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Personal Uni-Vibe Capsule Collection is up to 14

Colortone PedalsDigiTechDryBell EffectsEarthQuaker DevicesFjord FuzzFlower PedalsFormula B PedalsHorrothia EffectsJHS PedalsModulationMXRRitual DevicesThorpyFXTru-Fi Guitar EffectsUni-Vibe and Vibe+-
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This year has seen a number of additions to my Uni-Vibe roster - where 9 of the 14 featured here are proper bulb / photocell varieties - indicated by the bulb icon. Some of these have Uni-Vibe as secondary voices, and some are very slightly adjacent or produce Uni-Vibe tones via other means.

 

New additions this year have been the Colortone Roundhouse, EQD The Depths, Fjord Fuzz Njord, Formula B Vintage-Vibe, ThorpyFX ER-2, and and Tru-Fi Ghost Vibe. For the longest time I just had 2 Uni-Vibes in the collection - the DSP Ventura Vibe, and proper bulb variety JHS Unicorn. Most of these have been added to the collection in the last couple of years. Not to any grand scheme - while more recently there were a few that I wanted to tick off my list.

 

I feel I’m in a pretty good place now and have a really good spread of different devices - each pretty much with their own character - there have been a few more that I’ve historically had my eye on - like the Dawner Prince Viberator, Foxrox AquaVibe, Fulltone Deja’Vibe, JAM Pedals RetroVibe, and Retroman UberVibe. Probably the Viberator is the likeliest next addition of those - but I’m really in no hurry now - and will just play it fairly opportunistically hereon in.

 

Here is the selection overview :

  • Colortone RoundHouse Triple Modulator Tremolo & Uni-Vibe - $299
  • DigiTech Ventura Vibe - discontinued - $150 when new
  • DryBell Vibe Machine - $319 + F-1L3 Footswitch $33
  • EarthQuaker Devices The Depths Analog Optical Vibe Machine - $209
  • Fjord Fuzz Frei Analog Uni-Vibe - $249
  • Fjord Fuzz Njord Analog Resly Tone Leslie Emulator - $150
  • Flower Pedals Castilleja 4-Stage Analog Phaser with 2nd Uni-Vibe Voicing - $249
  • Formula B Vintage-Vibe Uni-Vibe - €259 / $283
  • Horrothia Berkeley Late 60’s Liquid Leslie Vibe - £370 / $469
  • MXR JHW3 Jimi Hendrix ’69 Psych Series Uni-Vibe - $130
  • JHS Pedals Uni-Vibe / Vibrato - $219
  • Ritual Devices Fay Phase Filter Saturator - £299 / $379
  • ThorpyFX ER-2 Uni-Vibe - £299 / $379
  • Tru-Fi Ghost Vibe Uni-Vibe - $299

Each of those really is a distinctive take on the format - mostly each with their own specific control topology.

 

As mentioned - 9 as indicated via appropriate icon are proper analog bulb + photocell varieties, while the Roundhouse uses a Custom Electrosmith Chip, the Ventura Vibe uses a really hard to get hold of chip nowadays (hence still discontinued), the Castilleja is a 4-Stage Optical Phaser at its heart, the MXR Mini Uni-Vibe is JFET-based, and the Ritual Fay is a really cool Filter Phaser Saturator which delivers amazing Uni-Vibe-like tones!

 

Here follow the usual details per individual pedal :


Colortone RoundHouse Triple Modulator Tremolo & Uni-Vibe - $299

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Controls - Speed, Waveform : Triangle / Sine / Square, Mode : Optical Tremolo / Harmonic Tremolo / Uni-Vibe, Mix, Phase Centre-Point, Reverb, Grain / Preamp, Output Cut / Boost, Tap Tempo Footswitch (Hold for Speed Ramp), Bypass Footswitch.

 

The Roundhouse makes use of a brilliantly warm and analog sounding Custom Electrosmith Chip. This is principally a Tremolo pedal - with two modes for that modulation, and then a really cool Uni-Vibe mode too. It's not as 'throbby' as some of these others - but certainly has that core vintage Uni-Vibe feel and sound - best used for more subtle and more elegant tones - while it still has some potency. Being able to warm things up further with the 'Grain' knob delivers some really amazing tones. I would have preferred this in a vertical orientation - while I really love it as it is too - has 3 really beautiful modulation voicings onboard - with an incredible degree of range and granularity - just doesn't go all that throbby as mentioned.


DigiTech Ventura Vibe - discontinued - $150 when new

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Controls - Type : Vintage / Modern / Rotary, Speed, Depth, Mix, Tone, Drive.

