MXR Tremolo guitar effects pedal review

There are no nasty noises and everything works smoothly. The Speed control is well designed, taking you from lazy undulating swells to a rapid blurry stutter. It's hard to imagine needing anything faster or slower, so top marks. Similarly the Depth control genuinely goes from off to on, and you can really hone in on the perfect balance.
The Shape control is really about feel more than sound, and for a Fender amp-style trem I'd probably keep it at or near the centre position. Some Vox amp trems have more of a square wave feel, but this box can handle all that too. There's no right or wrong with tremolo – just use your ears and understand that you might need to alter the waveform shape depending on your speed setting.
Splitting the stereo output into two amps creates a glorious, room-filling effect that'll keep you playing for hours. There's nothing gimmicky about it, and it would be superb for recording (but be warned: the outputs aren't isolated from each other, so you'll get the usual two amp earth loop problems. Since we'd never, ever recommend lifting the earth on one amp to cure it, a safer solution will have to be found if you want to record with this setup). Our other issue with the M-159 is the way it slightly drops the volume of your guitar signal and thins it out, but this is a common problem with tremolo pedals.

The Tremolo is also versatile but the volume drop and the lack of provision for earth loops might bother you. As a mono trem it’s impossible to say that it sounds better than cheaper alternatives like the Demeter Tremulator or the Carl Martin Surf Trem – but if you need stereo, then there aren’t that many alternatives.