Voodoo Lab Tremolo

I rated the ease of use a "9" because it's pretty self explanetory. Anyone buying a tremolo pedal is going to already have a good idea of what they are looking for. Normally I don't like pedals that require removing screws to remove/replace the batteries. In this case it is overlooked due to the quality of the chassis and build.

I play all vintage reissue strats with Van Zandt pickups. One is a '57 and the other a '62. I use a '59 reissue bassman that is straight stock except I replaced the solid state rectifier with a tube and I have Sovtex preamps and Svetlana power tubes. I haven't had this pedal very long, but I can say that the sound is excellent. To me no pedal will ever sound as good as a '65 deluxe but this pedal is more than enough. I replaced a guyatone vintage tremolo when I purchased this, the guyatone was great but it wasn't very sturdy and I couldn't handle the extreme boost in volume that it had. This pedal is very quite and is true bypass as far as I am concerned because i can see no loss in tone.

I will hold off on the reliablity since I have only had the pedal for a short time. I can guess that based on the construction of the pedal that I don't forsee any break down.

I've never had to deal directly with Voodoo Lab. I also have a sparkle drive that I bought new and I was a little dissapointed with the material that came with it. I also feel that when purchasing a product of this caliber I hope that I never have to deal with support.

Considering that I only paid $35 for this pedal, it should get an 11 in overall rating. I found this and a sparkle drive in a pawn shop. I walked out the door with both for $70. I now own 2 sparkle drives and this tremolo. I am in love with the voodoo lab line of pedals and I am in the process of using all voodoo lab pedals (except for wah, tuner, and compressor). I can't wait to see if they expand their current line of products. I think these pedals look great, I know that they are made very well and have a nice heavy chassis and the pots and knobs are very smooth and sturdy. Of all the upper line pedals out there I think for overall value and quality, Voodoo Labs are the best thing going.

This thing rocks. I have been researching trem units for awhile trying to decide which one to buy. This thing is super versatile and self explanatory. Two new knobs: SLOPE which basically chooses the wave, and VOLUME-added i guess cuz everyone complained about the volume drop in the older version, so this option is very cool. this pedal is also true bypass, even though ot has an LED and does not use te Carling switches that Mike Fuller uses. Here is how you can prove it: Take the battery out of the pedals and unplug it if you use outbound power, then plug your guitar into it and out of the pedal into the amp, you should stil have sound because the one jack is hard wired to the other when the pedal is switched off. All hand made in USA, way less than the Diaz Tremodillo(not true bypass),a few bucks more than the BOSS tr-2(NOT TRUE BYPASS), way cheaper than the carl martin trem o'vibe(not true bypass, but those pedals have some of the best buffering out there),and cheaper than the demeter tremulator, and sounds just as good in my opinion as all the above pedals and better than some. I give a 9

I run my Tom Anderson cobra into a Budda wah,then a carl martin compressor, then a fulldrive2, then a carl martin boost kick,then a maxon AD-80 analog delay then to the voodoo lab tremolo and finally to a holland amp. Everything is powered by a voodoo lab pedal power. I tried the trem after the boost kick, but my maxon reacted funny being after the trem, so I switched them around....sonic bliss. So the trem is last, its weird, but it works great and quiet too. This thing sounds excellent, the quality(except for the plastic jacks) is top notch. I can easily get all he trem sounds That made me want to buy the thing in the first place. At $129.00, you cant beat it. Darker than the carl Martin, thicker than the boss, and about the same as the demeter.

Ihave had no problems with any of the voodoo lab stuff i have owned in the past, I am a little worried about the jacks cuz its noe in ap lace that I will be unplugging it all the time. I only have back ups for my delay and my overdrive, I have two of each. looks solid though. cuz of the jacks, i give a nine

These guys rock, they always answered my questions and have been very helpful.

I have been playing for 14 years. this thing is a winner.

