MusicRadar Verdict
No bells and whistles - simply vintage amp-style tremolo elegantly presented.
Pros
- +
Authentic Fender-style bias tremolo tones.
- +
Good speed range.
Cons
- -
Amp-style tremolo only: there's no wave variation here.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
Designed to deliver the sort of tremolo sounds you’d find on 50s and 60s amps, the Surf Trem has the simplest of control options, providing just Speed and Depth knobs.
However, the new design offers plenty of improvement over its chunky but cool-looking predecessor. Its sleek, slimline shape presents a more workable footprint on the pedalboard with all connections at the top end, making it easy to site similar pedals right next to each other. It does, though, lose the second blinking LED, which showed you the tremolo speed at a glance.
The circuitry (taken from the TremO’vibe tremolo and vibrato pedal) offers a warm and rounded tremolo reminiscent of Fender-style bias tremolo with plenty of variation running from a deep slow throb to fast and fluttery. And you won’t miss a volume knob, as there’s no perceptible loss of level when the pedal is kicked in.
“Some of the greatest musicianship right now is young and female... If you want to take a course in great songwriting, go study at the college of Taylor Swift”: Sheryl Crow heaps praise on Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan and Phoebe Bridgers
“All the albums I did with Metallica were recorded on 24-track analogue tape. There’s not a computer in sight”: How Flemming Rasmussen produced Metallica’s classic Master Of Puppets
“It's rare to encounter a song from the last 70 years that doesn’t involve it in some way”: Why reverb is one of the most reliable effects in a producer's arsenal
