How do you use your trem?

[benbenben]

Hey guys, just picked up a Fulltone Supa-Trem for a pretty good price. 2nd hand, it was about half the RRP but in new condition. ANYWAY. I'm really liking how warm it can make things your cleans feel. But I'm justing wondering what uses you guys have for your Trems. BTW new on this forum so yeh, wanna say hi as well.

The main use i've found is just a slight trem on the roundwave just to add a bit of warmth to cleans but there's gotta be more than that. I got it cheap, but not cheap enough to justify a lil bit of warmth. I know people use the square wave, but how do you set it since theres no tap tempo. Do you just have to follow the rhythm of the trem. That said it'd be hard to set the trem at the same time every time you wanna play a particular song with that speed tempo.

[carljoensson]

My idea for tremolo is very much based on the Staple Singers on (and prior to) Stax. Soul and gospel. My kind of tremolo guitar can also be heard on the Aretha's Chain of Fools, James Carr's - At the Dark End Of the Street.

Either that or swampy in some way.

/C

[Andy J.]

Nah, not a big fan of tremolos that are in tempo, I use my amp trem and set it at a pace that seems to work with most songs... If and when trem is in the tempo of the song, I prefer it to be a triplet feel.

[mattattack]

I use it for rhythm work mostly. I've tried lead, but it's hard to time the expressions in your playing with the volume swells. This last weekend, kept it going in front of my delay for most of the time and I'm going to keep it that way for awhile with all the cool sounds I was getting.

[Antero]

Emphasis, or additional ambiance. In one of my band's songs I leave delay and tremolo on basically the whole time, not synced to the tempo, which results in a huge, shimmery sound that doesn't have obvious attack.

Another good trick is to hit the trem with it set on a slower speed, strike a chord, then grab the rate knob and crank it up.

[benbenben]

ooo very good information keep it coming.
The fulltone has a dedicated switch to speed up the rate by double. That might be useful for that thing Antero was saying yes?

[jazzguitarplay]

of course it sounds great on a 50's ballad or 12/8 kind of feel

[DejavuDave]

I rarely use built-in or pedal trem. When I do it's definitely for effect not texture. I'll do more manually controlled swells and trems with a volume pedal and a delay at the end.

[mprvise]

Nah, not a big fan of tremolos that are in tempo, I use my amp trem and set it at a pace that seems to work with most songs... If and when trem is in the tempo of the song, I prefer it to be a triplet feel.

Same here, except I use a pedal when the amp doesn't have trem (Swamp Thang or PT5000).

I'll occasionally kick in some subtle trem when the whole band is stopped/holding a chord for a few beats.

With the PT5000 I can get the super fast crazy chop thing going, which works great for the over the top ending to a song/set (add feedback with super fast chop for even more nuttiness). :dude

[decay-o-caster]

An ambient kind of throb - I keep it on all the time for that and I don't worry about tempo. Sometimes more obviously swampy for the effect, in which case I will use the tap tempo if available.

[benbenben]

Okay, i think it's just mainly cause i haven't played with a band yet so when i TRY to play out of time from the trem, i just automatically start following that tempo. I guess it'll be easier when my drummers thrashing around in the background?

[Antero]

Yeah, when you're matching your tempo to a drummer the tremolo doesn't throw off your rhythm.

Though, if you're playing alone and want to have some fun, try matching your tempo to strange divisions of the tremolo. Four beats for five pulses, stuff like that.