This is going to be a short one, cos I can think of this much to say about a tremolo. I don't know why I keep on buying tremolos. The ones I got cost a fortune for what they do and I only end up using one of them, in one part, in one song, every couple of albums. Sure, The Reverent Horton Heat use the effect all over the place, but I often wonder what difference does it really make. If you find yourself using a tremolo all the time and you're not in The Horton Heat, you gotta be doing something wrong.

The Tremulator is another of the pedals I don't have any more, cos I've lost it. I loved the sound while I still had it, but as I said, I didn't have what to do with it, so I don't miss it that much and am not thinking of replacing it any time soon.

The Tremulator must be the heaviest - physically - pedal I've ever owned. It's probably heavier than a Fender Jazzbass. If you're looking for something to use for breaking the face of the annoying poser who keeps on talking to his buddy while you solo during a gig, then get one. It will send the chump to ER with a fractured skull and enough brain damage to shut up for all eternity.

It's also my favorite among all the tremolos I've ever played, including the real thing (on board an old Fender amp), the Fulltone Supa Trem and unfortunate attempts like the EHX Wiggler.

As far as the tone goes, it does a great job sounding like a Fender tremolo with enough of its own unique character. I've played a '64 Champ at some point and the Tremulator kinda sounded like that, without the hiss, cos I wasn't playing through an antique amp, I guess. It has two knobs - Depth and Speed, the sturdiest input jacks ever, true bypass and a trim pot on the side which sets the bias for the optical unit.

When engaged, it'll provide a small gain boost. They say this is to allow "proper tremulation", but I don't know why this is.

Turning up the the bias trim pot squeezes the signal, the other way loosens it. Apparently, the default setting for this control is Ry Cooder's setting of choice, and I've gotta say Cooder must've known a thing or two about tremolos, cos that was my favorite, too. Anything else was either too square or too round, although it's nice to know you have the option. In all fairness, both extremes are perfectly usable as I hear it.

The Tremulator would make my guitars sound a bit darker, chewed off some of the highs, but that's to be expected from a tremolo. I wouldn't want it any other way, anyway.

None of the settings ever get all-over-the-place unusable. Experimental, when it comes to guitars is usually synonymous to lazy the last couple of decades and the Tremulator won't give you space-wanking out of the box. I like that.

It's a real strong pedal. I can't imagine it ever breaking. Like, ever.

If we ever decide to make an unplugged album, I'll get a Tremulator again. Unplugged means plugged without too much overdrive, in case you didn't know. If you really unplug, it'd better be your life support, Edge, you got that?