The box may not be truly tiny—but the Uni-Vibe-style sounds are totally huge.
Deep, luxurious, detailed, and very authentic modulations. Nice attention to detail.
No expression pedal option. Rate wheel not as expressive as treadle.
$399
Sabbadius Tiny-Vibe 69
sabbadius.com
Argentina's Sabbadius is not messing around when it comes to Uni-Vibe-style pedals. Their authentically styled and photocell-driven Funky-Vibe pedals come in five incarnations—including models designed to replicate Jimi's Uni-Vibe sounds from Woodstock and the Fillmore East shows that birthed the Band of Gypsys LP. They also build Funky-Vibes intended to replicate variations built in 1968 and '69.
To this already overflowing stable, they now add the Tiny-Vibes—two compact (4"x 5 1/8") descendants of the Funky-Vibe that use circuits that are nearly identical to their larger siblings, stuff them in a more compact enclosure, and switch out treadle-operated speed control for a side-mounted rate-control wheel. I had the pleasure of testing the Tiny-Vibe 69. While I'll confess to longing for some of that expression control, particularly because the pedal sounds so much like an original, it was still a real pleasure to get lost in its deep, immersive washes of modulation.
Spirit of ’69
The original Uni-Vibe is a well-studied circuit, and its associations with Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour alone assured that each of the minor differences between the pedal's early iterations would be dissected down to the last solder. Generally speaking, Sabbadius' 68 Funky-Vibe and Tiny-Vibe pedals replicate the circuitry and sound of the original Honey-built version of the pedal, which some aficionados find more intense at certain settings. The 69 pedals (and the later Shin-Ei-built Uni-Vibes that inspired them) are regarded as smoother and a bit more elastic, or "chewy" in the parlance of phase heads. In even simpler terms, you can think of Sabbadius' 68 as "Machine Gun," while a 69 is The Dark Side of the Moon.
If you can find a dealer where you can try all these pedals alongside each other, it would be pretty cool to dig deep into the micro-differences between them. With just the 69 on hand, I didn't have that opportunity. But whether you're chasing Hendrixian highs or slow-burning Floyd-style undulations, the 69 sounds super convincing and, at times, thrilling.
More so than many pedals, the Tiny-Vibe can feel like a collaborator in spontaneous composition, and there's a real, visceral thrill when it happens.
Sabbadius doesn't take shortcuts to making the Tiny-Vibe sound like the real thing. It's a true photocell-driven optical circuit (where modulations are activated by a pulsing lamp and light-dependent resistors). The pedal also runs exclusively at 18 volts, so you'll have to get a dedicated power source or allocate the 18-volt slot in your power supply.
If you've had the pleasure of playing a vintage Uni-Vibe or one of the more authentic replicas (like the Funky-Vibe), you'll recognize the controls used here. An output volume control adds gain that can range to a fat overdriven tone that dovetails well with the Tiny-Vibe's modulations. The intensity control, which has a lot of subtle variation, is also a carryover from the vintage Uni-Vibe, as is the chorus/vibrato switch. The two controls you won't find on a vintage Uni-Vibe are the true bypass switch, which bypasses the modulation and gain entirely, and the cancel switch, which takes the modulation out of the equation and leaves the preamp in the line—a very nice tone sweetener depending on your tastes.
The Tiny-Vibe is thoughtfully assembled and sturdy. The side-panel placement of the speed knob, and its substitution for expression pedal control of modulation rate, is a design factor you'll need to consider depending on the density and layout of your pedalboard. It's not easy to operate the speed knob when it's situated in the middle of a gaggle of other stomps, so situating it at the right side of a board is key. But even when situated ideally, there is no substituting the functionality, feel, and expressive outcomes of using an expression pedal. If this capability is key to the way you interact with a vibe-style pedal, you may want to consider the full-size Funky-Vibe.
