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Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe

Summary
Price New Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL http://www.voodoolab.com/
Ease of Use 9.4 (92 responses)
Sound Quality 8.7 (91 responses)
Reliability 8.8 (79 responses)
Customer Support 9.0 (33 responses)
Overall Rating 8.8 (91 responses)
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Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 08/05/2009 at 06:36pm by Austin

Ease of Use : 10
It only has two knobs, Itensity and Speed, so even a chimp could operate this pedal. However,if you are feeling adventurous there is a trim pot on the underside of the PC board. To access it just unscrew and take off all the knobs and carefully remove the PC board from the chassis. Turn the trim knob with a small phillips head screwdriver clockwise for more effect, and counter clockwise for less.

Sound Quality : 9
Okay I'm going to save you a lot of headaches, because below are countless complaints about losing high end, too much high end, too subtle and so forth. Here's a question for you, who the best U'Vibe tones? Trower, Hendrix, and Gilmour. And also Nazereth on "Love Hurts." These guys did NOT run a cheezy distortion or overdrive pedal into Line 6 or Crate amp. They used cranked Marshalls and ran the U-vibe between the guitar and the amp, not through an FX Loop or after the pre amp. Run correctly this pedal does a decent job. Yes it does suck a little highs when using it on a clean channel so it gets a 9. Sounds very Trowerish with crunch, gain, or whatever you wanna call it.

Reliability : 9
4 years old and still running strong.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 9
There are probably better pedals out there, but if you cab pick up one of these for under a C note, then it's good buy!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 85 USED
Submitted 02/19/2009 at 10:58am by iroibeirt

Ease of Use : 9
Two knobs, speed and intensity, very easy to use, but can be pretty versatile

Sound Quality : 8
I'm playing a John Mayer sig strat into a DRRI, also pairing the Micro Vibe up with a Sparkle Drive and a Maxon OD-9.

The pedal sounds great! You definitely have the ability to get some awesome Hendrix/SRV sounds, but not limiting it to that.

I like the intensity all the way up and the speed either at 11 o'clock or 2 o'clock. At 11, you can get a warmer phaser type tone, and at 2 you can really let it rip. Even with the speed all the way up, you can get a very similar vibrato sound to Frusciante and some of the RHCP stuff.

The reason I gave it a rating of 8 is because, first I rarely give out 10s on Sound Quality, and in my opinion it sucks your tone a tiny tiny bit. Not a lot, it's subtle, but if there were a volume knob, it would make the pedal near perfect!

Reliability : 6
I bought mine used, not sure if it's a result of bad treatment from the previous owner, but it seems like people have expressed similar concerns. The first time I turned the pedal on, it didn't work, and only output a small fuzzy static (I was using a 9v power supply, no battery). I had to turn the pedal off and on a few times to get it working.

Then a couple days later, I turned on my amp with the Micro Vibe OFF and there was no bypass signal. I checked all my connections, and then I turned the pedal on and off, and the signal returned to normal.

There seems to be some internal connection issue, not sure exactly what it is. But I sent it in for RMA, see below.

Customer Support : 10
Voodoo support is amazingly friendly. I emailed their support email address and got a response in a couple days. They were very helpful and said they would take a look at the pedal and fix anything that was needed free of charge (even though I wasn't the original purchaser). The only situation where I would need pay is if the pedal was altered or modified, and they needed to fix it.

Overall Rating : 9


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 150
Submitted 02/06/2009 at 09:05am by jltee

Ease of Use : 10
Easy to use. Two big knobs; speed, intensity. LED light, 3pdt type toggle switch. Came with one-sheet manual for suggestions. Probably the big challeng in use is to experiment to find the sweet spots for the different sounds you need.

Sound Quality : 7
My setup in order. Fender Am. Dlx. Strat or Gibson LP Classic Antique, modded crybaby, keeley comp, EB Volume Jr, BossTU-2, JekyllHyde, Keeley Katana boost, loopmaster 4 switcher (1.Keeley Baked Mod Ibanez TS9; 2.DIY Ross Clone comp; 3. Ibanez Stereo Chorus CS9; 4. TC Electronics Chorus/Flanger), Micro Vibe, Line6 DL4, Holy Grail, Sonic Stomp, 30watt class A tube amp.

Okay, placement is definitely everything. I put mine after the OD/Dist to forgo the darker (weaker) swish in front of the OD. It does what it says and you can get really crazy effects when maxing the intensity. Ultimately, it just didn't hold its charm for me. Looking for that leslie sound was alright, but solos seemed to be "thinned" and trebly while this effect was engaged. It worked better for the cleaner, less overdriven tone, but when I wanted to go all out on the slow speed, light intensity, it just didn't seem to inspire me for lead (similar to Mike McReady, that hint of slow vibe). Good for rhythm playing like "tightrope" and it's a decent pedal to keep in the arsenal. This actually makes me want to give the roto-vibe another shot (even thought it's a tone sucking machine)

Reliability : 10
Very reliable. No problems. Seems to be built very well. Bottom plate secured by 4 screws which were NOT tightened when I bought it brand new from Guitar Center. Took off the rubber panel at the bottom to put on velcro. Curiously, the rubber panel came off easy and the adhesive is still very usable. Seems to be built to last a long while.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with Voodoo Lab (Digital Music Corp). Don't know.

Overall Rating : 8
Like to play soulful jazz when no one is listening, but (sigh) get paid to play all different kinds of cover stuff spanning from 60's to current (country, jazz, blues, disco, rock, metal). Been playing for about 30 years and gig out at least 3x's a week. I compared to the old vibe pedals I used to own. Definitely true to that type of design. Just don't know if I would buy it again if lost. I think for those with a budget, it's adequate. Those looking to expand their sound with vibe,leslie sounds definitely try out other units before making this their go-to one(two,three...)-trick pony pedal.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 01/22/2009 at 01:08am by JR Mondano

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs, speed and intensity, how hard is that?

Sound Quality : 10
Sounds great, because it's actually analog, and not some emulation of a univibe, and it's true bypass so your signal won't be wobbling all the time, unless you forget to turn it off.

Reliability : 8
Metal case feels solid, but considering there's an actual lightbulb inside I'm not going to throw it against the wall.

Strangely mine wouldn't work right when I first got it, until I took out the battery (which involves removing the entire bottom plate) and plugged it into my power chain... it's not like I was going to keep the battery in it, but it would have nice just to test the thing out.

Customer Support : 6
Only contacted them with a question about another pedal, and got a snooty answer (that pedal was "positive grounded" and "only OUR pedal power brick will work with it." THEIR power brick was $200! My power chain was under $50. No thank you.)

Overall Rating : 10
This is a fun thing to play with when you've got it chained next to another modulation unit, I have a phase shifter after it, adding the wobble really adds to the extraterrestrial sounds you can get out of a phase shifter.

The one issue I have is this thing ain't so "Micro" anymore, considering the size of some other "hand built in the USA" pedals these days (Catalinbread's "Bantam Boxes" come to mind.)


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 01/13/2009 at 02:58pm by Ashurbanipal K. Heimekker-Lutz III

Ease of Use : 9
Well now, as my [I]Patri-Grampe[/I] Leonid Lutz would say, "what does the bench bring us today?"

We don't know what to make of this pedal! It is a two-knob concern with an internal trim pot that you are not supposed to touch...ours is used, so we do not know if the secret sacred pot has been touch, touched by whom, or how touched.

Speed is rate, intensity is depth. It is very easy to use, needless to say. Ease is not the issue here. In fact, we are not sure there IS an issue here, but it is certainly not ease of use in any case.

Sound Quality : 8
We are deploying the Micro Vibe in a pedalboard chain of ever increasing complexity. It has taken on a head of its own. Brushed metal boxes appear. We just added our first dual fx-loop/bypass pedal for the noble purpose of "quarantining" some inadvertently cool and oddball effects that we do not necessarily want in-line all the time, either because they are notorious tone suckers, or because, in the case of our Dave Smith Evolver, the "effect" introduces unbypass-able A/D D/A conversions whether it is engaged in our service or not, and our signal chain is otherwise a robust all-analog, all true-bypass affair. We tell you this not out of desultory chattiness but because it leads us to the central debate regarding this pedal. You see, we like to place our Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive BEFORE the new fx-loop pedal, and thus before everything else, because the Evolver likes a slightly hottenated incoming signal, but we need the Sparkle Drive on the de-volver loop as well. So, to address the debate:

Position in the chain is EVERYTHING with this pedal. Our problem, however, is that we don't know which position we prefer!

This is simply two different pedals: one before our Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, and one after.

Before the Sparkle Drive: darker, swooshier, noticeable bass frequency excitation. This is the LUSH position to be sure; our only problem here is that the up swing, the crest, the Zenith of the Micro Vibe's modulating wave does not seem to go QUITE high enough..it does not seem to fully bloom, to fully open. A luscious ordeal it is, indubitably, but also a bit inescapably dark...when placed before our boost/OD pedal.

After the pedal, the Micro Vibe brightens right up--a whole different sound altogether. Both Speed and Intensity seem to have less effect overall. It becomes a very subtle swoosh. This is where we are using it now, though we remember the dark hearkening allure of the first position.

Reliability : 8
Seems solid.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No experience with.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
It is still early, and we don't remember much. This is a nice pedal, for real. Good, robust, liquid sound. Isn't it a shame that you can't touch certain pedals without evoking instant associations...Hendrix, Trower, Gilmour. Sound should be less...referential than that. Or so say we.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 150
Submitted 11/25/2008 at 04:24pm by Schaf

Ease of Use : 10
The pedal is very simple to operate with only controls for Intensity and Speed. However, be prepared for hours of fun! Minor adjustments of each can generate a very wide range of sounds. In a matter of minutes you will be able to dial in sounds from long lost songs that you have not listened to in decades. Within minutes I was easily able to dial in Hendrix, Trower, Gilmour, Rundgren and yes, even Three Dog Night.

Sound Quality : 9
First I must say, modulation effects are my favorite. Then I must say WOW! This pedal delivers all I hoped for and then some. The pedal is very quiet while operating and I did not find that it colored the tone. That said, which frequencies are emphasized or cut will vary with the Intensity and Speed just as they are with any phase shifter.

