Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe

not much to it really, two knobs, one for intensity (how deep the vibe) and one for speed (how fast the warble). voodoo lab has a website with sound demos played none other by blues saraceno. the one page manual has some suggestions.

my simple signal chain is as follows: ernie ball music man silhouette -> boss tu15 tuner -> mxr dynacomp compressor -> boss pw10 wah -> ibanez ts9dx turbo tubescreamer -> maxon od808 overdrive -> voodoo lab micro vibe -> maxon cs5050 stereo chorus -> digitech digital delay -> Marshall AVT50.
no discernable noise on its own.
effect always sounds great no matter how you set the knobs (provided you don't set both to the extreme)
i guess you can say this is a poor man's version of the leslie rotating speaker or the univibe.
but it gives me that sound close enough to emulate hendrix.

not sure. haven't had it long enough yet.

haven't had the need for them. but based on the posts earlier, they seem ok.

it is a very fun pedal and sets out to do what it is supposed to...be a good alternative to the expensive univibe and the leslie rotating speaker effect.

Fairly easy to get a good sound. Two knobs offer a basic range of classic Trower/Hendrix tones. Gets a little mucky at extreme settings of both knobs, but settings at about 1:00 on both yield a terrific watery, all purpose swirl.

I run this after an MXR Dynacomp and either Budda or Teese wahs into the front of my amps, Rivera R55, Budda Super Drive 30, or Mesa Mark III. It can muffle your tone somewhat on those extreme settings mentioned above. Not particularly noisy, even with some of my single coil equipped instruments.

Not an essential part of my sound, so reliability isn't an issue, but it seems at least as well made as any other mass produced pedal. Unlike some folks, I believe in babying my tools so that they'll last a long time, and i don't anticipate any durability issues.

I play variety music with one band, jazz funk/fusion with another. I've been playing for 30 years, but only over the last 5 years or so have I become a GAS victim. Aside from the amps above, I own Fender and Fernandes strats, a Reverend Avenger, and a pair of PRS guitars. My pedals are mostly under the radar mass production units (secret weapons are the DOD FX10 for lead guitar solo boosts, and the DOD Ice Box chorus, the best pure chorus pedal I've ever owned... and stupidly cheap) with a few semi boutique pedals like the Fulldrive II and the Banzai Fireball. I love the MV's price, because it easily handles most of the functions of pricier units at a third or quarter of their prices. It's a clearer unit to my ears than Mike Fuller's benchmark Deja Vibe (although I've bought another DV to satisfy myself more completely on this) and definitely helps me make music rather than noise.

Speed and intensity. How much easier can a vibe get? The simplicity comes as a result of sacrifice of a bit of versatility, but as sound quality will reveal, that can be a good thing.

If it's true about the trim pot varying from unit to unit, I got lucky. I A-B'ed this with a Dejavibe and actually liked the microvibe better. It does one thing and does it VERY well. It nails the best watery tones of the vibe unit, with a nice rounded edge at either end of the sweep. I also experience absolutely NO loss of tone or volume with the effect on. It's the most transparent vibe I ever played. I have no idea why some others have lost tone or volume; all I know is that the bypass is perfect and it adds the effect while cutting nothing from your signal.

I never used the tremolo or vibrato in other vibes, and this one has only the "chorus" feature. Makes for ease of use, and probably explains the much lower price.

Can't say. Just had it a week.

I hope I never need to find out.

For once the lowest priced unit is the best I've tried. People are going to ridicule me for it, but I really do rfer the sound of the Microvibe to the Univibe, the Dejavibe, the Betavibe and the Ultravibe (the only others I've tried).

We'll see how it holds up. I'm a happy camper ight now.

two knobs makes this very simple to dial in great sounds

very warm, full sound. Can get a good univibe sound or a usable Leslie type sound.

built very solid and the quality is obvious

fast,helpful responses to your emails

Unless you have loads of money to spend on a vintage Univibe or Leslie speaker setup, this pedal will give you that sound in a much more dependable setting and at a fraction of the cost.

