What do you like/prefer for rotary effect to get your swirl on?
- Thread starter bluesholyman
- Start date
TokyoPortrait
Friend of Leo's
Hi.
I too have the Fender Pinwheel.
I bought it because I wanted something ’different,’ because I generally like ‘swirling’ sounds when used a certain way, and, very importantly, because it was on sale with the equiv. of a whopping US$100 off.
It’s been approximately one billion years since I’ve heard any form of rotary speaker in the flesh, so I can’t speak to how accurate it sounds, but I do like it.
The (horror, digital) overdrive part sounds great, and I like that you can set the ‘spin’ to be triggered by how hard you play, via the sensitivity knob. That plus the adjustable ramp up/down speed make it fun.
It’s cool for home recording too, running the left and right outputs into separate inputs on my interface for separate tracks that can then be panned. Sounds great.
It’s not small though. And can be fiddly to set right.
Pax/
Dean
I too have the Fender Pinwheel.
I bought it because I wanted something ’different,’ because I generally like ‘swirling’ sounds when used a certain way, and, very importantly, because it was on sale with the equiv. of a whopping US$100 off.
It’s been approximately one billion years since I’ve heard any form of rotary speaker in the flesh, so I can’t speak to how accurate it sounds, but I do like it.
The (horror, digital) overdrive part sounds great, and I like that you can set the ‘spin’ to be triggered by how hard you play, via the sensitivity knob. That plus the adjustable ramp up/down speed make it fun.
It’s cool for home recording too, running the left and right outputs into separate inputs on my interface for separate tracks that can then be panned. Sounds great.
It’s not small though. And can be fiddly to set right.
Pax/
Dean
E5RSY
Doctor of Teleocity
I use a couple of different pedals to get me there. The Ventura Vibe and the MXR Micro Chorus.
The Ventura Vibe is great in that it has a killer rotary sound, but it also has a good Uni-Vibe setting as well as a "Modern" vibe option. A lot of utility in one solid little pedal with great sonics.
On the other end of the spectrum, I love the Micro Chorus, too. Believe it, or not, it pretty well nails Jimmie Vaughan's Vibratone sounds from "Couldn't Stand the Weather" (especially on "The Things That I Used To Do"). Can get some respectable Scofield-ish sounds, as well. I marked mine with the Vibratone's slow and fast settings for quick reference.
The Ventura Vibe is great in that it has a killer rotary sound, but it also has a good Uni-Vibe setting as well as a "Modern" vibe option. A lot of utility in one solid little pedal with great sonics.
On the other end of the spectrum, I love the Micro Chorus, too. Believe it, or not, it pretty well nails Jimmie Vaughan's Vibratone sounds from "Couldn't Stand the Weather" (especially on "The Things That I Used To Do"). Can get some respectable Scofield-ish sounds, as well. I marked mine with the Vibratone's slow and fast settings for quick reference.
E5RSY
Doctor of Teleocity
Just checked out your build thread. Wow, man. Incredibly cool. Still running well?
Thanks, brother.
Yep, it is a permanent fixture in the front room. I've been driving it with a Roland Microcube; it's plenty loud.
I had a Leslie 145 and a Hamptone preamp to run it for years. It was magical, but too big for anywhere I'd play and a hassle to move.
I bought a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere when they came out and it was good, but noisy, it didn't fit on my pedalboard, and it had special power needs.
I replaced that with a Tech 21 Rotochoir well over 10 years ago. It turned out that I was after more of the Leslie 125/Fender Vibratone sound.
I love sound of the Rotochoir, though it has a few pretty inexcusable issues-
-there's no brake
-there's no indicator telling you what speed it's set at
-the speed changes when you switch from Leslie 122 to 125 and back depending on how you have the speed set
I bought a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere when they came out and it was good, but noisy, it didn't fit on my pedalboard, and it had special power needs.
I replaced that with a Tech 21 Rotochoir well over 10 years ago. It turned out that I was after more of the Leslie 125/Fender Vibratone sound.
I love sound of the Rotochoir, though it has a few pretty inexcusable issues-
-there's no brake
-there's no indicator telling you what speed it's set at
-the speed changes when you switch from Leslie 122 to 125 and back depending on how you have the speed set
So... have you tried any of the newer ones? Strymon Lex, Neo Ventilator (and their smaller ones), etc?
I haven't. I kinda settled into what I've got.
So the Tech21 claims to do a Vibratone? I also was searching for a Vibratone, not a Leslie. I tried the Tech21 and didn't like it.
I know the new Lex v2 will do a Vibratone (if you run it a certain way), and Neo has the "Micro Vent 16" pedal, which claims to do the Vibratone. $$$$
RCinMempho
Friend of Leo's
Me too. Good enough. Lots of tone adjustments and it ramps up and down. Had it for decades now.
In the 70's I would combine amp tremolo with a Bad Stone Phase Shifter. I'd get the phaser going and then tweak the tremolo by ear. Frankly, that was an excellent swirly sound. I may go back to that.
E5RSY
Doctor of Teleocity
A 2-stage phaser, like a Phase 45 or DOD 201, cranked up does a pretty good imitation, as well. Plenty good for stage use at a typical gig.
SpaceAceman
Tele-Meister
My swirl of choice is a Chorus. Just the prettiest sound ever, and a perfect thing to fatten up a single guitar sound as long as it isn't to syrupy!
However - I have a serious Tremolo fetish...
However - I have a serious Tremolo fetish...
Willie Johnson
Friend of Leo's
I do a vibrato pedal into one amp, and amp tremolo with the other, and try to get the rate for both synced up.
marc2211
Tele-Afflicted
I use a Billionaire Danelectro Big Spender rotary pedal… works great!