I've got to say I'm a little disappointed. Tremolo is my second favorite effect next to Overdrive - if you can call that an effect. I started with a Boss Tremolo, but I found that the volume dropped when the pedal was engaged. Otherwise I liked it for the ability to change the shape of the wave. That immediately led me to the Voodoo Lab, as it has the same features PLUS a volume control. Ingenious! The True Bypass was another deciding factor. I had noticed that the controls seemed quite close together from pictures, and yes that makes it a bit of a nuisance to adjust them, but it's the overly broad range of the speed and intensity that make it (I think) more difficult to operate. Another reviewer pointed out that the speed goes ridiculously slow. It's SO TRUE! I only use almost the last third of it. I wish it had more play in that department. Intensity seems useless for the first third or so. I did find the manual to be helpful in obtaining the sound examples they show.

I'm playing a Gibson Les Paul Jr Lite (w/P-100s - LOVE IT), an Epiphone Dot (w/Gibson PAFs - LOVE) and a DeArmond M-75T (w/2Ks_Need I say?) through a Vox 810 ValveTone (see my review!) and the VL Tremolo into an Ampeg Reverberocket reissue. I LOVE the tone I get with this setup, however I'm (again) disappointed in the limited range of GOOD sounds from the VL Tremolo! The "Shimmer" sounds pretty good, as does the vintage-type Tremolo, but the stutter sounds just OBNOXIOUS. It hurts my ears. I'm not finding the "Buttery, seductive" tremolo everybody's raving about. It sounds cold and harsh to me. I found it to be not as usefully versatile as the Boss, which is strange since I find the controls to be TOO broad. I wouldn't go back to the Boss because of the volume problem and I just don't like Boss pedals anymore, so I don't know what to do. I gave it a 6 because some of the sounds (e.g. "Shimmer") are cool in a metallic, mechanical sort of way that I would use it, and I can get a nice subtle tremolo, too. I know it all sounds contradictory, but it's almost like, in trying to make it very versatile, they made it too much so, thus limiting the variety of settings one can have to create useful effects. I'm giving it a 7 because I've been able to successfully find more and more use for the few sounds I actually like than the sounds I was trying to get that ended up sounding bad. Dig? I guess it's another contradiction.

Here's the funny part: This seems like the most well-built pedal I've ever owned. The casing and finish are very heavy duty - I don't even worry about it getting scratched. The knobs/pots, now those are like butter! They move so smoothly - if only they'd staggered them or something so they're not so close together. The switch is very solid, too. But here's something: Looking on the inside it appears to have a double-pole/double-throw switch, yet the claim is that it's true-bypass. According to the Fulltone website, if an effect has an led, but not a TRIPLE-pole/double-throw switch, "it ain't true bypass." Who knows? As an earlier reviewer tried to say, it doesn't suck tone, so I guess it's a moot point. I hadn't thought of that until I read his review. I feel like it's a very well-made, dependable pedal, but I've only had it for about a month, so I won't go 10 with it.

I haven't dealt with them.

Well, at this point, I'm going to stick with it until I find something better, but I may have to shell out more dough for that. Having the volume control is such a great idea for a Tremolo pedal and, as I illustrated, it's SO WELL MADE, plus I like to look at it. I am finding that I keep it in the line more and more. If I don't find use for an effect, I usually drop it from the line within 10 minutes of playing. Perhaps I'll submit another review after a few more months and actually make sense this time. Sorry about all this. If anyone has any polite suggestions on how to better maximize this pedal, I'd love to hear from you.

good sounds are easy to find. There are a great range of very useable sounds in this trem. The 4 knobs are easy to use for their functions and all affect the effect quite dramatically.

two problems that have been previously stated apply: the 4 knobs are really close together and fiddly, often when adjusting the slope you bump the speed. Other problem, the last 1/4 of a turn on slope and speed makes a huge difference, all (well, most of) the range is in that bit.

Great trem sounds. It's an effect I've wanted for a while. I love Fender amp trem and this lets me put it on either of my amps (fender prosonic and blues deluxe). Guitars are Fender Strat, PRS CE24 and Rickenbacker 330/6.

There is a slight ticking when the intensity and slope is cranked (I mean apart from the effect)...

Range of sounds is ace. Can sound vintagey or weirdo.

The only thing this lacks that the Fulltone has is the extra switches (half/double speed and hard/soft wave) but these can be done by hand if you ever need...which I cna probably survive without.

Looks solid. Nice construction. The footswitch doesn't totally convince me that it'll last forever. Beautiful looking box.

