Tremolo & Vibrato Effects Pedals

In the world of tremolo and vibrato effects pedals, consistency isn't really an option. After all, their entire purpose is to make your tone inconsistent in a controlled manner - but there's more to it than that. The term "tremolo" itself is used in different ways, which sometimes come down to individual manufacturers. Here's the gist: if you're looking for the same effect produced by tremolo bridges, you're probably looking for vibrato pedals. Despite sharing one of the names of the whammy bar, tremolo pedals are an entirely different animal, and the sound you'll get out of them is something all their own.

With that said, one of the first choices to make in this section is whether you're looking for a vibrato or tremolo effects pedal - if you feel like making that choice in the first place. Since every pedal has its own unique character, the boundaries between the two can be a little fuzzy and it might come down to the pedal that delivers the end result you're looking for, rather than the one that has one specific effect or the other. It's also going to depend on how much control you want: for a compact, simple, no-frills option, the Mooer Trelicopter Tremolo Guitar Effects Pedal fits the bill. But if you want all kinds of knobs to fiddle with, you'll prefer something like the Electro-Harmonix Super Pulsar Tremolo Guitar Effects Pedal or the Wampler Latitude Deluxe Tremolo Guitar Effects Pedal.

So what's in a name? When it comes to tremolo and vibrato effects pedals, that's open for interpretation. They're the same yet different, and this is a category that has lots of unique and interesting designs - including a tube-based option, the Electro-Harmonix Classics Wiggler Tube Vibrato / Tremolo Guitar Effects Pedal. So make sure to read up on each stompbox that looks like it might suit you! Doing a little bit of homework before making your decision is definitely going to pay off when you're dealing with a class of effects pedals as subjective as this one.