Uni-vibe

In the 1960s an attempt was made to capture the effect of a Leslie speaker in a small foot pedal. The very first uni-vibe effect (also called univibe) was designed by audio engineer Fumio Mieda. It was introduced in the 1960s by Shin-ei and marketed in North America by Univox in 1968.

The uni-vibe effect is derived from the phaser. Essentially, it’s a stack of phasers, creating a kind of raw phase-shifting sound. In terms of sound it has more presence than a chorus and it has a little more beating. It’s somewhere between a phaser and a chorus.

Although it was once designed to emulate the Doppler effect of a Leslie speaker, it has not really succeeded in doing so. That is not to say that the effect has been forgotten. The uni vibe has become a category in its own right. Many guitarists make grateful use of it. Just listen to Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” and Pink Floyd’s “Breathe”.