Product: Carl
Martin Surf Trem
Price Paid: USD 98
Submitted 07/17/2009 at 08:23pm by Walter
Ease of Use  :
10
2 chicken head knobs
spaced apart far enough that you can use your feet to adjust each
separately.
Sound Quality :
10
It's not just for surf.
Deep, rich, thick, even on lower depth and rate settings. High rate
and low depth gives almost a chorus-ey shimmer. Very nice. Does not
effect tone when on or off. That's not a signal drop you're hearing,
that's the volume drop when the trem cycles. That's what a trem does,
duh.
Reliability :
10
Plugging in/out of the
jacks is difficult. These aren't those plastic Dano jacks. They're
tough. Never had an issue with this or any of the other 2 Carl Martin
Classic series effects.
Customer Support :
No Opinion
Overall Rating :
10
I don't like to gush over
things or give all 10's willy nilly, but for under 100 bucks, you
can't beat this. It does take up a lot of space, but that's the price
to pay for foot-controllable knobs. The people who complain about the
huge footprint are the same ones who would say Boss knobs are
impossible to turn with your foot. You can't have it both ways. It's
not Lovetone size, but it's not MXR size either. I find that the wide
top part fits nicely up against Boss/Mxr pedals. It slopes at just the
right spot for the narrow part to go up against an angled cable end so
you can kind of snug it in without wasting a ton of space.
|
Product: Carl Martin Surf Trem
Price Paid: AUD 150
Submitted 01/18/2009 at 07:37am by Mike
Email: mikejmeehan<at>hotmail dot com
Ease of Use :
10
No need for firmware,
instructions etc. It's a trem. It doesn't even have a wave knob. You
have to try to get a bad sound from this.
Sound Quality :
9
Just great for what it
does. I'm using Fender Mustangs and a Jag into a string of pedals and
a Laney LC-30 tube combo or, on special occasions, a Vase Trendsetter
60 valve head (through a Marshall 212 cab).
The only criticism I can find is sometimes there's a slight pop when
engaging it, but a couple of my pedals get that, so it may be my set
up.
I admire companies that just pick one sound (ie., one trem wave shape)
and run with it, instead of having all the variations under the sun.
Shows some confidence in their tone. I have an old old old MXR Phase
45, with only a rate knob. They banked on every other adjustment for
the pedal being perfect- and they were right. As were Carl Martin.
Reliability :
10
I have a few tremolos, as
it my favourite effect, so I have plenty of back ups. BUT I don't
think I will ever need one. This pedal looks and feels very solid.
I've had it for at least 2 years now and no problems at all.
NOTE: Someone has to confirm this but I'm sure that when I first got
it, I emailed Carl Martin and they said that these pedals are not made
in Denmark, nor is any of this line. They are budget pedals
manufactured in the Far East. It doesn't detract from the quality of
them but it's still noteworthy.
Customer Support :
10
The clown in the music
shop couldnt work out how the battery compartment lid fitted and
snapped it trying. I emailed Carl Martin about it and they emailed
back straight away. They had a new compartment cover mailed to me (in
Australia) within a week.
Overall Rating :
No Opinion
Just does what it says it
does. Emulates Fender amp tremolo. No harshness, no volume drop, no
machine gun stutter. I'm so glad it doesn't have any other
adjustments- just speed and depth, like a trem should.
I play indie stuff, but it should be great for surf, country or
whatever genre you choose to invent (and please do).
Great pedal.
|
Product: Carl Martin Surf Trem
Price Paid: USD 70 USED
Submitted 11/19/2007 at 03:33pm by Surfer Beto
Ease of Use :
10
This pedal seeks to
emulate the tremolo of an old school Fender amp. It has two knobs:
speed and depth. It's very simple. Unplug input to disconnect the
battery, if you use one.
Sound Quality :
10
I have Fender Super Sonic
combo amp (60W) with great reverb, but no tremolo. Back in the 80s I
owned a black-face Fender Pro Reverb, with great reverb and tremolo.
This pedal is exactly the ticket to give my new Fender amp the tremolo
of my old blackface Fender!
I play a '79 Fender Stratocaster (Kinman Woodstock + pups, K9
switching) > Crybaby wah (Garmopat mod) > Carl Martin Surf Trem
> TS-9 > Fender SuperSonic combo amp (effects loop: Ibanez Fl-7,
Digitech x-series delay) > THD Hotplate attenuator.
The Surf Trem plays nicely with all my other pedals. I just got a
little Roland Micro Cub practice amp (so I can rock with headphones
late at night), and the Surf Trem plays nicely with that too.
It is dead quiet. They say it is not a true bypass pedal, but it
achieves that effect in any case. No loss of my guitar's lovely tone
when in bypass mode. The effect also adds very little noise when it's
on. Just sweet, clean volume modulation.
Tremolo seems like a very simple and basic effect. I demo-ed a few
boutique trem pedals (Smart People Factory, one or two others) at a
local shop and found them all surprisingly noisy- added annoying, very
noticeable hummy hiss to my signal. I bought a used Carl Martin pedal
on eBay based on the strength of the HC reviews, and am really
impressed with the sound.
It is warm, smooth, and has a good range of response on both knobs.
Just like the effect in my old Fender amp. This is definitely my
favorite pedal at this time. I use my digital delay less now that I
have this.
You can sound like Peter Buck on the REM's "Monster" album
(with lots of additional fuzz), or like Creedence back in the day, or
like any surf guitar hero from the DelTones on down. Set speed to max,
the trem is a very nice complement to some overdrive for a frenetic,
punky, new wavey sound (think Sonic Youth). Everybody from Carl
Perkins to the latest 14 year old garage rocker needs some tremolo
sometimes!
Reliability :
8
I've only had it about 4
months now, but it seems really solid. I would gig without a backup,
because I'm too poor to own much/any extra equipment. This company's
reputation is very good. My rating here is a gimme.
Customer Support :
No Opinion
No need for contact. No
opinion.
Overall Rating :
No Opinion
I play surf guitar,
rockabilly, and 60s-90s rock 'n 'roll. Against all odds I now find
myself in a church band.
This pedal is exactly what I was looking for, which is the trem effect
of a blackface Fender amp that my modern Fender tube amp lacks. I
can't imagine a pedal that does this better.
I use it in a variety of ways. Slow (several second) sweep, with depth
set around 10:00, faster vibe (3 sweeps/ beat) with more depth, high
rate augmenting my overdrive pedal.
I'm about to get a compressor, and assume I need to put the compressor
upstream of this pedal so it doesn't strive to cancel the trem's
effect.
I would replace this pedal without a second thought if it were lost.
I love the powerful, glorious teal color and sturdy metal case. By far
the most attractive pedal on my board. It is rather large- I could
probably fit two Boss pedals in the footprint this one occupies. But I
could defend myself in a bar room brawl with this thang; it's big and
solid. Rubber feet make it hard to velcro to the pedal board (same
problem with my wah). I'll work that out someday.
|
FACEBOOK