Two knobs, pretty simple to figure out. Manual is very stright forward.

It seems there is a 'reverse' bypass mode on this particular pedal. When switched off there is a huge loss of tone for the non-effect sound. When the pedal is turned on your highs return. Great if you plan on using this pedal at all times, otherwise a big problem. Also, has a very big volume increase when the pedal is turned on. The pedal also sounds a bit muddy when used with mild distortion.

I am willing to give Voodoo Lab the benefit of doubt here. I would like to think that this particular pedal somehow got by quality control when it shouldn't have. Other reviews are great so obviously this pedal nust do a better job than the individual one I happened to get stuck with. Still, you won't see me trying another Microvibe soon.

I imagine I can send this back for repairs/replacement but why should I have to ffot the bill for shipping because their quality control sent out a lemon ?

Again, I probably have a pedal that sneaked by quality control. But since I payed good money for a pedal that has gotten good reviews by other guitarists I had a right to expect something that sounded better than this pedal does. It only takes one bad experience to chase away a potential customer.

Two knobs to set intensity and rate. A no-brainer for all except the most cognitively challenged.

Re: the internal trim pot mentioned in other reviews--here's an e-mail I received from Voodoo Lab that should help clarify matters:

"Hello Mr.______,

In clearing out some old emails I ran across yours. It isn't clear if you
were helped. If not, please accept our apologies. That pot is related to
the oscillating effect of the vibe. It is not really an EQ adjustment. It
is a very fine and sensitive adjustment though, and 9 people out of 10 get
it set way off so that the oscillating effect disappears, and then they
can't find the right spot again. So they have to send them here to get put
back. It isn't meant to be adjusted post-production, or we would have made
it more accessible, and included references to it in the instruction
sheet.
It was reported once on the Harmony Central website that this is a way to
tweak the tone of the Micro Vibe, and consequently many folks have caused
themselves some inconvenience through trying to change the tone by
adjusting that pot.

Please do contact us any time. The quickest way to get helped is always by
phone - (800) 986 6696 between 9A and 6P Pacific Time, M-F.



Regards,

John Aycock
Digital Music Corp.
www.voodoolab.com"

I'm currently using this pedal in an all-analog rig.
Signal chain: James Tyler Classic guitar-->Boss FV-60 Volume Pedal-->Microvibe-->Arion SCH-Z Stereo Chorus-->Ibanez TS-10 (modded to TS-808 specs by analogman)-->Ibanez AD-9 Analog Delay-->VHT Pitbull 45 1x12 combo. The pedal runs quiet but will add its own oscillation effect to an already-noisy signal. All in all, this unit delivers that Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs" sound by the truckload. Very cool.

No problems. A very rugged, sturdy unit in a seemingly bulletproof case.

Heve received prompt and courteous responses from John Aycock to all questions sent via e-mail to the company.

My own music is contemporary jazz/fusion, but I play all styles to pay the rent. This is one of the coolest pedals I've encountered in my 33 years of guitar playing. The Microvibe really does a fantastic job in replicating that classic univibe sound associated with Hendrix, Trower, et al. I would definitely look for a replacement if the unit were lost, stolen, etc.

Of all univibe copies, this has to be the easiest with the two knobs.
Manual is lacking somewhat, but provides some info.
This is the newer version with the light display.

Allright then. I've owned them all(most of them anyway) Dunlop had serious reliability problems,Fulltone Deja2 good sound but a volume boost I couldn't handle, sweet sound ultravibe(0.K. but not prominent)
This one however, is strong sounding,simple to use at a great price. Intensity all the way up is too strong for me, but you know you have a winner when that happens. Sounds killer with my Pete Cornish P2 fuzz and my Vibroking. Sweet and thick this pedal delivers. Why pay more? My unit does not have any noise as far as I can tell.
Just one of the best vibe copies out there.
Highly recommended.

