UNI-VIBE- MXR M68 Uni-Vibe... it holds its own in a sea of both cheap or pricey clones ...hear for yourself

 MXR M68 UNI-VIBE  CHORUS/VIBRATO 

The Original UniVibe was an attempt to create the sound of a 

Leslie tone cabinet. 

$130.00 USD

To simplify it had a rotating horn spinning in one direction and a 15" speaker in the opposite direction. This cabinet was meant to give you the sound of a Pipe Organ's sound bouncing around inside a Gothic cathedral. The Uni-Vibe is a faux sound of a faux sound. They both failed but each created a sound that is unique to itself and dead cool.

Digital technology has now allowed one to get an effective Leslie sound. Neo Instruments Vent 122 is the hot one for the beyond perfect Leslie sound. At $400.00 USD it has a big OUCH factor.

THE FIRST 'VIBE'

I won't do the whole 1968 Uni-Vibe history. It is enough to say that a Japanese company Shin-ei used an optical circuit to create a convincing vibrato circuit. They put in several several phasing filters at key frequencies and you got an odd modulating device. Using actual light has  lot of problems with being stable. It can be moved out of focus 

if the pedal is bounced, and kicked around. The Canadian company Diamond Pedals solved that problem around 2004 so everyone going that route can make a stable clone. 

A dozen gourmet companies all boasting they have nailed the original have and keep springing up. Since all sound different ..then who has nailed the original, or in fact who cares.

ENTER DUNLOP

Dunlop has a history of picking up bankrupt companies that made a great effects pedal but it fell out of fashion. They have the Fuzz-Face, the Cry Baby Wah the Echo-Plex and of course the Uni-Vibe. 

They also take that old tech and redesign them just enough to get rid of bugs that make them unreliable, excessively noisy or indeed inconsistent. The original builders changed parts and sources of parts depending firstly on cost and availability. This could be as often every month. After a year you could have several different sounding pedals, lol. Of course some reliable players become the source for the MXR version.

If you are familiar with a Chorus pedal this is similar. The noticeable difference is sweep of the modulation is very deep but it has an airy quality. The end of the sweep does have a bit of an abrupt decay which can be annoying if you set the units level too high. Dirt sounds smooths these out yet and encourages interesting artifacts that nearly resemble sputter and spit in a very interesting way. Keep in mind Hendrix put the original pedal on the map and it was the heavy Fuzz used with it that made it work so effectively giving the tone a self destructive thing to the overall sound.You can use it's vibrato function on it's own which can double it's use.

It has a switch so you can use the vibrato function on it's own. I find you can get a very good emulation of the old Magnatone amps from it.

CONCLUSION

The cool thing is the MXR does a great job in context. It is not a gourmet pedal but it is not a budget pedal and it has a 'goldilocks' price.

HOW TO USE A UNI-VIBE WITH DIRT

COMPARE A FEW MORE

I know a guy who has an original Uni-Vibe that he got from the estate of Jimi Hendrix's roady. It is highly probable that it was in fact one of Jimi's many pedals. He owns a store and he sells many brands of Uni-Vibes. According to him the JHS one sounds the closest to the original. 

I find this interesting because in the video below the guy plays both the JHS and the MXR.

So by comparing the JHS to the MXR you can decide if the MXR accurate or not in the ballpark. Personally I do not hear an obvious difference in important things like fullness, clarity or detail.

In short it is like deciding which of two apples is more red. The point is one would have to be green for it to matter. I checked the hottest of the cheapie. The NUX. It definitely sounds like a Uni-Vibe. It has a very nice clarity and detail in the sound. BUT! It sounds tiny. The sound is not full and any tails to the sound fade away very quickly.

FULLTONE DEJA'VIBE

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$215.00 USD

This is the first of the gourmet Uni-Vibes that put both Fulltone and the Uni-Vibe back on the map after a long time of falling out of favor with players in general.  It uses vintage parts etc. but has a very robust build. The perfect choice between authenticity and real world reliability and performance. According to the Vibe-Eccentric it is not the most authentic. It is however probably on more recordings than all others.                                                                                                         The thing is if this is your first 'Vibe' it is adequate as a pro keeper but not a pricey bail out. Other modulation devices are like icing on a cake but a Un-Vibe becames part of the cake. Or if you like it is comparable to going from a six string guitar to a 12 string. A 12 is a much more foreign instrument than you may imagine.

DRYBELL VIBE MACHINE v.3

This is the session players dream U. V. with an excellent take on the
original, a bright version that is often the only sound on many U.V. pedals.The 3rd choice is an impressive custom patch.                                                                All 3 version's have won a 'Best of the Year' awards.There are many UniVibe pedals. Like many pedals there is probably not a 'best' but several that are one of the best.

THE FINE PRINT

I have a Fuzz on order where in one demo the guy used a Uni-Vibe to show

you how cool the Fuzz sounded with it. I also have a tremolo I only need 

for one tune. If I get a Uni-Vibe I got that covered too. I am down sizing 

so pedals that can handle more than one thing are bonus.

I ordered a mint used one on the cheap.