Best Tremolo Pedals in 2025
Tremolo was one of the foundational electric guitar effects, along with Reverb and Vibrato. With the right tremolo pedal you can enhance your tone with pulsating rhythm that add a subtle lift or become the core of a guitar riff. And tremolo isn’t just for guitarists — electric piano and synths gain a whole new sonic dimension with tremolo. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular and creatively-inspiring tremolo pedals you’ll find in 2025.
What is a Tremolo Pedal Anyway?
Tremolo is volume changing over time at a consistent rate. The most basic tremolo pedal will give you controls for depth (how much the volume is affected) and rate (the speed at which the volume is modulated). You can create the same effect by lowering and raising your guitar’s volume control. More advanced tremolo pedals will offer additional controls to change the wave shape, change the depth dynamically, and other creative options.
BOSS TR-2 TREMOLO PEDAL
The BOSS TR-2 tremolo pedal was introduced in 1997, and remains a top choice among gigging guitarists for its reliability. Like many BOSS pedals, the TR-2 offers a textbook take on the classic effect, with a basic control set for Wave, Rate, and Depth. The Wave control is continuously variable from triangle wave to square wave shapes, for a wide range of tremolo effects from smooth and round to sharp and stuttering.
Simple and effective is why players tend to choose the BOSS TR-2 tremolo, and its ultra-rugged heritage is a big benefit too. If you’re a hard-gigging guitarist that needs a reliable tremolo pedal for a wide range of styles, the TR-2 tremolo pedal is exactly what you want on your pedalboard.
Why Players Love the BOSS TR-2 Tremolo Pedal
- Amp-like tremolo tone in a rugged pedal
- Simple to use and sounds great at practically any setting
- Appropriate for practically any musical style, ideal for cover band guitarists
ELECTRO-HARMONIX NANO STEREO PULSAR
Tremolo sounds great with a typical amp setup, and it sounds amazing as a stereo effect with dual amplifiers (or a wet/dry/wet 3-amp rig). The EHX Nano Stereo Pulsar is the compact version of their iconic Stereo Pulsar analog tremolo pedal, making it super simple to experiment with stereo tremolo while saving space on your pedalboard.
While it’s a compact pedal with simple controls, you’ll find a wide range of tremolo effects to explore between the square/triangle wave shape switch and the variable Shape control. The analog circuitry gives deep tremolo settings the throbbing, dimensional character that players love about vintage amplifier tremolo. In other words, the Nano Stereo Pulsar is a simple yet highly capable analog tremolo pedal whether you need the stereo capability or not.
Why Players Love the Electro-Harmonix Nano Stereo Pulsar Tremolo Pedal
- Easy to dial in a wide range of effects, from smooth amp-like trem to hard-edged "choppy" tremolo
- Volume knob helps you keep your sound consistent when toggling the effect
- Analog circuitry adds subtle harmonic richness
EARTHQUAKER DEVICES HUMMINGBIRD REPEAT PERCUSSIONS TREMOLO
Can a tremolo pedal sound "choppy" and "smooth" at the same time? The EQD Hummingbird Repeat Percussions tremolo pedal proves it’s possible, offering a percussive square-wave trem effect with an amazingly wide rate range. If you’re looking for a tremolo that can go fast — really fast — the Hummingbird is for you. Even at slower rates with only a subtle amount of tremolo, the Hummingbird has a distinctive character you won’t find anywhere else.
The Hummingbird’s 3-way speed mode switch ranges from slow (think typical tremolo effects) to very fast (think of a fly buzzing). Where most tremolo effects stop sounding musical when they reach higher rates, the Hummingbird can reach ultra-fast modulation while still sounding punchy and precise. It’s also worth mentioning the expression pedal input that allows you to adjust the rate as you play — there’s a lot of musical potential here.
Why Players Love the EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird Repeat Percussions Tremolo
- Can reach ultra-fast tremolo speeds while still sounding percussive and precise
- Expression pedal input gives you hands-free control over the modulation rate as you play
- Offers a unique sonic character even when used as a "normal" tremolo
TC ELECTRONIC PIPELINE TREMOLO
The surf-inspired TC Electronic Pipeline tremolo pedal can certainly nail those classic '50s and '60s tremolo tones, but that’s not why we’re featuring it here. Tremolo is a rhythmic effect, and you’ll often want to sync the effect to whatever song you’re playing — but it’s surprising how many tremolo pedals do not offer tap tempo in this day and age. The TC Electronic Pipeline Tremolo ticks all the boxes for an amp-like tremolo for your pedalboard, and you can tap in your desired tempo from the built-in footswitch.
Tap Tempo doesn’t make the Pipeline tremolo pedal unique, just practical. Where it stands out is with the Time Division control. Combined with the tap tempo feature, you can easily dial in perfectly-synced quarter notes, dotted 8ths, triplets, and other rhythms, faster than you could with just about any other tremolo pedal. Pipeline also supports TC Electronic’s acclaimed TonePrint capability, allowing you to create custom tones or download artist-created presets — very cool.