I find it impossible to generate a bad sound with this pedal. It is warm and fat. A few favorite settings are Intensity at 11 o???clock and Speed full for a bright and subtle Leslie type sound. Intensity at 4 o???clock and Speed at 1 o???clock for a good Univibe tone. Intensity at 3 o???clock and speed at full for a deeper Leslie tone reminiscent of older Three Dog Night. And why not, Intensity and Speed both at full just for fun! You can make this as ???in your face??? or subtle as you wish.

Placing before or after overdrive/distortion will be a matter of taste. I prefer mine after the overdrive pedals and also prefer to use it with only ???light??? overdrive or clean. I find lighter overdrive delivers a tone that reminds me more of a Leslie. I do not care for heavy overdrive of distortion with this or any modulation effect. However, you may like it.

I use a Deluxe Reverb RI and for overdrive with this pedal I prefer the Boss BD-2 (Monte Alllums H20 mod) or Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer (Monte Allums Tube Screamer mod). However, playing clean with the MXR M-169 Carbon Copy analog delay is my absolute favorite. I love the sound with my Les Paul or Tele, any pickup position, but have a slight preference for the bridge pickup position of each.

There is much discussion about the trim pot. Mine sounds so good I have no desire to touch the trim pot. To me, it is perfect as is.

I rate the sound as a 9 instead of 10 because the pedal is somewhat sensitive to placement in your chain and sounds good with some overdrive and distortion pedals and not so good with others. To be fair, I find this to be true of almost any modulation effect. As much as we all like overdrive and distortion, I can not emphasize enough how absolutely beautiful this pedal sounds clean or with only the slightest hint of overdrive, followed by some analog delay and especially with a Les Paul. Do yourself a favor, turn off your overdrive and hear what your are missing.

I did try the mini Deja Vibe and found I prefer the sound of the Micro Vibe as the Micro Vibe seems to have a stronger low-end ???throb??? and thicker sound, which is what I personally like. Even though they both emulate the Univibe, and are both outstanding products, I found them to be quite different sounding.

Reliability : No Opinion
I have only had it for a couple of days so too soon to tell. It seem very well built. Nice paint job!

Customer Support : 10
Outstanding! I have many questions which were promptly answered by e-mail. They even created a sound clip for me and sent a photo with the settings. How many companies would do that? Very cool in my book! Thanks you Voodoo Lab!

Overall Rating : 10
I primarily play in the Praise Band at my church, and on occasion with a classic rock cover band. This will be a welcome addition to my packed pedal board. If it was lost or stolen I would immediately replace.

If I was going to add anything to this pedal I would love have the ability to select between a fast and slow speed setting via footswitch.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 78 USED
Submitted 11/13/2008 at 12:10pm by Abner Franco Marins
Email: abnerfm at ig<dot>com<dot>br

Ease of Use : 7
MINE IS THE OLDER MODEL WITHOUT LED (1996 is printed on the circuit board).

Although it has only two knobs, it's not that easy to get a good sound out of it, because (according to the manual - and my

ears) the more you increase the speed, you have to decrease the intensity (I mean, the interaction between the knobs). That

should not happen, in my opinion.

THE INTERNAL TRIMPOT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EQ (for those who can't realise it)!
AND, as you turn it to the left or turn it to the right, IT DOES NOT GET "MORE CHORUSY" (or "phasey") or "MORE VIBRATO" like

some people said here (maybe some of them were into a cloud of LSD while trying to tweak the pedal).

TO ME, it seems to increase/decrease the intensity of the effect, as I turned it to the left and there was NO EFFECT. I

agree with a review from Kerry Ayres when he said "speed is not fast enough". That seems to happen with the Voodoo Lab

Analog Chorus, too. The manual is poor, but who needs it?

Sound Quality : 8
Setup: 1999 Fender American Standard Stratocaster > Real McCoy RMC3 Wah-Wah > Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe > Analog Man Beano Boost > Barber Direct Drive "version 5" > Fulltone OCD "version 4" > Fulltone Octafuzz > Fulltone '69 > Fulltone '70 > Zoom PD-01 Power Drive > Voodoo Lab Analog Chorus > Ibanez SC10 Super Stereo Chorus > MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay > Voodoo Lab Pedal Power > (1970) Marshall Super Bass (head, 100 Watts) > Behringer 4X12 (with 2 Celestions Vintage 30).

First of all, THIS EFFECT IS GREAT (not subtle like the Fulltone), but there is one thing that annoys me a lot: the more you

increase the intensity, it seems to sound more "squared" wave, I mean, the transition seems to be too much abrupt. According

to Mr. Josh Lippmann (nice gentleman from Voodoo Lab technical support), "The Microvibe uses a true sine wave oscillator the

same as an original Univibe. Turning up in the internal trimpot will make it more abrupt and "wumpy". Correctly adjusting

the trimpot will give it a much smoother sound", so I will give it a second try.

I would give a 10 to the Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe, but it goes for US$500 on eBay... I paid US$78 for the Micro Vibe, one of

the cheapest pedals I ever bought. So, if the Mojo Vibe is a 10 and the Micro Vibe is an 8, that is a pretty good rating,

don't you think?

It must be placed BEFORE boost / overdrive / distortion / fuzz. It's not noisy at all.

Reliability : No Opinion
Never had a problem.

Customer Support : 9
They always answer my mails.

Overall Rating : 8
Some people say "no treble", some say "way too trebly", some say "it boosts volume", some say "it decreases the volume"... there is a lot of contradiction in those reviews. It's probably the gear of each one. TO ME, it decreases the volume, but just a little bit. but it does not bother me. What bothers me a lot is the "squared wave" when I increase the intensity.
Damn! I WISH I COULD TURN UP THE INTENSITY TO FULL CLOCKWISE POSITION... If it weren't for this, I would give it a 9.

It reacts well BEFORE my Fulltone OCD and Octafuzz IN FUZZ MODE (without the octave up on), but it doesn't react well with the Fulltone '69 and the Fulltone '70, UNLESS you put a buffered pedal between them, BUT THAT WOULD KILL THE FUZZ (and that is another LONG LONG LONG story...).

Overall, this is a great effect, especially when compared to its rivals that costs 3 or 4 times more. It has a BEAUTIFUL VOICE that seems to "envelope" my guitar tone, in a very good way, of course.

AT LAST, some people say "it doesn't sound like a Leslie", but IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO IT! Some chorus pedals are way better to do the "Leslie thing" (Analog Man's web site explains the differences between vibes and choruses pedals).

My main influences are Jimi Hendrix, Clapton/Beck/Page and Keith Richards. I've been playing for 17 years. Yes, I would buy it again if needed. The other Uni-Vibe clones I played are: Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe (the best in the world...), Dunlop (both Stereo and mono versions), etc.

FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AT abnerfm@ig.com.br anytime you want.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 10/08/2008 at 04:10am by Johan

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Extremly easy to use, but try to find your sweet spots

Sound Quality : 9
Strats, Ibanez, Music Man etc. Mesa RoadKing II/mesa 2x12 with G25 speakers. Wah->Micro Vibe-> Bad Monkey od->Amp->
Boss Digtal Dimension chorus(loop1)->Boss DD20(loop2)

Sounds fantastic. Just like i want it to. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJg8laPTbGA

I have not tested every unit out there, so it gets a 9. It still the best so far.

Tested it trough Mesa Road King and Stiletto, Peavey JSX, Classic 50/4x10 and 6505/5150, Marshall JVM and JCM 800, Vox AC30, Crate VTS200S, Line6 amps. Works with every amp.











Reliability : 10
Had it for 4 years. Not a single problem. Stomp it'n play

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
Played for 20 years. I would buy it again with no hesitation..


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 05/14/2008 at 04:46pm by guitguy26

Ease of Use : 10
This pedal is incredibly simple to use with two knobs for "Intensity" and "Speed", a foot switch, and an LED to indicate on/off.

Then of course, you have an input & output, as well as plug-in connection.

One thing to be aware of is where you place the pedal in the signal chain! I'd say place it after distortion pedals or else the sound will be a lot subtler. Make sure to experiment and see what sounds best to you.

For classic "Vibe" tones, try a high intensity plus about half speed.

For "Leslie" tones, go with full intensity and 3/4 speed.

For something like a phaser, go with half speed and half intensity.


Sound Quality : 9
The sound of this pedal is that classic Uni-Vibe sound, and set differently, it can do a good "Leslie/rotating cabinet" sound and even a warm, more organic "phaser" sound.

I really do love this pedal for its tone and versatility, and almost instantly it became my favorite effect.

I was reading a Guitar Player review of this pedal, in an article from the mid 90s comparing "Uni-Vibe"-style pedals. It ranked the Fulltone 'Vibe as having the best sound, and said that while the Micro Vibe offered the best bang for the buck, it didn't "envelop" your guitar sound quite like the Fulltone 'Vibe did...

I'd have to agree with that, at least sometimes. While I really like this pedal, I was playing with it with a Strat and a Fender amp and wasn't quite getting the sound of the Vibe to quite "take over" my tone as much as I would have liked.

Still, this is an EXCELLENT sounding pedal and I do not regret purchasing it at all. It can do a lot more than get Jimi's vibe tone. The phaser-style and leslie-style tones definitely make this a worthwhile pedal for me to have.

Reliability : 10
Well, it looks tough enough to me.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I really dig this 'Vibe, not only for the Jimi tones, but for the warm, organic leslie tones and phaser tones. Not a one-trick pony pedal at all. Absolutely worth it, but I did save a fair chunk of change by picking this up used. If I were to pay full price, I'd check out the other 'Vibe pedals out there as well. Having said that, I still might stick with the Micro Vibe over other brands.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/25/2008 at 11:57am by Goofydawg

Ease of Use : 9
Two knobs for Intensity and Speed plus and On/Off toggle. Can't get much easier than this. That said, while it's easy to use, you do have to take some time on placing it correctly in your signal chain: Before or after my OD pedals. I finally decided on placing it after my OD pedals. While not quite as intense in this position, I found that it worked a lot better vib'ing a distorted signal than distorting a vibe signal.

Sound Quality : 9
Subtle chorus to thick, syrupy vibe. It's truly beautiful. Others have mentioned that it sounds better with a Strat. I disagree. I use it with an ES-333 a Korina Explorer and a Strat, and it sounds awesome with all those guitars.

