Having just reviewed the Mercury Flanger from Source Audio’s lineup of One Series pedals, we couldn’t wait to dive in and check another of their offerings, the Vertigo Tremolo. Again loaded with a ton of options to create a multitude of sounds, this tremolo boasts a huge range of tones, and will most certainly add a little hint of what’s been missing to your pedalboard. With 3 completely different tremolo voicings to choose from, and the ability to create and add new sounds via the Neuro App, plus MIDI, this thing is not your everyday tremolo.
Depth starts the control knobs off, and lets you dial in just how intense and present you want the tremolo effect to be in your signal. Speed does just what it says, from slow and smooth to blisteringly fast, encompassing a broad spectrum of speeds to adjust to taste. Shape is a cool feature on the Vertigo, as it allows you to select from 3 different waveforms: Square, Sine and Sawtooth, again opening up even more sonic possibilities with ease. The final knob control is Level, which sets the overall effect output for perfect mixing with your instrument’s dry signal.
There’s a small toggle in the middle of the Vertigo, too, and it is the key to the power and diversity of this tremolo. In Normal mode, the effect you hear is a fantastic emulation of the “opto trem” sounds heard in classic Fender Blackface amps from the 60s, a highly sought-after tone to say the least. Harmonic is the next mode, and it too mirrors another Fender vintage sound, that of the Super amps’ incredible vibrato effect. Bias rounds out these three unique modes, recalling a classic tube bias modulation circuit, used in pre-1963 Fender amps (then labeled “Vibrato”). These three modes, when used with the above control panel, make for roughly a gajillion different setting combinations, opening up the door to a delicious world of tremolo sounds heard near and far.
The great thing about these pedals is their ability to connect to the Neuro App via a FREE phone download (for Android or iOS) to really open up the possibilities, as if if didn’t offer enough already! Through this app, you have access to Source Audio’s free library of progressive tremolo patterns and hybrid modulation effects, which are easily uploadable directly to the pedal itself. You can also go in and control a set of adjustable parameters including parametric EQ, wet/dry mix, tap tempo, and stereo separation. And if you want to take it one step further, get yourself a Neuro Hub for incredible MIDI control, allowing for you to save up to 128 presets.
The last thing to be said about the Vertigo is that it sounds AWESOME. You’d think it might have a colder, more sterile sound incorporating so much digital technology into it, but it produces warm, buttery flutters, peaks and valleys, everything you could want in a killer tremolo, but with a boatload of options from complete customization. Thanks again to Jeff and everyone at Source Audio for letting us get sucked into this pedal and unleash a smidgen of what it can do. These One Series pedals have been a blast to review so far, and we’re looking forward to checking more of them out in the near future, so stay tuned!
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
