Today’s guest review comes to us from Scott W. – find him on Instagram (@honey.power) and Facebook (Scott Willems).
Electro-Harmonix’s Stereo Pulsar is a fantastic variable shape tremolo pedal. The setup is very basic, featuring only three parameters and a switch to choose between square and triangle wave types, but the sounds you can achieve are far from it.
The Pulsar has three knobs: rate, shape, and depth. You can choose initial wave shape with the switch under the shape knob, either square or triangle, and further alter the shape using the shape knob. On a triangle wave, the shape knob will move the peaks of the triangle to the left or right, creating a sawtooth wave. In square mode, the shape alters the pulse-width of the positive or negative side of the wave respectively – already there are huge variations in possible sounds. The rate and depth knob are pretty straight forward, the only off-putting characteristic being the range. Past around 1-3 o’clock, the rate knob will get pretty out of hand and start to ‘flub’ in a way, as if it is on the brink of self-oscillating, especially if the depth is maxed. Since the range is so wide, the knobs tend to be kind of touchy – minimal movement will cause fairly large variations in tone.
EHX, in my opinion, never disappoints with their pedal housings or their graphics. The Stereo Pulsar Analog Tremolo is very durable and a lot smaller than you may think. Access to it’s internals requires a Phillips-head screwdriver, but everyone should have a Phillips-head in their vicinity if they are using effects pedals. The only concern is the small wave selector switch above the bypass switch – which could easily be broken by some heavy-footed shoegazers.
Another feature of the Pulsar are the stereo outputs. I played through this in stereo for the most part – it is awesome. With two amps on either side of the room at unreasonable volume levels, the Pulsar will really shake you. Despite the touchy controls, you can without a doubt achieve any tremolo tones you need, from a classic soft triangle pulse or a square wave helicopter to more experimental sounds using the shape knob. I play mostly shoegaze, dreampop, jazz, noisepop, and drone, and can practically use this pedal in any musical situation – which is exceptional, considering the price.
GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES, CONTEST INFO, SEE OUR LATEST DEMO VIDEOS AND MORE:
