The Harmonic Tremolo is an analog MOSFET adaptation of the beautifully elusive Fender Brownface era Harmonic Vibrato circuit. Fender’s “Vibrato” is actually a Tremolo effect (modulation of volume or amplitude). However, in the early 60′s, Leo Fender developed a much more interesting version of Tremolo where the signal was split into treble and bass bands, and these two paths were amplitude modulated (tremolo) with out-of-phase LFOs.
The result? Tonal bliss. And by bliss, I mean sweet, throbbing tremolo with a side of phasing. You see, the treble/bass crossover is not perfect, and when the signals are recombined, the overlap creates a phasing effect when modulated. The sound is chewy and fluid, without the annoying whooshes that come with traditional phasers. As a bonus, the effect imparts a characteristically Fender EQ curve to the tone.
The Harmonic Tremolo is an analog MOSFET adaptation of the beautifully elusive Fender Brownface era Harmonic Vibrato circuit. Fender’s “Vibrato” is actually a Tremolo effect (modulation of volume or amplitude).
However, in the early 60′s, Leo Fender developed a much more interesting version of Tremolo where the signal was split into treble and bass bands, and these two paths were amplitude modulated (tremolo) with out-of-phase LFOs.
The result? Tonal bliss.
And by bliss, I mean sweet, throbbing tremolo with a side of phasing.
You see, the treble/bass crossover is not perfect, and when the signals are recombined, the overlap creates a phasing effect when modulated.
The sound is chewy and fluid, without the annoying whooshes that come with traditional phasers.
As a bonus, the effect imparts a characteristically Fender EQ curve to the tone.