Univibes

[Chistopher]

What's you guys thoughts on Univibes?

Three simple questions:

1. What is your Univibe of choice?
2. How do you use it?
3. Are you an opticoupler purist or does any old phaser with a 10:1 ratio do?

I for one use an MXR Univibe. So that answers #3: no I don't have a "true" vibe. I've heard people all across the interent saying its not any good, but I like it for no reason other than its the one I have and it sounds nice. I use it for clean rythmn playing mostly on a Strat. It adds texture to my playing, and an interesting dynamic where I can control how swirly a chord is based off how hard I hit the treble strings.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Being a chorus guy, I like Univibes too. I like Leslie/rotary speaker effects too. I think these days, they're kind of a niche effect, but I can find a use for them.

 

[GuitarStv]

1. I tried several univibes and settled on the deja vibe.
2. I mostly use it at lower settings and slow rates on the clean channel (in place of a flanger or chorus), occasionally at higher settings for some funk stuff, or during a solo to get a liquid psychedelic feel. It can also sort of ape a tremolo pedal when you crank stuff up and it's really throbbing.
3. I guess I'm an opticoupler purist? After going through a bunch of different 'vibes, the ones with and optical circuit all tended to sound better to me than the ones faking it. Not sure you could hear much difference at a club at 2 in the morning, but directly comparing it's definitely there and not too subtle.

'Vibes and phasers occupy a similar sonic place. I was quite happy using a big box small stone for ages prior to the deja vibe kicking it off the board - there's nothing long with liking a phaser (or even preferring one). It is easier to find good sounding phasers for low prices than a good sounding vibe IMHO. If you like the MXR, it might be worth checking out some of the optical 'vibes at some point though. Besides the deja vibe, the dry bell vibe machine (sounds great but never could find one for a reasonable price), Earthquaker's The Depths (lots of sounds, but too complex for me to get comfortable with), mojo vibe, voodoo labs microvibe (sounds decent and can often be had for a good price), Jam pedals retrovibe (sounds pretty stellar, but expensive as balls) are all worth taking a look.

 

[beaubrummels]

Fulltone is the best sounding modern reissue I've played, though I can get by with alternate imitations. Phasor is a different sound, however. Not really a substitute to me. IME Univibe is only really useful on songs that need it (cover songs that had it originally). Someday I need to sit down and play with all the settings and see if I can make it useful on other music or create a new sound with it.

 

[Mincer]

I tend to like rotary simulators better, or actual phasers if I am only using the slow speed.

 

[jeremy]

1- jam pedal retrovibe
2- for all sorts of things, clean and dirty rhythm and solos. almost always first inline, even before a fuzzface.
3- yes

i did a univibe shootout at a great local music store. i initially went into get a jhs unicorn, which i didnt like. i ended up trying over a dozen univibe pedals, everything they had. the deja vu was the winner by a good margin. as i brought it back to the counter, a new guy was there and asked if i tried the retrovibe, i had not. within a minute of plugging it in, i knew this was the one. 10% better than the deja vibe, which was basically 20% better than anything else i tried. i had not looked at the price when i made this decision. its expensive, i got mine on a 25% off sale which made it bearable.

i like a phaser for what it is, i have a modded phase90. i love leslie sounds for what they are too, i have a rotosphere. i use both of those, but a univibe is a different thing. im a blues/rock guy. im sure not everyone would care about the differences as much as i do, so take it with a grain of salt, but the retrovibe or deja vibe are the ones to get.

 

[GuitarStv]

almost always first inline, even before a fuzzface.

For me Fuzz, Wah, and Vibe are always a tossup as to how they match together on a board. I usually run my 'vibe after wah and fuzz . . . but now you are making me want to tear apart my board and double check my pedal order.

 

[jeremy]

i dont wah much at all, but i fuzz. and usually germanium sunface, though i do have others. the silverfoxx from stomp underfoot is my second most used fuzz. and full disclosure, i wish the retrovibe wasnt so pricey. i didnt buy it that day. took me a few months till there was a deal out there, but it is damn good

 

[xxxplorer]

My favorite effect. I use an Oxvibe. Thick and swirly. I had a Sabedeus (sp). It was ok. But I didn't love it. So I sold it for no loss and kept my tried and true Oxvibe.

Fulltones are ok too. A little weak imho, but get the job done. Have had no need to look elsewhere.

 

[Aceman]

1. T-Rex Viper
2. I generally don't
3. What does that even mean?

 

[Chistopher]

1. T-Rex Viper
2. I generally don't
3. What does that even mean?

"Real" univibes use a little light bulb to control the modulation.

 

[GuitarStv]

"Real" univibes use a little light bulb to control the modulation.

I think the Viper he mentioned uses a light bulb like a proper univibe should.

 

[marcello252]

I use a Voodolab Microvibe with a trick, it sounds good only if there's a buffer before, so my chain is Boss CE2w in to Microvibe in to the rest of the chain (boost, dist, delay etc).
I had tried a lot of UV, the better sounding ever was a Formula B vintage vibe, an italian pedal, really close to the what one can think a vibe must sound, but too expensive for me

 

[Aceman]

"Real" univibes use a little light bulb to control the modulation.

Oh...whatever. Like a "Real" tremolo uses a light or a tube. No effs given. If it sounds good it sounds good.