Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Source Audio Launches Limited-Edition Mission of Burma Vertigo Tremolo

Source Audio Launches Limited-Edition Mission of Burma Vertigo Tremolo

Source Audio teams up with the Music Emporium to release this one-of-a-kind pedal.


The legend of Mission of Burma looms large. Early 80s post-punk anthems like "That's When I Reach For My Revolver," "Max Ernst," and "Academy Fight Song" won Mission of Burma a devoted following in America and the U.K., but it was the period after they parted ways in 1983 that their popularity really started to grow. Many legendary bands cite Burma as major influence including, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Foo Fighters and The Replacements. Clearly this band from Boston had made its mark.

Source Audio has been friends with Roger Clark Miller, Mission of Burma's guitarist, for a number of years now. He originally became interested in Source Audio because he needed a tremolo that could capture the sound of a special one-of-a-kind pedal made specifically for him back in the early 80s. The pedal, which came to be known as the "Vacu-Trem," was custom made by Lou Giordano, an MIT educated electrical engineer and record producer at Fort Apache Studios in Boston, Massachusetts. The Vacu-Trem featured a hard chopping wave shape with a tremolo speed well beyond that of standard amplifier tremolos. Roger said, "until I was introduced to the Vertigo, I had not been able to recreate that sound in any other device." They had a great time working side-by-side with Roger to perfectly match the Vacu-Trem sounds in the special edition Vertigo.

The limited-edition Mission of Burma Tremolo is available for $249 exclusively at The Music Emporium. "We couldnā€™t be more excited to be a part of this home-town project," said Eliot Hunt of the Music Emporium "For us, it really captures what makes Bostonā€™s music community amazing - a strong DIY ethos, innovative music & ideas, and a collaborative spirit. To have that embodied in such a unique, beautiful sounding (& looking) pedalā€¦whatā€™s cooler or more inspiring than that?"

Source Audio x Mission Of Burma Vertigo VS Tremolo | The Music Emporium

A dose of magic gain potion.

Works like a little vial of magic gain potion. Fattens without obscuring individual frequency bands.

None.

$129

Solodallas SVDS Boost
solodallas.com

5
4.5
5
4.5

The Schaeffer-Vega Diversity Systemā€”an early and very successful wireless systemā€”excelled at the tasks it was designed for. But there was more magic than met the eye. Though designed to sound as transparent as possible, it nonetheless colored the signal in a way that people like Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen found essential.

Read MoreShow less
- YouTube

Join PG contributor Tom Butwin as he explores all-new versions of the Framus Hootenanny 12-string and 6-string acousticsā€”made famous by John Lennon and now available with modern upgrades. From vintage-inspired tone to unique features, these guitars are built to spark creativity.

Positive Grid's Spark NEO offers guitarists a wireless guitar rig built into premium headphones, with AI-powered tone customization, exceptional sound quality, and versatile connectivity.

Read MoreShow less

This Japan-made Guyatone brings back memories of hitchinā€™ rides around the U.S.

This oddball vintage Guyatone has a streak of Jack Kerouacā€™s adventurous, thumbing spirit.

The other day, I saw something I hadnā€™t noticed in quite some time. Driving home from work, I saw an interesting-looking fellow hitchhiking. When I was a kid, ā€œhitchersā€ seemed much more common, but, then again, the world didnā€™t seem as dangerous as today. Heck, I can remember hitching to my uncleā€™s cabin in Bradford, Pennsylvaniaā€”home of Zippo lightersā€”and riding almost 200 miles while I sat in a spare tire in the open bed of a pickup truck! Yes, safety wasnā€™t a big concern for kids back in the day.

Read MoreShow less