Never dealt with. First time I've bought a product from them...they're hard to get in Australia.

I play original music and the trem pops its head up occasionally. Been playing 12 or so years.

I would probably buy another if stolen.

Overall, I do love it. A few minor niggles but nothing that would stop me buying another VL product. A good buy and the start of a long-ish term pedalboard upgrading project.

i'm adding to a previos review-the switch was funky,so they fixed it.BUT,i had to call them as there was no email response...it cost 45 bucks for the repair(OK). i get the feeling they didn't want to bother answering my questions about this pedal and my superfuzz(they never did!)...anyway,it works fine now-it's a good sounding trem.

4 knobs...not too hard. only thing is that it seems that the knobs get REALLY sensitive around the last 1/3 of the knob. That's a bit of a pain...

Sounds like a tremolo...on off, on off, or onnnnnnn, offfffff, or onof onof onof. It sounds nice and warm and cuddly. I don't have an old fender brownface amp, nor have i tried the fulltone, but I like this pedal. It sounds really cool. The only other tremolo pedal I tried was the Carl Martin Tremovibe and this blows that outta the water. Oh, and the VL tremolo is true bypass. or sorta true bypass. I am wondering about the switch, seeing as that you need a DPDT switch to have true bypass and a light, and i don't reckon this is a DPDT switch, but I don't hear any tone loss, so its a mute point.

This ain't breaking

never have, probobly never will

do you like tremolo? you'll like this pedal. if you have the cash flow though, i would probobly recommend trying out the fulltone. I don't, so i didn't. Just everyone raves about that one. But I like this one, and I think it does its job very well. And the paint job is very cool. not to sound superficial, but its always nice to have a smart lookin pedal staring back up at you from the board. i wish my marshall shredmaster looked that cool.

For the most part, this is an easy pedal to use. I had the 2-knob version (until it was stolen recently), so it was just speed and intensity. The only not-so-easy part of this was the internal switch for the slope of the tremolo wave, from smooth to square. It was a great feature, but very difficult to control, considering you had to unscrew the bottom 4 screws to even get at it. When this pedal was introduced, it was definitely at the top of its game, but now the 2-knob version seems a bit out of it. Which, I guess, is why they came up with the 4-knob version, which makes it easy to control the slope, intensity, speed, and volume of the effect. The 4-knob should probably receive a 9.5 in this category, but since I had the 2-knob, I give it an 8.

I find it difficult to give many 10's, so I give this just under at a 9. The only '10' Tremolo pedal in my mind would be the Fulltone. But for $100 less, this is fantastic. Like everyone says, the true bypass is great, the tremolo effect is warm and smooth, and reminiscent of old brown face amps. No popping with the switch, no tone coloring (on or off).

Solid. Nice sturdy metal casing, classic old knobs with very sturdy pots. Great.

Never was an issue. I did contact Voodoo Lab with a question, and they responded, so that's a good sign.

Definitely a great tremolo pedal. I believe the only other tremolo pedal I'd even try is the Fulltone (apart from an old Demeter brown unit or a Fender brown face amp). The Fulltone is more control-on-the-fly friendly with the speed and slope buttons, whereas this 4-knob version has those in knob format, and the Fulltone is somewhat better sounding. Like I said, my 2-knob one was stolen recently, and I'm planning to replace it with a 4-knob one, so I'm a satisfied customer. Looks like I should be able to pick one up for about the same price as the 2-knobber, thank goodness.

Hmmm...what is this? A tremolo eh? lets see, four knobs, intensity, slope, speed, volume. And a switch..not that hard. Plus its a bitchin' pedal to look at. the knobs look neato and the paint job is really boombastic. Only beef is that for the first half of the rotation, the dials don't change much, but once it gets past half way, settings get changed with a slightest nudge. the knobs are a little too close together.

