Diaz Texas Tremodillo - thoughts, opinions, musings?

[KazJY]

Is this a noisy pedal? You like?

I remember talking to someone years ago and they said that the pedal will make oscillating noises or something when it isn't in use, but in the chain. Can anyone comment on this?

 

[sstweed]

I love the trem from this pedal. Don't care too much for the always on buffer. Sounds good normally, but can be noisey when driven hard by something like a treble booster. I have never heard the oscillating noise you speak of. I maybe don't play at volumes that would hear it? My Tremodillo is an old one ('95). No led and no battery jack (I modified a non-original bottom to allow dc input). Regardless of all its short comings, I still love my Tremodillo. It has the coolest trem of all the trems I have tried. I just keep it in a TB loop and it works great.

 

[alguit]

Mine isn't noisy. One of the things I love about it is that it can be set to a level where, with overdrive and a heavy pick attack, the effect flattens out, like a really nice old Fender amp with tremolo.

The only complaint with mine is that batteries do not last long with it, worse, it seems, than other Tremodillos. I'd send it back to get checked, but I'm afraid it will come back not sounding as cool...

If I hadn't bought this one (used at Lark Street Music, built by Cesar in the 90's, with the build date inside being my birthday!), I would have gotten a Demeter Tremulator-the best I've heard in a stompbox.

 

[HBob]

There was a time period when Diaz was sick and had someone else building the pedals for him. He said the quality was bad and they almost put him out of business. After his liver transplant he started building his pedals again and they are fine. I had one Tremodillo start making a clicking noise and then it died. Got another one and it started making the clicking noise. Diaz replaced that one with one he'd built. It sounds like the others, fat and buttery. The buffer sounds good with some amps. Not so good with others. Kind of beefs things up and that can be a good thing. I still have the Tremodillo but use an Empress mostly.

 

[mad dog]

Alguit:

That one might have been mine originally. I got it way back in the '90s sometime. It was from Cesar Diaz. Used it very little ... took a while for my pedal tastes to develop I guess. I sold it to Buzzy maybe 4 or 5 years ago for not much. Had no idea this pedal has a following.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Cesar personally told me he has a 3db boost in the pedal ...I found it to influence my whole chain (killed some top end articulation ) too much to be worth the trem ... BEAUTIFUL trem though.
I use the Swamp Thang now

 

[alguit]

Alguit:

That one might have been mine originally. I got it way back in the '90s sometime. It was from Cesar Diaz. Used it very little ... took a while for my pedal tastes to develop I guess. I sold it to Buzzy maybe 4 or 5 years ago for not much. Had no idea this pedal has a following.

Hey neighbor!

It was built on Oct 21st-does that ring a bell?

I too have sold some pedals to Buzz for not much either...then I almost always want them back (original Big Muff, Matchless Dirt Box...)

 

[ruger9]

Cesar personally told me he has a 3db boost in the pedal ...I found it to influence my whole chain (killed some top end articulation ) too much to be worth the trem ... BEAUTIFUL trem though.
I use the Swamp Thang now

Interesting, I've always heard the Swamp Thang (I have one, LOVE it) was a copy of the Diaz "with some tweaks". How would compare the two?

 

[clothwiring]

I have one, cool pedal, but it doesn't get used in my current rig so she's safely at home awaiting whatever next recording project I might use her on.

 

[WahmBoomAh]

Interesting, I've always heard the Swamp Thang (I have one, LOVE it) was a copy of the Diaz "with some tweaks". How would compare the two?

i did some time with the Demeter between the 2 so my memory is not reliable. I have a song I used the Diaz on the intro and will try to find the Protools files ...
I`d say going by vague memory ... the Diaz had a little more excitement to the bubble factor on the note ... but i was a first time trem pedal user (up till then a rare fling with a blackface amp trem) and was pretty enchanted with the whole discovery phase .
I Love the Swamp thought and it`s staying put ...much hipper than the BF style trem ....seems to have an irregular envelope that gives the note more swirl . The Diaz buffer thing made me very frustrated and it had to go .
Sorry I couldn`t do a real A/B .

 

[KazJY]

A few people mentioned the buffer. According to the Diaz site, the pedal is true bypass - was this just not the case in original or older models>?

 

[mad dog]

Alguit: I never looked inside. Can barely remember it, not even the color. That's how little I used it. Only got into trem years later, and of course wondered why I'd never worked with this one more. All I really remember is selling it to Buzz for way less than I realized later they were going for. Oh well.

 

[clothwiring]

A few people mentioned the buffer. According to the Diaz site, the pedal is true bypass - was this just not the case in original or older models>?

I would have to open mine up again, but I believe this is true. The old ones had a buffer where the new ones are TB. I have an older one. I never felt the sound quality lacked on any level though.

 

[Mandoboy]

The originals are NOT true bypass (and no LED; battery only) - Cesar told me he felt this 'modern disease of true bypass' was ridiculous. Mine is from '94, I love it and the buffer isn't a bad thing to have at the end of your chain- I'm sure what you have before it will affect whether or not the buffer bothers you. In a chain with 6 buffered pedals, sure, but 'conventional wisdom' is that at the end of a bunch of TB pedals, you may WANT a buffer.

 

[Mike R.]

A few people mentioned the buffer. According to the Diaz site, the pedal is true bypass - was this just not the case in original or older models>?

Cesar always peferred the term "Absolute Bypass".

His explanation?

"If true bypass is good, Absolute Bypass must be better, right?"

He was a good guy.......


(I own all three of his pedals bought fron Cesar himself....the Texas Ranger is a great pedal as well)

 

[Dave Orban]

I had a Diaz, as well as a Dunlop pedal, and ended up dumping both of them for the Fulltone Supra Trem.