rwl
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This is a report on my build of the Electrovibe Mini, based on the Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe. I knew I had to build this canonical pedal, and it's pretty widely recommended on this forum.
Inspiration
I wasn't sure what kind of bird to base the pedal on, but a sort of pun based on the 'vibe' in the name jumped out at me, and how could I pass up naming the pedal after the Vireo - a uni-vibe-reo? These are small, adorable, but somewhat indistinct forest birds. There's a number of vireo species, this one is based on the Cassin's Vireo, which is common in the PNW.
For the design I struggled quite a bit. I wanted to lean into the 70s aesthetic for this one, with a Hendrix kind of angle. I struggled to make it look good using solid primary colors. I really couldn't find a good angle or background. Ultimately I went with a tie-dye look, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the result. I think this is my least favorite among my recent batch of prints (I have some more I'll post soon that I'm really happy with).
The Build
It's a double-layer build; I've said I like these before. Besides having to find short caps, I feel like these make a build feel more "advanced" without really being much more difficult. It's also worth it for me to have a 125B form factor. This one has some less common components, so a Mouser order is required to get the lamp and the short caps. The build worked right away and my enclosure was drilled and laid out correctly, so this was pretty straightforward to make.
The Pedal
I guess there's not a lot I can say about the Univibe, which is one of the OG pedals. I really like it, it's a very organic sounding vibrato, with a really strong "throbbing" effect. Also, it really lets the original tone shine through without any changes. I really don't like when vibratos or other modulation give their own voicing. So I think right now it's my favorite vibrato, although I prefer vibrato on the more subtle side.
On the other hand, the chorus is not really my cup of tea. It's fine but I don't think I'd really use it over another chorus pedal. And I can never understand level controls on modulation, I pretty much always want unity gain and would let my overdrive or fuzz handle the volume. Maybe I'm missing something.
Ratings
Inspiration
I wasn't sure what kind of bird to base the pedal on, but a sort of pun based on the 'vibe' in the name jumped out at me, and how could I pass up naming the pedal after the Vireo - a uni-vibe-reo? These are small, adorable, but somewhat indistinct forest birds. There's a number of vireo species, this one is based on the Cassin's Vireo, which is common in the PNW.
For the design I struggled quite a bit. I wanted to lean into the 70s aesthetic for this one, with a Hendrix kind of angle. I struggled to make it look good using solid primary colors. I really couldn't find a good angle or background. Ultimately I went with a tie-dye look, but I can't say I'm thrilled with the result. I think this is my least favorite among my recent batch of prints (I have some more I'll post soon that I'm really happy with).
The Build
It's a double-layer build; I've said I like these before. Besides having to find short caps, I feel like these make a build feel more "advanced" without really being much more difficult. It's also worth it for me to have a 125B form factor. This one has some less common components, so a Mouser order is required to get the lamp and the short caps. The build worked right away and my enclosure was drilled and laid out correctly, so this was pretty straightforward to make.
The Pedal
I guess there's not a lot I can say about the Univibe, which is one of the OG pedals. I really like it, it's a very organic sounding vibrato, with a really strong "throbbing" effect. Also, it really lets the original tone shine through without any changes. I really don't like when vibratos or other modulation give their own voicing. So I think right now it's my favorite vibrato, although I prefer vibrato on the more subtle side.
On the other hand, the chorus is not really my cup of tea. It's fine but I don't think I'd really use it over another chorus pedal. And I can never understand level controls on modulation, I pretty much always want unity gain and would let my overdrive or fuzz handle the volume. Maybe I'm missing something.
Ratings
- Build: 5/5
- Pedal: 5/5
