
Harmonic tremolo that swims in traditional and trippy directions.
Fat, liquid harmonic tremolo tones that range from vintage to bizarre. Huge range in controls. Interactive controls mean lots of tone variation.
Frequency and resonance controls can feel elusive.
$229
Spaceman Delta II
spacemaneffects.com
More than seven decades on, tremolo remains one of the most mesmerizingly delicious and mysterious textures in music. And while it's now a familiar part of the popular music lexicon, it has lost none of its power to evoke mystery, oceanic depths, faraway lands, and deep space.
Harmonic tremolo is perhaps the most mysterious tremolo of all. Rather than use volume attenuation to achieve its hypnotic pulses, harmonic tremolo uses dual band filtering and LFOs to emphasize high and low frequencies in a rhythmic, alternating pattern. The resulting effect is, generally speaking, woozier than the stuttery textures of amplitude tremoloāand capable of suggesting and inducing very dreamy states of mind.
FenderĀ Telecaster into Delta II, black panel Fender Tremolux head, and Universal Audio OX tweed Deluxe cabinet emulation. All modulation and filtering are manipulated and generated via the Delta II.
Harmonic tremolo emulations are relatively plentiful these days, but few are as fun and capable of spanning old-school sounds and twisted textures as Spaceman's new Delta II. It generates the deep, woozy, pitch-stretching modulations that make early-'60s-style harmonic tremolo so fundamentally appealing. It can also stretch the effect to extremes with little likeness to tremolo at all.
A Deep Weave
The Delta II walks the line between complexity and simplicity adroitly. The interactive nature of Delta II's controls might frustrate players used to fast, predictable results from one of two knobs. But it's worth investing the time to grok how they work together, because those relationships can be the ticket to very distinct and individual variations on harmonic and amplitude tremolo.
Even the two most recognizable controls on the Delta IIāthe depth and rateābehave in comparatively unusual ways. Much of the first third of the depth's range, for instance, is subtle enough to be imperceptible at certain settings. The rate knob, meanwhile, hits the maximum modulation rate of a Fender amp tremolo before you even get to the 12 o'clock position, and at extremes it pulsates at rates so fast that it sounds more like ring-modulated fuzz than tremolo. On some pedals, these expansive parameter ranges might be annoying, but the Delta II's precise pots make it easy to find sweet and familiar settings.
The small lower left knob called lag enhances the Delta II's flexibility considerably. It shifts the phase relationship between LFO outputs. At full counterclockwise, the two outputs are in phase and produce less phase-y amplitude-tremolo-style pulses. As you twist it clockwise, the phase relationship changesāinducing ever wobblier variations on the harmonic tremolo flavor. It's a smart addition for players who occasionally like the directness of amplitude tremolo.
At extremes, it pulsates at rates so fast that it sounds more like ring-modulated fuzz than tremolo.
Even more tone variations are available via the 3-position voice switch. In the left position, the LFO modulates the high-frequency and dry signals. In the middle, it modulates high and low frequency signals. And in the right position it modulates the low-frequency and dry signals. The latter two of these tend to sound the most immersive, while the high-and-dry settings tend to sound a touch thinner and more focused.
All three of these voices can be recast depending on how you use the resonant filter (regulated by the "freq" control) and the resonance knob. And much of the real magic in Delta II's control layout is down to how effectively the frequency, voice, and resonance controls work together as a very powerful EQ section. In the studioāor as you refine a live band mix or arrangement for a given songāyou can use various combinations of these controls to carve out very specific harmonic spaces. And given how deep these tremolo throbs can be, the ability to effectively emphasize a frequency band here and cut another there opens up many arrangement possibilities. Once you master the practice of fine tuning them, you can make tremolo pulses more integrated or distinct within the sound of instruments occupying a given frequency range.
The Verdict
Billing the Delta II as a harmonic tremolo nearly undersells what the pedal can do. Apart from generating liquid modulations that would tickle any brown-panel Fender or Magnatone fan, the Delta II can dish synthy ring-modulated chirps, rotary speaker-like colors, and snorkely filtered pulses. Studio hounds will be thrilled with how the frequency, resonance, and voice controls enable surgical sculpting of trem tones so they can be situated in very specific harmonic spaces.
The Delta II isn't without its quirks. You can easily go down a rabbit hole searching for ideal EQ, filter, and resonance profiles. But it takes just a modicum of practice to get a lot of extra mileage out of those controls, and they are full of surprises. If you're looking for classic harmonic tremolo formulas exclusively, there are more direct and inexpensive ways to get there. For more curious tremolo fans, however, the Delta II is a treasure chest of sweet, deep, and demented modulations that can be fantastically transportive.
