The Super 6: A Tremolo Shoot-Out & Review

Wazmeister

Intro and Background

It's strange that, for someone who lives in the heart of England, the 'sound in my head' has often been those swampy, deep south American tones...

I remember as a boy watching 'Southern Comfort', being totally engulfed by the soundtrack of this great film. I naturally didn't know that it was Ry Cooder churning out those great throbbing delta tunes; but I did know that it had impacted me...

I guess I've been on a tremolo journey ever since.






Anyway, my next known encounter was when as a teenager, I saw Richard Thompson performing live 'When The Spell Is Broken', with his stunning playing and excellent tremolo sound. This stated a life long love of RT and his catalogue.
I've seen him live many times since, and noted some years ago that he was playing the Fulltone Supa Trem (v1), so I bought one (naturally).

Fast forward to the present and here I find myself with a bit of expendable after some sales, and a new amp to trial them all out with. My first ports of call for purchases are Coda Music first for amps and geetars, and Andertons for pedals. 

Two were already in the stable - the Supro and the (legendary) Goatkeeper.

So, I ordered 4 from Andertons, on the back of purchasing the new (midi) Deco from them. More to follow on the new Deco, which is quite superb, and opens up my previous love for stereo ins and out.

So, the shootout has involved the following;

- Strymon Flint (v2 midi) - £329

- Supro Tremolo - £199

- Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper - unavailable - currently £800 - £1000

- Fulltone Supra Trem CS v2 - £249

- Spaceman Delta II - £229

- Jam Pedals Harmonious Monk (Mick here) - £229

The Shoot-Out

All pedals played through the following;

Two Rock Studio Signature
Fender 70th Heavy Relic Broadcaster
Milkman The Amp 100 plus 1x12 Zilla Cab (for stereo use)
Strymon Big Sky

No sound clips Im afraid - that's a rabbit hole for another day !!    

My initial thoughts were for the pedal to possibly house the following;

- Mix knob
- Stereo outs
- tap tempo

1.) Supro Tremolo

I owned 3 of these, and I love the fact that you can add drive (drive the pre-amp) to aid the dirty tones in your head
(please, quiet at the back).

However, this one failed upon start-up. Literally stopped working, and it's frustrating. No previous problems with it. No further investigation at this point, other than a sulk and "well, you can fuck right off then" stance from a stroppy Waz.

2.) Strymon Flint v2 (Midi)

Just released, and one of the new TRS/midi offerings from the creative greats at Strymon.
This model has added a few new extras, and still has the trem and reverb options and offerings.

The verb is very good indeed, as is the new decay knob, which adds greatly to the verb options.

I've owned a few v1 Flints, and I love the look and concept, but find the whole sound a little, I dunno, digital ?
Sure, a very versatile pedal, and I know many love them.

But ultimately, not the analogue-kinda-throbby-delta sound I'm after.

Nice enough, but the Flint didn't survive the cull.

3.) Spaceman Deltra II

I've seen the Spaceman stuff across the years on TGP. Expensive, relatively rare, always unobtainable stock-wise.
I had the reverb pedal once, and I thought it was a pile of shit. Very noisy and average.

But then, someone talked me into trying the Spaceman Mercury IV, and this was a bit special. It added that little of sparkle to your sounds, and I used mine for some time at the end of the board, and def with the band live. Great pedal, which I foolishly sold, as you do...

Anyway, I liked the sounds on Sasha Ivantic Youtube review of this pedal, and I thought I'd try it.

BINGO ! This is the sound I've been after from a trem. Instant swamp. There are 3 voices, and the LAG knob is great for shaping the tone.

A keeper straight away, even though it lacks tap tempo and stereo outs.

4.) Jam Pedals Harmonious Monk

I liked this one. Good sounds, nice mix knob and tap tempo. 

A wide variety of sounds and options, but it just couldn't match the swamp of the Delta II, or the glorious stereo of the Fulltone. 

I can see why people like this, but it just lacked a bit of character, imho. Oh, and I don't like the graphics

5.) Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper 

I'm very fortunate to own this. No longer in production, but it remains totally unique in the pedal world.

The Goatkeeper 3 is an all analog signal path, tap tempo tremolo / sequencer pedal.  Its unique sound is due a fast response analog VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier), four stage pattern sequencer, and customizable waveforms.

You can simply programme it to have 1,2,3,4 pulses per bar or none at all.

Glorious, rich, and a joy to own and use.

I'd only ever sell this if the funds went to a new amp or geetar, so you can never say never. 

But I do love the Goatkeeper.

6.) Fulltone Supa Trem CS Stereo

This has the lot. Totally amazing stereo sounds, and it genuinely has two trems in the housing. Throbbing, clear, totally silent in use, and extremely well made. A def keeper from the second I plugged it in.

Placing it after the Delta II, and having BOTH on, is an incredible 3D experience. Reminds me of the Magnatone I once owned. Superb.

Conclusion 

Thanks for listening, and apologies for the long article !

Strangely enough, Ive always preferred pedal-trem to amp-trem. This shoot out bears this out too.
All of these pedals are quality and above average, and there is something in each to meet your tastes.

So for me, there were 2 winners and keepers;


1.) Fulltone Supa Trem CS

2.) Spaceman Delta II

handsomerik

Great review. Cheers Waz. 

I love the Flint. It’s been on my board way longer than anything else. 

richman6100

Thanks for the review, Waz. Really interesting. I currently own a Source Audio Vertigo, which I've tweaked quite a bit and I'm generally happy with it. However, I can't help wondering how other tremolos would compare. I'm belatedly getting into tremolo in a big way with my Strats and Teles, so if you have the time (and inclination), some sound clips of the pedals in this review would be really welcome.

AntonHunter

Thanks for the epic review! 

Evan

I’m also a Trem lover and the Keeley Hydra I recently bought is doing it for me at the moment. Speaking of Magnatone, I know Richard Thompson uses tremolo rather than vibrato, but I ordered 2 Magnatone type pedals to compare at home, a Surfyvibe and Crazy Tube Circuits Memphis. One of them is going back and it’s not the Surfyvibe. I wish I’d discovered this flavour of vibrato/tremolo earlier, for me now it’s an essential weapon in my trem/vibrato arsenal along with Fender style amplitude and harmonic. Apologies for the warmongering analogies.

victorludorum

I find that Richard Thompson's Tremolo use is quite mild, as he seems to have the mix, or depth setting so that it's barely on. I go through a mad Tremolo moment every now and then and always think about getting a stand-alone unit, but in the end that Thompson sound is the one I like the most, so my BYOC Trem does a nice job for that. I love the idea of bias Trem which cuts out when you play loud, but this only seems to really work with overdrive, and that's not hugely useable i think (at least not for me).

Nice review by the way ;-)

Wazmeister

victorludorum said:

I find that Richard Thompson's Tremolo use is quite mild, as he seems to have the mix, or depth setting so that it's barely on. I go through a mad Tremolo moment every now and then and always think about getting a stand-alone unit, but in the end that Thompson sound is the one I like the most, so my BYOC Trem does a nice job for that. I love the idea of bias Trem which cuts out when you play loud, but this only seems to really work with overdrive, and that's not hugely useable i think (at least not for me).

Nice review by the way ;-)

Actually, i believe he sometimes uses a vibrato subtly, as an always on effect.

The tremolo is then an addition for certain songs. Obviously, he needs these pedals with his sloppy playing…

personalnadir

The Origin Effects and Hamstead pedals might also be worth a gander; I’ve tried the former and liked it, but I’m more of a chop guy and the drive wasn’t for me 

pleasantly surprised to hear the Spaceman pedal do well too, I’d always liked the look of them, but heard a few people not rate their modulation efforts relative to their drives 

downbytheriver

Damn that’s a pretty amp

(oh, and excellent review btw) 

EricTheWeary

JD McPherson is/was using the Supa Trem although I think the V1 and he gets amazing modern-retro sounds so I have in mind if it was an effect I was pursuing that's what I'd look at and it's done well here, nice bit of confirmation bias for me. 
I've never really played much that needed it, broke things up for one or two choons in a four piece blues band but unless you can get really high in the mix it gets lost in a 7 piece band. 

benmurray85

I love tremolo 
I love Waz reviews 
I love this 

I’m not surprised you didn’t get on with the JAM as it took me a while to settle in with it but honestly, now it’s probably my favourite trem. Either way, great review Waz, thanks

digitalkettle

I like a bit of wibble but I’ve got massive overlap on my board with vibe/phase/rotary/fast chorus…I’ve also got a Walrus Monument but I tend to use it for straight tremolo (not harmonic)…it’s all good fun though

NorthernStomps

Nice work indeed! 

