Trem Shootout

[capt_oreo]

Hi all, need some opinions on the Empress Tremolo and the Catalinbread Semophore Trem. Have tried out the empress trem and it sounds really gd, very warm and quiet, the options you have in it is incredible and the range of sound available in the empress is wide and distinct. Not an expert on tremolos but having played this, it sure sounds gd enough for me.
Question here is what about the catalinbread one, has anyone been lucky enough to have both and tried it out?
Price is about the same range +/- $50, size is a big difference, the Empress came out tops in a shootout in a guitar mag, but the catalinbread was not featured inside. Comments?

 

[edder]

calling for pathein... calling for pathein.....

 

[AsphaltMK]

well, it really depends on what you need/want in a trem right? quality wise, i imagine most of those boutique ones wouldn't really be too much of a difference. besides, your audience really wouldn't know the diff too much. unless you're a bedroom player, i guess.
if you want tap, the cusack or empress that you tried is what you want. if you want half/double speed capability, fulltone supatrem has that. if you want simple and clean, semaphore is more your cup of tea.
of course, i myself have not tried any of the above options. but i have heard clips and the sound quality of the trems don't really affect your tone in that big a way, as compared to say overdrive pedals.

there's also been positive talk on the locally-made tremor tremolo. i think it's by.. goosoniqueworx? surely someone will chime in with this.

imo, if trem's not going to be a huge part of your sound, you could be better off with slightly cheaper options. like maybe voodoo labs tremolo, boss tr-2, dano trem, line 6?

 

[edder]

EH Stereo Pulsar does it for me.

 

[NanoShred]

Highly agree with previous posts.

If you do feel you need a specific trem sound and its a part of your sound. At least you gotta let us know what kinda trem sound are you looking for. Lots of great trems around.

 

[capt_oreo]

to be honest, im looking for a simple trem with no frills, as long as i can dial in a gd sound at any turn, small size will be gd, not noisy, analog and im looking for the classic trem sound.....i think i already know which one i should be going for....:S

 

[ShredCow]

I've not a/b-ed the empress with an exceptional analog trem but I've read that some people find the Empress sounds "digital" and less warm. Minute difference but still a difference no? Hehehe.

I'm using Goose's Tremor and it is certainly not bad. Practicsl for live usage via toe-ing the easily accessible Rate knob on the bottom of the unit. Practical even when recording. Best part is that its tweakable.

I played with the semaphore once... had it for a short while. It didn't really impress.

 

[capt_oreo]

I played with the semaphore once... had it for a short while. It didn't really impress.

can further elaborate??

 

[ChanMin]

bro... im not into trems and stuff like that... but!

i did hear kennethC's empress trem (its the orange one right?) in action..
and it was very nice. Took me awhile to convince myself i wont use a trem enough to justify owning one.... if not id have bought it already.

+1 for empress!

**all the rest ive not tried before.. so they may actually be better.**

 

[ShredCow]

can further elaborate??

I thought it had several quirks.

There are settings that do a "ramp" - the trem rate speeds up or slows down.

You can adjust the speed of the ramp.

However, its like, set say, fast to slow ramp down. I play. Yeah, it does it. Turn off unit. Later turn on - its rate is basically at 0.

Vice versa for ramp up. Turn off then later on, its crazy.

I can't recall but I suspect there's LFO leakage - so you get ticking sounds if placed before high gain dirt boxes (or stacked gain stages).



The Tremor doesn't have the ramp but it allows you to choose in between square and triangle wave forms, where the Semaphore only has toggle switches.


Both sounded nice but I never got the chance to a/b them which is what really matters.

Here's an off-time clip of the Tremor.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=641337&songID=5763972

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

for amount of options and sound, empress the way to go. If into more is still more belief that is.

anyway, semophore for me is that it has some interesting sound in it and best way to explore more is to combine with teaser stallion. Prolly the main reason why i got it in the first place.

and the no frills plug in and play tremolo for me is fulltone supatrem. That one has got thick sound, slight boost when engaged(i like tremolo with slight boost).

and for something more affordable and wide range of sound, EH puslar be the one.

 

[wasabe19]

try the B.Y.O.C trem it's really a no frills trem pedal. it's full analog circuitry so it only has the W shape trem wave and not the square one. 2 knobs . doesn't get any easier that that and it sounds gooodddd. vintage-ish trem sounds.

 

[khutubkhana]

im using a cute, small, 2 knobs Guyatone Vintage Tremolo VT3 pedal, Winner of Guitar Player's Editor's Pick Award

"As opposed to some other units, where the tremolo effect is barely noticeable, you can't miss it with this unit. When you press the button, the sound comes on and it's all there... And the warmth of it...

And because it's so clear, you can use just a light effect, with hardly any speed or intensity to it to add warmth to what you're playing.

Controls are of absolute simplicity; no need for a sound engineering course here: two knobs only, intensity and speed. And why should it be more complicated because that's all you need. The knobs are big enough that you can easily change the settings between songs or within a song at a very rapid pace." - Guitarnoise-

i own it and its really true.
Simple and str8forward tremolo pedal.
for a tremolo effect, imo forget about expensive/boutique ones.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

heh, the editor choice article read like an advertisment instead..

 

[edder]

Everything must be FAT AND WARM.

 

[gsonique]

Hah !! my fingers are pretty fast ....so roll'in the guitar volume knob and together pelvic thrust helps simulating diff throbs types !!!

Sometimes i get someone to spin me around ...yeah for that real time rotating speaker effect !!

:wink:

 

[capt_oreo]

Ok i have tried both the empress trem and catalinbread... the empress cannot defitnitely give you some of the best trem sounds around and the knobs are super reactive, highly recommend for gd trem seekers. how ever, i decided to go for the catalindbread in the end, mainly becos of the size of the pedal, i really had to compromise due to my board, and also becos for simple straight forward trem sounds, the catalinbread would more than suffice plus it was warm enough. however, would like to note that i have since realised that the semaphore tends to be a little unpredictable, the knobs seem to be dependent on each other and a slight turn on one could drastically affect your trem sound.
Price wise, the difference is +/- 50 bucks. given more space, i would have gone for the empress, but i have been hearing great things about the tremor and hope to try it one dday... :lol: :lol:

p.s - tried the guyatone at ebenex, maybe its that one unit but when i tried it there was major volume loss....

 

[keithC]

gsonique:
not to mention, sticking another finger over the tone knob for cheap wah.