Mod’ Milkshake
Tiny-Vibe's deep, underwater chorus tones aren't easily replicated with most inexpensive vibrato units or phasers. The optical circuitry and high headroom enabled by the 18-volt power make the chorus tones extra liquid and creamy. Driven by heat from a silicon Fuzz Face-style circuit, the Tiny-Vibe is deeply Band of Gypsys-like. Filthy fuzz textures mesh seamlessly with the phase undulations, and the modulation rarely seems to completely obscure melodic or picking details. It's exhilarating to hear the fuzz shift in texture and harmonic makeup as notes, bends, slurs, chords, and double-stops collide with various spots in the phase wave. Everything from screaming, peaky highs to deep, wavy low-end wash leap to the fore depending on your phrasing and timing. And it's easy to see why Jimi embraced the Uni-Vibe at one of his most improvisational phases—there is an organic give and take that occurs when you use the Tiny-Vibe which creates happy accidents and nudges you in unexpected directions. More so than many pedals, the Tiny-Vibe can feel like a collaborator in spontaneous composition, and there's a real, visceral thrill when it happens.
Without fuzz, the 69 just as easily takes on the slow, stony, luxurious waves of Gilmour's parts on "Breathe," and sounds distinctly more elastic than most phasers. The intensity control also enables very pretty variations that can be subtle or dizzyingly deep.
The Verdict
If you're not wildly dependent on the phrasing possibilities derived from expression pedal operation, it's hard to imagine a more satisfying way to get vintage Uni-Vibe sounds. The compact size is a big plus, and the speed wheel is effective, just in a different way than a treadle. There's a very good chance that once you dive into Tiny-Vibe's deep, luxurious waves, you'll be hooked.
- MXR M68 Uni-Vibe Review - Premier Guitar ›
- Rig Rundown: RJ Ronquillo - Premier Guitar ›
- Sabbadius Electronics Introduces the 68 and 69 Tiny-Vibes ... ›
A scalpel for carving out huge but controlled reverb spaces.
Makes huge reverb blooms possible in tight spaces. Adds ghostly character to metal, shoegaze, psychedelic, and pop riffs and hooks. Fun tool for tightening arrangements.
Controls can feel elusive in early experimentation.
$199
Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb
catalinbread.com
For music fans of a certain age, gated reverb can conjure conflicted, even hostile, feelings. Though there are myriad uses, in the 1980s it was employed to drive snare drums to migraine-inducing levels in mixes. But as the Catalinbread CBX proves, gated reverb needn’t be an ice pick or bludgeon. In fact, the CBX works best as a scalpel of sorts—enabling the player to fit big reverb sounds in very confined and specific musical spaces.
The basic reverb voice of the CBX is plate-like—spectral, blooming, and vaporous. It’s a nice fit for the CBX’s functionality and makes surreal juxtapositions of big reverb and tight spaces even more striking. At first, CBX’s control set can feel elusive. But that’s the key to its surgical tunability. The lag control enables cool swelling effects, which can, in turn, be more dramatic with saturation from the preamp control and advanced mix settings—which then can be clipped and tightened by the gate. The musical possibilities made by these combinations are endless. High-gain, palm-muted, machine-gun riffing can be made extra ghostly and huge when the CBX is placed after distortion. And aspiring Kevin Shields-types looking to twist My Bloody Valentine templates can use spacious, gated sounds to lend clarity to melody and pitch-shifted overtones when the CBX is situated before overdrive or fuzz. But even mainstream producers and players seeking punch in arrangements will find many paths forward via this unusual stompbox
Dark, enveloping, and mysterious tape-echo-style repeats on the cheap in an enclosure that fits in the smallest spaces.
Dark, enveloping repeats that rival more expensive tape-echo emulations and offer an alternative to click-prone BBD echoes. Cool chorus and flanger effects at fastest repeat times.
Small knobs make it tough to take advantage of real-time tweaking.
$137
Electro-Harmonix Pico Rerun
ehx.com
My most treasured effect is an old Echoplex. Nothing feels like it, and though I’ve tried many top-flight digital emulations, most of which sounded fantastic, nothing sounds quite like it either. If the best digital “tape” delays do one thing well, it’s approximating the darkness and unpredictable variations in tape-echo repeats.
Electro-Harmonix’s Pico Rerun plays the character of tape echo very convincingly in this respect. It hangs with more expensive digital tape echoes at a $137 price tag that’s easy to stomach. Better still, this Pico version is petite and offers unexpected surprises and flexibility.
Beyond the Pico Rerun’s essential enveloping voice, the pedal enables a lot of fairly authentic tape-echo functionality. Manipulating the feedback, blend, and echo rate controls together (which is tricky given their small size) yields flying-saucer liftoff and “Dazed and Confused” time/space-mangling textures in copious measure. These tweaks betray some digital artifacts—mainly trebly peaks that don’t have the benefit of real tape-compression softening, but they hardly get in the way of the fun. Saturation lends welcome drive and haze. And the flutter button adds faux tape wobble in three degrees of intensity. At the most intense setting, long repeats take on a woozy sense of drift. At the fastest rates, however, the flutter function will generate chorus and flange effects that neither my Echoplex, nor my best tape echo simulators, can manufacture.
Tim Commerford digs into his Ernie Ball Music Man StringRay onstage.
The three bassists—whose collective work spans Vulfpeck, D’Angelo, Rage Against the Machine, and much more—cast a wide musical net with their StingRay basses.
The story of the Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay is a deep journey through the history of the electric guitar business, going way back to connections made in Leo Fender’s early days. When the StingRay was introduced in 1976, it changed the electric-bass game, and it’s still the instrument of choice for some of the most cutting-edge bass players around. Here’s what a few of them have to say about their StingRays:
Joe Dart (Vulfpeck)
“My first glimpse of a StingRay was watching early videos of Flea, who had a black StingRay that he played in an early instructional video, as well as on the Funky Monks tape, showing the making of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. After that, I discovered Bernard Edwards and his playing with Chic, where he developed such an iconic funk and disco sound. From there, I discovered Pino Palladino’s brilliant fretless StingRay playing. Luckily, one day in the studio, someone handed me an old StingRay, and I used it on a couple of Vulfpeck recordings. I love the punchy, growly, bright tone. The StingRay cuts through the mix. It’s the perfect funk and disco bass.
Pino Palladino
“I played guitar in bands until 1976, when I decided to start playing bass, and that coincided with the StingRay coming out. I actually tried one in a store in Cardiff in Wales, where I come from. I remember plugging it in, and I didn’t really know much about preamps. I don’t think anybody knew much about preamps back then, because it wasn’t even a thing in a bass guitar. So, I turned everything up and it was too trebly for me. I didn’t know you could tweak the controls. I didn’t gravitate towards the instrument at first, to be honest.
Fast forward a few years and I was in my early twenties on my first trip to America with Jools Holland in 1981. I stumbled into Sam Ash Music on 48th Street in New York one day, and I saw a fretless Music Man StingRay on the wall. It sounded amazing straight away. I hadn’t played much fretless bass up until that point, but for some reason I could just play that instrument in tune. I was playing it and thinking, ‘Wow, this is not so hard.’ I backed off the treble a little bit and found a nice, little happy position where it felt really good. And it just had such a great punchy sound. I played it with Jools Holland on the first night I bought it, and I pretty much never put it down for 10 or 15 years after that.”
Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine)
“I got a blonde StingRay when I was about 19 years old, and that was the bass that I played for the first Rage record. At that time in my life, as a musician, I was kind of clueless to the nuances of the sound of an instrument. If it worked, it worked; if it didn’t work for me, it didn’t. I was just a knucklehead. I can’t even remember the reason why I went away from it. I think it’s because I wanted to get a real edgy sound, and I didn’t really know how to shape things in the way that I do now through experimenting. I’ve been very lucky, and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to experiment, so I’ve learned a lot over the years. And the StingRay could have done it all. I really could have done it all with the StingRay. Long story short, the preamp is arguably the best one, still. It took me a minute to realize just how powerful that preamp is—it’s a banger. Listening back, sometimes I hear [Rage Against the Machine] songs on the radio, and I’m just like, ‘Wow.’ It’s such a clean, pristine sound that comes from a StingRay.”
Our columnist is really passionate about cleaning up his tone.
