Neovibe vs. commercially available vibe units. Thoughts?

[hellwood]

I'm not quite sure what your comments mean... The clips were recorded straight into a tube amp. There are a couple with a tube screamer but no amp sims...
Not sure what you mean about the jimi thing either.
John

this is right off your link:

Neovibe
Univibe clone
By R.G. Keen
Recorded by SteveB
Strat SC PU
OD and delay after vibe
Vibe 1
Vibe 2
Vibe 3
Vibe 4

Vibe 1
Vibe 2

Recorded by Blues devil
Joe Davisson Amp sim 
Neck Humbucker
Clip

the jimi comment was referring to the assumption that whoever didnt like the clips doesnt like the univibe sound.(that sounds arrogant)
i love the fact that you have all those clips. it can make or break someones future project choice. more details would leave less to the imagination (master/ nonmaster, tube / solid state, speakers used, volume level, mics / pre's, etc.)
as far as the neovibe, i would build one if i had nothing to do for a week and didnt already own 3.

[skiraly017]

To answer skiraly017's orignal post - surely it's not a question of comparing the Neovibe to other commercial clones, it's more trying to replicate the Univibe.  The Neovibe IS a Univibe so it does that very well!

Jay

Thanks Jay. I know this was sort of "open to interpretation" question. I had an original Univibe way back and I have yet to find something that captures "the sound" as well the original which has brought me to consider rolling my own.

[SteveB]

To answer skiraly017's orignal post - surely it's not a question of comparing the Neovibe to other commercial clones, it's more trying to replicate the Univibe.  The Neovibe IS a Univibe so it does that very well!

Jay

Thanks Jay. I know this was sort of "open to interpretation" question. I had an original Univibe way back and I have yet to find something that captures "the sound" as well the original which has brought me to consider rolling my own.

Which commercial ones have you tried?

Steve

[SteveB]

I'm not quite sure what your comments mean... The clips were recorded straight into a tube amp. There are a couple with a tube screamer but no amp sims...
Not sure what you mean about the jimi thing either.
John

this is right off your link:

Neovibe
Univibe clone
By R.G. Keen
Recorded by SteveB
Strat SC PU
OD and delay after vibe
Vibe 1
Vibe 2
Vibe 3
Vibe 4

Vibe 1
Vibe 2

Recorded by Blues devil
Joe Davisson Amp sim 
Neck Humbucker
Clip

the jimi comment was referring to the assumption that whoever didnt like the clips doesnt like the univibe sound.(that sounds arrogant)
i love the fact that you have all those clips. it can make or break someones future project choice. more details would leave less to the imagination (master/ nonmaster, tube / solid state, speakers used, volume level, mics / pre's, etc.)
as far as the neovibe, i would build one if i had nothing to do for a week and didnt already own 3.

Guitar on all clips I did:1971 Fender Strat with a maple neck. Seymour Duncan JB HB in the bridge position.
Amp on all clips I did:1970 Fender Princeton Reverb w/Seymour Duncan 12" speaker.
Neovibe: Chorus mode, volume cranked, intensity around 2 o'clock, speed varies.

Neo-Vibe1.mp3 - guitar, neck PU>Neovibe>DL-4> amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.

Neo-Vibe2.mp3 - guitar, bridge PU, single coil mode>Neovibe>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.

Neo-Vibe3.mp3 - guitar, bridge PU, HB mode>Neovibe>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.

Neo-Vibe4.mp3 - out-of-tune-guitar>Neovibe>Marshall Shredmaster>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 2.5. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.

Vibe1.mp3 - guitar>69 clone>Neovibe>ScreamerOD>amp. Amp Volume: 2.5, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb:3.  Miked with a cheap PC mic 3-4 feet away, recorded directly to soundcard.

Vibe2.mp3 - guitar>69 clone>Neovibe>ScreamerOD>amp. Amp Volume: 2.5, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb:3.  Miked with a cheap PC mic 3-4 feet away, recorded directly to soundcard.

