Gerlt Technologies makes hundreds of customizable rack effects, at prices comparable to guitar pedals.  It's time to dump that pedal board and get Your Tone off the floor!

 

 What We Do

You know them as guitar pedals

We build them as rack effect modules you can customize to get Your Tone

Put several rack effect modules into a 3U rack enclosure

Connect power and audio on the back like guitar pedals, adding connections for remote switching

Add a remote footswitch unit to turn rack effects on and off

Add as many rack effect modules, enclosures, and third-party products as you like. Plug in your guitar and amp. Rock it! It's that simple.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Check out our GT Effects Overview to see why we do this

  • Check out our Compares To charts to see the full list of effects we offer

  • Follow the menus from Products, to Modules, to Modules By Type to get a list of our effect types.  Select any effect type to get a list of all our effects of that type.  Select any effect to get full information including pricing.

 

 

Hello Effects Fans!

 

I hope all is going well for you!

I’m back in the USA now, after a lengthy time away.  I’ve taken a bit of time to survey the post-post-COVID business climate and think about our next steps.   As is often the case, there are conflicting signals to sort through.  I won’t bore you with all the details.  The result is that I think the time is still not right to resume normal operations. 

One of the primary reasons is personal.  About a year ago I jumped into a really fun, non-work opportunity that took me out of the USA for most of the past year.  I will be out of the country again most of the coming year before things settle down to a new normal for me.  It’s a lot of fun, but wasn’t really part of any plan I had, so I need to adjust my plans.  I’m not able to operate Gerlt Technologies while I’m away, so the shutdown will continue for probably another year due to that until I can get my personal and professional plans realigned. 

Beyond that, the post- post-COVID situation is still unsettled.  I expected a period of ripple effects from COVID shutdowns, supply chain problems, and other world economic and political events that impact our business.  I’m starting to think those ripples aren’t going to die away and return us to something similar to the world we knew before 2020.  If some of those changes become permanent, much work and difficult decisions may be necessary.  At the moment, the parts I couldn’t obtain are now available, but some others are now unavailable.  Costs are both up and down for components, but shipping costs are now a large and growing portion of component cost and would probably force a general price increase, an action I’m very reluctant to take.  In a market that is difficult to read, it is difficult to justify additional investment.  As long as we remain cautious, we can continue to wait for time and change to bring about a better situation, even if it takes a while.

In the meantime, I will have some time to work on the less exciting “internal stuff” that is necessary to the process of building and delivering our products.  Our internal processes are a bit messy as a result of rapid product line growth, shutdown of some suppliers and vendors, and other reasons.  If we were to resume taking orders, these problems would quickly tangle up our operations.  So while we have “quiet time”, I’ll work to clean up some of those issues so we’ll be better positioned for the future.

I hope to also be doing some of the fun work, such as completing some new products, or at least moving them further along, and possibly some marketing events.  So keep an eye on us while we work through some of the issues that are holding us up at present.  I’m not sure exactly when I’ll return from my next sojourn, but it will likely be about this time next year when I pop up and take another look around to see how it looks.

Until next time,

Bill Gerlt

President, Gerlt Technologies

Dallas, Texas

21 June, 2023

 

New Module: VibeKing

Published: 11 April 2022 11 April 2022

 

 
 

Hello, Effects Fans!

Today we announce our new VibeKing module.  It compares to the Boss VB-2 Vibrato.

The Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 amp provides an iconic clean amp tone, along with built in chorus, reverb, and vibrato.  It is still in production with an unchanged design since its introduction in the 70's.  In 1982 Roland/Boss introduced the VB-2 Vibrato pedal, which captures the vibrato of the JC-120 amp in pedal form.  The pedal didn't sell well.  It may have taken 4 years just to sell off their initial production run.  In 1986, it was removed from the market.  It was one of the least popular of all Boss pedals.  Of course, rarity can make something more desirable in the market.  Over the years, the price of those original VB-2 pedals began to climb.  They are still expensive, but not quite so rare as they once were.  

