Demeter Amplification Tremulator
The Tremulator is a legend in the Tremolo world. It was one of the first
Tremolo pedals to come on the scene. It was developed for Ry Cooder to
emulate the Optical Tremolo found in his Fender Twin amplifier. If you
don't know who Ry Cooder is, go learn yourself something. I'd suggest
starting your journey with Feelin' Bad Blues and go from there. It has spawned countless clones and been the center of many Tremolo conversations.
The first thing you notice about the Tremulator is that it feels sturdy and heavy.
It does not take the standard barrel connector for power, even though it runs on 9v. It takes a power connector with this type of end.
Demeters site states the following <snip> "... the Tremulator features "lopsided" amplitude modulation with a rounded off traingular modulant waveform. " </snip>
So rather than describe this with words, we will go ahead and give you a visual representation of what this actually means. Below are pictures of the wave form at various depth settings, AND at various bias settings (Which you can adjust with an internal trim pot inside the pedal.)
Bias set all the way to the right.
Bias centered
Bias all the way to the left
The wave is a bit con caved on either side of the cycle and is more akin to a square wave rather than a triangle wave.
The primary 2 controls are depth and speed, just like you would find on an amplifier.
There is an internal trim pot that allows you to adjust the ratio of on/off time in the cycle.
The pedal incorporates 1 DB of gain to compensate for the perceived volume loss present in a Tremolo effect.
Slowest Speed: 871 ms/cycle
Fastest Speed: 52 ms/cycle
The Demeter Tremulator is not a deep sounding trem. But it is more pulsey or fluttery sounding as you would expect with an optical Tremolo.
Now I've never played the Tremolo of a Fender Twin, but I have several pedals that either claim they emulate it, or by seeing the wave form I draw the conclusion they are possibly emulating it. But The 2 blatant trems that claim to emulate it or the Demeter Tremulator and the Boss MD-500 and their wave forms are completely different. So either one is doing a very bad job, or the Tremolo circuit changed in the Twin over the years and different models give different results.
Pro's
- Simple to use
- Great sound
- Low noise
Con's (List of things to consider that MIGHT be negatives for you)
- Power plug is not the standard barrel connector
There is an internal trim pot that allows you to adjust the ratio of on/off time in the cycle.
The pedal incorporates 1 DB of gain to compensate for the perceived volume loss present in a Tremolo effect.
Slowest Speed: 871 ms/cycle
Fastest Speed: 52 ms/cycle
The Demeter Tremulator is not a deep sounding trem. But it is more pulsey or fluttery sounding as you would expect with an optical Tremolo.
Now I've never played the Tremolo of a Fender Twin, but I have several pedals that either claim they emulate it, or by seeing the wave form I draw the conclusion they are possibly emulating it. But The 2 blatant trems that claim to emulate it or the Demeter Tremulator and the Boss MD-500 and their wave forms are completely different. So either one is doing a very bad job, or the Tremolo circuit changed in the Twin over the years and different models give different results.
Pro's
- Simple to use
- Great sound
- Low noise
Con's (List of things to consider that MIGHT be negatives for you)
- Power plug is not the standard barrel connector
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