tele-tube screamer-marshall shredmaster-small stone-tremolo-memory man-champ amp
no noise, save the soft, in and out pulsing of the trem. you can go from a nice calm wave to a short staccato on and off thing, and in between. i got this because of Radiohead's album The Bends...two songs on it, Planet Telex and Bones use a tremolo effect. i don't care whether or not its true bypass, like people argue about..bottom line, it doesn't change my tone. i don't like giving tens because tomarrow they could invent a pedal that blows this thing outta the water. i don't see how, but they could...so a 9

big box...looks DAMN solid...passed the old "try to pull the knobs off" test. jacks are secure. switch, while not a fulltone, looks sturdy

a friend has dealt with them a lot and say's they are some of the nicest, down to earth guys you'll meet. i've never dealt with them. so i wont' rate them

this is the only tremolo i tried...people talk about the fulltone and the diaz, and the demeter and the whathaveyou, but i didn't try those. i just bought the cheapest out of the four. and it WORKS! maybe the fulltone has something that could top this but i don't know. and people whine about the bypass on the diaz, and i don't know crap about the demeter. if you want a tremolo effect, buy this pedal.

This is the four knob version, but hey - how hard can it be? The terms "speed" and "intensity" are pretty self-explanatory... My only niggle is that their range is almost silly - from REALLY slow to VERY fast - and a lot happens at the end of the scale. I have to set both knobs at about 2 o'clock to get the "standard" Fender tremolo sound. I personally would make do with a shorter range, which would be easier to fine-tune.
I still haven't figured out what the "slope" knob really does - but it's probably in the manual somewhere. I just tend to leave it around 12 o'clock and don't lose any sleep over it...

1 point off for the range (or to be precise: because the speed is hard to fine-tune in the medium to upper range).

I originally bought the Boss tremolo (the safe option) which lost some output when active. That's ok for a tremolo that works on the power amp (like in a Fender amp) but that does NOT work when the signal is lost before the preamp! I took it back to the store, and walked out with this tremolo instead (minus some cash, of course), simply because it had a volume knob to compensate for the loss of signal. When I plugged it in I realized I had found a keeper - it sounds absolutely brilliant, and also it feels just like the real thing!
Hard-wired true bypass or not, the bottom line is that it doesn't color my sound AT ALL when it's not on. And when it is, it seems to make the guitar sound even fatter - probably because the output is slightly boosted to compensate for the percieved loss of output - which was how I stumbled on to its secret weapon; with the knobs on zero you can crank the volume knob and use it as a clean boost...

Top marks for sound!

I gig and rehearse with it it all the time, without backup, and it hasn't as much as coughed in two years time. IF it were to break down, or the battery died mid-gig, all I'd have to do is to turn it off. My only concern is that the battery sits wedged between the inside of the box and the pc board - don't know what that will do to the solder joints over (longer) time.

1 point off for possible future problems caused by the battery nudging the pc board.

Never had to talk to them.

If i lost it, I would have to replace it the next day - I can't imagine life without it. In Sweden it is quite expensive (about 1/3 more than the Boss) but the sound, feel and transparency when not used makes it well worth the money. And when you add the clean boost ability, it becomes a real bargain.

I'm getting the Sparkle Drive and the Proctavia next...

Very easy to get a good sound. Comes with a very good instruction sheet. Easy to understand controls.

This effect is in a line of effects that include: guitar (Fender Roadhouse Strat) > Sabine NEX 5000 Tuner > MXR DynaComp > Ibanez TS-9/808 > Boss SD-1 > Voodoo Lab Tremolo > Danelectro Cool Cat > Boss DM-2 Analog Delay > AMP ( Fender HRD ). The pedal is dead quiet when off due to the true by-pass feature. When it's on, you can hear faintly the "swirl" effect depending upon how many pedals before it are on, and how much gain they are contributing. Everything else around must be quiet in order to hear this. In a live performance situation you cannot hear this. I LOVE this pedal. It has a very "organic vibe". IT is warm, variable, and very nostalgic of the amps I've owned in the past that had this feature as part of the amp. I especially like the volume control that allow adjustment of the effect when switched on so that the effect doesn't get lost.

No problems so far, . . .

Never needed them. I understand that they are a very reputable company that will stand behind their products. Hope to never have to find out.

I play classic rock, blues & blues rock. This pedal is necessary for several of the tunes my band does. Really sound authentic. I bought it on the strength of the reviews here on Harmony-Central. All of you reviewers before me - THANKS - If lost, stolen or flooded out, I'd would buy it again.