MP Mellow Yellow Tremelo review (vs. Saffron Yellow Trem)
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:37 pmHi everybody, the Mellow Yellow arrived so I thought I'd share a review. For sake of comparison, I matched it up with my BJF Saffron Yellow Tremelo ("SYT") and my Victoria Reverberato ("Vicky").
I. Gear used
Nash strat w/ maple neck, fatback neck, one-piece body, Van Zandts
Germino Club 40 (plexi)
BJF LGW
II. Circumstances
Played it at mid level volumes....enough to disturb the neighbors, but not enough to make them too mad
III. General thoughts
It is challenging to review a trem pedal because I don't use one nearly as fequently as an OD or a fuzz. All in all, the Mellow Yellow seems to be an improvement on the Saffron Yellow IMO. It is a highly usuable, very toneful, musical pedal.
IV. Evaluation of functionality & Comparison to other trems
The Mellow Yellow has 3 knobs -- Speed, Depth, and Level.
In comparison, the Saffron Yellow has two knobs -- Velocity (speed) & Amplitude (depth).
Also in comparison, the Victoria Reverberato has two controls -- Speed & Intensity (depth).
----- Comparion - All knobs at 12 o'clock -----
MYT - very smooth and musical. Volume-wise it matches the amp very well. The light blinks in unison with the waves. It sounds like it might add a slight shimmer to the tone.
SYT - sounds nearly identical to the MYT, with the exception that when the SYT comes on, there is a slight, but noticable loss in volume. There is no "shimmer". The SYT seems like it is slightly more true to the amp's tone. The light blinks in unison with the waves, but sometimes it comes in as soon as the pedal is engaged and sometimes it takes 2-3 seconds for it to come on. The speed of the waves with all the knobs on 12 o'clock is slightly slower that with the MYT.
Victoria Reverberato - I just want to acknowledge this is an apples to oranges comparsion, but in the sense that they deliver the same "effect", I think the Vicky is worth mentioning. That said, the Vicky is the smoothest and most musical of the bunch. It is also the truest to the volume and tone of the amp. With the knobs at 12 o'clock, the waves are the fastest of the three. On drawback is that the control switch to the Vicky is very basic and has no LED, but then again, you can tell when it's on. Sometimes though, I accidentally click off the reverb instead of the trem so there is an advantage to trem in pedal form (aside from price).
----- Other comparison points -----
Speed and Depth at full clockwise (full on)
- All pedals are still musical. The MYT sounds like it might be slightly faster than the SYT in terms of speed, but not by much if at all. The Vicky is the fastest by a noticable amount.
Speed & Depth at full counter-clockwise (full off)
- I wasn't sure what to expect, but to my ears, the SYT added a slight bit of fatness to the tone with no noticable waves, the MYT added a slight bit of fatness, but with a touch of the shimmer mentioned above with no noticable waves, and the Vicky was dead even with the tone of the amp, no waves.
Speed & Depth at opposite extremes
- Nothing noteworthy to say here, except that with Speed off and Depth full on, the MYT and SYT sounded basically the same -- like a person manually turning something off and on, while the Vicky still sounded like a trem a low speed. Seems like maybe the MYT and SYT have more range in that respect, but the Vicky sounded more musical vs "effect"-like.
-------- The LEVEL knob on the MYT ----------
This is where the MYT is set apart. Neither the SYT or the Vicky has an equivalent control. The level knob seems to controls the volume and relative intensity of the effect. Full clockwise, it provides a volume boost and in-hand makes the effect definitely more noticable. Full counter-clockwise, it takes away some volume.
-------- Parting Thoughts ---------
The controls on the MYT are classic trem controls with the added bonus of a level control that helps either dial up or dial back the volume, which in my opinion, gives it the edge on the SYT.
V Stacking
I stacked each trem with the Little Green Wonder in front and each of the trems sounded great! Each sounded a bit different (see observations above), but each one sounded quite good to me. Given the differences, it would be a judgement call for each person as to which one you prefer.
VII What situations / kind of music can you see using the pedal for?
I'm not a trem junky, but I would think the MYT would be fit for any trem-related music. It is very musical and sounds very nice all across the spectrum. It makes me want to learn some Creedence songs.
VII Suggested improvements
None that I can think of.
VIII Bottom line --- is it a keeper? What does it knock off your board?
Again my disclaimer - You guys know I'm a fanatic so take everything with a grain of salt.
I think the MYT is an improvement on the SYT. Neither of them are enough to convince me to sell my Vicky (it's 4 or 5x the cost so it should sound better), but if there was a situation where I didn't want to lug around the Vicky, the MYT would be the pedal I would grab for sure. The gap in tone quality between the MYT and the Vicky, is less than the gap in price, so if you look at it that way, you're getting more for the money with the MYT.
