GEAR SPOTLIGHT
SUBDECAY
VAGABOND
TREMOLO
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $169.00
Not more than 20 miles
from the Tone Report’s
office is Newberg,
Oregon’s own Subdecay
Studios. And its latest
pedal, the Vagabond
Tremolo, will please
the heck out of lovers
of tremolo and
modulation effects.
According to Subdecay,
the Vagabond offers not
one, but two types of
tremolo, each based on
vintage technology from
the ‘70s to deliver tone
which is reminiscent of
tube-based tremolos
of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Because of technological
improvements since
those faraway decades,
56
GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
the Vagabond offers a
bit more flexibility in its
tremolo. Not only can it
go deeper, it will also
go faster.
The first mode, Bias,
offers a traditional
reverb that might be
found in a Fender
amplifier from the ‘50s
or ‘60s. Bias tremolo
actually works on a
different principle
than does the pedal’s
other mode, Harmonic
tremolo. A genuine tube
amplifier’s trem section
produces the tremolo
effect by changing the
bias of the tubes. The
bias tremolo works
on the principle of
Subdecay Vagabond Tremolo
reducing, or increasing
the flow of electrons.
The result: a pulsating,
smooth tremolo which
tends to sound quite
deep. Subdecay is onto
something good here,
because the Vagabond’s
version fulfilled the
fantasy of playing
through a genuine
tube amplifier.
The Vagabond features
an Envelope Drift control
which I found particularly
fun to play with in the
Bias and Harmonic
modes. When the knob
is set to noon, the pedal
delivers the rich, smooth
tremolo one would
expect. However, when