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Experience the pinnacle of Taylor playing comfort and tone with the Builderās Edition 514ce, 514ce Kona Burst, and 524ce. These models feature solid Shamel ash back and sides, uniquely voiced V-Class bracing, Gotoh 510 tuners, ES2 electronics, and a Deluxe Hardshell Case.
The Builderās Edition 514ce, 514ce Kona Burst and 524ce join our acclaimed Builderās Edition Collection, giving you more ways to experience the pinnacle of Taylor playing comfort and tone.
Each model boasts a gloss-finish cutaway Grand Auditorium body with solid Shamel ash back and sides, an artfully applied Kona burst on the back, sides and neck, uniquely voiced V-Class interior bracing, Gotoh 510 antique chrome tuners, ES2 electronics, and a Deluxe Hardshell Case.
Refined, comfort-enhancing features include a beveled armrest and cutaway, chamfered body edges and a smoothly contoured Curve Wing bridge. Italian acrylic āCompassā inlays and a vibrant firestripe pickguard add tasteful aesthetic accents.
Responsibly sourced from cities in Southern California, Shamel ash is given a second life as a tonewood in our premium-class guitars. It yields a focused, fundamental-strong voice with midrange power and balance comparable to Honduran mahogany.
Models:
- Builder's Edition 514ce - $3,399 - Featuring a natural Sitka spruce top paired with solid Shamel ash back and sides, the Builderās Edition 514ce delivers warmth, depth and musical versatility for any style or genre.
- Builder's Edition 514ce Kona Burst - $3,499 - Showcasing a vintage aesthetic flair, this solid Shamel ash/Sitka spruce model features a Tobacco Kona burst top.
- Builder's Edition 524ce - $3,499 - This model pairs solid Shamel ash back and sides with a mahogany topāalso featuring a Tobacco Kona burstāthat adds a bit of natural compression to help create incredible tonal balance across the frequency spectrum.
For more information, please visit taylorguitars.com.
AI, which generated this image in seconds, can obviously do amazing things. But can it actually replace human creativity?
Technology has always disrupted the music biz, but weāve never seen anything like this.
AI has me deeply thinking: Is guitar (or any instrument) still valid? Are musicians still valid? I donāt think the answer is as obvious as Iād like it to be.
As a professional musician, Iāve spent the vast majority of my days immersed in the tones of tube amps, the resistance of steel strings under my fingers, and the endless pursuit of musical expression. Each day, I strive to tap into the Source, channel something new into the world (however small), and share it. Yet, lately, a new presence has entered the roomāartificial intelligence. It is an interloper unlike any Iāve ever encountered. If youāre thinking that AI is something off in the ānot-too-distant future,ā youāre exponentially wrong. So, this month Iām going to ask that we sit and meditate on this technology, and hopefully gain some insight into how we are just beginning to use it.
AI: Friend or Foe?
In the last 12 months, Iāve heard quite a bit of AI-generated music. Algorithms can now ācompose,ā āperformā (with vocals of your choosing), and āproduceā entire songs in minutes, with prompts as flippant as, āWrite a song about__in the style of__.ā AI never misses a note and can mimic the finer details of almost any genre with unnerving precision. For those who are merely curious about music, or those easily distracted by novelty, this might seem exciting ⦠a shortcut to creating āprofessionalā sounding music without years of practice. But for those of us who are deeply passionate about music, it raises some profound existential questions.
When you play an instrument, you engage in something deeply human. Each musician carries their life experiences into their playing. The pain of heartbreak, the joy of new beginnings, or the struggle to find a voice in an increasingly noisy and artificial online world dominated by algorithms. Sweat, tears, and callouses develop from your efforts and repetition. Your mistakes can lead to new creative vistas and shape the evolution of your style.
Emotions shape the music we create. While an algorithm can only infer and assign a āvalueā to the vast variety of our experience, it is ruthlessly proficient at analyzing and recording the entire corpus of human existence, and further, cataloging every known human behavioral action and response in mere fractions of a second.
Pardon the Disruption
Technology has always disrupted the music industry. The invention of musical notation provided unprecedented access to compositions. The advent of records allowed performances of music to be captured and shared. When radio brought music into every home, there was fear that no one would buy records. Television added visual spectacle, sparking fears that it would kill live performance. MIDI revolutionized music production but raised concerns about replacing human players. The internet, paired with the MP3 format, democratized music distribution, shattered traditional revenue models, and shifted power from labels to artists. Each of these innovations was met with resistance and uncertainty, but ultimately, they expanded the ways music could be created, shared, and experienced.
