Vibrato or Tremelo Pedal

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

I'm pretty ignorant about effects pedals, except maybe the volume pedal, which I have yet to try.

There's recently been discussion about vibrato speed, intensity, etc.

I was just listening to the vibist Milt Jackson, and got to thinking about his "vibrato" which I guess is really tremelo... and noted that the motor (that drives the rotating resonator discs), while having variable settings, remains at a constant speed througout the performance.

I got to thinking, what if Milt had a pedal by which he could increase and decrease the speed/intensity of tremelo while he was playing?

Or better yet, what if he had a vibrato pedal (some sort of pitch manipulation) and could achieve that "wait until almost the end of the sustained note to employ vibrato" technique as we do playing steel or as we sing.

Has such a pedal been developed? I imagine some steel players would find it most helpful.

Jim Landers · From: Spokane, Wash.

Hi Jeff, I have a Gibson GA-50-T amp, ca. 1950 that has a really nice sounding tremelo. The tremelo off/on switch is a remote foot pedal that can be started and stopped whenever you want.

The rate of tremelo can be increased or decreased also but, unfortunately, that knob is located on the back of the amp. If there was a way to have the 'rate' control operated remotely like the pedal, it would be just exactly what you have described.

Jim

Jan Hess · From: Winnipeg,Manitoba,Can.

Hi Jeff: I'm a newbie to lap steel, but have fooled around quite a bit with varius pedals on my PRS guitar. What you are looking for is probably a Rotovibe JD-4S by Jim Dunlop.I haven't used one myself, but I know they're made to emulate the old Lesley Speakers.They retail for about $250 and there are some for sale on ebay right now.You should definitly check 'em out!! Aloha...Jan (Soundhound)

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Fulltone's "Supa-Trem" tremolo pedal has one footswitch for doubling the speed, plus a speed wheel that is large enough for you to adjust it with your foot while playing.
It also has a footswitch for hard or soft tremolo character.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

The only way I can think of to use electronic trem as an expressive tool would be to use a stereo panning pedal with (A) going to a dry channel and (B) going to a tremolo channel. You could then feather in tremolo at the tail of a note, as you say. I suppose a very inventive person could add a swivel to the pedal to regulate speed.

As I think about it, I expect that some of the multi-effect units with expression pedals could do this. You'd have to choose whether the pedal regulated intensity or speed, though.
Vibes are a stand-up instrument with a damper pedal and it would be real tough to add another controller, foot, hand, or whatever.
Man, I've spent real cool time messing with a vibrophone. As a pianist (formerly) it is so related and yet so alien, in a good way. It's one of those instruments that, while real difficult to play well, is real easy to make nice sound with.

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Jon, I agree... when I first started, it basically felt like trying to play a piano with two fingers. Fine for "Chopsticks" but for bebop lines, not so fine.

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I don't know what it's called, but I've seen Steve Dawson play with a tremolo pedal that looks like a volume pedal--the tremolo speed is controlled as you would expect for such a design. It didn't look like a big fancy custom boutique kind of thing, so it's probably easily available. Sorry about not remembering what it's called, though.

-Travis

Randy Reeves · From: LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA

lap player here. I have tried out of curiousity a bunch of effects pedals with the lap steel.
most of the results sends out a confused sound.
wah pedals dont work, dont need compression. vibrato from my amp was just alright....there was no sensitivity to what I played...everything came out warbled with no nuance.
a tremelo pedal was a little better. I had control of all the setting aspects.
still, it wasnt as good as my own bar work.

a pedal controlled variable speed and density devise probably could work for you, but then , it may sound too artificial when compared to your natural bar technique.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Just to put any talk here on the same page as far as terminology:
I consider vibrato to be frequency modulation. Pitch alteration. This is what you accomplish with your bar and there is nothing IMO that can do that better than your hand. Tremolo is amplitude modulation. A nervous foot with a volume pedal could do it but it wouldn't quite get there. You could keep somebody around with a hand on the amp's volume to play with it (Buddy, Night Life) but the electronic approach works real well---I guess this would be considered the first guitar effect--trem was used in amps before reverb, wasn't it? But the touch control---there's the rub.
Travis---I'd bet that what you saw was either the rotovibe or the univibe. Yes, speed is the parameter controlled by the pedal.
The subject is interesting. I have seen vocalists with two mics. One is dry, the other runs through effects--heavy multi-tap delay is what I recall, probably other stuff in there too. She would draw the wet mic close when she wanted to bring in the effect--end of phrases, eg., pull it away otherwise. Too cosmic for my tastes but very well done. This two channel setup is what made me think of using a stereo pan pedal to bring in a wet channel as needed.

