Cusack Tremolo AME

The Cusack Tremolo AME is a compact tremolo pedal from Cusack Music, a maker based in Holland, Michigan. Cusack positions it as the "full featured little brother" of the Tap-a-Whirl V4, the company's flagship analog tap-tempo tremolo: the same core effect, scaled down into a very small enclosure that the maker says is the same size as the Cusack Screamer¹. The current version is the Tremolo AME 2.0, listed at an MSRP of $195.00, with B-stock units offered at $170.00¹. A separate limited first run in a polished enclosure with red aluminum knobs is listed at $205.00².

For a player, that means tap-tempo tremolo, nine selectable waveforms, a rate "brake" effect, and an expression jack in a box measuring 4.42" L x 2.39" W x 1.24" H².

Controls and the expression jack

The front panel keeps things simple: three knobs, Depth, Rate and Level, handle the basic parameters⁵. The manual describes what each does, and how the Tap switch interacts with them.

Two visual touches help on a dark stage: the clear Rate knob flashes in time with the effect, and the light's intensity corresponds with the Depth setting¹.

The EXP/TAP jack is the most flexible part of the pedal. According to the manual, it accepts expression pedals with a TRS plug, set to control either the Depth or Rate parameters, and the first knob you move after plugging in is the one the expression pedal takes over⁴. It also accepts external tap tempo switches, normally off/open, with a TS plug⁴. The product page adds that the jack can be used to control Rate or Depth with an expression pedal, or tap tempo speed with a remote footswitch¹.

The tap tempo itself is tailorable with divide settings of 1/4, 1/8, and dotted 1/8 notes⁵.

Waveforms and the Brake

The Tremolo AME offers 3 banks of 3 waveforms each, for a total of 9⁵. Beyond the wave shapes, the pedal includes a Brake feature: holding the Tap switch gives a Rate Break, a momentary shift in the tremolo's speed². How the rate behaves when you let go is adjustable. Hold the Tap switch and move the wave selector to change how the Brake disengages⁴:

• Wave 1: the rate stays where it ramped to
• Wave 2: the rate quickly snaps back to the original setting
• Wave 3: the rate slowly drifts back to the original setting⁴

The product page describes the same three options as choices for the altered time to either stay, snap back, or drift back⁵.

History and versions: a variant of the Tap-a-Whirl V4

The Tremolo AME is based on the Cusack Tap-a-Whirl, which Cusack calls the world's first analog tap tremolo pedal². The Tap-a-Whirl line goes back to the early 2010s, when the original was released as the first tap-tempo tremolo; the V4 re-engineered the circuit around newer components and returned to production in 2024⁶. Cusack's own page calls the V4 "the latest version of the world's first Tap-Tempo tremolo"⁷.

The Tremolo AME 2.0 takes that circuit family and shrinks it. In Cusack's words, it is "the full featured little brother of the worlds' premier tap tempo; the Tap-a-Whirl V4"¹. The maker says it managed to fit all of the AME's features into a very small enclosure the same size as the Cusack Screamer¹.

The practical difference for a player is size and scope: where the Tap-a-Whirl V4 is a full-size pedal with the maker's complete waveform and preset set, the AME trims the feature list to nine waveforms and a simpler control layout while keeping tap tempo, the brake and the expression jack⁵¹.

Power and current draw

The pedal runs on a standard 9V DC center-negative power supply or a 9V battery, with neither included². The manual specifies the 9V DC center-negative supply as the power source⁴.

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