Amp Tremolo

[GAD]

It may not have stuck out to you, but at the time those amps were being built, the reverb/tremelo effect combo was being used pretty regularly …from surf music, to spaghetti western films, to James Bond themes. Those amps became such iconic amps that featuring it on the amp decades later likely became tradition/standardized. But as far as it being something on an amp that wasn’t being used…definitely not the case. It was all over the place, not just in a blues/R&B/rock musical genres. Heck, Link Wray basically set the stage for the next 50 years of guitar driven rock by big reverb/tremelo power chords w/ Rumble!

Byt it's also why they seemed 'old fashioned ' in the late 70s.

Reverb I totally get. Used it all the time and then learned to use it less because (like most kids I'd say) I was overusing it.

 

[tonepoet]

At this point there's only one song I'm playing where I use tremolo. It's like a spice that works with some dishes, but not all.

I have used the amp tremolo on my Fender Deluxe Reissue. The only problem is that you can't get it very slow. I had a song I wanted to use it in that had a 110bpm tempo but I clocked the slowest rate on the Fender at 210bpm. So, I used a JOYO Tremolo pedal that has a much wider range of speed that I could dial right into 110bpm. I wanted these slow, spacious strums to pulse with the tempo of the tune in some parts.


So, yeah, Fender amp tremolo if the speed works for the tune being played.

 

[tonepoet]

I think it's tremolo being used in this Parlor Mob tune called "After All", This tune may not be for everyone, but I've always liked their sound at this time they put this out..

Check out the tremolo sound at 0:40, 2:20 and 3:29 and enjoy all the rock guitar tones in between

 

[Uke]

It's like a spice that works with some dishes, but not all.

Great way to put it!

 

[Midnight Toker]

Great way to put it!

Agree, and I’ll add that once upon a time it was a spice that created numerous notable dishes!

Today, it’s like any modulating effects, be it Vibe, Flange, Phase, etc. They all have their time and place but all are great tools for inspiration, creation, and generally adding some spice to an instrument that has been played and recorded in just about every way imaginable. Sometimes all it takes is strumming the simplest of chords w/ an effect like tremelo to open a door you didn’t even know was there. I’d say 1/2 my pedal board falls in the “spice only used in certain dishes” category. But I need them all nonetheless!

 

[Bill Ashton]

James Carr and "Pops" Staples, oh yeah!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It was really more me wondering why an effect that didn’t really seem all that popular (at least from where I sat) was included on so many amps.

Never seen a poll or census on it, but it's essential for me. Not on every song, but when I want to get swampy, it's my dirt road to the bayou.

I'm not an extreme minimalist, but I've found the only effects I ever want to use are trem, 'verb, and overdrive. And only on electric.

 

[walrus]

That Pedal Show discusses some tremolo pedals:

 

[Midnight Toker]

Was listening to Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs album on my drive home just now, and must say he keeps a faint trem on 75% of the time!! It’s his bag..baby! There are many that actually do use it as one of their “always on” effects. More in a way when you turn up the effect just until you notice it, then pull it back one position. It’s there, it color’s your sound, but it’s subtle enough to go largely unnoticed.

 

[Rocky]

Was listening to Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs album on my drive home just now, and must say he keeps a faint trem on 75% of the time!! It’s his bag..baby! There are many that actually do use it as one of their “always on” effects. More in a way when you turn up the effect just until you notice it, then pull it back one position. It’s there, it color’s your sound, but it’s subtle enough to go largely unnoticed.

I think that might be univibe, which has a tremolo-like aspect to the sound, as well as a phase shifting component.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I think that might be univibe, which has a tremolo-like aspect to the sound, as well as a phase shifting component.

True. Still a time based effect in the same ballpark…especially w/ fuzz/distortion/wah. Clean they are very different.

I keep mine very close.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I do think it’s an issue of musical preferences. Most effects I can get behind in some capacity or another but the music I (mostly) grew up with didn’t really use it, and come to think of it much of that music used amps that didn’t include any effects Marshall, Orange, Hiwatt, etc.).

