Beetronics Tuna Trem packs nine tremolo species into a tuna can
Depth hides behind the footswitch on the Beetronics Tuna Trem, a hand-drilled tuna can with nine tremolo Species, from sine to swells and a kill switch.
Yes, it is a real tuna can. Beetronics hand-drills each one, adds two knobs and a footswitch, and calls the nine modes inside it Species. The new Tuna Trem runs them from a plain sine wave to a kill switch you play with your foot, and the label keeps the gag going with "9 wild-caught species".
Under the gag sits a hybrid. Beetronics says the signal path is 100% analog, with an analog VCA doing the volume work while digital control handles the shaping, so the pedal can step through waveforms and rhythmic patterns without converting your signal to digital.
Surfer Bee and Leafcutter Bee cover the classics, sine and square. Then it gets stranger. Bug Bee is intermittent and lo-fi, broken and unstable on purpose. Pecker Bee fires short repeating bursts, Helicop Bee follows a strong pulse with a softer one, Jataí Bee plays an off-beat syncopated pattern, and Orchid Bee runs a longer, evolving rhythm.
The last two need your foot. Sweller Bee stays silent until you hold the switch, then swells in; Speed sets the ramp up and depth sets the ramp down. Morse Bee flips that around: the pedal stays on, and holding the switch cuts the sound until you let go. The footswitch itself can work latching or momentary.
Depth has no knob of its own. Hold the footswitch and turn Speed, and each Species stores its own depth setting until you change it. Beetronics suggests trying both ends of the chain: in front of drives, the volume movement changes how fuzz and overdrive react; after them, the trem chops an already distorted signal. Power is 9 V DC, centre-negative, at 50 mA, and the maker insists no fish has ever been inside one of these cans.
Video: Beetronics FX — Tuna Trem • 9 Ways To Chop Your Tone
The Tuna Trem is currently sold as a pre-order on the Tuna Trem product page.