Another mentioned that it sucked tone. I haven't found that to be the case at all. It certainly alters your sound, which it's supposed to, but tonally, it's clean. I dig this pedal! That said, it does seem as if your EQ does get a bit scooped, but it's not severe, and by no means did I feel that my tone got sucked in any way.

In any case, this is a gorgeous sounding pedal.

Reliability : No Opinion
I haven't had it for long, but it's very solidly built, so I'm expecting it to be very reliable.

Customer Support : 10
I called tech support to ask them a few questions about rig placement and power requirements, and the person I spoke with was both knowledgeable and friendly. A good combination.

Overall Rating : 9
I write and cover music that crosses a wide variety of genres, though as of late I've been leaning towards the blues and classic 70's rock tone. The Micro Vibe gives me the tone that I want from psychedelic to leslie. It has a permanent spot on my board.

I chose the Micro Vibe over the Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe after A/B'ing both for over an hour, and I chose it for a couple of reasons. First, price. You just can't go wrong when you get true bypass switching and great tone through a wide range of settings for almost half the price of the Deja Vibe.

Secondly, even though it doesn't have a vibrato switch like the Deja, in "vibe" mode, I just preferred the sound it produced. It has a tad darker color than the Deja. Not that the Deja's tone is bad. It's not, but I simply preferred the darker coloring of the Micro Vibe. The Deja Vibe's "pulse" is also much more subtle. I really wanted a more "in your face" pulse.

Being an analog pedal, you really do have to take the time to find the sweet spots for different songs, and take a bit of time finding the right position in your signal chain, but believe me, it's totally worth it, and you won't be disappointed.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/14/2008 at 03:57pm by Mystic-Ghost

Ease of Use : 9
Very easy to use the two knobs. You only have to experiment with your effects-chain in your setup. I prefer to use it after the guitar before the overdrives. Then small adjustments on the Intensity for your taste when you play with your band.

Sound Quality : 9
I use Strat (Kinman Avn-blues pickups)-Boss tuner-Line6 dl4-H&K Rotosphere-MXR phase90-VoodooLab MicroVibe-BuddaWah-Fuzzface69 and more in to a Marshall Superbass ??72 with 1960AX+BX loaded w/ G12H speakers. For me this is "THE UNIVIBE SOUND". I have a little problem with the switch in off position. Then I often get a weak, noisy sound out...I have to turn it on and off again to make the switch connecting well again. I am getting the right kind of Hendrix-Trower-SRV-Bramhall2 swoooaarrling out from this box. Have always to remember that the other equipment is very much affecting the Vibe sound. For me the Greenbacks (G12M) are way too muddy sounding. I prefer G12H or other speakers w/ more definition for my setup and that really makes a big deal for this effect.

Reliability : 7
The switch is now a little unsure...i think electrospray will help here...I use it w/ my MXR phase90 as a backup...

Customer Support : 9
From Custom-Sounds.com I??ve always been friendly met...

Overall Rating : 9
We play mostly classic 60-70-2000 rock...I think the box-size and price is good here...Buy one if you like to get a very good Vibe sound in a small box for not soo much money...


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 02/16/2008 at 03:50am by Paul
Email: dark-horse-pa<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 10
This is probably the easiest effect pedal to operate short of the one knob Phase 90. Two knobs speed and intensity. Basic rule of effect use holds to this as well if you are trying to hold a musical tone that's useful during actual playing; more speed/less depth. YOu cannot get a bad sound out of this unit just depends if you are trying to get a fast pulse Lesli effect or a slow deep pulse.

Sound Quality : 10
I have loved the Univibe effect since it was invented. I began having problems with my reissue Dunlop Univibe that I have had for about 7 years or so. For some reason when I bought the foot controller for it years back something happened to it and it would not work anymore without it. The sound quality was fine it just would not function without the special foot controller plugged in. (This requires a special stereo to stereo 1/4" cable by the way.) Anyway, I have been wanting to replace this unit as I have been upgrading my pedal board. I have looked at all Univibe possibilities, I even had an original years and years ago, God I wish I would have kept it for the money value. Modern units are all vastly superior to the bulky original. I liked my reissue for a long time, just sick of having to have the foot controller which I always have to fiddle with to get the Trower pulse I love. I was seriously considering Fulltone becaise Trower uses all Fulltone now and I have the OCD which is tremendous (see other review). I ran across this Voodoo Lab pedal and the cost was lke half of anything else. How could I go wrong giving this a shot? I was not disapointed. The box and sheet for this states it is a modern circuit design of the original 1969 Univibe. The size was so small I was skeptical. The sound is there, all there, and this has real by-pass most execellent. I found no problems with this unit from a range of pickup positions and clean to heavy distortion. It could be a little more bolder on clean settings but that can be compensated easily. My rig can do anything. Adding a slight drive or distortion brings out the typical modulating phaser sound and the more you add in the way of effects the more psychodelic you get. I love it myself. The price and quality is peerless. I will not spend that much for a Fulltone when I have this little jewel. I recommend this pedal as a supreme value and sound quality. If you like the Univibe do get one. I am prompted to check out more from Voodoo Lab.

Reliability : 10
No reason if you are doing gigs and use the Univibe as part your sound to have a backup. This pedal is well made and should last as long as anything would. Voodoo LAb has my vote, I am going to look into some of their other stuff. I love effects, always have, if one learns how to use them and make them become a part of the sound playinfg is rather boring without them. I am a Trower maven, not to mention Hendrix's use of this pedal and SRV. If you have not used a Univibe before it's too cool. A Univibe is not a chorus pedal or a phaser, exactly. It is a mutant offspring, actually a four mode phaser modulator, designed to have a very musical warble.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Not really a good question for a new pedal. I have never had much of anything fail in a lot of years. Never talked to Voodoo Lab.

Overall Rating : 10
Buy one. If you like the Univibe effect this is a little jewel. I don;t have much to say about batteries. I had to resort to batteries for backup when my new Gator power supply would not work right out of the box. I have used a custom pedal board for years. I recently got a new Tonebone Slanted Board which I am just loving. All cables can be run up through any hidden holes on the board. To sound like a pro you need to pro your equipment. The Micro Vibe is never leaving my chain. I played my Carvins through this, a Les Paul type humbuckler and a strat type single coil it was pure Univibe, the real by-pass is a God send as well.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 10/29/2007 at 08:29pm by Neil Slade
Email: neil<at>neilslade dot com

Ease of Use : 10
very easy to use, plug in, twirl knobs and go.

NOTE: Much discussion about the trim pot--- see my comments below

Sound Quality : 9
Very good, unbeatable at this price, and better than many more expensive units like the Fulltone, and runs on a single 9V battery. When the trim is adjusted correctly, very nice watery garble, which is exactly what this kind of effect is all about.

Here's the best univibe sound I can locate:
http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/ bear in mind, this pedal is WAY expensive and out of production, about $500 for one these days. But for me, it is the benchmark for univbe sound. Sound clips of the Captain Coconut here http://www.foxroxelectronics.com/

Now, with this in mind, and sorry I haven't made any Microvibe clips, but you can hear here: http://www.voodoolab.com/microvibe.htm
unfortunately, I frankly don't like any of these clips that much, but it will give you a good idea of what the pedal sounds like in various configurations and styles-- Although the speed is not variable like the CC2 EEC, the sound is VERY VERY close to this

I can get a nice thick 3D sound, just what the doctor ordered.

Two things to keep in mind-- the univibe effect sounds best played with a Strat in the neck pickup position. That's just how it is, and what you expect to hear from this effect--- that watery gurgle. Played through a humbucker, or bridge pickup-- it just won't sound as good, it just won't give you that perfect signature water gurgle. OKAY?

#2 THE TRIM POT-- lots of discussion about this. You CAN play with it, but chances are you won't improve on the factory setting, unless the tech wasn't paying attention-- which of course, is possible.

If you've messed with it, and want the best sound, and don't know where the factory left it here's some guidelines

A) It is NOT SIMPLE AN INTENSITY ADJUSTMENT, as one comment suggested. Yes, it does adjust the intensity of the light bulb inside which reacts with the photocells-- but making the effect "more intense" is not the product of increasing the pot position. What it ultimately does is change the intensity of the relative INTERACTION between various PHASE SINE PEAKS. You have to listen very closely to hear this.

For example, if you turn the pot fully counter clockwise (from the open back facing the underside of the circuit board, no, you shouldn't have to remove the board from later models) you get a very pronounced peak of one aspect of the sound-- but this is disproportionate for the effect you want, and you will totally lose that nice watery phasey gurgle- even though you get one part of the signal accentuated.

If you turn the pot fully clockwise, you get just the opposite effect, and the peak disappears, and not much effect at all if anything.

Where you want it is somewhere in the middle-- AND HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT:

Make sure you have your guitar plugged in, and a new battery. Use the neck pickup position, and preferably a Stratocaster, treble tone all the way up.

a) Turn down the lights in your room, so ambient lighting is fairly dim.

b)Adjust the speed so its about in the middle, not too fast, not too slow, a nice slow walk.

c) Turn the trim pot fully counter clockwise. You'll see the lightbulb through the circuit board, and get bright and get dim on and off. Notice, if you turn the pot clockwise, the light will get dimmer and dimmer. All the way clockwise, you can't see the light at all.

d) Adjust the pot slowly clockwise from the very conspicuous bright fully counterclockwise position , until you can just barely not see it shine through the circuit board any more. THAT'S THE APPROXIMATE PLACE YOU WANT IT. If you can still see the light pulsing, go a little more clockwise, till it just vanishes.

e) You should actually here TWO DIFFERENT TONES HAPPENING at this point- two different sine wave peaks. That's what creates the watery effect. If you just crank the trim pot fully counterclockwise, sure, you'll hear a lot of effect, but you lose the water gurgle, and you'll end up with just one peak at half the rate than if you adjust correctly. Fine tune

Reliability : 10
By the way I HAVE TRIED MODIFYING THIS PEDAL by adding a jumper for the R2 resistor. DON'T BOTHER, doesn't help anything, and I went back to the stock resistor.