Our columnist breaks down why Leo’s original designs are still the benchmark for pristine guitar sounds.
It’s time to discuss a favorite topic of mine: the Fender clean tone. I’m a big fan of pristine guitar tones, and I think it might be the reason why I got into Fender amps in the first place. So, in this column, I’ll break down and explain what creates the beautiful, crystalline tone in vintage Fender amps, and share which amps are best for capturing these huge, squeaky-clean sounds.
Among my music friends, I am known for advocating these tones. Sometimes my bandmates want more distortion and growl from my guitar, but I proudly resist and argue that the music we create profits from a clearer guitar tone. It’s not about volume and distortion; it’s about melody, rhythm, and dynamics. Personally, I find it more interesting to hear guitarists with clarity, where I can identify single notes and what they are doing. It’s much harder to play clean, and the transparency forces us guitarists to consider more carefully what we play.
Tone and music are definitely matters of personal taste. What someone finds naked and thin, others will find clear and articulate. Let me therefore explain my definition of “clean tone.” A good, clean tone means clarity and little distortion. Clarity is achieved when there is a certain balance between the frequencies. There must be enough sparkle and brightness together with a firm low end. In my definition, you can also have some distortion as long as you have enough clarity to hear single strings in a chord, which some define as a “bell-like” tone. Muddy or overwhelming mid and bass frequencies will spoil this clarity. I like punchy guitar sounds, and for that we need muscle and power from large power-amp sections and larger speaker cabinets. But again, there must be enough sparkle and treble attack to balance that big low end.
The black- and silver-panel Fender amps excel in this area. Fender designed these amps specifically to support the music style of the 1950s and ’60s: Whether it was folk, country, rock, or surf, the guitars were supposed to be bright and clean. The amps therefore had to produce a sound that was both clean and loud, often without PA systems.
There are several reasons why these Fender amps sound the way they do. Let’s dive into the most important factors. Firstly, the tone stack and EQ section play a significant role in creating a scooped tone with few mids. Most AB763 Fender amps have 250 pF, 0.1 μF, and 0.022 μF caps (treble, mid, and bass, respectively), controlled by 250k bass and treble pots and a 10k mid pot (or a fixed 6.8k resistor in amps without the mid pot). If you alter the value of the mid resistor or insert a larger coupling cap after the preamp section, you will get more, and earlier, breakup. If we look at the preamp sections of the AB763 amps, there is no tube gain stage, whose purpose is to introduce distortion. There are only the necessary tube gain stages to mix and lead the signal to the power amp section.
“Fender designed these amps specifically to support the music style of the 1950 and ’60s: The guitars were supposed to be bright and clean.”
The power amp section is equally important. The AB763-style amps have dual power tubes in a Class AB push-pull configuration which has significant clean headroom—more than single-end Class A amps. The fixed-bias design provides more headroom than cathode bias, which creates sag and less headroom. The efficient long-tail phase inverter and the negative feedback loop are also used to minimize clipping. Finally, using American-style speakers in the open-back cabinet design of the black- and silver-panel combo amps will enhance bright frequencies and tame the mids and low end. All these details point to one conclusion: Fender designed the AB763 amps to achieve the cleanest possible tone.
For me, the cleans of a Super Reverb are especially fantastic. The four, lightly driven 10″ speakers produce a scooped sound with great dynamics and touch sensitivity. The full set of EQ controls, robust power amp, and large transformers work together to give you both sparkle and a firm low end, even at high volumes. The Pro Reverb and Princeton Reverb, however, will struggle to stay clean when pushed. The relatively small-output transformers are a bottleneck in these amps, and they both lack the important mid control to tame the bass and mids. The Pro Reverb’s boomy 2x12 cabinet gives a flabby bass response, and the Princeton Reverb has a cheaper and inefficient phase inverter. This means that these amps can play clean only at lower volumes. If you read my previous articles on these amps, you will find easy instructions for how to improve the clean headroom, if that’s what you want.
If it’s natural distortion you’re after, the best black- or silver-panel Fender amp is the AB165 Bassman. But that’s a different story we’ll come back to later.