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

Jeff; I would like to get a look at your Vibe set-up some time, and possibly figure something out for you.
BILL

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

I'm a tremolo junkie, there's no more haunting effect than the tremolo..
I have a Fulltone "Deja-Vibe" which is kinda like the univibe but without the pedal (use a large knob for controlling the speed instead). It's great for guitar, gives you that Hendrix/Trower 'swirl', but so far it doesn't make any sense on lap steel, at least not to me....

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Bob Stone · From: Gainesville, FL, USA

Jeff,

As far as I know, a tremelo control pedal like you describe does not exist. But I really don't know that much about effects pedals. It would be interesting to see what Bill Creller might develop along those lines.

I love a great tremelo sound. I have played my Stringmaster through the tremelo built into my Peavey Delta Blues tube amp to get some acceptable vintage blues and R&B sounds--pretty much all single string stuff--with some success. I've never tried it for Hawaiian music.

Vintage amp fans can guide you to the best classic tremelo sounds. I believe Fender is the word here.

On the Campbell Bros' new album Darick Campbell does a really nice medium tempo instrumental playing lap steel (probably his Sierra) through a tremelo effect and it works beautifully. The album will be released in June on the Ropeadope label.

Good luck.

[This message was edited by Bob Stone on 18 April 2005 at 05:40 AM.]

Mike Neer · From: NJ

The Boss VB-2 is just about the best vibrato pedal ever made--it is pure pitch vibrato. You can actually engage it in latch mode, so that it is activated only as long as you are stepping on the pedal.

These pedals go for big bucks, but they sound great on guitar, especially for R&B and blues styles. Think Lonnie Mack.

The tremolo pedal is very good, too, but that is only amplitude modulation.

[This message was edited by Mike Neer on 18 April 2005 at 07:50 AM.]

Jim Palenscar · From: Oceanside, Calif, USA

Actually DeArmond made a combination volume/tremelo pedal in the 50-60 era that was called a "Tremtrol". I have one in my shop that I've been working on trying to get the tremelo circuit working again.

Curtis Scarrow · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

I think it's dunlop that makes the Uni-Vibe.
It will do just that, adjustable tremelo via a volume type foot pedal...
Remember there's 3 common kinds of tremelos/vibratos...But there's sure lot's of confusion around which is what...

One is just electronic like on 60s fender amp's and has no pitch change( First found on the tremolux amp in mid 50s) and later called vibrato I think because of the confusion with the strat. But it Should be called tremelo and not Vibrato.
Actual electric vibrato is found mostly on magnatone amps, and it is electornic but has pitch change withing the vibrato...
I have heard of few standalone boxes but never heard one or seen it mass prodcued.
And my favorite true vibrato, which is only achieved with a 2 speaker(horn and speaker) leslie cabinet which is called the dopplar effect..

I believe a univibe attempts to simulate all three...I think it can do the first 1 ok, but it ain't a leslie cabinet or a magnatone...My dad had one on his pedal board for a few years until I showed how bad it sounded compared to using the stock one in his Super Reverb. He just needed a $20 dollar footswitch not a 300 dollar pedal...!!
>

[This message was edited by Curtis Scarrow on 18 April 2005 at 10:27 AM.]

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Finally a topic I can get my teeth into! There are 2 exremely good devices out there. A device called "Little Lanilei" is an actual organ style amplitude-based rotating Leslie in a very small cabinet is out there, and they sound really good. Then there is Robert Keeleys modified Boss tremolo pedal, that sounds absolutely amazing and does a great deal more than any of the other pedals out there. They go fairly inexpensively compared with the other pricey units out there, and sounds great. It's also true bypass so when you don't have it engaged it doesn't affect your tone!

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