I have a Flint V1 and I have no use for midi functions. Is there any positives to convince me to upgrade to V2?

JezWynd

I agree re the Fulltone, it's an epic sounding tremolo and the phase correlation is an excellent feature when running stereo. Another good one is the VFE Old School and my current fave, the old Schaller trem.

Supportact

Thanks for the review, very interesting. I like to mess about with all types of modulation but when it comes to actually recording or playing live i always come back to tremolo.

I ended up with a Black Cat Mini-Trem. Mis-named because it's not a mini pedal, just normal sized (I don't know what happened there). It can't do choppy, more of a 'throbby' kind of thing. Very good sound, not entirely silent but fine for me. Also it's got a boost built in so you can adjust the volume when it's engaged, which is really handy. 

On another board I've got a Mooer Trelicopter. Only about £40 but surprisingly good. 

menamestom

Nice review.  I have the Flint and am happy with it, it’s reliable and sounds good without blowing me away.
I’m sure there is better, but as a package I like it.

I’ve never gone down the trem rabbit hole because they all sound like pedals to me, not because you can’t get good trem in a pedal, you can, but amp bias trem works better because the whole amp is pulsing rather than just the input signal.

Wazmeister

menamestom said:

Nice review.  I have the Flint and am happy with it, it’s reliable and sounds good without blowing me away.
I’m sure there is better, but as a package I like it.

I’ve never gone down the trem rabbit hole because they all sound like pedals to me, not because you can’t get good trem in a pedal, you can, but amp bias trem works better because the whole amp is pulsing rather than just the input signal.

Thanks for all the kind comments

I think all of the pedals in the review are very good;  the Flint is a no brainer as it offers so much, and the verb has always been good on it.

I was just chasing that sound in my head, and we all know how hard that can be !

Wazmeister

NorthernStomps said:

Nice work indeed! 

I have a Flint V1 and I have no use for midi functions. Is there any positives to convince me to upgrade to V2?

I'll be honest, I'm not that deep in knowledge regarding the Flint and the v1 and v2 debate.

Certainly the Deco sounds better to me, with a few useful additions. I understand that all of the v2 have added functions and better hardware. Certainly the new Jfet circuit sounds really good, and I believe that the v2 Flint adds a slower trem option, the ARM chip, stereo and (i think) the decay knob - as well as the midi.

Wazmeister

benmurray85 said:

I love tremolo 
I love Waz reviews 
I love this 

I’m not surprised you didn’t get on with the JAM as it took me a while to settle in with it but honestly, now it’s probably my favourite trem. Either way, great review Waz, thanks

Ben, hope all is well mate

Thanks for the lovely words !

gatheredinsong

Really interesting to hear your thoughts on these Warren. I'm fairly happy with my MGMV and Swamp Thang for trem duties, but do find the LED being barely visible on the ST to be slightly irritating. Perhaps that Delta is worth a look for a potential replacement. I've actually been considering the compact Spaceman Explorer phaser because the layout (vertical with side jacks and side dc input) would allow me to gain an extra pedal if it could displace my Red Witch Deluxe Moon Phaser. However, the comment from @personalnadir has me wondering now.

personalnadir

gatheredinsong said:

Really interesting to hear your thoughts on these Warren. I'm fairly happy with my MGMV and Swamp Thang for trem duties, but do find the LED being barely visible on the ST to be slightly irritating. Perhaps that Delta is worth a look for a potential replacement. I've actually been considering the compact Spaceman Explorer phaser because the layout (vertical with side jacks and side dc input) would allow me to gain an extra pedal if it could displace my Red Witch Deluxe Moon Phaser. However, the comment from @personalnadir has me wondering now.

I would say, this was some Internet forums when I looking at the Aurora Flanger and Artemis Filter as such no substitute for first hand experience. Did some research and found a thread of people who were underwhelmed, so had discounted them. Hadn’t seen someone mention them since. 

Am hoping to try them in person in the coming months, though I am hoping to get a Pulse Doppler for my own modulation needs. The Spaceman pedals are good looking and all the YT demos for them all sounded cool.