Here are a bunch of replies I recieved when I asked on a listserver I belong to
Funny you should request info on this sort of pedal, as I JUST replied to a
similar request on another list. Here's what I had to say:
First off, what sound are you looking for, or are you just looking for a
Leslie simulator? Reason I ask, is I have always loved the organic, living
sound of a Leslie/B3 organ. So, I bought a Dunlop Rotovibe about 15 years
ago, which back then was about it as far as selection goes. It does a very
good job on the Robin Trower / Bridge of Sighs tone, and the Vaughan
Brothers D/FW sound. What it will not do - is SRV's Cold Shot or
Superstition.
About a month ago, I bought a Line 6 Tonecore Roto-Machine pedal. It was in
the right price range (about $40-60 on ****) and the online sound demos
sounded interesting. Once it arrived, I A/B'd it with the Rotovibe.... The
Rotovibe still has a sweet organic 'thing' to it, but the Roto-Machine walks
off and leaves it in the dust for versatality. With the Roto-Machine you
actually get 3 Leslie models, each a distinct voice. One mocks the same
Leslie the Rotovibe does, another nails the SRV-Cold Shot sound, and yet
another mimics the rest of the famous leslie tones. The Rotovibe has one
continuous sweep for the speed, by moving the rocker part of the pedal up
and down like a wah. The Roto-Machine on the other hand has 2 preset (by
you) variable speeds, fast and slow. Where as a real Leslie had 2 hardset
speeds (fast and slow), the RM has a dial for the fast and slow speeds
independant of each other, and they dont overlap. The Rotovibe has a
intensity knob only, where as the RM has seperate knobs for intensity for
the horn(speaker) and drum (the rotating drum around the speaker). You can
dial in custom sounds no Leslie has ever been capable of before, however,
like most infinitely tweakable effects, you will find yourself settling on
the sounds of the orginals whether by familiarity or because they got it
right the first time and the rest just dont cut it. The Rotovibe also has
tremolo capability in addition to the chorus sound by way of a side switch,
so it does double duty where as the Roto-Machine doesnt sound quite like
tremolo even when it tries. Line 6 does offer a tremolo pedal which has a
lot of potential as well, but that's a whole other story.
The thing that really sets the Roto-Machine apart is the built-in overdrive.
With it dialed up, you can get that to-die-for, pissed off, who plugged my
110v Leslie into a 220v socket aggressive tone SRV got on the live version
of Superstition.
I dont have any experience with the really expensive Leslie emulators, but I
cant imagine them being more useful, easy to tweak or better sounding than
the Line 6 Roto Machine. I've read great things about the Boss and H&K (I
think?) offerings, but the Line 6 got my attention for 3 reasons - size,
price, and I already had a Line 6 Tonecore Echo Park and it impressed the
hell out of me. These pedals (Tonecore family) weigh about 2lbs. each, eat a
9v battery in 45 minutes and dont like to share AC power supplies with other
pedals, so they do have some drawbacks. The Rotovibe on the other hand, is
the size of a
wah pedal (same housing, just painted red), weighs a couple of
pounds or more, but - a 9v battery will last years (literally, I've had the
same 9v in it for 2-3 years).
If I missed anything, let me know - I'll be glad to try them for you at
least for another week or so, till the Rotovibe goes on **** this sunday.
(also going is a Boss Blues Driver, in case anyone is interested in one)
