The Tru-Fi Ghost Vibe is a recreation of the classic vintage Uni-Vibe effect by a boutique US pedal builder headed by a self-described “Hendrix tone nut” whose mission is to deliver “toneful and well-built guitar pedals that sound and look like they are 50 years old.”
Needless to say, the Ghost Vibe may have a retro sound, but it is through and through a modern pedal, enclosed in a compact case, featuring True Bypass and powered by a 9V battery or PSU – incidentally, the voltage is then converted internally to 18v for extra headroom.
The unit sticks to the 3 controls of the original (Volume, Speed and Depth – called “Intensity” in the original) plus the unmissable Vibrato/Chorus switch.
During the designing process, the builder used 6 modern vibes, and a 1968 and 1969 original Uni-Vibeb as a reference, in an effort to get it as close as possible to the sound of the 1968 unit.
You can hear the results in the video below, we added this pedal to our article about the best Uni-Vibe pedals.
Tru-Fi Ghost Vibe, Builder’s Notes
A True Uni-Vibe in a small footprint, that runs on 9V and sounds like Woodstock plus.
The Uni-Vibe was made in 1967-68 and was very VERY unique in its tone and technology, by which using a light built and photocells to create a phase shifting pattern. The result was incredibly unique and beautiful sounding phase sound that they actually labeled Chorus. It sounded beautiful clean, and electric fuzzed out. We ABed it with 6 modern vibes, and a 1968 and 1969 original Uni-Vibe – We got it as close as you could get to with our ears to the 1968 vintage sound.
Tru-Fi is retro, this is what I have tried to do with this company since the start. Build incredible toneful and well-built guitar pedals that sound and look like they are 50 years old. Building a true Uni-vibe was no small task enclosed in the small enclosure that we use, thennnnn lets make it run on 9V so everyone can just power it up and get the TONE. I went to great lengths to get all this in a box, the cells, the light bulb and THEN THE TONE – IT SOUNDS VERY GOOD !
The name The Ghost Vibe was created by George Blekas who was instrumental in getting this finished – I would not have finished it without him. We are both Hendrix tone nuts, and one day he said “you know all we are really doing is chasing the Ghost of Jimi” – a few minutes later it was named The Ghost Vibe ! It is also inspired by our dear friend Bob Sweet – RIP as printed on the circuit board.
NOTE! It’s True-Bypass and inside there is a 9V Battery
This pedal runs on 9V Power Negative Tip – It is converted inside via the power chip to 18Vs. NO NEED FOR AN 18V supply ! WARNING ! DAMAGE !
You CAN run the Ghost Vibe on a 9V battery but NOT long it is really just to test the signal ! If your jamming or playing out YOU NEED A POWER SUPPLY !
The Buffer/Non switch is INSIDE – RED is buffered – they are set to NON BUFFERED. Buffered is BRIGHTER and works best with Wahs and Fuzz’s, NORMAL is the Vintage Darker Uni-Vibe tone !