So what's all the fuss about?  The VB-2 used some of those famous Panasonic BBD chips to create that great analog vibrato.  It is also a well-designed circuit, producing a very pleasant tone.  Rate and Depth controls provide the standard modulation controls, going from subtle to over-the-top, much like those 80's chorus pedals.  It also had two modes of operation.  In latched mode, the effect is on when you turn it on with the footswitch, and stays on until you switch it off - just like a normal pedal.  In unlatched mode, the effect is on only while you hold the footswitch down.  That allow you to use it to add vibrato to individual notes or chords, much like you would with your hands.  A Rise Time control lets you decide how fast the effect "spins up" from off to full speed (as set by the Rate control). That spin up time is pretty short, even when at the max, making adjustments with Rise Time very subtle. 

At any rate, the popularity grew and Boss finally put it back into production from their Waza custom shop, creating the VB-2W Vibrato.  It is a great remake of the classic VB-2 pedal.  It adds a switch to select the original or a new custom voicing.  The difference between the two is difficult to hear unless you listen carefully for it.  The VB-2W does not use the same Panasonic BBD chips as the original.  The original used Panasonic MN3207/MN3102 BBD/clock chips.  The VB-2W uses the CoolAudio V3207D/V3102D pair instead.  The CoolAudio chips are "work alike" chips, but to our ear they aren't quite the same as the original Panasonic chips.  Our VB-2W pedal has some distortion and clipping in the delay path with humbuckers, especially when you have your guitar volume up and/or are digging in.  A gentle touch or lower output pickups are cleaner.  Of course, YMMV.  The original had the Boss always-on buffer in the signal path even when the effect was off.

That's pretty much the VB-2.  It's a great vibrato effect.  Perhaps vibrato isn't the most popular effect.  Obviously, you can create vibrato with your fret hand, no effect needed.  Or you can use a whammy bar (called a "tremolo bar" by many).  You can use the unlatched mode of the VB-2 in those ways.  Another interesting use of vibrato is to give a bit of "movement" to your tone.  In this case, you set the vibrato low and slow so that it is hardly noticeable.  You can do this same trick with chorus, tremolo, and delays.  It tends to fatten up the tone and give it a little something-something to make it more interesting.  Or you can use it sparingly, but more prominently to get a psychedelic, spacey effect, like in Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

Our Vibe King compares to the original Boss VB-2 Vibrato, and is built using the same great Panasonic BBD and clock chips.  Ours is "off when it is off", not forcing your tone through a portion of the circuit or a buffer.  

This circuit turned out really well.  It's easy to see why it is the "Vibe King".  All the standard and optional controls work simply, as you expect. Rate and Depth controls are standard, along with Rise Time for "Unlatched Mode".  You can choose how you want the switching modes (latched vs unlatched) to work.

Depending on your setting for the optional (recommended) Delay control, you can get either a dry or very lush effect.  There is an internal Bias trimmer.  It is preset, as there is a very narrow range of settings for it that allow the effect to function.  When it is properly set, the circuit is nearly completely noise-free with the Panasonic chips.  It should also be at or near unity volume.  If you hear a little noise or you are off unity volume a smidge, you can tweak the BIAS trimmer.  Just set it where it sounds best.

Even if you aren't normally a big fan of vibrato, you may find the VibeKing a bit addictive.  You can set it shallow and slow and leave it on all the time to add a little movement to your tone.  Or use it in unlatched mode, where the effect  is controlled by a momentary footswitch to add some "big bends" here and there as you play.  When you are "unlatched", the Rise Time control adjusts how quickly the effect "spins up".  At one extreme, it is pretty much instantaneous, while at the other extreme there is a noticeable change up, emulating a rotary speaker's spin up time.

You can see the details about our VibeKing module at: VibeKing.  Or look for it in the Vibrato Modules section under Products -> Modules -> Modules By Type.