Some people have messed with the trim pot and suddenly all the effect dissapears or the photo light becomes errated. YES this will happen with the trim pot adjusted fully counterclockwise. Please adjust as instructed above.

Otherwise, no problems with this pedal for me.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
An excellent pedal, for $100, you can't do better, and my guess is that you can get a boutique vibe and do much worse, as my experience with the Fulltune vibe (tried a couple of them including the one with the speed pedal).

Neil Slade
professional musician and other
http://www.BrainRadar.com
http://www.EasyPaintYourCar.com
http://www.InkJetHelper.com


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 05/14/2007 at 11:45pm by JA

Ease of Use : 10
Speed/Intensity/Footswitch -- done! I had an original Univibe in the 70s and loved it but always wished it had been simpler.
I'm the K.I.S. type. (K.I.S.S. is too complex.)

Sound Quality : 10
SO great to hear that awesome sound again! Utterly stunning -- a mystical shimmer on clean settings and an unbelievable grinding, seething distortion! And it???s plenty versatile; I was concerned it might be ???Hendrix Only??? but not at all. I totally love it!
I usually play a MIM Strat through a Classic 30 or Cube 60. It's definitely a Ten.

Reliability : No Opinion
It's well-built. No issues after 6 months.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with the company -- they sound accountable.

Overall Rating : 10
My style: Rock/Blues/Jazz/Country/Roots, since the late 60s. I love this pedal -- it's like the old Univibe "reincarnated!" With my band (classic/original mix) I can switch this thing on and suddenly find myself thinking "WOW -- is that ME playing??" This total other dimension opens up --- unexplainable!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: Australian Dollars 330
Submitted 05/10/2007 at 06:41am by Jon Merlin

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs, one for instensity, one for speed. Dead easy to use.

Sound Quality : 10
There are no bad sounds in this unit. Even with the intesity on low it still provides a subtle effect right through to the most intense psychedelic acid scape you could imagine.

I think this nails the uni-vibe sound better than the Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe pedal. It is much more organic and chewy sounding.

Reliability : 10
So nothing has happened to it. Not gigging at the moment but I'm sure I could rely on this thing. It's built like brick shithouse!

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
For the money this thing is a great value product. It's handmade and also true bypass.

I tried it against the Mini Deja-Vibe and liked this a whole lot better.

Just get one!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 154
Submitted 05/08/2007 at 10:32am by Chris
Email: eyes dot only<at>optusnet dot com dot au

Ease of Use : 9
Two knobs is easy enough.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
Makes a hissing noise when run into an overdriven amp. Works you tone through dark/treble cycles. Makes a throbbing sound. Robs you of some bass response. A bit too pristine sounding when compared to the Jimi or Trower sound. Very thick effect with intensity up.

Reliability : No Opinion
Only has about one part to go wrong, the light bulb. As we all know light bulbs are not going to go forever like an led. I would like to see an LED based unit for this fact alone.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 7
The trim pot? IS NOT A TONE CONTROL! it adjusts the peak intensity of the light bulb inside. This unit flashes a light bulb from off to on and the LDR units adjust their resistance based on the light hitting them. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET A BETTER SOUND BY ADJUSTING THE TRIM POT. The trim pot is like turning up or down the intensity control, in that the light buld glows brighter or dimmer. So people that think they have adjusted it to sound better are imagining things. All they have done is change the position of their intensity control.

Maybe I don't really like this effect. It is not spatial at all and I like my Nady FL-10 flanger because it is lush and spatial. A univibe has no delay elements so it is not going to be 3 dimensional. It is stricly 2D and it lacks to me, although it is very thick and dominant it is also very dead sounding. It is like you shot heroin and are just feeling really compressed. It is not a happy uplifting effect.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/10/2007 at 03:20pm by Greg

Ease of Use : 7
2 knobs, so it doesn't take much fiddling to get different sounds

Sound Quality : 3
I sent it back. Perhaps my expectations were too high based on users' reviews, but I found major tone suckage, especially in the low end. Took away the dynamics and sparkle. Tried it both before and after OD pedals. Better dynamics at the front of the chain, but the microvibe's noise followed the swooshy pattern, which I found to get amplified by the OD pedals. After OD, just mushy. Running strat->Keeley Mod BD2 -> Keeley Mod TS9 -> JS2 Fuzz -> Silverface champ or DR

Reliability : 9
Seems well built

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 5
Probably good for the money, but not as transparent as I was hoping.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: USD 130
Submitted 09/29/2006 at 05:35pm by Derek

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use. Very intuitive. Somewhat lacking in versatility as a result, but very easy to get a cool sound.

Sound Quality : 9
Sound is really nice. I borrowed a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe witch was heaven-sent, but very pricey. I agree with the last reviewer that you should experiment with its placement in your rig, but wherever it ends up the tones are rich, deep and surprisingly warm. They don't overcolour your sound either, so you can still hear the nuances of your playing through it... that's the real test of any effect as I see it.

Reliability : 7
I have had a couple of switch mishaps. Just minor ones where the switch didn't take or something, I don't really know what happened. Other than those couple of incidents over a year of use, it's been perfectly reliable. I have to wonder how long it might last though.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with Voodoo Lab

Overall Rating : 9
I use this effect to vary or deepen my tones whenever it might sound iteresting. Occasionally it really adds colour to a good arpeggio or slow chording. Solos sound wicked through it. If it were stolen, I must admit I would upgrade to the far superior Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, but if you're not sure how much you might use a vibe, or you're on a budget, this is an indispensable value for the quality of the sound at the price.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 05/16/2006 at 06:31pm by gearhund
Email: ngronlund<at>comcast dot net

Ease of Use : 9
Easy. The brief manual points you in the right directions.

Sound Quality : 9
I have a couple comments about the Microvibe. 1/Pay attention to your signal chain: a) It seems that a lot of the reviewers that liked it placed it before their OD pedal and a lot of reviewers that didn't like it placed it after their OD pedal. Try both places and see which one you like best; it does make a difference. b) Try not to put a pedal with a buffered output (like Boss, DOD, etc.) before the Microvibe and it will be more touch sensitive. 2/ This pedal uses old-time photocells and works best with a little warm up time. Plug in your input cord for a few minutes (this turns the box on) before kicking the effect on with the stomp switch.

Go here to check out the effects order that Hendrix, Trower and SRV used: http://guitargeek.com/ (Notice the variations?)


Reliability : 9
No problems.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 9
This is the best value out there for vibe-y sounds.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $80 used
Submitted 08/19/2005 at 01:16pm by Evan

Ease of Use : 9
Two knobs, speed and intensity. Dialing in a sound is pretty simple.

Sound Quality : 9
I play a '98 California series strat > fulltone '70 > original ProCo Rat (set with a different fuzz level than the '70) > microvibe > modded crybaby > Ibanez DE7 (it blows and I'm saving up for a DL4) > Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Now I never played a 1969 univibe, but this thing sounds nice and lush. It is better than modern univibe reissues for sure. The speed is limited so that it doesn't get fast enough to make any leslie sounds, but neither did the original i guess. It's great for doing some hendrix stuff like machine gun and you can replicate david gilmore's guitar sound on pink floyd's breathe. I play a strat so there is a little noise when the pedal is on, but it's analog so that'll happen and the noise isn't bad at all. Using both dials at the either extreme doesn't sound good, but some fiddling will tell you this pretty quickly. The money zone for both dials appears to be between 3 and 9 o'clock. It hard to make it sound bad while in those parameters. It's true bypass, so it won't fuck with your tone when off. Equally as important, when it's on it doesn't kill your lows or highs, which i find to be rare in effects pedals.

Reliability : 8
lots of people complain about the switches on Voodoo Labs pedals, but i've never had a problem. Then again, I'm not particularly rough with my gear in practice or at gigs. I bought the thing used and had it for 2 years without any problems. It looks like it should stay that way

Customer Support : No Opinion
never had to use them

Overall Rating : 9
I play rock, basically all kinds, as long as it floats my boat. I've found ways to make this pedal work in all the different styles and you should be able to do the same. I wish it had a double speed setting to make leslie sounds, but I also want a winning lottery ticket and a toilet made of solid gold. It does its one sound really well, but I'm not sure it justifies getting one new for $135. If it got lost I would probably shell out the extra dough to get a unit that could make more sounds in one package, like the Fulltone choralflange (my buddy has one and it can do way more with equal, if not superior, sound quality).


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $149
Submitted 08/18/2005 at 07:13am by BT
Email: tozum<at>yahoo dot com

Ease of Use : 10
nothing can be easier.

Sound Quality : 9
Very nice, non-artificial analogue sound. Noisy when on but not played. However this makes me feel like I am playing a true effect pedal not a "sound-like" simulator. True by-pass is an asset.
One problem is; high intensity levels boost the highs of the signal, low intensity levels boost the lows. That is why I prefer intensity around 3 o'clock.
My setup is vox wah > ibanez cp-9 comp-limiter > vox v810 valvetone, bodd od-3 > Voodoo lab microvibe > tc electronic chorus > Bodd dd-3 delay > Marshall jtm 30 2x10 + 1968 Fender Super reverb 4 x 10
Great for pshycedelic Hendrix and Robin trower tunes. I do not use it for SRV tunes. (I use TC electronic chorus that fits good). This pedal is also capable of giving good rhythm grooves for some pop-rock ballads and pop-jazz tunes.

Reliability : 10
never had a problem. Bu I heard some complaints about the switch

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them

Overall Rating : 10
I play hendrix, SRV, chris duarte, craig erickson and all the other cats in this league. This pedal works fine for me. It is considerably cheaper than other u-vibe clones so it is a great value.. ?f it is stolen I would buy this or wait for sometime to get a prescription electronics U-vibe unit.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 07/18/2005 at 11:42am by Mark
Email: MarkSteadman at charter<dot>net

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Great pedal! This is my second submittal for this effect. After reading a couple of the most recent reviews on the Micro Vibe here at HC, I decided to investigate the possibilities of improving an already great pedal by adjusting the trim pot.

