Agileguy_101
Master of his Domain
First up - got this on Thursday, but I knew I had something coming in Friday, so I wanted to Iceman y'all for a day.
Cusack Tap-a-Whirl V3.
Holy crap.
I mean, holy freaking crap.
This thing is ridiculous. It's an all-analog signal path with digital control. It's got traditional depth and speed, and a handy volume control to counteract the perceived volume loss of the tremolo effect. On top of that, it has an 8 position wave selector... but then, there's the three-way bank switch. You have 24 wave forms.
Then enter the 8 position option knob. This knob actually has three funtions. When the pedal is off, you can use it to set the fade in time of the effect - up to four seconds. When the effect is on, you can use it as a ratio knob. The available ratios are 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Lastly, if you hold down the tap tempo switch, you can set the speed of the ramping feature. When you hold down the tap tempo switch, the tremolo will ramp down until you lift your foot. Release and hold again, and it will ramp up. You can set the speed of this with the option knob.
But probably the coolest thing - you can save all of the parameters controllable by the option knob to each waveform. That means that you can save a different tap ratio, a different fade in time, and a different ramp speed TO EACH OF THE 24 WAVEFORMS. That blows my mind, to be quite frank.
Another little detail that I really like - right next to the status LED, there's a blue indicator LED. It will not only show you the rate of the tremolo, but also the depth - the higher depth settings you're using, the more intense the effect. Super cool. Also, just like a tap delay, all tapping can be done when the pedal is not engaged, and the led will acknowledge it. Super handy for live work.
It's also worth noting that this pedal can be configured for stereo use. There's a little internal jumper that you have to move, and boom, stereo. Only caveat is that you need a Y cable, but it's not a big deal for me.
As for the sound of the tremolo - it's spectacular. I've only used it for about 40 minutes, but I love it so much already. I've already started writing riffs and ideas with it. It sounds great set up for a little subtle trem effect, but it's equally capable of doing the more intense effects.
Oh, and did I mention that this pedal is super tiny? It's about as wide as an MXR box is tall, and it's no longer than two MXR's next to each other. Very nice.
The only thing I don't like about this pedal is that the depth isn't controllable via some external something. When switching between different waveforms, I found that sometimes the depth needed adjusting too. I'm going to contact Cusack and see if they can mod it to accommodate an external depth control. I won't be using the battery ever, so my hope is that they can put it there.
Next up:
Yeah, I got it. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, but hopefully I'll get to do that this weekend.
Some other shots:
Just to show you how small the Cusack actually is:
My board as of now:
I'm still waiting on my backordered Micro Vibe to come in. Should be here this week. Other than that, all I've got left to get is a TCE Alter Ego, and a MXR Custom Badass Modded OD to replace the Nobels. After that, I need to make up all the cables for my board, get a PPII+, and I'm done.
I'm super stoked. I love everything that I've got on my board right now.
Cusack Tap-a-Whirl V3.
Holy crap.
I mean, holy freaking crap.
This thing is ridiculous. It's an all-analog signal path with digital control. It's got traditional depth and speed, and a handy volume control to counteract the perceived volume loss of the tremolo effect. On top of that, it has an 8 position wave selector... but then, there's the three-way bank switch. You have 24 wave forms.
Then enter the 8 position option knob. This knob actually has three funtions. When the pedal is off, you can use it to set the fade in time of the effect - up to four seconds. When the effect is on, you can use it as a ratio knob. The available ratios are 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Lastly, if you hold down the tap tempo switch, you can set the speed of the ramping feature. When you hold down the tap tempo switch, the tremolo will ramp down until you lift your foot. Release and hold again, and it will ramp up. You can set the speed of this with the option knob.
But probably the coolest thing - you can save all of the parameters controllable by the option knob to each waveform. That means that you can save a different tap ratio, a different fade in time, and a different ramp speed TO EACH OF THE 24 WAVEFORMS. That blows my mind, to be quite frank.
Another little detail that I really like - right next to the status LED, there's a blue indicator LED. It will not only show you the rate of the tremolo, but also the depth - the higher depth settings you're using, the more intense the effect. Super cool. Also, just like a tap delay, all tapping can be done when the pedal is not engaged, and the led will acknowledge it. Super handy for live work.
It's also worth noting that this pedal can be configured for stereo use. There's a little internal jumper that you have to move, and boom, stereo. Only caveat is that you need a Y cable, but it's not a big deal for me.
As for the sound of the tremolo - it's spectacular. I've only used it for about 40 minutes, but I love it so much already. I've already started writing riffs and ideas with it. It sounds great set up for a little subtle trem effect, but it's equally capable of doing the more intense effects.
Oh, and did I mention that this pedal is super tiny? It's about as wide as an MXR box is tall, and it's no longer than two MXR's next to each other. Very nice.
The only thing I don't like about this pedal is that the depth isn't controllable via some external something. When switching between different waveforms, I found that sometimes the depth needed adjusting too. I'm going to contact Cusack and see if they can mod it to accommodate an external depth control. I won't be using the battery ever, so my hope is that they can put it there.
Next up:
Yeah, I got it. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, but hopefully I'll get to do that this weekend.
Some other shots:
Just to show you how small the Cusack actually is:
My board as of now:
I'm still waiting on my backordered Micro Vibe to come in. Should be here this week. Other than that, all I've got left to get is a TCE Alter Ego, and a MXR Custom Badass Modded OD to replace the Nobels. After that, I need to make up all the cables for my board, get a PPII+, and I'm done.
I'm super stoked. I love everything that I've got on my board right now.
