JAM Pedals further improve most everyone's favourite Harmonic Tremolo - the Harmonious Monk MK2 - now with additional features

The JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk is undoubtedly the throbbiest and most flavoursome Harmonic Tremolo out there - which gets you incredibly close to a classic Uni-Vibe sound. Obviously this modulation is slightly different in nature - and doesn’t rely on photocells - while its output is just far more flavoursome than other equivalent Harmonic Tremolos.

This has been my favourite of that type since it first emerged near the end of 2020. At the time I felt it was a little strange to have a x2 Speed footswitch in place of a Tap Tempo - so now you get both!

Controls - D (Depth), Mode : Up Harmonic / Down Amplitude, S (Speed), L (Level), Waveforms : Square / Sinewave / Reverse Sawtooth, M (Mix), Engage footswitch, Tap Tempo / Speed Ramp / x2 Speed. Press and hold both footswitches to change Tao / Speed Mode, and hold down Engage Footswitch on power-up to set default startup mode : On or Off.

In essence this is exactly the same core circuit as before - delivering all that same flavour - you can check out my MK 1 Review for some of the core insights.

For the MK2 - there are 7 new features, as follows :

1. TAP tempo
2. Ramp function : holding the TAP switch will ramp to a second speed. You can determine the second speed, as well as the rate of the ramp between the two tremolo speeds
3. There is a second mode of operation called the Legacy mode which retains and expands on the mk.1’s functionality since now you can choose to have x2 (double) or x1.5 (dotted eighth) speed multiplying options!
4. New LFO waveform added: Reverse Sawtooth
5. CHOP (kill dry) function
6. In addition to the mk.1’s 3 internal EQ trimmers, the mk.2 features a new internal trimmer to adjust input gain control to optimise Harmonious Monk mk.2 for use with guitar, bass, keys, or anything else you might want to throw at it!
7. You can now also specify the startup state of the MK2, to ON or OFF upon receiving power!

I’m already onboard with this edition and ordered one from That Pedal Show on the night of the announcement - on Thursday April 6th. There are no details yet of when it’s being delivered - hopefully next week. That Pedal Show’s initial batch of 200 sold out pretty quickly - more will be arriving soon enough!

You can of course order one from the JAM Pedals Webstore, and some will be a leading International dealers imminently.

I’ve had so many new modulation pedals in recently that it’s a challenge to fit them all in on this Month’s pedal chain update. Some may therefore appear in next month’s selection.

In any case the Harmonious Monk is a fantastic Harmonic Tremolo - and currently the all-round favourite of that type!