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The Compulator was born after I solved an engineering problem of biasing an optical unit with only a single 9V battery. I had always loved the sound of optical compressors and designed and manufactured tube units in the pro audio market for a number of years. I wanted to make a pedal, but it took years to come up with a method to do it the.
I bought a Demeter Tremulator four or five years ago. Unfortunately, it's been a huge disappointment and I've never really used it.It distorts the signal in an unpleasant way.I bought it because I saw a guitarist I really like, Tony Gilkyson, using one in front of a BFSR. I assumed he preferred it to the built-in amp trem but perhaps that wasn't working. And I read that Ry Cooder was involved to some degree with the creation of the pedal and that sealed the deal.The amps I primarily use have built-in trem so I've just let the Tremulator gather dust to this point. But there are two recent changes to my rig and I find the need for a trem pedal.1. I recently got a 1953 Fender Deluxe that obviously pre-dates tremolo.2. I've been playing a lot lately through two amps and using the stereo out from a Strymon El Capistan at the end of the chain.
![Demeter Demeter](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxDiLcyJ1pM/TykgQyQjOmI/AAAAAAAAAzg/RUnLn9re8xc/s1600/DEMETER+TREMULATOR+schematic.gif)
I absolutely love this sound; it's addicting. But if I want to use tremolo through both amps I need an external pedal.I have tried using the trem on just one of the amps and that is very cool for some things. The trem on my 1960 Gibson GA18T has a really nice ethereal quality. But if I want just a good swampy mono trem I need it to work for both amps.Anyway, here’s my question. Has anybody ever had this problem with the Tremulator?
It’s like a boost along with a tremolo. I just want the trem. I don’t want to have to adjust my volume every time I use it. I had one, no problemsYou may be overloading the input of the pedal depending on what's before it. Can't remember now, but there might be a trim pot to adjust the gain. Open it up if it's not on the left side of the pedal. If there's one it's probably a little white plastic thing you stick a small screwdriver in to adjust the level.
I know the Compulator has this.As far as I remember, it was possibly a little higher than unity gain, as a lot of trem pedals are made to bump up the perceived volume loss when engaged.If you have hot pickups or are boosting a lot in front of it, it might just be clipping at the input. Mine was the mono one a few years ago. FWIW, the Marshall VT1 Vibratrem boosted and changed the EQ so much that it annoyed me, although in other respects it was great.
I had one, no problemsYou may be overloading the input of the pedal depending on what's before it. Can't remember now, but there might be a trim pot to adjust the gain. Open it up if it's not on the left side of the pedal. If there's one it's probably a little white plastic thing you stick a small screwdriver in to adjust the level. I know the Compulator has this.As far as I remember, it was possibly a little higher than unity gain, as a lot of trem pedals are made to bump up the perceived volume loss when engaged.If you have hot pickups or are boosting a lot in front of it, it might just be clipping at the input. Mine was the mono one a few years ago.
FWIW, the Marshall VT1 Vibratrem boosted and changed the EQ so much that it annoyed me, although in other respects it was great. Tonight I Did a comparison test.1. I plugged the guitar straight into the amp with no pedals.2.
Then through only the Tremulator.3. Then placed the Tremulator back in its place in the chain but only engaged the trem.There was no difference between 2 and 3. Both added a boost and an unpleasant distortion.
I repeated this with two different amps at different volume levels, clean, edge of breakup, and in amp overdrive.Tomorrow I'll experiment with the internal trim pot. I did that once before a year ago but may as well give it one more shot.