We are always grateful when video demos of guitar pedals feature really cool parts (preferably original ones): we feel like that does a great service to the demoed stompbox while making the experience of watching the video a lot more enjoyable.
While browsing through the various YouTube demos for the new Greenhouse Drifter Analog Tremolo, I was struck by Mike Hermans‘ playing, which I guess reminded me of the dark, modern blues of some ’90s bands I love like Morphine (paradoxically, an often guitar-less band), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds or some sparser Thin White Rope tracks.
Greenhouse Drifter is a small Nashville based boutique pedal manufacturer with already ten pedals under its belt, ranging from distortion to modulation to delay to… “everything’ (that’s how the ‘Self-Titled‘ stompbox is presented: “a true analog modular pedal that allows you to change its circuitry and to transform it from an overdrive to a Tremolo, to a Booster, to a Fuzz…”).
The seven waveforms-rich Drifter Tremolo is the last product to join this family of pedals, presented by the manufacturer as featuring an ‘unorthodox sonic attitude.’ Its controls are admittedly quite unorthodox too, and include some intriguing features like the “Drift” and “Slide” Mode toggle switch, and the “Hold for Mod” function on the footswitch.
Here’s how the manufacturer describes each mode:
Drift Mode
Footswitch Hold spools to max RATE (frequency) at a pace determined by accessing the TIME control. Spool-down to the RATE setting is smooth upon release. Slow TIME settings with gentle application of the footswitch hold can lead to an uneasy tremolo bobbing off course at just the right times based on the users suggestion whereas fast TIME settings offer a more abrupt spool-up for a more immediate and visceral effect. Everything in between these extremes is fully adjust able to get just the right RATE response.Slide Mode
Footswitch Hold ramps to max DEPTH at a rate determined with the (TIME) control. This unique function has a complex and exciting interplay with with selected waveform. In a traditional sine wave or triangular mode it adds a more impactful feeling to an already present tremolo. Square wave and Pulse modes offer this function a new home where chorded guitar parts can become almost synth-like as the max depth can offer a polyphonic pulse that is more rhythmic than the same setting more lightly applied to make picking rhythms more in focus. In more exotic waveform modes like random, the Slide mode can be used as a pathway to chaos that is incredibly useful as a momentary effect. Keep in mind you can have the DEPTH set to 0 so that the entire tremolo or any presence of it whatsoever is at your digression in real-time using the Slide Mode.
And here’s the cool demo of it!