[skiraly017]

Which commercial ones have you tried?

Steve

All the Fulltones throughout the years (gold big box version came the closest for me), various Prescription Electronics Vibe Units, Voodoo Lab Micovibe, Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe (but not the Ultra Vibe) and the Dunlop versions. Have not tried the KR Mega Vibe, Mayer Voodoo Vibe or the Black Cat vibe but I haven't come across those in my travels.

[Jay]

Which commercial ones have you tried?

I've tried one of the first of the Dunlop clones, which was bad.  I've also tried a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe which was very good.  It does a lot more than a Univibe, so takes a while to get "that" sound, but it will do it.  I think he does a cut down version now as well, I expect that would be good too.

I think if you build your own Neovibe and take care with the cells, shield, bulb/biasing and wet-dry mix you'll be happy.  Mine compares very favourably in an A/B with a good sounding example of a 60's Univibe (they do vary!).


Jay.

 

[Mick Bailey]

I didn't think an Easyvibe could do lop-sided! 

The bias trimmer in my Easyvibe doesn't have much of an impact.
Jay

My trimmer has a profound impact on the sound and the hardest thing to do is to set it so it doesn't give lop-sided modulation. I wonder if this is accidental due to component choice. I did ensure that the mix resistors gave the best sound, but that's all. LDR response may be something to do with this. I did notice that it will seriously over-modulate with very little LED brightness - just a warm glow.

I haven't checked, but is the dark-light/light-dark response of CDs cells asymmetric?

[mike_a]

excuse me, but does "lop-sided" mean?
in regard to the easyvibe, that is.

[Jay]

excuse me, but does "lop-sided" mean?
in regard to the easyvibe, that is.

One of the things that makes a Univibe sound different from other phase shifters is the nature of the sweep.  The speed with which the notch(es) go up is not the same as how fast they come down. The distance from the centre point is also not symmetrical.  This gives the sound of the sweep an uneven feel, but in an enjoyably musical way. Listen to Jimi at Woodstock where he had his vibe set quite slow and deep, you can feel it being assymmetric or lop-sided.

The Univibe does this because of its odd LFO and the thermal time constant of the bulb.  See RG's "Technology of the Univibe" for a proper explanation.

The Easyvibe uses a "proper" sine wave LFO which drives LED's rather than a bulb hence it doesn't have this wonky effect.  At least mine doesn't and the Easyvibe sound samples I've heard don't either.  If there's a way of making an Easyvibe sound wonky I'm up for it!

Roger Mayer uses a sine-wave LFO (from a function generator chip) and LED's in his Voodoo Vibe but has added "Bias" and "Symmetry" controls in order to adjust it to give the lop-sided Univbe sound.  I've played with one and it is very effective.


Jay

[mike_a]

Thanks Jay!

I know what you are talking about.  I just didn't know that was the term to describe it 

I'm actually working on some improvements to the easyvibe (sweep and sound wise). 
If they will really improve it in the way that I intend it to, I will surely report back 

Mike.

[Mick Bailey]

I'm still wondering if the LDR response has anything to do with the lop-sided effect in the Easyvibe - for a given time interval, would an LDR give a symmetrical resistance curve or is there some kind of hysteresis effect - i.e., does an LDR react more rapidly to dark-light than to light-dark transitions?

I intend to build another Easyvibe with the bias control on the front as I found it to be a useful control.

BTW, thought the Easyvibe used a modified triangle waveform to give a pseudo-sine waveform, but I've not examined the circuit too closely.

[Jay]

for a given time interval, would an LDR give a symmetrical resistance curve or is there some kind of hysteresis effect

I think they vary in terms of resistance/illumination graphs and also rise and decay times of resitance versus light intensity.

Which cells did you use?  Maybe you picked some that aren't very linear?

