Shin-ei Uni-Vibe Vibrato Owned and Used by Tom Verlaine Model Tremolo Effect, c. 1970, made in Japan, grey finish, aluminum.
Few effect units have cemented as much of a place in the history of the electric guitar as Japan's Shin-ei Uni-Vibe. Fumio Mieda developed the Uni-Vibe attempting to achieve the entrancing doppler-y warbles of the radio he'd listen to at night, originally having it produced under the Honey brand who also interpolated a similar circuit into several other notable offerings such as the psychedelic machine. The Uni-Vibe found its way into international catalogues under a few names as was par for the course for many Japanese musical equipment manufacturers, such as Univox, but found notority and the most success as itself (as it would later be adopted by some of the world's preeminent rock stars).
At its core, the 'Vibe is an early phaser/phase shifter operating off a nearly magical seeming mechanism: 4 photocells surround a pulsating lightbulb controlling the effect. The Uni-Vibe sold today by its current owner Dunlop does not necessarily bear any technical resemblance to the real thing as it lacks the photocell and bulb circuit native to the original and which, like many time-based and modulation effects of a certain age, cannot live forever. This white logo example comes a few years into production with a bit of functional repair reflective of the mortality of these much-desired machines. The hypnotic tones of the Uni-Vibe are best heard used by two greatest-of-all-time contenders, Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour, who used the effect extensively at Woodstock and on Dark Side of the Moon respectively. It was also a studio favorite of Television's Tom Verlaine from whom we can attribute this example.
Height is 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm.), 10 5/8 in. (27 cm.) width, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) high.
This Uni-Vibe is pleasure to behold cosmetically and a pleasure to play, having been recently serviced with the replaced caps in a baggie. This is common for a Uni-Vibe of a certain age, and all is working as it should now. The original foot pedal and 2-prong ungrounded cable are in tact as well; all knobs and other hardware besides the replaced power switch appear to be original. We can assume this to be a somewhat earlier example, as the pedal lacks Shin-ei's Showa date code.
Also included in this full package is a charming but nonsequitur bit of ephemera: a random note of "settings" from tom that are not actually for this but didn't seem to work with anything else we received from the Verlaine estate, and we're certainly not going to throw away a piece of Tom's handwriting. The pedal also comes with a letter of provenance from Jimmy Rip (his co-guitarist on most Verlaine projects since 1981). Generally Excellent Condition.
