Overview
Vibrato pedals can easily turn your guitar's tone into a richer sounding one with the effect it provides. While vibrato pedals are quite niched in the guitar community, it's a perfect tool for those trying to incorporate lush and experimental tones to their playing. These stompboxes add waves of vibrations to every note or strum and add an extra layer of depth and intricacy to your playing. The ambience that vibrato pedals offer is astonishing and will easily make you fall in love with the effect and want one for your rig.
Those who use a vibrato pedal can easily name their favorites, and one of the most popular ones right now is the Diamond Vibrato guitar pedal.
Diamond is known for its boutique and high-end pedals that offer stunning effects and are loved by guitarists all over the world. Diamond has excelled in the stompbox-making industry by incorporating high-quality components and circuitry in their products to ensure that musicians are getting the most out of what they pay for and whip out top-notch effects at the step of a footswitch. The Diamond Vibrato pedal is no exception and features bucket brigade chips, external control for depth and speed, dry signal and pitch mixing, and many more.
It is worth noting that the Diamond Vibrato pedal is an analog pedal, which is great news for analog stompbox fans such as me. There is just something different about the nuances and character of an analog pedal that sets it apart from digital effects. With this Vibrato pedal, guitar players can get that classic vibrato effect in a more refined version thanks to the industry-leading implementations made by Diamond in this pedal.
Should You Get It?
The Diamond Vibrato pedal is perfect for guitarists who dabble in experimental genres to add an extra layer of ambience to their sound. It is also great for guitarists interested in creating alluring tones that will catch the audience's attention and add more depth to riffs. The Diamond Vibrato is a top-of-the-line product from a renowned and trusted company and will be a great and lasting investment for your pedalboard. Not all musicians need a guitar vibrato pedal, but it is always a welcome addition to everyone's rig because of the rich and captivating tones it provides - try one out and see if you can resist wanting to have one for your effects chain.
Guitar | Pedal | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Main | Diamond | Vibrato |
Diamond Vibrato
PRO's & CON's of Diamond Vibrato
Before we dive into our review, let's look at some of the pros and cons of the Diamond Vibrato Pedal:
Pros
Cons
Features and Benefits
Features
The Diamond Vibrato pedal is one of many products from Diamond that delivers in terms of quality, reliability, and durability. What amazes me the most about the product is its performance, which stems from the high-quality components that Diamond has implemented in this stompbox. It has Vishay JFETs and Burr Brown Op-amps, which are audiophile-grade electronic components that allow this thing to produce such beautiful and refined tones.
Its circuitry uses MN3007 bucket brigade chips which allows it to modulate the signal without affecting the pitch. This is what almost all other vibrato pedals get wrong - it also shifts pitch. The Vibrato pedal from Diamond was made to provide waves of vibrations while maintaining true pitch to make your playing mix well with the rest of the band.
The Diamond Vibrato pedal is also very versatile in terms of tone modes. It has two toggle switches: the Jazz switch and the High switch. The Jazz mode gives your tone a warmer, more jazzy vibe for a vintage feel; while high mode gives you depth control over the vibrato effect. A chorus control is also included to add some more modulation to the effect by mixing the dry signal with a pitch-shifted signal. The pedal also boasts an ultra-smooth sinewave LFO for a more refined and smooth-sounding tone.
It is also worth mentioning that the Vibrato, like most other Diamond stompboxes, offers true bypass operation. This means you won't have to worry about this thing sucking out your tone when it's disengaged. The Vibrato pedal also has two inputs for external expression pedals to control its depth and speed separately, allowing you to control these parameters in real-time during a performance. I definitely would have enjoyed this feature when I used vibrato pedals - it is extremely useful to be able to control parameters while performing without having to reach in for the knobs as it opens up new avenues for creativity to impress your audience.
In terms of layout, the only drawback is that it may confuse beginners - and this is already being nitpicky as it won't necessarily be the case all the time. Upon taking the time to get familiar with the controls and inputs, it's easy to realize that its layout is actually quite simple and well laid out. The power supply port is located on the top, which is a bonus as having them on the sides can get annoying and interfere with the spacing between the stompboxes on a pedalboard.
As the cherry on top, the Vibrato is also built like a tank. It does not only sound great but will continue to serve you in countless more gigs due to its durable case that will surely survive many nights of being stomped on during performances. The pedal is very well made and reliable, and I can guarantee it is a great investment from a boutique brand. To summarize, the Diamond Vibrato is a feature-packed and great sounding pedal thanks to its masterfully crafted circuitry with high-end components.
Controls
The Diamond Vibrato has four simple control knobs for controlling the pedal's parameters and two toggle switches that allow you to create countless settings to shape the effect however you want. The first knob is the Volume knob, which adjusts the output level of the signal from the pedal. This is followed by the Chorus knob, which is an interesting and useful parameter. As I mentioned, the pedal excels at modulating without altering your pitch; however, it can still do so to provide you with a makeshift Chorus-vibrato effect.
The Chorus control knob basically allows you to mix in a pitch-shifted signal with the dry signal to get an effect that resembles a Chorus. Next to this is the Depth knob which allows you to control the level of pitch modulation that occurs. Finally, the Speed knob lets you change the rate of the LFO to better suit the song you're performing. Furthermore, the LED has two colors and blinks to represent the current LFO rate setting. The depth and speed controls can also be altered with external expression pedals that can be connected to dedicated inputs on the pedal's side.
The two toggle switches are found right below the pedal's knobs and add more options for your sound. If you want a jazzier and warmer tone, simply flip the Jazz switch. If you want a larger range of depth control, use the High toggle switch. Spending a couple of hours playing around with the pedal's controls will allow you to dial in your desired settings and get it all set up for your next performance.
Sound
The sound quality of the Diamond Vibrato pedal is top-tier. There really isn't anything else to be said aside from it being one of the best vibrato pedals I have ever tried out. The sounds are defined, the tone from your guitar is maintained at high-fidelity, the waves of vibrations are smooth and articulated - it's just awesome. You can go from a slow and soothing wave sound to a fast and exciting vibrato to accentuate your riffs and solos.
It even has the feature of acting as a Chorus effect as it allows you to move from true-pitch vibrato to a mix of dry signal and pitch shift with the Chorus knob. The modes also sound very good, with the Jazz toggle allowing you to recreate vintage tunes and the High toggle allowing you to add in some more texture to the effect. It is an incredibly versatile vibrato with top-notch sounds and offers great control in sound shaping.
For a demonstration of the Diamond Vibrato, refer to this video:
In Conclusion
If you want to add more depth and layering to your playing, the Diamond Vibrato is an excellent tool to do so. It adds texture and amazing vibrato modulation to your performances to complement your riffs and solos. It is incredibly versatile and jam-packed with all the features you could ever want from a vibrato pedal.
It is made with bucket brigade chips and grade-A components that ensure the best sound possible and a durable encasing that will keep it functioning for years to come. Whether you're into experimental genres or simply want to add an extra layer of a rich and captivating effect to your guitar playing, the Diamond Vibrato is the perfect fit for your rig.
You can check it out on Amazon and get one for yourself through this link:
