Catalinbread Valcoder vs Valco amp tremolo

I am A/B'ing a Catalinbread Valcoder Repeat Percussion Tremolo with the onboard fixed-depth tremolo of an Airline 9061, an amp made by Valco for Montgomery Ward. It is a close relative of the Supro 6616 Trojan, the very amp that the Valcoder is based on.
http://www.catalinbread.com/Valcoder.html
Sadly, the Valcoder is discontinued.

For the purposes of this shootout, the Valcoder was set with its rate control between approx. 11 and 1;30 o'clock and its depth control between approx. 11 and 12 o'clock, within that narrow range it is capable of covering all the tremolo sounds available from the amp, so imagine the extremes it is capable of.

It emulates the variable-depth tremolo on my other Valco amps (some of which may be seen lurking in the background) with equal ease. A truly great sounding tremolo pedal. If you love the sound of Valco amp tremolo and come across one of these, grab it. You won't be disappointed. There's a lot of stuff out there that claims to "give you the sound of *insert coveted vintage analog gear here* in a box" and usually falls short...Kudos to Catalinbread for making a pedal that really delivers what it claims to do.

The guitar is a 1965 Supro res-o-glas Martinique.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• catalinbread
• valocoder
• repeat
• percussion
• tremolo
• pedal
• resoglas
• res-o-glas
• martinique
• guitar
• amplifier
• amp
• airline
• montgomery
• ward
• supro
• valco
• trojan

[adamhopeless]

Would you consider selling one of your Supro Guitars ? Im looking for a Martinique or a Val Trol. They're just so hard to come across especially how i live in the UK!

[guitarded71]

@adamhopeless - sorry, but I can't part with the Supros, they're my favorite guitars. However...the winter months are the best time to scour ebay for them, as people sell off their belongings to pay for holiday spending sprees. Good luck!

[finkster13]

What valco airline amp is that..Thanks

[guitarded71]

@finkster13 - it is an Airline 9061.

[grev21]

man oh man, I want one of these.........it would be killer to use with my National.

thanks for the a/b demo, right on!

[Wooodstock69]

Man!

I can't wait to get my original surpo coronado in a few days!

peace and love

[guitarded71]

@whysolimited - replace the ac cord with a grounded 3-prong and it won't electrocute ya.

$80 is a steal!

[guitarded71]

@beakedporpoise - ah...in that case....good luck! The Martinique was Supro's most expensive model ($250 in '65) so they didn't sell that many of 'em...making 'em kinda hard to find these days. The Dual-Tone (60s fiberglass bodied version) is a lot more common, kinda has a similar look and sound, and is a lot less expensive (no Bigsby or "inside the bridge" pickup, though). I use one for open G, next best thing to the Martinique.

[beakedporpoise]

@guitarded71 thanks, but i was talking about the guitar

[guitarded71]

@beakedporpoise - wait, are you talking about the trem pedal...or the guitar?

If you want the trem they pop up on ebay from time to time butr supposedly the currently-in-production Semaphore can cop that same sound.

[beakedporpoise]

@guitarded71 well i kinda figured...but its still depressing...they are just so AMAZING!!! i just want find out how to get one!!!