I think some of the songs posted do sound “right” the way they are and certainly the songs in my original searches do, too. One that surprised me was Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams which I never even realized was tremolo. LOL

I think the idea of tremolo being a carry over from organs makes a lot if sense, especially considering the time frame of the earliest Fender amps along with the fact that so many amps had accordion labeled inputs. It was just a different time.

Thanks again for the great insights!

I think “why tremelo?” (applicable to 50’s-60’s music) is not far off from a currently 25 yr old asking “why chorus?” (not being familiar w/ the 80’s.) (my god that whole decade was chorus crazy! I know mine was on all the time back then, embarrassingly (now).

 

[matsickma]

I haven't seen "Back to the Future" for a while but didn't Marty McFly have Tremelo on when the band played the slow dance song? Tremelo seemed to be the right effect when you heard a "slow dance" song!

 

[GAD]

I think “why tremelo?” (applicable to 50’s-60’s music) is not far off from a currently 25 yr old asking “why chorus?” (not being familiar w/ the 80’s.) (my god that whole decade was chorus crazy! I know mine was on all the time back then, embarrassingly (now).

I blame Boston. I remember reading a younger person saying they didn't like Boston because they sounded over-done, over-processed, and with too much chorus. LOL they invented that sound.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I blame Boston. I remember reading a younger person saying they didn't like Boston because they sounded over-done, over-processed, and with too much chorus. LOL they invented that sound.

You got that right! Stereo chorus+ distortion+slap back delay= More than a feeling!


^that's not the rockman (which had a short/long/off delay) (had one of those too) This is the Tom Scholtz Soloist.

 

[GAD]

You got that right! Stereo chorus+ distortion+slap back delay= More than a feeling!


^that's not the rockman (which had a short/long/off delay) (had one of those too) This is the Tom Scholtz Soloist.

I loved my original Rockman! The sound through headphones was freaking amazing, and all without a single IC involved as I recall, though I can't find a pic to prove that.

Believe it or not I threw mine out decades ago. I so wish I still had it, though I had modified it to take a footswitch. A couple have sold on Ebay for $500+ these days which is nuts.

 

[Rocky]

I loved my original Rockman! The sound through headphones was freaking amazing, and all without a single IC involved as I recall, though I can't find a pic to prove that.

Believe it or not I threw mine out decades ago. I so wish I still had it, though I had modified it to take a footswitch. A couple have sold on Ebay for $500+ these days which is nuts.

There must have been bucket brigade ICs (probably Reticon SAD 1024) for the chorus and delay, as that's how it was done then. No digital, though.

 

[GAD]

There must have been bucket brigade ICs (probably Reticon SAD 1024) for the chorus and delay, as that's how it was done then. No digital, though.

I’m sure. I remember opening it up and it was jam packed with discreet components which floored me.

 

[tonepoet]

I'm not an extreme minimalist, but I've found the only effects I ever want to use are trem, 'verb, and overdrive. And only on electric.

I'm pretty minimal. I usually play clean rhythm electric guitar with a touch of analog delay instead of reverb. Distortion is handled by the tube amp itself. And then I keep a trem pedal and a wah pedal in the signal chain, if needed. Used to try lots of pedals, especially distortion pedals, but I've simplified, over time.

 

[tonepoet]

I think “why tremelo?” (applicable to 50’s-60’s music) is not far off from a currently 25 yr old asking “why chorus?” (not being familiar w/ the 80’s.) (my god that whole decade was chorus crazy! I know mine was on all the time back then, embarrassingly (now).

I think every decade goes a little crazy with a new technology and then settles down a bit. 50s/60s with tremolo and Farfisa organ sounds, the late 60s with the wah-wah pedal, the 80s with chorus, the drum machine craze, all synth bands, etc

But for electric guitar, it seems that distortion and reverb never quite go out of style.