Hope that helps! Happy playing!
I. Gear used
Nash strat w/ maple neck, fatback neck, one-piece body, Van Zandts
Germino Club 40 (plexi)
BJF LGW
II. Circumstances
Played it at mid level volumes....enough to disturb the neighbors, but not enough to make them too mad
III. General thoughts
It is challenging to review a trem pedal because I don't use one nearly as fequently as an OD or a fuzz. All in all, the Mellow Yellow seems to be an improvement on the Saffron Yellow IMO. It is a highly usuable, very toneful, musical pedal.
IV. Evaluation of functionality & Comparison to other trems
The Mellow Yellow has 3 knobs -- Speed, Depth, and Level.
In comparison, the Saffron Yellow has two knobs -- Velocity (speed) & Amplitude (depth).
Also in comparison, the Victoria Reverberato has two controls -- Speed & Intensity (depth).
----- Comparion - All knobs at 12 o'clock -----
MYT - very smooth and musical. Volume-wise it matches the amp very well. The light blinks in unison with the waves. It sounds like it might add a slight shimmer to the tone.
SYT - sounds nearly identical to the MYT, with the exception that when the SYT comes on, there is a slight, but noticable loss in volume. There is no "shimmer". The SYT seems like it is slightly more true to the amp's tone. The light blinks in unison with the waves, but sometimes it comes in as soon as the pedal is engaged and sometimes it takes 2-3 seconds for it to come on. The speed of the waves with all the knobs on 12 o'clock is slightly slower that with the MYT.
Victoria Reverberato - I just want to acknowledge this is an apples to oranges comparsion, but in the sense that they deliver the same "effect", I think the Vicky is worth mentioning. That said, the Vicky is the smoothest and most musical of the bunch. It is also the truest to the volume and tone of the amp. With the knobs at 12 o'clock, the waves are the fastest of the three. On drawback is that the control switch to the Vicky is very basic and has no LED, but then again, you can tell when it's on. Sometimes though, I accidentally click off the reverb instead of the trem so there is an advantage to trem in pedal form (aside from price).
----- Other comparison points -----
Speed and Depth at full clockwise (full on)
- All pedals are still musical. The MYT sounds like it might be slightly faster than the SYT in terms of speed, but not by much if at all. The Vicky is the fastest by a noticable amount.
Speed & Depth at full counter-clockwise (full off)
- I wasn't sure what to expect, but to my ears, the SYT added a slight bit of fatness to the tone with no noticable waves, the MYT added a slight bit of fatness, but with a touch of the shimmer mentioned above with no noticable waves, and the Vicky was dead even with the tone of the amp, no waves.
Speed & Depth at opposite extremes
- Nothing noteworthy to say here, except that with Speed off and Depth full on, the MYT and SYT sounded basically the same -- like a person manually turning something off and on, while the Vicky still sounded like a trem a low speed. Seems like maybe the MYT and SYT have more range in that respect, but the Vicky sounded more musical vs "effect"-like.
-------- The LEVEL knob on the MYT ----------
This is where the MYT is set apart. Neither the SYT or the Vicky has an equivalent control. The level knob seems to controls the volume and relative intensity of the effect. Full clockwise, it provides a volume boost and in-hand makes the effect definitely more noticable. Full counter-clockwise, it takes away some volume.
-------- Parting Thoughts ---------
The controls on the MYT are classic trem controls with the added bonus of a level control that helps either dial up or dial back the volume, which in my opinion, gives it the edge on the SYT.
V Stacking
I stacked each trem with the Little Green Wonder in front and each of the trems sounded great! Each sounded a bit different (see observations above), but each one sounded quite good to me.
Given the differences, it would be a judgement call for each person as to which one you prefer.
VII What situations / kind of music can you see using the pedal for?
I'm not a trem junky, but I would think the MYT would be fit for any trem-related music. It is very musical and sounds very nice all across the spectrum. It makes me want to learn some Creedence songs.
VII Suggested improvements
None that I can think of.
VIII Bottom line --- is it a keeper? What does it knock off your board?
Again my disclaimer - You guys know I'm a fanatic so take everything with a grain of salt.
I think the MYT is an improvement on the SYT. Neither of them are enough to convince me to sell my Vicky (it's 4 or 5x the cost so it should sound better), but if there was a situation where I didn't want to lug around the Vicky, the MYT would be the pedal I would grab for sure. The gap in tone quality between the MYT and the Vicky, is less than the gap in price, so if you look at it that way, you're getting more for the money with the MYT.
Hope that helps! Happy playing!
