Anasounds Sliver, optical tremolo

Anasounds Sliver, optical tremolo

sound in motion

From the lonely desert plains of spaghetti western
to the stuttering chopped-up notes of the most epileptic EDM,
tremolo is everywhere.
That very simple effect can find its place in any context,
no matter which style you’re playing or what the rest of your rig is.

ups and downs

To put it in the simplest terms, tremolo is a cyclical volume variation from the original volume to a decreased version
(all the way to the extreme version of the effect which completely cuts the sound in a rhythmic fashion) following a set tempo.
Tremolo was the first effect designed specifically for electric guitar, even before reverb, when the DeArmond pedal was released in 1948.
Tremolo was then built-in many vintage amps (with wildly different circuits depending on the brand), before it was defeated by phaser and chorus in the 70s and 80s.
Eventually, it came back with a vengeance by the end of the nineties, at which point it became a precious tool for guitarists trying to sound rootsy and authentic.
Since then, every builder has introduced their version with many variations in how much you can actually do with them. 

optical tremolo

Up to that point, Anasounds had not come up with a tremolo yet, since we were waiting to get a design that would justify bringing a new tremolo into an already saturated market.

Introducing the Sliver, a very powerful tremolo at a very fair price, especially for a pedal made in France with high-quality components.
As always, our first concern while designing the Sliver was to not ruin the precious sound you’ve spent many years trying to find.
You won’t find an analog to digital converter in there, your sound only goes through a purely analog signal path.
Keeping your sound intact while offering precise settings and endless possibilities was a daunting task to say the least.
Waveforms are created by a processor before they are transmitted to the optical circuit that creates the tremolo effect.
Analog and digital PCBs have been carefully separated inside the circuit to make servicing easier and allow for updates.
When a new chip comes out, you will have access to additional waveforms.
You will never be done exploring the possibilities of your Sliver.
Thanks to that hybrid interface, the Sliver features a Tap Tempo footswitch
(which also doubles as a self-oscillation trigger if you keep your foot on the switch, the perfect way to make your audience freak out at the end of a gig.)
It works exactly as it should: you pick your rhythmic subdivision,
you tap your foot on the switch and the tremolo rate is immediately adjusted to fit the rhythm of your song,
without having to turn a knob in the middle of a cool moody arpeggio.
But that’s not nearly all: you can also choose your waveform (sinus, saw, square…) from six presets via the switch in the center.
Moreover, the Trimpot menu gives you access to secondary settings that will allow you to craft your waveform as precisely as possible from virtually infinite possibilities.

In addition, the Sliver is also hiding a killswitch option that activates as you press the tap switch while bypassing the pedal.
It allows you to completely cut off the sound using the tap tempo footswitch when the tremolo is switched off, a perfect “secret weapon” to stun your audience.
Factor that in with internal trimpots to adjust the bias and ouput level (thanks to the purely analog signal path there are no bad-sounding settings),
and you get a highly flexible and evolving tremolo that still keeps the big warm sound of optical technology.
Finally, if you’re feeling adventurous, just plug in our Spinner expression pedal on your Sliver for a large range of additional variations controlled by the strength of your kick!