PROCEDURE: To access the trim pot you have to open up the box by removing the four screws and back cover plate. The trim pot is not visible unless you remove the circuit board from the housing and flip it over. To do this, remove the two control knobs by loosening the set screw on the side of each knob. Remove the two nuts that secure the Intensity and Speed pots to surface of the housing. Disconnect the lock nut that fastens the on/off footswitch to the surface of the housing. Disconnect the in and out input hex nuts that fasten the inputs to the front side of the housing. Now both the Intensity and Speed control pot circuit board, and the main circuit board are free and can be removed from the inside of the housing. Flip the main circuit board over to expose all of the electrical components. The trim pot is located at the bottom center of the main circuit board. It is very small control pot and has the word "Trim" printed on the board just below the pot. I made a small mark at the 6:00 position, on the head of small phillips adustment screw, so that I would have a reference point as to how much I was turning the screw, and more importantly how to return the trim pot back to the stock setting if I didn't like the results after changing the factory setting. (See the sound results in the Sound Quality section below) In order to test each new setting I had to reassemble everything. The pedal would not produce the effect unless the circuit's board ground wire was re-attached to the on/off switch lock nut inside the housing. This is the point of ground for the main circuit board.

I made three new adjustments, and again, I had to completely re-assemble the pedal so that it would function properly and produce the effect where it could be heard in the guitar amplifier.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
The first setting I tried was turning the trim pot WIDE OPEN. This maximum setting was achieved by only turning the trim pot screw one half turn clockwise from the factory setting (or my mark that I made at the 6:00 position). The sound was okay with the intensity control knob set at the 12:00 position or lower. Anything beyond 12:00 was too radical for me and only seemed to annoy me. Extreme intensity settings after 3:00 caused another wave in the sound that seemed out of place and was very distracting. It caused a warped tone that was out of time/sync with the other sounds produced and threw the timing off. "Hyper-swirl" would describe the sound in one word.

I determined that these extreme sounds would never be used. It didn't make sense to have a range of un-usable sounds on the dial that could interfere with what I normally play just by accidentally twisting the control knobs too far, or by accidentally bumping the Intensity knob with my foot. Doing so could send your guitar sound into another dimension. To make sure this never happened I opted to try another setting.

The next setting I tried was turning the trim pot screw one quarter turn clockwise from the original factory setting. The sound was better than the MAX setting but still extreme knob settings past 3:00 seemed un-usable.

I finally settled with turning the trim pot screw one eighth of a turn from the original factory setting. This is a very small turn since the adjustment screw is so small. The sound was great to my ears. Lower Intensity knob settings now sounded more like 12:00 knob settings under the original factory trim pot setting. Extreme settings past 3:00 were more intense than factory yet still very usable. All settings were enhanced and the overall effect just seemed to have more life and presence. I really liked the change that my final one eighth clockwise adjustment made.

Reliability : No Opinion
It was good of the Witchdoctor at Voodoo Labs to think about the player and place an adjustable trim pot on the board that can enhance the intesity output of the Micro Vibe. It shows that they are aware that all players are not alike and that the pedal is even more versatile and adjustable than it first appears to be.

Just make sure you know where the factory set point is before you begin adjusting things. I did not turn the trim pot in a counter clockwise direction since that would seem to only reduce the intensity of the overall effect. I'm not sure how far the screw turns in the counter clockwise direction.

Make sure you mark the screw before you begin tweaking and remember where the factory setting is so that you can always return the trim pot to the original factory setting. It would be great if the trim pot were more accessable. All the V-Lab would have to do is invert the switch on the board and have the adjustment screw penetrate the phenolic board and point it in the opposite direction that it is soldered in now. It would then be visible when you open the housings back plate and would be located just above the battery compartment.

Even a beginner player could could adjust and listen to the new trim pot settings without going through the re-assembly/disassembly each time a tweak is made. This was alot of trouble but I got real good at it after the second time. Just be careful not to damage any of the delicate connections on the board.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion
If you are looking for a little more presence from your Micro Vibe try turning the trim pot screw one eighth of a turn clockwise from the original factory setting. Anything more than this didn't sound very good to me. Although this operation is inconvenient, it is fairly simple if one is careful. Of course you wouldn't attempt to do this with the pedal plugged into the wall adapter. You may not get shocked but why push your luck. Just play it safe and live to play.

I like the new setting that I found, and can always go back to the original setting if I change my mind over time. This adjustment is worth doing if you like the Micro Vibe swirl added to your tone. Play on!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $86 used
Submitted 06/24/2005 at 11:14pm by Earl the Amazing Squirrel

Ease of Use : 9
OK, this is easy to use. No complaints here.

Sound Quality : 7
The sound doesn't blow me away. I did do the trimpot adjustment, and yes it did improve the sound, but it didn't make me see God (or Stevie Ray Vaughn). As with any pedal, you should experiment with the order of the pedals in your chain. However, I have no other vibe pedal to compare it to (the Prescription Electronics version gets a good review although it is much more expensive.) For the price this is probably good so I gave it a 7.

Reliability : 6
The footswitch is a bit problematic, it seems that sometimes it switches from "ON" to "ALMOST COMPLETELY OFF" (i.e. swirling vibe sound with no sound from the guitar) to "OFF". But I bought used, maybe I just got an abused one.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never used.

Overall Rating : 7
Other than the occasional switching problem, the pedal seems good. If you have been playing for a while, go ahead and do the trimpot adjustment. If my pedal were lost or stolen, it wouldn't be the end of the world, I would probably buy a better unit like the Prescription Electronics version.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $90.00 used
Submitted 05/18/2005 at 05:20pm by Jeff

Ease of Use : 10
Nothing should really get a 10 in my book because few things are perfect. However, only two knobs and an on/off switch? It doesn't get any easier than this.

Sound Quality : 9
I recently bought a new Dr.Z amp head and decided to get out all my pedals and take a drive after months of pedal hibernation. I have a variety of guitar with single or humbucker pickups. From there I go to a Fulldrive 2 -> Keeley Fuzz Head -> Microvibe -> SIB Mr.Echo -> Dr.Z KT-45 amp head -> Marshall 1960A 4x12. Sometimes an MXR Flanger, Phase-90 and ISP decimator noise reduction pedals are also in the chain. At first I would have rated this pedal was a 6-7. After reading many of these reviews about the pro and con about adjusting the trimpot, after several months of debating I finally decided to take a risk and open up the back and turn the trimpot. Wow, am I glad I did! It's now a whole new different pedal. Before I had the both settings at 1:00 for my favorite Trower setting. Now that I've adjusted the trimpot, I can back off the intensity to about 10:00-11:00 and get the same intensity as I did at 1:00. It's so much more lush now; it breathes. I'm totally inexperienced with messing with the internal gizmos of my pedals and this was simple as pie. I left the effect plugged into my amp and adjusted the pot while I strummed my guitar. You novices have nothing to worry about. I experience little noise with this pedal.

Reliability : 8
So far, no problems but I don't stomp on my pedals like I'm trying to put out a brush fire.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with customer support; no need, so far...

Overall Rating : 8
I play a variety of rock music, primarily 70's and 80's classic rock: Led Zeppelin, Foghat, Judas Priest, Pat Travers, Rush, KISS, Van Halen, Trower, Frank Marino, Aerosmith --- you get the idea. These days I don't play in a band; I'm just a living room guitar warrior that has been playing for 30 years since the age of 12. I currently and have previously owned a variety of racks, amps, guitars, pedals, etc and have spent tens of thousands of bucks trying to attain many "perfect" tones. After recently buying the Dr.Z KT-45 amp and the Fulltone Fulldrive 2, I secretly wondered if this little $99 Microvibe should be in the line-up? If the trimpot adjustment didn't work for me I was going to splurge on the Fulltone version, as I started to believe that an almost $300 vibe pedal just HAD to sound better than the stock Microvibe. I've also performed the R-28 mod on my MXR 90. It was easy enough but that was brain surgery compared to adjusting this Microvibe trimpot. I don't understand what all the fuss is about concerning this trimpot? When you turn the pot you will see the blinking light next to it increase with intensity. That's how you know you're doing it correctly. I fooled around with adjusting it from minimal to maximum several times and had no problems finding the original setting. I ended up adjusting mine all the way up (to the right) because it's much more lush that way. It seems to take off just a fraction of the "mid" tones but I don't leave this pedal on all the time so its an acceptable trade-off when the effect is needed. If lost or stolen, I might be inclined to buy the Fulltone version because I can afford it. But for now and for the money, this little vibe is a keeper that will stay in the line-up as long as its reliable. Guys, if a nit-witted electronic novice like me can do it, you can too. You won't be sorry. I haven't written a review here in ages but the ease of this trimpot adjustment was enough to inspire me to write and rate. Unscrew the back of the pedal and get busy!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $109
Submitted 04/20/2005 at 09:47am by Casper the Cat

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use, two knobs... simple. I also love that it's so small (doesn't take up much room at all on a pedalboard).

Sound Quality : 10
I use a '68 Super Reverb or '68 Deluxe (depending on the room), and my pedal order is as follows- vintage Vox wah, Line 6 DL4, Microvibe, Sparkle Drive, TS808 and a Fulltone '69 pedal.

When I first got the Microvibe, in all honesty I thought it sounded pretty bad when turned on. There were no mids whatsoever and only a little bit of low end. Basically it made my setup sound like the treble was on 11! I also have noticed this with the Fulltone vibes (the high end thing). I stayed hopeful though, and decided to do some research. Somebody on one of these reviews had mentioned taking the back off of the pedal and adjusting the trim. I figured that I may as well, since I couldn't find a vibe that didn't sound bright (Voodoo Lab or otherwise). I left my guitar plugged into the pedal while I did this (so I could adjust it perfectly, as it's very sensitive). I kept turning it in little tiny increments until I found the most lush, beautiful tone! Messing with the trim DOES work, regardless of what some people say. It worked on mine anyway. It's super, super fat sounding now and as warm as can be.

My band plays lots of gigs, and so far this pedal has not failed me and has sounded stunning, even at loud stage volumes (from delicate playing with no other effects to playing with a fuzz pedal cranked up). No noise, no squealing, no brittleness... just gorgeous, fat tone. So if you're NOT happy with the sound of this pedal, please, try adjusting the trim! It sounds dead-on vintage and sweet. It's really the best vibe I've ever heard now. People ask me about it all the time because it sounds so good.

And you've got to love true bypass...

So I have to give it a 10. Before I messed with the trim, I would have rated it as about a 7, since it sounded like every other trebly vibe pedal out there.


