Castledine Supra-Vibe - Now the Supra-Vibe appreciation thread

soma1975

Very few demos of it online except for a bunch of old stuff. I know Castledine is very well respected and does a ton of super expensive tonebenders and the like and that at one time his Supra-Vibe was very highly regarded. Don't really hear them mentioned in the 'what's the best vibe' conversation any more so was wondering if more recent offerings from others have superseded it.

Sadly it's not really something I can easily demo for myself. 

Had my mind/heart set on a Reaver FX Violet Vibe from the US which is a great price but including shipping and the import duty sting it will certainly come to more than a brand new Castledine would. 

Anyone got one or used one and can comment? 

 

soma1975

Nobody got any experience of this pedal?

springhead

Surely if it was highly regarded - ie sounds like a good Univibe - then it still does? Some other pedal coming out won't make Stuarts vibe any less. He's a clever man, I'd go for it. 

soma1975

Point being there's been a ton of top rated vibes come out in the last couple of years and his vibe isn't really talked about - this thread evidence of that - and there's no stellar demos of it online. And it's hard to try before you buy. 

Having owned a bunch of vibes they all sound good until you hear one better and then you can't go back!

So it's a bit of a gamble on a relatively pricey bit of kit. 

springhead

He's a fairly small builder compared with others so I guess you're not going to see a lot talk about his pedals. I built my own so I wouldn't know what to recommend.   Friend of mine has two original Univibes, both sound good, one sounds better than the other.  I tuned mine and got it to sound like the better of his two which was satisfying.  They sort of just do one job but it's very musical when its right.  Happy hunting!

soma1975

Cheers fella. 

marooned

Hi first post here but I’ve got a Supra Vibe, it’s superb.....I know someone who’s compared Stu’s build with a couple of original vibes and Stu’s build sounded identical to the original units. 

Heres an an old thread from the Dam forum about them....

https://stompboxes.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8350

soma1975

Cheers matey. Thanks for posting. I've heard the vids in that thread. They sound nice but not drop dead wow... 


As an example this is the Violet Vibe from R Weaver FX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Xw4hkpQ74

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQcg1ZG2YgQ

and




Does your castledine get as throbby and swirly as this? 

mburekenge

@soma1975 i can't believe you traded that custom Retrovibe. I'm currently waiting on one. Can't wait!

soma1975

Had a space saving plan. It backfired spectacularly. It seems the quality of the vibe is directly proportional to its enclosure size!

springhead

If they're "proper", i.e. same circuit as an original, then they will be a reasonable size.  There are 4 photo cells with a bulb in the middle under a shiny metal light shield/mirror that measures around 1.5" x 1.5".  Plus a dozen or so discrete transistors with all the associated passive components.  Adds up to a reasonable size box.  For the authentic vibe sound you need the odd lfo circuit and a real bulb - there's a sort of lopsided lag in the sweep as a result.  I've also built a more modern version with led's instead of a bulb and it just doesn't wobble in the right way.  Unless the small vibe's are doing something clever with digital modelling then I doubt they'll get the same sound.  Even then part of the deal is that in 'Cancel' - heel down on a real Univibe - you're still playing through the whole circuit - preamp and phase shift stages.  So that's also part of the sound.

soma1975

The Jam is all analogue, 4 photocell goodness, sounds great and is a 1590BB enclosure. 

No idea what the Drybell does to get to a regular single pedal size but there is certainly some compromise. 

Gassage

Get a Wampler Terraform! Honestly!

soma1975

You kids with your Pods and your terraforms and your hippity hop music. 

lukedlb

Gassage said:

Get a Wampler Terraform! Honestly!

Are you still getting on with the vibe pro?

lukedlb

Why not get a vibe baby? I sold my original univibe and kept the vibe baby. It’s darker but much more suitable for a modern board. 

victorludorum

Do you plan to use this pedal a lot? I think for most people it usually comes down to this. If you do, then the full size models are better, but if you're not, and you're mainly doing the Hendrix/Trower dirty univibe sound, then a modded phaser usually works well enough. I have an older Lovepedal Vibe which has an adjustable pot on the inside to increase the throb, but to be honest, when it's running with fuzz I don't notice a huge difference between it and my Voodoo Vibe, which is a big bugger.

soma1975

Not interested in a phaser thanks, Have been down that road and they get nowhere near what I'm after. 

Yep I use it a fair bit. The only modulation on my board and I'm pretty addicted to that sound. 

Started off with Micro Vibe / Soul Vibe, then a Lovepedal Pickle Vibe, then lots of different phasers, then a Ventura Vibe, then a Lovepedal Vibronaught, then a  Drybell Vibe Machine 2, then a JHS Unicorn v2, then a Jam Retrovibe mk2 and now a Vibe Machine 2 again which I got in a part-ex. 

Of all of those the Retrovibe stood head and shoulders above but I feel I've not touched any of the 'big boys' yet. Castledine and Violet Vibe are probably the cheapest of those, going up the Shin Ei and whatnot... 

victorludorum

It is indeed one bastard of a rabbit hole :-)

soma1975

Yup. Will probably bite the bullet and just go for it soon. 

Seziertisch

Not a vibe per se, but nonetheless capable of 4-stage phasing, the Effectrode Phaseomatic sounds epic in the demos I’ve heard of it