 

My first and only 'Uni-Vibe' for some years - I loved the stereo nature of its output, while it's not the throbbiest of Uni-Vibes really. I always thought it gave a reasonable flavour of the genre - but did not really capture the proper phasey swoosh of the analog varieties in particular.


DryBell Vibe Machine - $319 + F-1L3 Footswitch $33

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Controls Primary - Intensity, Speed / Options, Mode : Chorus / Vibrato, and Input Impedance / Brightness : Custom / Bright / Original.

 

Controls Secondary -  Custom Brightness, Chorus Depth, Grit/Presence, Throb Adjust } Symmetry, Range, Volume/Output.

 

The most versatile of Uni-Vibes - particularly when you add the F-1LR Footswitch - which allows you to do proper Leslie style Ramping. Looks fairly simple on the surface - but has 6 further trimmers on the left and right side of the pedal, and several 'programmable' modes to set a variety of secondary parameters.

 

Still probably my perfect Uni-Vibe in format - this is the most granular of all of them if you want to tweak every aspect of the pedal - some will find it a little fussy - it's a Tardis and Iceberg of a pedal - so clever! And it sounds fantastic too! Still the smartest Uni-Vibe out there!


EarthQuaker Devices The Depths Analog Optical Vibe Machine - $209

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Controls - Intensity, Rate, Voice : Thin > Fat, Level, Throb.

 

I've been after one of these for a while - where it has 2 fairly unique controls that are right up my street - Voice and Throb - more Uni-Vibe pedals should have a 'Throb' control where you can max out the throb or attenuate as you desire. This is a really good value Uni-Vibe and somewhat under the radar these days - well worth a look-in - sounds great!


Fjord Fuzz Frei Analog Uni-Vibe - $249

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Controls - Rate / Speed, Depth 1, Depth 2, Depth 1 / 2 Footswitch, Engage Footswitch. Expression port controls Rate.

 

Daniel's take on the Uni-Vibe is another beautifully textural pedal - I would probably have preferred a second Speed footswitch versus the current Depth 1 / 2 - but there's nothing wrong with it as is - I very much prefer this one going into another pedal than coming after it - while most of my Uni-Vibes I tend to prefer in the Post position. This one is beautifully warm and gooey!


Fjord Fuzz Njord Analog Resly Tone Leslie Emulator - $150

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Controls - Rate, Mix, Depth.


This is more of the Vibrato side of Uni-Vibe but slightly different - based on the Shin-ei Resly Tone - this really does produce a superior Rotary Lesslie style texture - even though only mono in output. This pedal is so good that I suggested to Daniel that this should be part of the permanent collection rather than a limited pedal of the month edition. Sounds a little different to a typical Uni-Vibe - but definitely in the same overall ballpark - Vibrato side obviously. This sounds sufficiently different to warrant consideration - really cool little pedal!


Flower Pedals Castilleja 4-Stage Analog Phaser with 2nd Uni-Vibe Voicing - $249

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Controls - Intensity, Voice : Phaser/Uni-Vibe, Waveform : Ramp Up/Triangle/Sine/Square | Secondary : Ramp Up Speed/Depth of Drift, Ramp : Momentary/Latching/Drift, Level, Feedback : High/Medium/None, and Speed | Secondary : Destination Speed/Speed of Drift, Tap / Ramp Footswitch, On / Hold Footswitch.

 

Obviously a potent Phaser pedal first and foremost, but does come with a really smart 2nd Uni-Vibe voicing - which really sounds the part. All the Flower pedals are beatufilly made with a real eye for detail - and you can apply some slightly different parameters here to get the most out of the Uni-Vibe voicing - obviously does the Ramping thing really well too.


Formula B Vintage-Vibe Uni-Vibe - €259 / $283

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Controls - Volume, Intensity, Speed 1, Speed 2, Mode : Chorus / Vibrato, Engage Vibe Footswitch, Speed 1/2 Footswitch.

 

Probably the sweetest sounding Uni-Vibe I've encountered to date - I would like to have had this in a smaller enclosure, top mounted jacks etc, and the ability to adjust ramping interval - but those are all tiny niggles really. The 2-Speed footswitch approach really works brilliantly and this pedal sounds wonderful in combination with pretty much everything.


Horrothia Berkeley Late 60's Liquid Leslie Vibe - £370 / $469

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Controls - Intensity, Mode : Chorus / Vibrato, Volume, Rate; Internal Trimmers for - Phase Cancel, Input Impedance, and Voicing (More Throb CW).

 

Beautiful vintage sounding Uni-Vibe - like every Horrothia pedal - the epitome of elegance and tastefulness. Tom's best looking pedal to date too - really looks grand with that particular arrangement of controls and the large LED Lens. It's not necessarily the throbbiest of Uni-Vibes - but you can adjust one of the internal trimmers - to get you well into proper throbby territory - this pedal always retains its elegance though - and yes of course it sounds great!


