The Wiggler is a tube-driven vibrato and tremolo stompbox unit for use with guitars, keyboards and more. There are controls for volume (make-up gain after tremolo is something many boxes lack); intensity (blend of signals); mode (four levels of tone control as far as I could tell); a vib/trem switch; and a rate control (of course). In vibrato mode, this is one of the more unusual pedals I've used, with swirling, pulsing note-bending effects proving excellent for psychedelic guitar work. The tremolo can be set in so many ways, it's handy for full-on Mission of Burma staccato or smooth, surfy lead sounds. At first the Wiggler seemed like overkill-with so many knobs, glowing tubes and all-but for anyone looking for some truly swampy, trippy psych guitar sounds, this is the ticket. Not cheap, but very versatile. ($298, www.electro-harmonix.com)
Dynamics, Effects, Signal Processors | No. 50
Steel Guitar Black Box tube buffer/impedance matcher
by Pete Weiss
These days, it's important to optimize every link of the audio chain, starting at the source. Often this source is a guitar pickup. Despite the name, the Steel Guitar Black Box is a device that fills...
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