BBE Soul Vibe Analog Univibe Effect Pedal for Guitars, Basses and Keyboards Review
For me it was a toss up between the Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe and the BBE Soul Vibe. The Cool Cat was a good sounding pedal but it had 2 discrepancies I did not care for: one was the audible kick it gave in volume when you engage it and the other was the half second delay it had between engaging the effect switch and the time the effect actually kicked in. This was unacceptable! I've seen cheapo effects that cost a lot less and they don't do this!!
As for the Soul Vibe, I love it! It was exactly what I was looking for. It produces a beautiful swirling vibrato effect reminiscent of the vibrato effects from the late 60's and early 70's. You can easily get the Pink Floyd or Robin Trower like tones out of it. Running a compression effect behind this one greatly enhances the effect. As for tone loss, IMO there was an extremely negligible amount of tone loss as well as a faint swishing sound. Then again you have to remember boys and girls-this is an all analog effect! If you don't want tone loss then go digital but in my opinion the sound quality is not as good.
On the downside I have a few very minor gripes about this pedal but not enough to tarnish its review standing: One was the internal trim pot. In my opinion it would have been better if they would have just incorporated this feature as an external pot. Adjusting it is a rather cumbersome affair but I'm not complaining just pointing this out. The other beef I have is the screws on mine that install the battery cover were torqued down entirely way too tight!! After almost striping one out I had to place the top of the corner of the box against a block of wood and use a #1 Phillips screwdriver and a lot of pressure just to remove them (don't use a #2 Phillips; I guarantee you will strip the screw head out!). Fortunately, I was able to slowly back the 4 screws out to get access to the inside. There is absolutely no need whatsoever for these screws to be installed this tight!
All in all, I'm sure some of those insanely priced 0-0 vibrato pedals can give you more bells and whistles to tinker around with. Personally, I think a lot of these "boutique" style effects are one of the biggest rackets going and anyone who spends over 0 for an effect like this needs to go have their heads examined...but then again, to each their own! Aside from those meager 2 gripes I'll say this is a great effect and well worth the money.
BBE Soul Vibe Analog Univibe Effect Pedal for Guitars, Basses and Keyboards Feature
- Speed and Intensity controls
- Hardwire Bypass Switching
- LED Status Indicator
- Easy Access 9V Battery Compartment
- External Power Supply Included (North America Only)
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Customer Reviews
Psychedelic sound anyone? - psychedelic man -
i have only played a few Vibe pedals to get a feel for them, i have never really like the sound you got from them. so i had a few spare bucks laying around and i saw the Soul Vibe and said what the heck i'll just by it. I LOVE this pedal!!! adding a overdrive or other effects you turn your music into something else. the leslie setting is incredible! i had to tweak the setting a bit to get it just right but after i did i never looked back!
Robin Trower in a box - Bill Zumwalt - ATX
For the money none better. We a/b with my friends Dejavibe. The Dejavibe had a little more color. But side by side it was very close. We call it my Walmart pedal, because of the price. I am a big Trower fan,the SoulVibe and a good OD is all I need get the sound. Sounds good before or after the OD. Before is a little smoother, after more colorful. Either way is good. It even has an internal trimmer to balance the tone but I left at the factory setting, it is perfect. Very Well made, I looked inside. True Bypass. Don't buy one, I hate having the same pedal as everyone else.
Sep 30, 2010 23:01:03