Reliability : 10
Yes, this pedal seems to be totally dependable. It's in a nice metal box and has a sturdy switch on it. I've only had it for a couple of months though, so we'll see how I feel a year from now.


Customer Support : 10
Great, great people. I actually bought the Sparkle Drive first, and was so smitten with that pedal that I ordered the Microvibe (and I got so impatient waiting for it to get here that I bought one on eBay first!). They are nice folks to talk to. They even emailed me to say they looked at our website. I haven't had any problems, so I can't tell you what their policies are. I would imagine that they would make sure you were happy though.

Overall Rating : 10
We do mainly blues and blues rock, and anything else we do is usually based in that vein... I've been playing for almost 5 years now. I gig with a 60's strat with Fralin pickups (among other upgrades), a flametop Gibson LP standard, a '68 Fender Super Reverb and '68 Deluxe Reverb. I also have a vintage Gibson acoustic that I love playing fingerstyle on, and various other guitars and parts that are doing a nice job of collecting dust.

If the Microvibe were stolen or lost, I would have to buy another one and pray that it would sound as sweet as this one! I love everything about this pedal and really have no complaints about it (which is rare for me!).

This pedal is a steal for the money, and the quality and sound are just as good as any other pedal out there (even the $300 ones). And mine sounds BETTER than the other brands since I tweaked it.

Voodoo labs makes quality stuff, and I plan on buying more pedals from them in the future. Give them a chance!!!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US trade used
Submitted 02/28/2005 at 10:59am by Fabian

Ease of Use : 10
DO NOT MESS WITH THE TRIM POT!!
I have one I fiddled with it and could not get it back to the spot.
IT'S VERRRY sensitive.. the slightest turn and it's off.
You'll be just left or right of the balanced setting and when you turn up the intensity and rate together it will lose the effect.
This is not a hidden tone tool for those of us who love to personalize & tweak-----DO NOT mess with the trim pot!!!

Sound Quality : 9
Very good sound. Haven't had a boutique box for 2-3 times the cost but I'm thinknig they couldn't be 2-3 times better.. Full and a little darker than the Dunlop...true bypass.. Great size for vibe pedal.... the little glowing lamp.

Reliability : 10
Mine is a '96 model.. no problem with the pedal..
just a bone head move by me to tweak it..

Customer Support : 10
Got an email within one business day with a phone number where a fellow named Nick helped me out with return instructions.

Overall Rating : 10
Excellent pedal all around. Simple, sounds good, true bypass, reliable, customer support on a 9 year old pedal.. that i messed up.
I agree: FANTASTIC VALUE


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 02/04/2005 at 08:49am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use. I had no problem finding "my" sound, which is full speed and intensity on two o'clock.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm using a Fender Strat, and a Martin E-18 (both w/humbuckers) through Elmwood 3100 head with Elmwood 4x12 loaded with celestion vintage 30 speakers. My stomp boxes are Boss TU-2, the microvibe, mxr-doubleshot dist, Visual sound Route66, Line6 DL4 and Line6 MM4. This unit is dead quiet, and the sound is great in my ears.

Reliability : No Opinion
It seems reliable. Only had it for three months, but it seeems solid.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for 20 years, and I hink this unit is great. I play all kind of music, mostly rock, and the microvibe is perfect. It has a great low pumping sound on the low E and the A string, and I'm using it more than I probably should, just because I love the sound. If it was stolen I would get myself another one the next morning. My only wish is that it should be possible to make the speed faster.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 12/17/2004 at 09:59pm by paul
Email: palway at earthlink<dot>net

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use - 2 knobs. Really don't need a manual.

Sound Quality : 4
My setup - strat-carlmartin compressor- budda phatman- vibe - Ibanez analog delay (AD 99)-bad cat cub II. I have been looking to add the hendrix and leslie thing for some songs. With the microvibe the tone was nothing to get excited about - similar to the Fulltone vibe I tried a couple years ago.

Reliability : 10
seems well made and sturdy. In general voodoo lab products seem well made.

Customer Support : No Opinion
don't know

Overall Rating : 4
I have played 40 years - now in an R+B/poprock/funk band - gig 2-3 times monthly - dance stuff. I sold this vibe a year ago when I discovered the secret of the elusive leslie-hammond-magnatone thing. I finally got smart and picked up a high quality tremolo box (mine is a swamp thang - by monster effects) I get wonderful "leslie-vibe " stuff. The search is over.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 11/22/2004 at 01:03am by John Hegarty
Email: hegarty_john at hotmail<dot>com

Ease of Use : No Opinion

Sound Quality : No Opinion

Reliability : 2
This is an update of my review further down. The switch on my microvibe has given up the ghost for the second time (the first time I sent it back to Sounds Great in Manchester and they swapped it for me). However, the switch is so bad than one time in 2 or 3 the sound disappears when switching the effect on or off. THe effect is still absolutely great, but I'm a very disappointed customer.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150.00
Submitted 11/10/2004 at 02:26pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 9
two knobs, intensity & speed. not all positions in the travel of each knob make for cool sounds in my opinion, but it doesn't take much dicking around to find the sweet spots. plus, the one-page manual lists two "classic" settings to give you an idea where to start. i ain't no rhodes scholar, & i figgered it out.

Sound Quality : 9
set-up when using the microvibe: 1976 gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s > voodoo labs superfuzz > voodoo labs microvibe > ayan enterprises smooth & slim > custom-built 3-watt tube amp. voodoo labs pedal power 2 supplying the juice, everything connected w/george l's cables. of all the od/fuzz/dist pedals i own, i've found the superfuzz works best w/the microvibe. no surprise there, as they're made by the same company (i've heard that z vex pedals are the same way--they sound awesome when connected to each other). another thing i've observed is that, at least w/my rig, the microvibe doesn't seem to work well w/a compressor, no matter where you place it in the chain. also, the microvibe seems to accentuate high frequencies, & making adjustments at the amp or guitar dulled the excitement that the microvibe is meant to provide in the first place. so, i gave the ayan smooth & slim a try. sure enough, the beautiful, full-bodied swirl of the microvibe was still there, but the smooth & slim seemed to "lower the floor" of the whole sonic spectrum, magically eliminating the painful highs. suddenly the microvibe was usable for both power chords AND single-note leads w/out adjusting the speed & intensity controls. previously, i was having difficulty finding a setting that could be used for both; switching from lead to rhythm meant bending over & changing the parameters on the microvibe (or settling for an inappropriate tone for one of the two styles). i don't mean for this to come off as too big of a bitch, as i own several pedals that have only ONE good sound & that sound is good for either rhythm OR lead, NOT BOTH. the real barometer of how i feel about the sound of the microvibe is this: it makes me want to TURN UP THE AMP & PLAY!

Reliability : 10
i'm a home studio guy. pretty much, once a piece of gear makes it safely into my studio, it will rarely venture into the outside world. in this scenario, even the flimsiest pieces of equipment will probably have a long shelf-life. voodoo labs stuff is NOT flimsy. sturdy housing, secure knobs, professional-grade jacks... you get the picture. family members'll be fighting over this stuff when i'm writing my will.

Customer Support : No Opinion
didn't deal w/voodoo labs; bought the pedal from an on-line store (that needs no free advertising) & their service was fine.

Overall Rating : 9
obviously, i like the microvibe. i really do. i bought it cuz i read somewhere that it was sonically identical to the prescription electronics vibe unit. having owned & used the microvibe for a few months now, i find myself itching to hear the vibe unit. is it because i'm displeased w/the microvibe? no. but reading reviews for the vibe unit, i'm thinking that there is something missing from the microvibe that the vibe unit has that gives it an extra bit of magic. do i feel like i've been duped? no. the vibe unit costs $330, the microvibe $150. if i get the vibe unit & find that the microvibe is even close in tone to that pedal, at almost two hundred bucks less the microvibe is quite a deal. & as i stated earlier, i'm having plenty of fun messing around w/the microvibe right now. but as i am a type-a perfectionist who's always curious about the best there is to offer when it comes to music, i guess i oughta start raking in some over-time to save up those 330 clams. time to make the donuts!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $140
Submitted 11/04/2004 at 11:20pm by Frankenstein

Ease of Use : 10
Easy to use for the effects guru (me!) or the casual player looking to expand his/her options.

Sound Quality : 10
First of all, I use this pedal for bass guitar. Second, it DOES NOT achieve the sound of the Uni-Vibe (which I also own and use for bass guitar). However, it does create a host of novel tones when combined with some of my other effects. I also want to mention that this pedal DOES NOT cut low end, as stated in the previous review, but it does have the potential to scoop some of the mids when placed after your overdrive, or when your signal is rich enough in frequencies in that range. In fact, this pedal adds a little bottom, although the oscillator modulates it. On bass, if you're going to anchor a band while using this pedal, I recommend a high speed rate to help ensure you have plenty of bottom on your attack. I use this pedal with a clean signal for a sort of leslie-sim, or with a chorus for smooth, milky, psychadelic bass tone, or after a Fulltone Bass-Drive for crisp, slightly driven, "slap" tone with excellent clarity and psychadelic coloring (similar to the application of flangers on "slap" bass, except better). For fuzz freak outs the Uni-Vibe is where it's at, no doubt that.

Reliability : 10
This pedal will last me forever, but I treat my gear with respect, as I want it to last. I use Pedaltrain pedalboards, and velcro everything securely. I take care of my pedalboards just like I would a guitar. One of my bandmates throws his pedals all together into a bag, which is then thrown haphazardly into a car, with mic stands and other equipment thrown haphazardly onto it. My stuff lasts and his doesn't. Go figure.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
This pedal may not be the Uni-Vibe clone it claims to be, but it is still a unique and high quality pedal. If you're looking for Hendrix or Trower, I'd recommend something else, but if you're looking for a good pedal with (god forbid!) YOUR OWN sound, give the Micro Vibe a try. High quality, true bypass, compact, and cost effective.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $105 used
Submitted 10/30/2004 at 01:13pm by Mark

Ease of Use : 7
On one hand it is very easy to operate. Speed and Intensity. Used by itself there is no learning curve. What you hear is what you get. When used with other pedals, it's worth some time and effort to explore the possibilities. Most overdrives seem to sound best AFTER the vibe, but other pedals only sound good placed before.

