Spacemen 3 , haven ’ t you ? I know , you ’ ve probably been up for three days strung out on Krispy Kremes and hallucinogens with Dreamweapon on infinite repeat , dying to figure out how Pete “ Sonic Boom ” Kember gets that hypnotic , percussive tremolo tone that almost sounds more like delay repeats than trem , and the Internet finally sent you here . No ? Well , no matter . Go straight away and Google “ Spacemen 3 Dreamweapon ,” have a listen , and get back to me . Pretty incredible stuff , right ? This seminal live album , like most of the output of this highly influential UK neo-psych outfit , is practically a musical tribute to recreational drug use and pulsating tremolo drone . And as many guitar playing fans of the band already know , it all ( at least the tremolo part ) comes down to one unorthodox and mostly unloved little box from the early days of Vox , the V809 Repeat Percussion .
The V809 Repeat Percussion was a rather odd tremolo originally released in the mid- ’ 60s , housed in a miniature black enclosure that plugged directly into one ’ s amplifier , featuring only a thumbwheel for rate control and an off-on switch . It was not very well built , and like many of the oldest guitar effects that are outfitted with a male jack and plugged directly into an amp or guitar , it was quickly made obsolete by the overwhelming success of the stompbox guitar effects format . At one time the Repeat Percussion circuit was also built into some of those wacky vintage Vox guitars with all the built-in effects , like the Starstream , but nevertheless , commercial success forever eluded it . Its legacy only remains with us today because of Spacemen 3 , The Electric Prunes , and a handful of other psychedelic bands that developed an obsession with its singular sonic chop , which most standard pedal and amp-derived tremolos can ’ t replicate .
So what makes this tremolo circuit so special ? Well , by most accounts it is the waveform it produces ; a reverse sawtooth , which unlike a more common sine , triangle , or square wavebased trem , produces a very aggressive attack and a more gently sloping decay . The Vox Repeat Percussion circuit also used a now fairly unusual Motorola 2n2646 silicon unijunction transistor , a component which some modern builders and enthusiasts insist is crucial to recreating the tone of the vintage units . The end result of all this is a very unique tremolo tone that exhibits a strong immediate chop and a decay that sounds , to many ears , like the repeats of an echo ( in fact , the Repeats Percussion was often mistaken for an echo box back in the day ). Most players find this sound a bit extreme for everyday tremolo use , but for others it has become an all-consuming passion .
In the modern day , even with all the clones floating around , there still aren ’ t as many faithful recreations of the Vox Repeat Percussion available as one might think . I suppose that it ’ s still kind of a niche effect , even among tremolo aficionados . Nonetheless , there are a few options for players that are after that choppy , repeating trem sound made iconic by Pete Kember and Spacemen 3 , and I have collected them here for our readers ’ convenience .
Let me guess , you ’ ve come here because of
Spacemen 3 , haven ’ t you ? I know , you ’ ve probably been up for three days strung out on Krispy Kremes and hallucinogens with Dreamweapon on infinite repeat , dying to figure out how Pete “ Sonic Boom ” Kember gets that hypnotic , percussive tremolo tone that almost sounds more like delay repeats than trem , and the Internet finally sent you here . No ? Well , no matter . Go straight away and Google “ Spacemen 3 Dreamweapon ,” have a listen , and get back to me . Pretty incredible stuff , right ? This seminal live album , like most of the output of this highly influential UK neo-psych outfit , is practically a musical tribute to recreational drug use and pulsating tremolo drone . And as many guitar playing fans of the band already know , it all ( at least the tremolo part ) comes down to one unorthodox and mostly unloved little box from the early days of Vox , the V809 Repeat Percussion .
The V809 Repeat Percussion was a rather odd tremolo originally released in the mid- ’ 60s , housed in a miniature black enclosure that plugged directly into one ’ s amplifier , featuring only a thumbwheel for rate control and an off-on switch . It was not very well built , and like many of the oldest guitar effects that are outfitted with a male jack and plugged directly into an amp or guitar , it was quickly made obsolete by the overwhelming success of the stompbox guitar effects format . At one time the Repeat Percussion circuit was also built into some of those wacky vintage Vox guitars with all the built-in effects , like the Starstream , but nevertheless , commercial success forever eluded it . Its legacy only remains with us today because of Spacemen 3 , The Electric Prunes , and a handful of other psychedelic bands that developed an obsession with its singular sonic chop , which most standard pedal and amp-derived tremolos can ’ t replicate .
So what makes this tremolo circuit so special ? Well , by most accounts it is the waveform it produces ; a reverse sawtooth , which unlike a more common sine , triangle , or square wavebased trem , produces a very aggressive attack and a more gently sloping decay . The Vox Repeat Percussion circuit also used a now fairly unusual Motorola 2n2646 silicon unijunction transistor , a component which some modern builders and enthusiasts insist is crucial to recreating the tone of the vintage units . The end result of all this is a very unique tremolo tone that exhibits a strong immediate chop and a decay that sounds , to many ears , like the repeats of an echo ( in fact , the Repeats Percussion was often mistaken for an echo box back in the day ). Most players find this sound a bit extreme for everyday tremolo use , but for others it has become an all-consuming passion .
In the modern day , even with all the clones floating around , there still aren ’ t as many faithful recreations of the Vox Repeat Percussion available as one might think . I suppose that it ’ s still kind of a niche effect , even among tremolo aficionados . Nonetheless , there are a few options for players that are after that choppy , repeating trem sound made iconic by Pete Kember and Spacemen 3 , and I have collected them here for our readers ’ convenience .