Looks sturdy , heavy metal exterior and big plastic knobs should stand up. I wouldn't use a backup, I'm confident of this unit.

Never dealt with them.

Great pedal that delivers in spades. A leslie sound is essential for me, and I just love the fact this puts out boutique sound without the serious Fulltone prices. All of my stuff is top notch(George L cables, voodoo lab power supply) Nothing but kudos.

ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS.... according to John Aycock at Voodo Labs, the internal trim control in the Microvibe IS NOT adjustable. Attempting to adjust the small trim pot inside will damage the unit, resulting in temperamental outbursts, profuse profanity, and RA's that you don't want to have to do...

I like it. Goes well with the Fulltone '69.

Rcvd return e-mail the next day... pretty good.

Firstly, it aint the sort of thing you take out of the box and expect to do magic. The trimpot is quite a tricky thing to play with, and i've spent the last 2 days taking the damn thing apart and adjusting it, only to take it apart again barely 2 hours later. However, once set right (to your tastes i guess) this thing is REALLY REALLY nice to play around with.

Oh yah, about the trimpot, some reviewers below say that its a tone knob, however i think its more than just that :

turned to the right (clockwise) : brighter tone overall, and more pronounced trem effect.

turned to the left (counter clockwise) : darker tone overall, and more pronounced chorus effect.

if anyone can back me up on this, i'm going to say now that the trimpot adjusts the mix of trem and chorus in the vibe effect. Well, to my ears at least.

okay, this is where the fun starts.

After playing with the trimpot for several hours, i have to say that, this nifty box has a HUGE range of tones (now if only that trimpot was a knob........), if you want the micro amp to sound like a chorus, and by hell, it is one sweet sounding chorus, turn the trimpot leftwards slightly (counter clockwise), not too much if you dont want your tone too dark sounding.

Conversely, if you like the trem kind of thing, turn it clockwise, and viola! Actually,its more the vibe kind of sound than a trem effect, but thats why you're reading this now right?

okok... bottom line : if i could have another knob put in it, i'd do it immediately, this box would be the most versatile thing ever. (or perhaps a toggle switch like the original univibe?). The chorus is SWEEET beyond sweet, gets that type o negative kind of tone (think dark, chorusy, goth-metal tone), played clean, you can get that nirvana thing and metallica cleans. overall, nice.

BUT if i wanted a chorus pedal, i'd get a chorus pedal right?
so my current trimpot setting is somewhere towards the right side (but not too much), this way, you get the best of both worlds, a great vibe tone and a chorus on lower intensity levels.

Oh, and the vibe tone, holy shit. Played with some fuzz, you're instantly transported to the age of hendrix and trower, played clean, you'd think that your friend drugged your drink earlier, trippy indeed.

OVERALL : great tone, great range(though not that accessable), it gots the mojo ! oh yah, TRUE BYPASS!!

hadnt had any problems yet.

havent dealt with them.

This one was a steal at $100, i'm more than happy with it, though it would really be the BEST thing ever, if voodoo lab puts another knob that does the trimpot's work. (and offer to mod all current micro vibe owners' ones at no cost)

2 knobs- really? Simplicity at its best.
Did'nt mess with the internal trimmer, didn't have to.

Well, for around $100 USD this is it! You can take the $300-400 ultra/deja/uni vibes and keep em. This pedal does it for way cheaper. I've never used an original vibe or any of the others and never will @ those ridiculous botique price$. WHY?

Built like a brick house.

Never dealt with them. Hopefully won't have to. No opinion

Been playing for 26+ yrs. and have played a Roto-vibe and Dunlop Uni-vbe recently and dumped both of em cause they blow! Hell, the old EH small stone sounded more like Hendrix/Trower than those do. The Microvibe nails those tones perfectly! I'm able to do things on it that I was never inspired/able to do before because the sound just wasn't there with the other 'vibe' wannabe's. Runs on 9vdc battery, but get a pwr supply, it's worth it! Like I said for the money it's the best vibe value out there!