Expression pedals come in two pinouts. Some put the signal on the tip of the TRS cable (what the Tremolo2 expects), some put the signal on the ring. If it's on the ring, all the action will happen in the first 10% of the pedal's travel.

YES! One of our great customers (Todd Pennington) meticulously made a layout for all the Empress pedals.

Here's where the layout lives.

All of our pedals that have MIDI use MIDI Type A (MIDI Standard). Same as Korg and Make Noise.

The pinout for the expression pedal is TIP=signal, RING=3.3V power, SLEEVE=ground. So your expression pedal has to have that pinout. Here's a list of pedals that we know work. Please let us know if you find any other pedals that work!

Mission EP-1 and EP-2 (no polarity switch, polarity switch, respectively)

M Audio EX-P (has polarity switch)

Roland EV-5

Lead Foot LFX-1

Boss FV-500L

Boss EV-30

There are two big differences between the original Tremolo and our newer Tremolo2.

1) The Tremolo2 has presets, the original does not. So with the Tremolo2 you have quick access to a bunch (up to 8) of tremolo sounds that you saved.

2) The Tremolo2 has a control port, the original does not. So you can control the Tremolo2 with a variety of things, including expression pedal, external tap switches, and MIDI.

The Empress Tremolo and the Empress Tremolo2 have the same audio circuitry. So they sound the same.

A magical part called the vactrol allows the analog circuitry to be controlled digitally by a microprocessor. Best of both worlds!

Here is a diagram of the eight settings with "O" being accented:

1) 0000 (normal tremolo)

2) 0-0-

3) 0--0--

4) 0---0---

5) 0--0--0-

6) 0-0-00-0-0 (this one is in 5/4)

7) 0--0--0-0-0-

8) 0--0--0---0-0---

A magical part called the vactrol allows the analog circuitry to be controlled digitally by a microprocessor. Best of both worlds!

There are two big differences between the original Tremolo and our newer Tremolo2.

1) The Tremolo2 has presets, the original does not. So with the Tremolo2 you have quick access to a bunch (up to 8) of tremolo sounds that you saved.

2) The Tremolo2 has a control port, the original does not. So you can control the Tremolo2 with a variety of things, including expression pedal, external tap switches, and MIDI.

The Empress Tremolo and the Empress Tremolo2 have the same audio circuitry. So they sound the same.

No you can't. In preset mode, you can only change the tempo of the preset with the knob, or an external tap switch. 

When the rate knob is turned all the way counterclockwise, the tremolo period is around 1 second. If you're in tap tempo mode, the tremolo period can go up to 3 seconds.


When the rate knob is turned all the way clockwise, the tremolo frequency will be around 13Hz.

The Tremolo2 has true bypass switching. It uses a relay to switch.

Before testing the Empress Tremolo2 in our shop, we calibrate it so that the engaged signal is unity gain when the output knob is at 12 o'clock. You can recalibrate the Tremolo2 to give you more or less gain. Here's how:

1) Plug your instrument and amp (or whatever you use) into the Tremolo2. Unplug the Tremolo2's power.

2) While holding down both stomp switches and the save switch, plug the power into the pedal.

3) Keep holding down those switches until the tap led does a little rainbow dance. When that happens you can let go.

4) Now we're in the calibration zone, otherwise known as the calzone. In the calzone, when you hit the bypass stompswitch, the Tremolo2 switches between being engaged and bypassed. It doesn't apply a tremolo effect to the engaged signal, it just acts as a gain. By moving the output knob, you change the gain of the engaged signal. You are essentially setting what gain the Tremolo2 will have when the output knob is set to 12 o'clock. So when we're doing the calibration in the shop, we are trying to match the level of the engaged and bypassed signals. But if you want the engaged signal to have more gain, you can crank the output knob while in the calzone.

When you're done, hit TAP

Now I'm thinking of calzones. mmmmm

* If calibration does not solve the issue, please email support@empresseffects.com and we will be happy to help you further!