Long time since I looked at the Easyvibe circuit and you might be right about its LFO.  But it won't be all over the place like the Univibe one!


Jay

[Mick Bailey]

These are the ones I use;

http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?tier1URL=Electronic-Components&tier2URL=Optoelectronics&tier3URL=Photodetectors&tier4URL=Miniature-light-dependent-resistor&moduleno=34796#techspec

[Zedmin_fx]

what song should I look for where he has his uni set up like that? woodstock must have been great my uncle went to it lol. them good ole days

[hellwood]

what song should I look for where he has his uni set up like that? woodstock must have been great my uncle went to it lol. them good ole days

never mind woodstock. the one to hear is hey baby from berkeley!

[Zedmin_fx]

what song should I look for where he has his uni set up like that? woodstock must have been great my uncle went to it lol. them good ole days

never mind woodstock. the one to hear is hey baby from berkeley!

ok I will look that up, thats the lopsided thing right?

[hellwood]

ok I will look that up, thats the lopsided thing right?

oh, the lopsided thing? i wasnt sure what you were were referring to.(sorry jay)  so...after you check woodstock, you might want to check "midnight lightning" (the album) and as for berkeley, thats just a mind blowing show altogether.(check it anyway)

[rhdwave]

Yes, Berkeley!!! I just listened to this in the last couple of days...definitely the best example of the univibe for Jimi, that lopsided thing that's been talked of.  Band of Gypsies has it too, but i think he's mixing more wah in and maybe some fuzz with those shows...the Berkeley has some pure vibe stuff that is absolutely incredible to listen to...My jaw was dropping for half the tracks...'Hey Baby' is real special on this and Hear My Train a Coming , Machine Gun is a very different take than the Band of Gypsies show, still amazing though...Can't remember if Midnight Lightning is on there as well...i think it is  though...another favorite of mine.

But i digress from the discussion a bit with my love of Hendirx...the point is that show really shows off what the univibe is capable of very clearly.

[hellwood]

Guitar on all clips I did:1971 Fender Strat with a maple neck. Seymour Duncan JB HB in the bridge position.
Amp on all clips I did:1970 Fender Princeton Reverb w/Seymour Duncan 12" speaker.
Neovibe: Chorus mode, volume cranked, intensity around 2 o'clock, speed varies.

Neo-Vibe1.mp3 - guitar, neck PU>Neovibe>DL-4> amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.
Neo-Vibe2.mp3 - guitar, bridge PU, single coil mode>Neovibe>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.
Neo-Vibe3.mp3 - guitar, bridge PU, HB mode>Neovibe>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 3. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.
Neo-Vibe4.mp3 - out-of-tune-guitar>Neovibe>Marshall Shredmaster>amp. Amp Volume: 3, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb: 2.5. SM56 aimed at the cone, off axis, panned right, AKG 3000 1-2 feet away, panned left into a Korg D1600 recorder.
Vibe1.mp3 - guitar>69 clone>Neovibe>ScreamerOD>amp. Amp Volume: 2.5, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb:3.  Miked with a cheap PC mic 3-4 feet away, recorded directly to soundcard.
Vibe2.mp3 - guitar>69 clone>Neovibe>ScreamerOD>amp. Amp Volume: 2.5, Treble: 5, Bass: 5, Reverb:3.  Miked with a cheap PC mic 3-4 feet away, recorded directly to soundcard.

i appreciate the fact that you took the time to post the details. obviously the holy grail of tone is a sensitive subject for some of us and im sorry if i came off like a dick.
one unrelated question though:

does the neovibe have the same wimpy output as the original?

[Jay]

Sounds like I need to check out Berkeley too.  Not listened to that for quite a while.

The Neovibe is a Univibe, same output level.  There are some mods on Geofex for it, and of course you can true bypass it to get full level (and treble) when not in use.  I built both bypass and cancel switches on mine.  Sometimes for a Jimi tone you need it on and in cancel.


Jay