GEAR DATABASE

Great Uni-Vibe Sounds, Signal Chain Considerations & Associated Tangents

Published on 11 Jan 2019

In this episode Dan and I ask and answer some common questions about classic Vibe style pedals. The original Uni-Vibe pedal first appeared in 1968, introduced by Japanese company Shin-ei and released in the US by Univox... erm, according to Wikipedia. The name Uni-Vibe is now a trademark of Dunlop Manufacturing Inc.
The Uni-Vibe sound was immortalised into rock history by Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower among others and has since become a staple of countless pedalboards. It’s a four-stage phaser that uses light dependent resistors around a bulb to creates a unique modulation effect that's kinda part phaser, kinda part chorus and definitely all magic.
Join us as we dial in a bunch of sounds and mess with settings and pedalboard position to help you on you quest for the perfect vibe tone. Let’s pulse and throb baby…

Pedals in this episode…

• TheGigRig Three2One


• Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner Mini
Australia:

• Chase Tone ’68 Red Velvet Fuzz


• Fulltone Full-Drive1 FD-1
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Drybell Vibe Machine
Australia:

• Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe


• Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe CS-MDV2 MKII
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Boss MD-500
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• JAM Pedals Retro Vibe Mk.2


• Walrus Audio ARP-87 Delay
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Neo Instruments Mini Vent II
USA:


• Supro Tremolo
UK & Europe:
USA:

• TheGigRig G2


* Why do we have preferred retailer links? Find out here:


Interesting bits and go-to sections…
- Intro playing: 0:00
- New Callaham bridge in Mick’s Strat: 2:10
- What are we doing today? 3:08
- Today’s big questions: 3:45
- What is vibe anyway? 4:16
- Today’s amps: 5:25
- Vibe or vibrato? 5:55
- Chorus and vibrato modes? 8:50
- Vibe and rotary speaker simulator compared: 11:48
- Doppler and rotary? 15:01
- Rotary speaker high and low frequency difference: 16:30
- That famous Pink Floyd song and Syd's Theme: 17:14
- Vibe and harmonic tremolo compared: 18:25
- What about signal chain position for vibe? 23:55
- New Fulltone Full-Drive OD1: 25:40
- Vibe before and after overdrive: 27:45
- Vibe before and after fuzz: 29:40
- …with the volume down in the guitar: 30:50
- …with more drive in the amp: 33:10 (34:07)
- Speed and intensity controls? 37:34
- Five vibe pedals compared with with fuzz: 39:17
- …and with a clean tone: 43:33
- Tweaking the Drybell… and more comparisons: 45:03
- Tweaking the MD-500… and more comparisons: 48:00
- What about humbuckers? 53:20
- And P90s? 56:13
- Surely not all on? 57:30
- What have we learned? 58:30


Guitars in this episode:
• Fender American Vintage ’62 Stratocaster – Mick’s video at
• Fender Custom Shop ’63 Telecaster – Dan’s video at
• Gibson Memphis 1958 ES-335 - no video yet
• Nik Huber Krautster II - Dan’s video at

Amps in this episode
• Fender ’65 Super Reverb (reissue) with 4x10 Jensen P10R speakers
• Marshall 1987x (reissue) with 4x12 Celestion G12M Greenback speakers