Dazatronyx SPOT

The Dazatronyx SPOT is a Stereo Panning Optical Tremolo pedal designed by Dazatronyx of South-East Melbourne, Australia¹. It is a stereo variation of the maker's smaller Dazatronyx Optical Tremolo, and it does two jobs at once: it gives you a tremolo effect, and it moves that effect between two amplifiers so the volume pulses travel across your stereo image instead of simply fading up and down in one place¹.

The tremolo itself comes from optical circuitry. A fluctuating light shines against a photo-sensitive field, and the changing light restricts and modulates the output volume. Dazatronyx describes this as all-analog photo-coupling, and the SPOT is built on all original analog circuitry with true bypass mechanical switching¹².

How the SPOT shapes your sound

The optical approach is what defines the character of the effect. Instead of a transistor or chip chopping the signal, a light source rises and falls against a photo-sensitive element, and that changing illumination opens and closes the volume. The maker describes the result, after a decade of development, as a completely unique circuit built to their own ideal tremolo sound¹.

Controls

The control set is straightforward for anyone who has used a tremolo before, with one addition:

The Boost knob is the practical one to know about: tremolo circuits can cost you a little level, and this control lets you make that back or add extra push on top¹.

Running it in stereo

The SPOT's main distinction over a mono tremolo is its routing. It can take a stereo input directly, or split a mono guitar input between two amplifiers¹. With one amp the pedal behaves as a conventional tremolo; with two, the effect pans between them, and the tremolo becomes a movement in space rather than just a change in loudness.

The out-of-phase switch is what makes the stereo setup interesting. It changes the oscillator of each channel to be out of sync, so one comes up in volume while the other comes down. Delicious Audio's write-up describes the result as a strange swirling effect, with the two amps trading the signal back and forth rather than pulsing together¹.

History and versions

The SPOT was covered by Delicious Audio on 13 August 2018, which described it as a stereo variation of Dazatronyx's smaller Optical Tremolo¹. The maker had spent roughly a decade developing the circuit before arriving at this design¹. A demo video by Brett Kingman accompanied the original coverage¹.

Dazatronyx also builds other effects, including the Big Fuzz Console³. The SPOT sits alongside the compact mono Optical Tremolo in the maker's range: same optical approach to the effect, with the SPOT adding the second channel, the panning, and the out-of-phase option.

One note on construction: the maker states that photographs of the pedal's internals are a guide to construction quality only, and that parts and techniques may vary slightly with availability¹. In practical terms, two SPOTs built at different times may not look identical inside, though the circuit design is the same.

Videos

Click to load

Questions