Sound Quality : 9
There has been a lot said in previous reviews. I agree this pedal boosts the low end. I'll go further to say that it scoops mids. That is a quality consistant with most phasers, but this design is pretty extreme.This pedal helps to "soften" a honky overdrive, especially in minimum (non vibe-like) settings.

Regarding the trim pot -- LITTLE TURNS MAKE BIG DIFFERENCES. The adjustment is opposite of what you might think. Clockwise will lessen the effect, counter clockwise increases it. If you over adjust to achieve more intensity, it will focus the sound in the midrange, losing the bottom totally.

Reliability : 7
The switch went bad. Was replaced by VL. This has been the only issue.

Customer Support : 10
I have found the tech easy to reach on the phone. He's answered my questions and been very helpful. He came through with his time frame for switch replacement.

Overall Rating : 8
I am not a vibe aficionado, so I can't compare this to other units. I mostly look to to color my sound as and don't need a straight up vibe. I'm sure there are more "vibey" "lush" "authentic" sounding vibes out there. Used together with chorus, there are some very rich sounds to be had. Used in conjunction with overdrives, trems, compression and eq it expands my palette of possibilities.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $149
Submitted 10/27/2004 at 04:29pm by Joe

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs, one switch, 'nuff said.

Sound Quality : 10
I use it with a Gibson Les Paul, Squier Strat(go ahead and laugh), Eric Sardinas resonator, and some home-made stuff, through a Soldano SLO-100. My other effects are a Dunlop Crybaby, an Ibanez Turbo Tubescreamer, an MXR Distorion+, a Guyatone Tube Tremolo, and a HiWatt C.T.E. It sounds great. Noise free, can get a Hendrix sound, a Leslie sound, and all those in between.

Reliability : No Opinion
Have only had it for a day, but looks very sturdy. Reminiscent of MXR pedals.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Don't know

Overall Rating : 10
I play a mix between Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Gov't Mule, Deep Purple, Hendrix, SRV, and Motorhead, and it matches perfect with my playing style. Gets a wide variety of sounds, from subtle(that's right, unlike almost everyone else on the site, I can spell subtle) to extreme. I would buy another one if lost or stolen. Good buy if you want an affordable Univibe clone.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 07/17/2004 at 08:53pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs: rate and intensity.

Sound Quality : 7
Just okay...there are better phasers out there. See below.

Reliability : 9
Looks solid.

Customer Support : 8
Answered my questions in about a week.

Overall Rating : 7
Announcing...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE GREAT 2004 PHASER SHOOT-OUT* ! ! !
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I got a whole bunch of phasers, determined to keep one. This wasn't the one I kept. I returned it. My styles are rock, metal, and
some classic rock. I am an analog snob, and I typically use Maxon
N9NE series effects.

For the shoot-out, I used a Schecter Blackjack C1, with a Seymour
Duncan JB in the bridge and a Duncan '59 in the neck. For the amp,
I used my ALL TUBE crate 50 watt combo (VFX5112). No other effects
were used in the chain. The phasers went right between the guitar
and the amp, not the effects loop. Here are the results:

Dunlop-reissue MXR Phase 100: A+, the clear winner. This is a 10
stage phaser, unlike almost every other model tried. PROS: A wide
variety of sounds, but most of all, CLARITY. Every other phaser
sucked all the treble out of the tone, and most of the bass. This
one preserved it, though it took some mids out. I was wary about
buying this at first, since everyone on HC was slamming Dunlop's
reissues. But the sound quality here is great. It handled the JB's
high output just fine, unlike some of the other models, and it
actually made sounds that I wanted to listen to! CONS: AC adaptor
jack is on the side, which is odd, and the jacks don't give a
satisfying "click" when you plug in. Also, there was no manual in
the box, rather, a Crybaby wah manual...a really lame marketing
scheme if you ask me! Wahs annoy me, and I won't buy one. If I
did, I'd test a bunch out. But this pedal restores my faith in
MXR. The BOTTOM LINE? A GREAT phaser--the sound samples on the
web don't do this justice! It's bright, and very clear.

RUNNER UP: Maxon PT-999: B+. This was a four-stage phaser, and of
that kind, it was the clearest. Very transparent, and the effect
became part of your tone. BUT, it sucked most of the treble out and
some of the bass as well. The physical construction of the box
was solid, nice "clicks" when you plugged it in. But because it was
small, I feared it getting battered about. There was only one knob,
to control the rate. The depth was, I guess, supposed to be set at
the best range. And it's hard to argue with the setting. The
BOTTOM LINE? If you want a dark, transparent, classic phaser, this
one is great! It just wasn't the sound I was looking for.

HONORABLE MENTION: Guyatone PS-3, C+. This would have been an
acceptable phaser. It's cheap enough, and it does have a separate
depth control (in addition to rate). This pedal does let a lot of
high-end through. It wasn't anywhere near as good with distortion
as the Maxon PT-999. It sounded like it was fighting the distortion.
Remember that I'm using tube-based preamp gain here, the real stuff.
Decent for clean sounds, very crisp compared to the Maxon, but it
did drop some bass and treble out. This worked okay with humbuckers,
although the JB would cause it to fizzle out when I whacked a high
note. The phasing would gradually creep back into the sound as the
volume level faded out. It was better with the '59. The BOTTOM
LINE? This would do in a pinch! It has a different sort of envelope
than the others and might be an interesting sound to have. People
are freaked out by the rubber ring that holds the battery compartment
on, though. Me, I use adaptors, so it's not an issue.

VOODOO LAB MICRO VIBE: C, just average. It really darkened up the
tone, pulling everything into the mids. It handled the distortion
the same as the Guyatone. Clean, it was not as crisp, so it gets
lower marks. It was very close in tone, and about twice the price
of the Guyatone, and so it was much less of a bargain. The BOTTOM
LINE? If someone gives you one, say thank you. Otherwise, save
your money. It's a good phaser, but not $150 worth.

DIGITECH HYPER PHASE: D-, that's still a passing grade! Yes, I am
an analog s


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $90.00 used
Submitted 03/04/2004 at 11:08am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
VERY EASY TO USE ONLY TWO KNOBS SO ITS NOT HARD TO FIND THAT HENDRIX TONE

Sound Quality : 10
I MOSTLY USE A FENDER STRAT WITH BUT I ALSO USE MY ESP SOMETIMES
AND GET A GREAT SOUND WITH DISTORTION THREW MY MARSHALL AMP
IT SOUNDS GREAT IF ONLY IT CAME WITH A FOOT CONTROL LIKE THE ORIGINAL UNI-VIBE IT WOULD BE PERFECT BUT THE KNOBS ARE BIG AND EASY TO TURN WITH YOUR FOOT WITHOUT BENDING OVER EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO CHANGE A LITTLE BIT OF TONE

Reliability : 10
I THINK YOU CAN DEPEND ON THIS ONE IF YOU'RE GIGING OUT ON THE ROAD
I WOULD SUGGEST TO USE A/C POWER SUPPLY FOR THIS IF YOUR PLAYING ON STAGE OR USING IT ALOT AS FAR AS ITS CONSTRUCTION ITS METAL CASING AND THICK PLASTIC KNOBS ARE VERY RELIABLE

Customer Support : No Opinion
I BOUGHT THIS USED ON EBAY

Overall Rating : 9
I PLAY MANY DIFFERENT STYLES OF MUSIC ON MY GUITAR BUT I THINK FOR THE PRICE I PAID IM VERY IMPRESSED WITH ITS PERFORMANCE IM SURE ITS NOT AS GREAT AS THE ORIGINAL UNI-VIBE MINUS THE VIBE CONTROL FOOT PEDAL BUT IM HAPPY WITH IT VOODOO LAB DID A GREAT JOB
I THINK PRICES FOR EFFECTS PEDALS TODAY ARE WAY TOO EXPENSIVE THOUGH


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150.00
Submitted 01/29/2004 at 03:29pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs, rate/depth(that's all you need!) Simple as it gets.

Sound Quality : 10
Well....here goes my take.
I've had most of the boutique exact replicas(Fulltone, Sweet sound,Dunlop reissue ect.) None have the depth and dimension of the Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe. I spent a good amount of time saying to myself,
"This can't be" "These $300.00 pedals HAVE to sound better somehow"
But no..they don't. Save your money and go with the great sound/value.
Those other pedals do sound good but for my Univibe sound reference(which is "Breath" by Pink Floyd)This smoked them all. The minute I hit the opening chord of that song, it't GOT THAT EXACT SOUND.Uncanny.
Through my Bassman RI it's deep, rich and swirly. This is one facet of this pedal that can't be given less than 10. If you can hear a dozen classic songs just from playing through a pedal, you have a winner. I know this must sound like a promotion, but this pedal stirs me up. Go open your wallet and more importantly your EARS and go get one. Don't mess with the trim pot unless you know it was already tampered with, I own TWO of these and they never needed any tweeking.

Reliability : 10
Never heard of one busting, but you never know. That's why I saved my money and bought two.

Customer Support : 10
I needed some power leads for my voodoo power supply. They sent me a bunch FREE, postage paid. How's that?

Overall Rating : 10
Great classic sounding pedal. No bull, just killer tone.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 01/09/2004 at 11:00am by frothingbadger

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Just and addition to my previous review:
Was experimenting with my rig and found that by putting my Mutron Phasor II after it I got the univibe sound dead on! The phaser was rate: 5.5, depth: 8, feedback: 3, and the vibe was at the usual "vibe" setting which is about 10 or 11 o'clock speed, and full intensity. The phaser thickened things up even more and created lovely overtones and more importantly "loosened" it up just right.

Sound Quality : No Opinion

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $80
Submitted 01/03/2004 at 09:39am by frothingbadger

Ease of Use : 10
Two knobs, what can I say?

Sound Quality : 9
All I can say is THE TRIM POT! I bought this used and the sound was no where near a vibe like sound (I should mention I have the early version without the status led), I was pissed. I checked this site and went back to my setup and within 1 minute had the sweet oozy drippy sounds I was looking for. Cranked right was the vibey zone, left was the darker chorus zone. The adjustment was DEAD SIMPLE.

