The Vibe thread

[univalve]

Chankgeez, Tris and i did a shootout of the vibes we had at hand last weekend. My Castledine is right lend to a friend. So this one was missing.
We compared these four:
MG Music Mono vibe: http://www.mgmusic.com.br/en/produtos/mono-vibe/
9V DC, ~230 EUR

Paisley Tubby effects: http://www.vibrafuzz.com/
18V DC, ~160 EUR

Effectrode Tube Vibe: http://www.effectrode.com/tube-vibe/
12V DC, $429 (329GBP, ~400 EUR)

J.T.Pedals VTrem: http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/jtpedals/vtrem
12V AC, ~300 EUR, out of production

We both had experiences with other pedals before that (Sweet Sound Vibe, Black Cat Vibe etc.) but these four are top notch for our taste.

Tris is a lot better in describing the actual sounds of the pedals so i will leave that to him

My personal summary: I'm pretty impressed by the Mono Vibe: small, nice case, i dig the optics, simple controls and warm/dark sounding with a nice watery touch. In the low speed settings very similar to the tube vibe. 9V jack! Perhaps the best thing to slap on a board. The output volume could be higher: at 3 o'clock it is unity gain. But the Tube Vibe has the same problem.

BTW, the VTrem would be now my recommendation in your thread about fattening the sound. This pedal does exactly what i think you have in mind: fat, strong bass response, slight detune in a very nice (can be very subtle) way that doesn't annoy you (like e.g. chorus).

[Chankgeez]

Many thanks, Uni & Tris.

I've definitely been interested in the Castledine and the Paisley Tubby for the longest time.

Interesting that you thought some of the vibes lack volume. The Neo Ventilator, what I'm using now for similar sounds, has a noticeable volume bump when engaged.

I'll have to go listen to some VTrem demos. Thank you.

[univalve]

More to come!
Tris should be able to do a good description of These. I ran out of time with my Post. Sorry.
And it is a pity that the castledine was Not here. But we will Check that out the next time.
In the meantime listen to mono vibe Demos. That Thing is Super!

Edit: i will make you a vibrafuzz soundfile. Just need a Bit more time...

[Chankgeez]

Thanks, uni.

Ha ha, there're no Vtrem demos on YouTube.

Which, I guess, is a good thing since it's out of production. The last thing I want is to be GASSING for a pedal I can't find.

Yeah, those Mono pedals always look fun. I'll go listen to some of those demos.

[Tristan]

I'm working till late but I'll reply as soon as I get home.

[Chankgeez]

[univalve]

Isn't The Ventilator for line (aka Keyboard) usage?

[Chankgeez]

Well, it is and it isn't. I've got a older Ventilator and while it was designed with keyboards in mind, it's got some concessions to guitarists.

It has switches for Keys/Guitar (speaker simulator/no speaker sim) and for Hi/Lo input gain.

It's still pretty finicky with a guitar signal (it really doesn't like seeing much gain). Clips very easily. So much so that I usually run it first in the chain.

[Tristan]

The Ventilator, being a leslie sim, is a completely different thing altogether though.

[Chankgeez]

Yep, Tristan, I know, but it happens to be the closest thing I'm currently using to a Uni-vibe. They're both basically trying to emulate the same thing, albeit in different ways. That's the only reason I mentioned it.

[Tristan]

True Chank, I knew you knew, just wanted to state it really, it's just such a different effect that I don't really get the similarities in them much at all, apart from them both being meant to emulate a rotary speaker.

As for the vibes, yep, like Uni also said, those four are about the creme de la creme when it comes to vibes for our tastes.
I tried quite a few others; Black Cat Vibe, Deja Vibe, Jim Dunlop Uni Vibe, Mojo Vibe, Micro Vibe, The Depths, Voodoo Vibe, but for one reason or the other they all didn't quite cut it for me.

Effectrode Tube Vibe:
On higher settings this one has a pretty crazy waveform and vibrato that comes into play as soon as it fades out again.
It almost sounds like your sound is captured in a vortex of time and then gets spit out again like some kind of doppler effect, in that way it actually mostly reminded me of the Warped Vinyl only that the Tube Vibe has noticeably more effect in the lows as well.
Another special thing about it is that it's about the wettest sounding vibe both Uni and me heard so far, I wouldn't say it's vocal like some phasers but there's a certain aspect to the sound that lends it this kind of quality.
You know when you try an exquisite wine or whisky or something along the likes and you nibble your mouth a bit?
That's a bit the kind of sound / feeling it reminds me of in some settings, not pingy like a high midrange but kinda elastic or rubbery you know, Uni and me kind of described this as a wet sound, as if the dry attack of the guitar gets an extra type of quality when you you play the effect.
The Tube Vibe has that quality the most I think.
On the other hand it's quite touchy with the blend control and you have to really tweak it to get the best out of it, full max is not the deepest and wettest sound by default or anything.

MG Music Mono Vibe:
From all the others I think this one has the most of the same qualities the Tube Vibe has.
It's also a bit more easily tweakable with the vibrato toggle and everything.
The waveform on it is also a bit jagged / bumped, especially on deeper vibrato settings, just like the Tube Vibe it always stays musical, however it doesn't quite seem to do the vortex / doppler effect though.
There's a touch more upper mids which makes the rubbery / wet / nibble effect a bit less but it's still there.
Overall I think it's a really nice and easy to use vibe with good depth and throb, a beautiful vibrato and a lot of versatility, I'm very happy with it.

Paisley Tubby Vibra Fuzz:
This is more of a phaser type take on the Univibe I think, more airy than watery or bubbly if you know what I mean.
It doesn't get as deep as the others but overall it's quite a pleasing and special kind of sound, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Mostly we had the depth control maxed out if I remember correctly.
The fuzz on it is also quite nice, supposed to be like a Superfuzz but it has a bit of a less heavy and more midrange type vintage sound to it I think.

J.T. Pedals VT Trem:
This is a quirky one, in a good way, being able to blend in the trem is quite delicious I must say.
With the bass toggle it also gets way deep, oh yeah, nice baby.
I don't like the bright switch on it much, it really gets too much in the high midrange for my tastes but you don't need to use it of course.
On high depth trem settings there's a bit of oscillator bleed that actually sounds quite cool.
Like Uni mentioned the effect can also be set very subtle as a modulated enhancer of some sorts.
Yep, a very nice and special one I think.

[Tristan]

By the way, I just saw another video of the Amptweaker SwirlPool, though it's not completely for me it might be up your alley I think.

[Chankgeez]

Awesome detailed and descriptive write ups, Tristan, thank you.

Yeah, the SwirlPool is something I've considered. I've listened to a few demos of it, haven't really heard a good one. I'm still interested.

Yeah, Leslie sims and Uni-Vibes aren't really all that similar. I think I actually prefer Leslie sims. I'd like a little more low end response though. Hence my half-hearted investigation of vibes. We'll see if I can find what I'm listening for. I may eventually switch my search over to regular phasers. The only vibe I've tried recently was the Black Cat and while I thought it sounds great, it isn't the sound I want to hear.

I listened to some MonoVibe demos earlier today and they sounded pretty good. I may keep my eyes open for a nicely priced used one.

From your description, I'm also still interested in the Paisley Tubby. I'm disappointed to hear your report that it isn't that deep sounding though.

I think I'm also gonna keep my eyes open for a VT Trem. I need to start saving some $ for these.

[Ugly Nora]

T- what's your beef with the Voodoo Vibe?

[univalve]

Thanks Tris for the detailed explanation. Fits to my experience perfectly.