Caroline Guitar Company Parabola | Solid State Tremolo

Introducing the Caroline Guitar Company Parabola, a pedal that’s poised to become your rig’s new “tremolo channel.” It takes inspiration from a beloved “West German” device known for its lush, transistor-based LFO and distinctive waveform. However, Caroline Guitar Company has taken this inspiration and expanded upon it. They’ve adjusted the speed and depth parameters to not only match but surpass those found in your favourite classic amplifiers. But that’s not all – they’ve gone the extra mile by incorporating pre and post-effect gain stages, providing you with both overdrive and volume boost capabilities.

The Parabola doesn’t just stop at the conventional amplitude modulation (AM) you’d expect from a tremolo pedal. It offers an alternative: filtered frequency-based modulation (FM) that adds a touch of subtlety and beauty to your sound, all without intrusively interfering with your playing. And let’s not forget about the Havoc control, which gives you the power to ramp up the speed and depth of the effect. Need an extra kick? Simply press and hold it to infuse your sound with a burst of intensity, then release to seamlessly return to your previous settings. You can even keep the depth at zero and use Havoc for brief, momentary tremolo bursts. The Caroline Guitar Company Parabola is not just a pedal; it’s a dynamic tool to shape and elevate your sound.

Designer’s note: “One of the things that I’m most excited about with Parabola is the sound quality. I loved how the old Schaller TR-68’s transistor based oscillator and feel had a wonderful, very “Wim Wenders/Hal Hartley early days of indie film soundtracks” vibe. But the originals had some issues. The input would get loaded down a lot, and there was a definite volume drop when you’d use the effect. As a result, they were great to record with – you’d adjust your EQ to work with the constraints – but live use could be tough, and that’s before we even get to the very bunched up potentiometer tapers or limited speed ranges.

So with improved input impedance and gain staging, we’ve been able to recapture the lush sound that I loved about the originals, but give you plenty of first stage gain AND a second stage volume boost, keep it entirely analogue and transistor based, and maintain that sound and vibe that may not be for everyone, but is something I find specific and beautiful. The speed ranges have been improved to go from AC-30 style slow speeds to faster than Fender “Silverface” levels of fast, the depth control actually does cool things before 3:00, and the AM/FM modes have to be heard to be believed.”