If you are looking for the vibe sound and dont hear it, do not despair make the the adjustment. You wont be dissappointed!!

The sounds for the $$ on this thing make for massive bang for the buck. Yeah,the dejavibe and rotosphere is way better but also about 4 or 5 times what I paid and both ungainly sizes, this li'l unit is in a nice compact box.

Also, if you have lots of stomp boxes, dont forget to experiment with placement in your chain. Because it soundwise does not rate quite as high as a dejavibe or rotosphere I cant give it a 10. But for the money, compactness, quality and durability of construction, it definitely deserves a 10.

Reliability : 10
So far so good!

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
Just does not get any better than this for the $. This unit hits its target quite square, only suggestion would be to make that trim pot external. Regardless of whether the Q/C techs at Voodoo Labs are doing their jobs is immaterial, this type of control should have immediate user access, but I guess it wouldnt be so affordable then would it?!


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $165.00
Submitted 11/21/2003 at 02:30am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Very easy to use. If you cannot use two knobs and a footswitch you should be be in here reading peddle review really. Like all legacy classic style stomp boxes or remakes though no way to store any settings.

Sound Quality : 9
Excellent, tested clean the micro vibe offers no change in volume or tone. What goes in off comes out identical. What goes in on comes out identical with rotary twist.

Reliability : No Opinion
I think so. Any peddle costing more than $100 isn't just thrown in the gig box anyway. I treat mine with kitt gloves and near to as good as my guitars.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never called. Never messed with the trimpot obvious when changing the battery accessed through the PC board. Unless it dies under the 5 year warranty have to plans to call the vendor.

Overall Rating : 8
Hendrix, KWS, hard rock styles here. Playing going on 40 years. Own RM Octavia which works well with this unit. If damaged lost or stolen it would get another. I like it's simplicity. I do not like that it doesn't offer that aire of "more" for those who want more but it does what it does and is true to that. I compared to Deja Vibe and Line 6 varients in stomp box and Guitar Port U-Vibe (which I don't hear much mention of). So let me be first? Comping it inside vs. outside with the micro vibe, well the outside wins and is far more silent noise wise. I wish it could keep it's settings though like Guitar Port U-Vibe can. It is about 30% better than doing it all inside the comp and worth the lower price for most vibes.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $149.00
Submitted 11/12/2003 at 10:28am by Mark
Email: Steadz1 at bellsouth<dot>net

Ease of Use : 9
The Micro Vibe is very easy to use. A speed knob, an intensity knob, and an on and off switch. There is a small red pilot light that tells you when the pedal is "on". There is an "in" jack for your guitar, and an "out" jack for the cord going to the amplifier. It doesn't get any easier than that. The one complaint that I have is to access the battery compartment one must go through the bottom plate of the pedal. You must remove the four corner screws to access the battery which located inside the pedal. This isn't a major problem but it takes a little longer to swap out the 9 volt battery. Just make sure the red pilot light is glowing brightly before you go to the gig! The manual is somewhat helpful but the pedal doesn't have a bad setting so experimentation is really the way to go. You will find what you are looking for.

Sound Quality : 9
My rig ususally consists of a 97 American Standard Stratocaster, into a Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer, into the Micro Vibe, and then into my Fender Deluxe Reverb II amplifier. I don't like a lot of things in the chain so I keep the setup very simple and add my other pedals only when needed. I don't always use the Micro Vibe, but when I do this is my setup. I may occasionally use my Ibanez AS120 Artstar Semi-hollow body guitar in place of the Strat. The Micro Vibe pedal is dead quiet. Using the normal set up that I just explained, any of the noise in my signal comes from my trusty Boss Compressor/Sustainer. The Micro Vibe has a great true by-pass and doesn't affect your tone in any way while in the "off" position. When in the "on" position it really affects your tone. It does so in a very POSITIVE way. As I said earlier, there are no bad settings, it's all in what you are looking for. The swirling sound does amazing things to chords, but especially to guitar solos. I don't know if I like it best with a clean guitar sound, or with a dirty distorted guitar sound. Both sounds are very nice and exactly what I expected from a Uni-vibe/Leslie speaker simulating effect. Playing Robin Trower songs have never sounded closer to the guitar sound on his albums. Bridge of Sighs, The Fool and Me, Daydream, Gonna Be More Suspicious, etc..., all of those great songs will come from this pedal with the authentic Uni-vibe sound. Robin uses the Fulltone Deja Vibe version of this effect. I have seen him twice in the last four years and was close enough to where he stood that I could have reached out and turned the knobs on his pedals. He is truly an amazing player, writer, singer, performer, and person. He is so humble in every interview and easily one of the most expressinve and original guitar players to ever live or leave this planet. So if you want that sound in a guitar, and you don't want to spend more than $150.00 on a Uni-vibe type effect pedal, you'd better run out and get a Micro Vibe. I did a demo of the pedal for my good friend. Then I handed him my guitar and adjusted the knobs to different settings while he played various styles on the guitar. Before he left my garage that night he had made up his mind that he was buying one. Within two weeks he had his own Micro Vibe Pedal. As far as having to open the unit to adjust the trim pot, I haven't had to do this. The sound from the factory on my pedal and my friends pedal seem perfectly fine for the Strat/Fender amp combination. Voodoo Labs must have worked the trim pot adjustment problem out because there is nothing but quality TONE emmitted from these two Micro Vibes that we have bought in the last few months.

Reliability : 10
My Micro Vibe is only a couple of months old but I have already dropped it on a concrete floor, hauled it around, and put some hours on it. I don't anticipate any problems with it. Thanks to Harmony Central most folks seem pleased with this product. The pedal has a really great paint job and the housing, knobs, and switch seem to be of very good quality. Great job Voodoo Labs! I would take it out to a gig without a backup. But, always bring an extra battery and a screwdriver. It doesn't eat batteries like my delay pedal does, but you'd better have a spare for whenever the power fades.

Customer Support : 9
I haven't had to notify them but their web site is one of the best. You can demo every effect that they sell and hear it in action. Blues Saraceno does some incredible guitar demos for each unit that they sell. Who else is doing that on the internet? With the pedal came a CD. I haven't listened to it but I suspect it contains all of the sound samples of their products, just like what is on their web page. Check them out. I wouldn't mind owning several more of their effects.

Overall Rating : 9
You will be able to nail that SRV, Trower, Hendrix Uni-vibe tone with no problem. I play a wide variety of music. This effect could be used in some way with any guitar style. It also adds body or boost to your sound. Clean or dirty, fast or slow, or set at any knob combination, every sound is useful in some way for me. I have been playing for 30 years. I don't rush out to buy every little thing that I see advertised. I research every product that I buy and that is why all of my reviews here at HC are positive with high numbers. I don't invest in over priced, useless, toneless junk! If this pedal were stolen or lost I would want to replace it as soon as possible. My next choice would be Fulltone's Deja Vibe, but it is a good bit more expensive, and the Micro Vibe works fine for me. It really enhances your sound providing that you start with a good sound. My opinion is first and foremost that you have a good (Fender)all tube amplifier, a decent guitar made of quality wood and decent hardware, and then add some effects, but only as needed. Like seasoning a good plate of food. You wouldn't sit down and eat a plate full of pepper would you? Start with good tone and enhance it from there. The Micro Vibe is a definate winner and will add something very useful to your sound. It is fairly priced, has the true by-pass feature that really works, is sturdy, and sounds incredible.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 10/03/2003 at 02:05am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
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.

Sound Quality : 9
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.

Reliability : No Opinion
not sure. haven't had it long enough yet.

Customer Support : No Opinion
haven't had the need for them. but based on the posts earlier, they seem ok.

Overall Rating : 9
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $80.00 used
Submitted 09/17/2003 at 05:33am by Tim Schulz
Email: tjstrat2 at comcast<dot>net

Ease of Use : 10
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.

Sound Quality : 8
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.

Reliability : 10
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.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 08/31/2003 at 03:02pm by Sam Powell
Email: powells003<at>hawaii dot rr dot com

Ease of Use : 10
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.

Sound Quality : 10
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.

Reliability : No Opinion
Can't say. Just had it a week.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I hope I never need to find out.

Overall Rating : 10
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 06/29/2003 at 04:47am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
two knobs makes this very simple to dial in great sounds

Sound Quality : 10
very warm, full sound. Can get a good univibe sound or a usable Leslie type sound.

Reliability : 10
built very solid and the quality is obvious

Customer Support : 10
fast,helpful responses to your emails

Overall Rating : 10
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $149
Submitted 06/28/2003 at 06:56am by Dave from Ohio

Ease of Use : 7
Two knobs, pretty simple to figure out. Manual is very stright forward.

Sound Quality : 2
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.

Reliability : 1
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.

Customer Support : No Opinion
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 ?

Overall Rating : 1
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $100.00 used
Submitted 06/11/2003 at 03:53pm by abraxas

Ease of Use : 9
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"

Sound Quality : 9
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.

Reliability : 9
No problems. A very rugged, sturdy unit in a seemingly bulletproof case.

Customer Support : 9
Heve received prompt and courteous responses from John Aycock to all questions sent via e-mail to the company.

Overall Rating : 9
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $160.00
Submitted 03/24/2003 at 08:44am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
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.

Sound Quality : 10
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.

Reliability : 10
Looks sturdy , heavy metal exterior and big plastic knobs should stand up. I wouldn't use a backup, I'm confident of this unit.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 10
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.


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/26/2003 at 07:48am by Ranndy McFarland

Ease of Use : No Opinion
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...

Sound Quality : No Opinion
I like it. Goes well with the Fulltone '69.

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion
Rcvd return e-mail the next day... pretty good.

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $100
Submitted 02/19/2003 at 10:13am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 6
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.

Sound Quality : 9
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!!

Reliability : 9
hadnt had any problems yet.

Customer Support : No Opinion
havent dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 8
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)


Product: Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe
Price Paid: US $95
Submitted 02/18/2003 at 10:35pm by SG61LP

Ease of Use : 10
2 knobs- really? Simplicity at its best.
Did'nt mess with the internal trimmer, didn't have to.

Sound Quality : 9
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?

Reliability : 10
Built like a brick house.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them. Hopefully won't have to. No opinion

Overall Rating : 10
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!

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