Jackson Audio Twin Trem

The Jackson Audio Twin Trem is a tremolo pedal with two fully analog tremolo circuits in one enclosure: a harmonic tremolo and an optical tremolo, each with its own controls, footswitch and input and output jacks¹². It was designed in collaboration with Silvertone and uses the same format, enclosure and distinctive knobs as the Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve Preamp that came before it³.

Because each circuit has its own jacks, you can run the two tremolos as one pedal, split them into different parts of your chain, or patch another effect between them, with reverb between the harmonic and optical circuits being the maker's own example¹. Run together, the two circuits can produce complex rhythms and percussive textures that a single tremolo cannot¹.

Two analog tremolos in one pedal

The Twin Trem puts two different tremolo designs side by side. On the left is an optical tremolo circuit; on the right is a harmonic tremolo⁵. Both are analog circuits, not digital recreations⁴⁵.

The pedal has three modes, set by which footswitches you engage¹:

• RED, Harmonic tremolo: Jackson Audio describes it as "Warm, dimensional movement that shifts between frequency bands and moves around your playing."¹
• BLUE, Optical tremolo: "The deep, smooth pulse of a vintage amplifier, musical, familiar, and instantly inspiring."¹
• MAGENTA, both combined: "Let both circuits collide for complex rhythms, percussive textures, and patterns that evolve beneath your playing."¹

The two circuits work differently, and that difference is the point of the pedal. A classic, or optical, tremolo changes the overall volume of the guitar up and down in a smooth pulse, the kind of tremolo built into vintage amplifiers⁶. A harmonic tremolo, first developed in Fender "brown face" amps, works differently: it splits the signal into high and low frequency bands and volume-attenuates them out of phase from each other, so bass and treble alternately swell and dip rather than the whole signal⁷⁶. The result is a swirling, dimensional movement rather than a straight volume pulse.

One practical note from Premier Guitar's review: the modulation speeds run slower than the equivalents in amplifier tremolos. At its slowest, the optical side cycles from minimum to maximum volume in just a little under a full second⁷.

The controls

Each tremolo has its own three-knob array: Speed, Depth and Volume⁴²⁷. There are two footswitches, one for each channel³.

The Volume knobs are worth noting: they will boost or cut the output of each circuit independently⁷, so you can balance the two tremolos against each other or against your bypassed level.

Power and connections

The Twin Trem runs on 9V DC, center negative, through a 2.1 mm plug, and draws 35mA³⁵. No power supply is included¹.

Each circuit has its own input and output jacks, mounted on the top of the pedal³⁵. That opens up several routing options²:

• Run the two tremolos in series inside the pedal, as a normal dual tremolo.
• Separate the two tremolos and place them in different parts of your signal chain.
• Patch another effect between them, such as a reverb between the harmonic and optical circuits¹.
• Use the independent outputs for stereo configurations or split-chain routing².

guitar.com's reviewer Eric Dahl found this routing flexibility "also less of a gimmick than it might seem," noting that the independent jacks let you fit each circuit into your chain independently⁵.

History: a collaboration with Silvertone

The Twin Trem was announced in November 2024 as a collaboration between Jackson Audio and Silvertone³. It followed the 1484 Twin Twelve tremolo/amp combo pedal the two makers released together, and it uses the same Twin Twelve format and enclosure, with the same distinctive knobs³². The brushed aluminum chassis is, in guitar.com's words, "pretty much the same as the Twin Twelve"³⁵.

The Twin Twelve name goes back to the Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve amplifier, a guitar amp head sold through the Sears catalog from 1963 to 1967⁸⁹. In its day it was not regarded as a premier amplifier, but it became a classic pawnshop amp, now rare and coveted, and a favorite of players including Beck and Jack White⁸. Artists such as Beck, Death Cab For Cutie, Vampire Weekend, The White Stripes and even Coldplay have used the Twin Twelve amp on stage⁹. The pedal line borrows both the name and the look of that amp.

What reviewers said

Jackson Audio describes the Twin Trem as fully analog, built in the Twin Twelve format and enclosure, with independent footswitches for each channel⁴³. The pedal should be imminently available at international dealers too³.

On the enclosure, Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that while he would have preferred a more compact or vertical format, "I feel the dual footswitches and the independent ports justify the format more for this Twin Trem, than for the previous" pedal in the line³.

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