Why Players Love the TC Electronic Pipeline Tremolo Pedal
- Tap Tempo makes it simple to sync the tremolo effect with your music
- Adjustable time divisions make it easy to explore different rhythms without changing the tempo
- TonePrint capability allows you to create your own custom presets or download artist-created presets
JHS 3 SERIES HARMONIC TREMOLO
Harmonic tremolo is a distinct variation of the classic effect — normal tremolo modulates your volume, while harmonic tremolo creates a similar effect by sweeping through your signal’s frequency range. It still has the pulsing character of tremolo, while also sharing sonic characteristics of a rotating speaker. It’s a very cool sound that you probably won’t want all of the time, and that’s why you should know the JHS 3 Series Harmonic Tremolo pedal offers both harmonic and standard tremolo modes.
As with all JHS 3 Series pedals, the Harmonic Tremolo is ultra-simple to use with controls for Volume, Rate and Depth, plus a toggle switch for harmonic/standard modes. Having the option to switch to harmonic tremolo mode is especially appealing for cover band guitarists — harmonic tremolo is all over classic blues rock, and it’s convenient to be able to tap into that iconic sound without dedicating a separate pedal to the cause.
Why Players Love the JHS 3 Series Harmonic Tremolo
- Flexible tremolo pedal for a wide range of musical styles
- Switchable harmonic tremolo mode for Uni-Vibe/rotary speaker effect
- Huge range of effects in a single pedal with simple controls
SOURCE AUDIO VERTIGO TREMOLO
Source Audio have made their mark with digital effects that have an uncanny analog resemblance, and the Vertigo Tremolo pedal is no different. Normal mode emulates a vintage '60s amp with onboard tremolo, with the characteristic throb and richness players love about amp tremolo. Bias mode takes this to the next level, emulating preamp-tube tremolo with harmonic-enhancing tube breakup. And Harmonic mode emulates the sound of vintage "Brownface" amplifiers with harmonic tremolo.
Vertigo gets even more exciting for the digitally adventurous, with a number of "secret" parameters you can tweak from your computer or even your smartphone. The free Neuro Editor app allows you to tweak a ton of different effect settings beyond what you can access from the pedal itself. And Vertigo is MIDI-capable when used with Source Audio’s Neuro Hub (sold separately), which makes it an appealing effects stompbox for MIDI-based musicians. If you love the sonic character of vintage tremolo effects, but aren’t afraid of the limitless flexibility that digital innovation provides, you should definitely check out the Source Audio Vertigo Tremolo pedal.
Why Players Love the Source Audio Vertigo Tremolo
- Generates the pulsating push/pull of vintage amplifier tremolo circuits
- 3 distinct tremolo modes including a harmonic tremolo based on vintage "Brownface" amps
- Infinitely configurable with free Neuro Editor app
WALRUS AUDIO FUNDAMENTAL SERIES TREMOLO
Smooth or choppy, rhythmic or random, the Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Tremolo pedal packs the essentials in a simple and fun-to-use package. It’s an affordable way to tap into a wide range of tremolo effects, and the addition of a random wave mode gives you something fun to explore beyond typical tremolo effects.
At a glance, the sliders on the Fundamental Tremolo may seem to only be for retro cosmetics, but in practice they’re delightful to use. The Fundamental Tremolo uses the pedalboard-friendly 1/2-size pedal case, and traditional knobs can feel a bit cramped on these compact pedals. When you’re packing your pedalboard with compact effects, the sliders on the Fundamental Tremolo start to show their true power. When you need to make a quick tweak to your effects before a song, the Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Tremolo makes it easy.
Why Players Love the Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Tremolo Pedal
- Great-sounding tremolo effects in an affordable, ultra-compact pedal
- Sliders make it easy to make fast tweaks and check settings at a glance
- Smooth, choppy, and random modes offer a wide range of effects to explore
Looking for tremolo plus all the other modulation effects in a single pedal? Then check out our video review of the Flamma FC05 Multi Modulation Pedal!
- Introduction
- What is a Tremolo Pedal Anyway?
- BOSS TR-2 TREMOLO PEDAL
- ELECTRO-HARMONIX NANO STEREO PULSAR
- EARTHQUAKER DEVICES HUMMINGBIRD REPEAT PERCUSSIONS TREMOLO
- TC ELECTRONIC PIPELINE TREMOLO
- JHS 3 SERIES HARMONIC TREMOLO
- Why Players Love the JHS 3 Series Harmonic Tremolo
- SOURCE AUDIO VERTIGO TREMOLO
- Why Players Love the Source Audio Vertigo Tremolo
- WALRUS AUDIO FUNDAMENTAL SERIES TREMOLO
- Why Players Love the Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Tremolo Pedal