MXR JHW3 Jimi Hendrix '69 Psych Series Uni-Vibe - $130

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Controls - Controls - Speed, Level, Depth, Mode : Chorus / Vibrato.

 

It would be cool to have a 1590A Mini size proper Photocell Uni-Vibe out there one of these days - you would need to somehow miniaturise the typical bulb and photocell array - which is why I think no one has done it to date. In the meantime you have MXR's decent JFET array style Mini Uni-Vibe that sounds pretty impressive in its own right! Really Coll to have an analog Mini Uni-Vibe in any guise - while I look forward to seeing a proper Mini Photocell edition at some stage - possibly a special project for my friend Guillem Vilademunt over at Decibelics - the master of Highest Quality Mini enclosure pedals!


JHS Pedals Unicorn V2 Uni-Vibe / Vibrato - $219

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Controls - Volume, Dry / Wet Switch, Speed, Ratio / Tap Divisions (Quarter / Dotted Eight / Eighth / Triplets, Depth, Bypass Fooswitch, Tap-Tempo Footswitch.

 

This was my first proper Photocell Uni-Vibe - which along with the DigiTech Ventura Vibe was my entire Uni-Vibe selection for several years. Really smart to have Tap-Tempo - it's still pretty unique in that regard - while I probably prefer 2-Speed Ramping nowadays - but really enjoyed this one for a while. Not the thickest or throbbiest of Uni-Vibes - but still pretty much holds its own. Good value too for all the smart engineering it contains onboard.


Ritual Devices Fay Phase Filter Saturator - £299 / $379

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Controls - Space (Wave Peak Separation) : On / Off, Modulation Intensity : Smooth (Shallow Warble) / Deep (Pulsating Wobble / Throb), Input Buffer Tone-shaper : Light (Highs Focus) / Dark (Lows Focus), Clipping : Grit (Clipping Diodes Engaged) / Grain (Diode Lift / No Clipping), Level (Master Output), Rate (LFO Speed), Gain (Overdrive / Distortion for Grit, Saturation for Grain).

 

This one was never supposed to be even Uni-Vibe adjacent, but with my favourite settings - it produces one of my all-time favourite Uni-Vibe tones -  I typically have the Level set @ 3 o'c, Rate @ 3 o'c (Nicely alternating with the languorous and slowly swelling Space setting), and Gain @ Noon (Grain Mode). This one really sounds superb and does various Phasey / Filtery and Gainey things besides - only niggle here is the significant volume drop on the Grit Mode - so I just tend to avoid that! Wub is looking into levelling that up in any case! (I've suggested shoving some Red LED's in there!).


ThorpyFX ER-2 Uni-Vibe - £299 / $379

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Controls - Intensity (Photocell Luminosity), Offset (Photocell Lit to Unlit / Dark phase Offset), Speed (Pulse / Throb Rate), Volume (Output), Vibrato / Chorus Footswitch, On / Off Footswitch.

 

A really smart and clever Uni-Vibe which was made for pairing with Fuzz and Thicker Drives and Distortions. It has the most amazing note clarity - courtesy of some smart circuit engineering - and the combination of Intensity and (Dark) Offset really allows you to fine-tune the character and level of Throb in the most granular of ways. Takes a little getting used to as there is some degree of interactivity between all 4 control knobs - while it delivers that same kind of sparkly high end magic as its Camoflange sibling does so well. It's fairly unique in being able to be quite throbby - while sort of open and clear and articulate at the same time - a pretty unique Uni-Vibe as you would expect to get from Thorpy and Coggins!


Tru-Fi Ghost Vibe Uni-Vibe - $299

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Controls - Volume, Mode : Vibrato / Chorus, Depth, Speed.

 

Probably the fattest and thickest of my Uni-Vibes - which can sound a touch muddy in combination with some of the heavier pedals - but really sounds wonderfully thick and syrupy in its own special way. It kind of underlines how different and distinct each of these Uni-Vibes are - every one of them operates in a particular space on the spectrum with some key advantages of its own, and possibly other areas where some of the other pedals excel more. I've always said that pedals are the case of 'horses for courses' - you very rarely get a single best-fit option which works in all scenarios - typically there are several upsides - and some weaknesses too. The thing is of course to use each pedal in its optimally suited setup and scenario - where a lot of that is determined by what pedal you are going to be using in combination, and how resonant, thick and throbbing you want your final output to be. All these choices are eminently worthy and valid - and in truth it's difficult to pick out a single winner. You can of course hypothesize in the comments below which you think the overall favourite is - I truly like them all!

Stefan Karlsson
Posted by Stefan Karlsson
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