out of the box, and plugged it in....it came with an energizer already installed.
With a few quick turns I am already playing beautiful melodies and chords. Very easy to use.

10. Sounds wonderful. Doesnt seem to color the sound too much at all. I guess transparent is the word. The volume knob is cool, as I can make the parts of songs that have tremolo get quieter, as for vocals, or louder, to be right up in the mix. Awesome. I give it a 9 because 10 probablly cant be achieved by man.
This thing goes from mild swells to extreme chopping of sound, and all points in between.

IMPORTANT. when the effect is off I hear no pulsing noise, like with some trems. GREAT!

Seems tough enough. Time will tell on this one. I plan on attaching it to my pedalboard to reduce wear and tear.

Who knows!

10.

Ive shopped and shopped online. Read many many reviews. Im really glad I got this unit. Sounds great, not too expensive, great control, true-bypass, and built like a rock.

If I could add two features...Id add a stereo output and another switch to double the trem speed....but mainly a stereo out.
I play rock. Ive been playing for 15 years. If this were stolen Id get another. It definately helps me be creative. Cool paint job!

Very easy to use, the four knobs are self explanatory.

Great tone, love the effect.

This is why I'm writing this review and I've noticed many others like this. I've owned the pedal for just over 6 months now and the switch is shot. It makes a very loud "thump" when engaging and disengaging the effect, and has an obnoxious hum sound whn the effect is on. Obviously, it isn't built to last.