I’ve used many, many tremolo pedals over the years, and while most of them do a pretty good job, there are a few I’ve found that really stand out. This is one of those pedals: the Tremolessence from Dr. Scientist. Everything you’d want in a tremolo sound, plus one cool added bonus. Six control knobs and 2 toggles might SEEM a bit much, but they all serve their purpose, and work collectively to create a wide-sweeping, deep tremolo effect.
As far as controls for a tremolo pedal go, this one is fairly standard, although there are a couple of twists. Volume, Depth (Intensity) and Rate (Speed) are pretty self-explanatory, those are on just about every trem stompbox I’ve seen, but after those, it gets a bit interesting. The Shape knob controls the waveform shapes, turning the Triangle (Pulsing Sound) Waveform into ramps, or the Square (On/Off) Waveform into blips. You may select which one you want to use via the top toggle switch in the middle of the pedal, both being useful for different applications. There’s a Treble knob, which is a nice addition, and can go + or – 15dB, depending if you turn it counter-clockwise or clockwise. The coolest part of the control section, I think, is the Hold feature. When engaged through the 2nd toggle on the pedal, the effect will only come through your signal path when you step on and hold the main On/Off switch. This is fun for sprinkling just little bits and pieces of tremolo throughout a solo or deep jam section of a song – it’s a bit hard to explain without trying it for yourself, but trust me, it’s a cool feature, and one not often seen.
Inside, there’s also the ability to make the pedal output stereo panning left and right or in sync. You can also use expression pedals to control the the Depth and Rate, respectively, via the jacks on the side of the pedal. There are a few trim pots inside as well, with which you adjust the Brightness of the LED and how fast the center position of the Rate knob is. And if that wasn’t enough, to top it all off, this baby is analog, making it warm and inviting, not too harsh like a lot of tremolo pedals can be. All of these extra little things add up to an extremely customizable tremolo pedal, all housed in a nice, thin enclosure for maximum pedalboard real estate. The folks at Dr. Scientist are making some really incredible products, be sure to see what they have to offer you!
Specs:
Stereo input, stereo output (or mono in/mono out, mono in/stereo out)Power Requirements:9VDC @ 75mA, 18VDC @ 150mA Input/Output Impedance:500kΩ/1kΩBypass:True bypass using soft touch switch and relays
Treble:+/-15dB peaking filter centred at 3kHzVolume:Op-amp based, range from less than unity to large boostDepth:Vary intensity of tremolo effectShape:Vary waveform shapes, triangles into ramps or squares into blipsRate:Vary speed of tremolo effect, Hz to HzHold:Vary the rise-time and fall-time of the tremolo effect when in Hold mode
Triangle/Square:Choose between triangle waveform (pulse/throb sound), or square waveform (on/off sound)Hold:Lets you engage the effect only while holding down the stomp switch
PCB switch: Pan/Sync:Stereo output can pan left to right or be in sync
PCB Trim-pots: LED:Set the brightness of the on/off LED; Rate:Set how fast the centre position of the Rate knob is
Expression Control (upper):Controls Depth knob, TRS input, 25kΩ, or CV input 0 – 9V; Expression Control (lower):Controls Rate knob, TRS input, 50kΩ, or CV input 0 – 9V; Warranty:Limited Lifetime
Submitted by Mike B, Website
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