Click to visit Sweetwater Click to visit Gearank

Demeter Tremulator Plus

James Demeter updates the first pedal he created, adding extra features and releasing it as the new Tremulator Plus.

Demeter Tremulator Plus

Related Feature:
Top Tremolo Pedals

This update comes after more than a third of a century in production, and brings with it expanded control over the tremolo effect based on customer suggestions while retaining the original unit’s all-analog optical design.

The original Tremulator pedal played a pivotal role in the company’s decision to design and manufacture pedals. The story goes that it all began 34 years ago, when Ry Cooder asked James Demeter to build him a tremolo pedal that sounded similar to the one built into his favorite amplifier. James accepted the challenge, analyzed the tube circuit and came up with a versatile solid state version that fits in a pedal box and powered by a 9 volt battery.

Cutting the long story short, Ry Cooder loved the pedal and shared the story to his friends. As expected, word got out and soon demand for the pedal moved James to get into the pedal building business, even though he is originally only interested in preamps and tube amplifiers. Now Demeter Amps have a number of pedals available, with the Tremulator still heading the lineup.

The press release adds, “The Tremulator was one of the first boutique pedals of the 80’s. Used by Thousands of guitarists on thousands of recording and concerts. The original classic was recognized as one of the “fifty coolest pedals of, all time” by Guitar Player magazine. It is still one of Ry’s favorite Pedals. It was named by Steve Carnelli a famous studio player of the Eighties who said ”It ‘s not a tremolo, its a Tremulator”. The name stuck and so every pedal we make has a “ulator” in its name because of him.

While the original only had two knobs for adjusting depth and speed, the Tremulator Plus comes with three additional knobs that allow for a wider variety of Tremolo effects. The Bias control is now positioned up top as a knob, instead of a trim pot. It lets you adjust the on and off ratio of the optical unit, with the Ry Cooder tremolo setting at the 12 o’clock position.

A wave knob lets you utilize various wave forms for different tremolo flavors. The normal setting gives you a flattened triangle wave, much like the original, described as having a smooth up and down volume, with strong on and off. The pure triangle wave mode gives you a smoother tremolo effect which can be used for more subtle applications. Finally, the square wave mode produces exaggerated tremolo, with the on and off being sharp and strong.

Like all other Demeter products, the Tremulator Plus is hand built in the USA, within the company’s barn in Templeton, CA. The pedal is not yet listed on the company’s website, but they announced the price to be $299. For more information, you can head over to Demeter Amps.

Related Article:

Best Guitar Pedals by Effects Category
Click here to see our list of the Top Guitar Pedals in various Effects Categories.

Leave a Reply