Why are all Vibes so shite?

newi123

I love the sound of vibe, but have never bought one - sometimes use the model in an M5, but very occasionally. I usually make do with a phase 90 about two thirds of the way up.................. maybe I should try a real one!

Teetonetal

The only good one I've used is the jhs warbletron, just it was built like shit.

JezWynd

mgaw said:

I just dont think its that good an effect full stop

Nailed it. It's one of those sounds very much suited to its time, (circa 68-72?) It's never going to sound like much today; you need the cheesecloth shirt, velvet loons and an oz of nepalese temple ball.

Seziertisch

Maybe you just don’t like vibe?

Ché

spirit7 said:

The univibe on the Keeley Dark Side is fantastic. 

Is this the same as on the Keeley Monterey, would be interesting to know if they tweaked it for each pedal specifically.

Kebabkid

The Skreddy is good, n'est-ce pas?

Moe_Zambeek

I don’t see a Castledine on your list. You should try a Supra-vibe.

rain.parade

Earthquaker Devices 'The Depths' is more flexible than most, and sounds great

DannyP

Danelectro Chicken Salad FTW

jhumber

I have the JHS Unicorn v2. On the plus side, it sounds great, is small, and has tap tempo. On the down side, I’m 99% sure it’s the source of some powering gremlins affecting my Timeline, and introduced a high-pitch whine on some delay engines, so it’s currently off the board :-(

victorludorum

The one that always sounded good to me was the KR Mega Vibe. There was one for sale on here for ages, but I've got a Mayer VV and couldn't justify buying it. I love the Trower sound myself, but I'm fully aware that imitating the Bridge of Sighs sound is a tough ask, as it was recorded very loud and then multi layered. Mike Fuller gets a good sound (there's a YouTube video of him playing one), and I think the 4x12 is really essential if you want that thick, chewy sound that everyone seems to chase.

lukedlb

I’ve had a real shin-ei univibe. I’ve had the pleasure to play 3 other real vintage univibes. My one had higher frequencies and so was more manageable when playing a Marshall stack. However, I loved the booming thump of the earlier vibes. Like other vintage pedals there are disadvantages including low volume output, size and no true bypass. However, if you are prepared to work with it and carry a large pedalboard, the original vibes are incredible. 
The only modern vibe that can compete with a true vibe with added features is my vibe baby from classic amplification. Brad is winding down operations and is THE specialist for vibe repair in the United States. Go through his website and you’ll understand why other vibes fail. 

barnstorm

Tortuga Neptune is worth a look if you come across one.

ICBM

My favourite that I've ever used is the deeply unfashionable Dunlop Rotovibe. It's not just the sound of it, it's that the pedal 'tracks' - speed relative to foot movement - in a more natural way than the others, somehow.

I even preferred it to the Voodoo Vibe, as a vibe - although I kept the Voodoo instead, because it's a fantastic tremolo as well, and the Dunlop doesn't do that at all. The expression pedal range on the Voodoo is crap though - it needs to cover two of the switchable speed ranges, or even all three, rather than just one.

lukedlb

Yeah my first was a rotovibe, but it’s definitely not a univibe. Then a tube vibe v1 and it sounded too much like a fender pre amp. 
Btw, a lot of Hendrix studio recorded vibe uses the vibrato side to great effect. Check out hey baby and compare it to the live versions such as Maui where he uses the chorus side. 

breezytele

I’ve always been happy with my Castledine Supra Vibe. Must have had it 6 or 7 years now.

I feel it also gives a slightly mid scoop eq effect,  which is fine by me as I only use tweed.

I recently bought an Electronic Orange Moon Vibe; slightly more mids and perhaps more pronounced throb.
 It also sounded fantastic when I heard Paul Stacey play through his at a recent gig

Anyway, I’d recommend both of these.

Marco78

I have had only one vibe but don't like at all: sound dark and spongy (but probably is a feature of all vibe pedals): Jam retro vibe mk2. 

Lebarque

I can't remember who, but a couple of years ago on here, a wise man declared that he'd given up the vibe hunt in favour of a phaser, which could do faux vibe sounds, as well as a lot more besides. At the time, I smugly scoffed, self-satisfied on my Jimi chasing cloud. Fast forward til now. After a succession of boutique vibes including several of the above, I now only use a script phase 90 (phase 95). Much more flexible and more fun to me. If you haven't gotten vibe already @Gassage , give up. You're just not a vibe guy. And that's fine. Just cos Jimi did it, doesn't mean we all have to. Phasers are better for a lot of people..

menamestom

Univibes sound ace when other people play them, but I prefer a Phase 45 for similar duties.  

Pablocrackers

Jam Pedals retro vibe ~ awesome!