Every revolution in art and technology forces us to rediscover what is uniquely human about creativity. To me, though, this is different. AI isnāt a tool that requires a significant amount of human input in order to work. Itās already analyzed the minutia of all of humanityās greatest creationsāfrom the most esoteric to the ubiquitous, and it is wholly capable of creating entire works of art that are as commercially competitive as anything youāve ever heard. This will force us to recalibrate our definition of art and push us to dig deeper into our personal truths.
āIn an age where performed perfection is casually synthesized into existence, does our human expression still hold value? Especially if the average listener canāt tell the difference?ā
Advantage: Humans
What if we donāt want to, though? In an age where performed perfection is casually synthesized into existence, does our human expression still hold value? Especially if the average listener canāt tell the difference?
Of course, the answer is still emphatically āYes!ā But caveat emptor. I believe that the value of the tool depends entirely on the way in which it is usedāand this one in particular is a very, very powerful tool. We all need to read the manual and handle with care.
AI cannot replicate the experience of creating music in the moment. It cannot capture the energy of a living room jam session with friends or the adrenaline of playing a less-than-perfect set in front of a crowd who cheers because they feel your passion. It cannot replace the personal journey you take each time you push through frustration to master a riff that once seemed impossible. So, my fellow musicians, I say this: Your music is valid. Your guitar is valid. What you create with your hands and heart will always stand apart from what an algorithm can generate.
Our audience, on the other hand, is quite a different matter. And thatās the subject for next monthās Dojo. Until then, namaste.
Joni Mitchellās rich, colorful altered-tuning chord voicings have set her work apart in its own musical universe, where the rest of us guitarists either scratch our heads in wonder or have to do dissertation-level research to unpack just how she gets her sound.
Joni Mitchellās rich, colorful altered-tuning chord voicings have set her work apart in its own musical universe, where the rest of us guitarists either scratch our heads in wonder or have to do dissertation-level research to unpack just how she gets her sound. Dawes guitarist and songwriter Taylor Goldsmith gained firsthand experience with Mitchellās songs when he joined her on stageājust check out 2022ās āJoni Jamā from the Newport Folk Festival, which also included Brandi Carlile, Blake Mills, Jon Batiste, and others.
Goldsmith joins us on this episode of the 100 Guitarists podcast. Together, we talk about Mitchellās chord voicings and progressions, her tunings, what itās like to share a stage with her, and Goldsmith wonders: Was Bob Dylanās āTangled Up in Blueā a nod to the songwriterās 1971 album?
When we wrap up our conversation, we cover a new release of energetic, forward-leaning guitar cumbia by Los PiraƱas and an album of Bach Partitas for Telecaster by guitarist Noel Johnston.
This episode is sponsored by L.R. Baggs.
The Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah, meticulously recreated from his own pedal, offers fixed-wah tones with a custom inductor for a unique sound.
The Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah taps into the vibrant, melodic character of one of rock ānā rollās most gifted songwriters. Few guitar players have been able to combine a keen musical instinct with a profound grasp of how to bring a composition together like Mick Ronson. Laden with expressive resonance, his arrangements layered deliberately chosen tones and textures to build exquisite melodies and powerful riffs. The Cry Baby Wah, set in a fixed position to serve as a filter, was key to the tone-shaping vision that Ronson used to transform the face of popular music through his work with David Bowie and many others as both an artist and a producer.
We wanted to make that incredible Cry Baby Wah sound available to all players, and legendary producer Bob Rockāa friend and collaborator of Ronsonāsāwas there to help. He generously loaned us Ronsonās own Cry Baby Wah pedal, an early Italian-made model whose vintage components imbue it with a truly singular sound. Ronson recorded many tracks with this pedal, and Rock would go on to use it when recording numerous other artists. With matched specs, tightened tolerances, and a custom inductor, our engineers have recreated this truly special sound.
āYou place the wah, and leave it there, and that's the tone,ā Rock says. āIt's all over every record he ever made, and Iāve used it on every record since I got it. Dunlopās engineers spent the time and sent me the prototypes, and we nailed that sound.ā
āMick Ronson Cry Baby Wah highlights:
- Tailor-made for Ronsonās signature fixed-wah tones⢠Carefully specād from his own wah pedal
- Custom inductor replicates higher frequency response and subtler peak
- Fast initial sweep with Instant reactivity
- Distinctive EQ curve from period-accurate components
- Special finish inspired by Ronsonās monumental work
The Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah is available now at $249.99 street from your favorite retailer.
For more information, please visit jimdunlop.com.