Certain pedals are created that can be difficult to categorize, and today’s pedal falls along those lines. The SolidGoldFX NU-33 Vinyl Engine is a chorus and vibrato machine, yes, but it’s also something else entirely. Incorporating elements of noise, static and ambient pops that come from playing worn-out copies of decades old vinyl records, the NU-33 features hisses, crackles, and all the vintage flair you can handle.
Named after the Greek letter symbolizing spatial frequency and the RPMs of a turntable, the NU-33 is a lo-fi Vinyl modulator like no other, serving up chorus and vibrato mixed with tastefully engineered hiss, crackle and pops for just the right touch of vintage flair. The controls allow you to choose how much or how little flutter to add to your tone, color it with 2 additional filter modes, shape it with 3 different waveforms and dial in the mix with an analog blend; you can easily make this pedal sound as pretty and lush or as dark and sombre as you please.
KNOBS:
Speed: This knob adjusts the speed of the LFO, from low and slow, to warble fast. The speed can also be manipulated by using an expression pedal.
Flutter: This knob adjusts the width of the chorus/vibrato effect. When set fully counter-clockwise, the NU-33 enters into manual mode, where the delay can be swept with the Speed knob from 15ms to 50ms for a doubling effect. The flutter can also be manipulated using an expression pedal.
Ramp: The ramp is a momentary feature. This allows you to speed up or slow down the LFO by holding the Tap Tempo/Ramp switch. With the knob in the center position, the Ramp feature is off. Turning it down from the noon position ramps it down, while turning it up from noon position ramps it upward. The distance the knob is from the noon position determines how quickly the speed will ramp up or down and return to its original position.
Hiss: This knob controls the amount white noise that is mixed in with the effect. The hiss can also be manipulated using an expression pedal.
Blend: This center-detent knob blends the wet and dry signals. The center is a 50/50 mix for chorus effects while turning the Blend fully clockwise turns the NU-33 into a Vibrato.
Level: This is a master volume of the pedal and can boost or cut the output.
SWITCHES:
Wave: This three-position switch changes the LFO waveform. When switched to the left, the waveform is a combined sine wave wiggling up and down a triangle shape, center selects a traditional sine wave, and the right selects a sawtooth wave.
Skip: This toggle switch provides three tempo presets for the Skip function. The left position selects long (937ms), the center position selects medium (625ms) and the right position selects short (312ms).
Color: This toggle selects filter modes. The left selects a low pass filter for darker sounds and the right position selects a high pass filter. The center position bypasses the color filters.
Crackle: This toggle adds random vinyl-like pops and crackle to your signal when set to the right.
Bypass/Hold Skip Footswitch: Turns the effect on and off. If you hold the foot switch down while the effect is on, you will momentarily engage the Skip function, endlessly looping the signal left in the delay buffer until the switch is released.
Tap/Hold Ramp Footswitch: This footswitch allows you to tap in the speed. When the switch is held down it ramps the speed up or down, depending on how the ramp knob is set.
All of these knobs and switches work together to form sounds that used to only be available in your imagination. Now, with the NU-33 Vinyl Engine, they’ve finally become reality. Ebbing and flowing with vintage crackles and retro vinyl undertones, with heavy hints of chorus and vibrato throughout, there’s a whole new world of sonic enjoyment just waiting for your exploration, and it’s gonna be a fun journey, trust us. Cheers to the SolidGoldFX team on this creation, something unique yet familiar, with more tonal options than we all know what to do with. Be sure to visit their website for all the details, and you gotta hear this one in action in our demo as well – cheers!
GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES, CONTEST INFO, SEE OUR LATEST DEMO VIDEOS AND MORE:
