Horrothia Effects Berkeley Uni-Vibe
A vintage Uni-Vibe signal path, four hand-matched Vactrols, three internal trim pots, an expression input, and a boost circuit — all in a pedalboard-friendly enclosure with design worth actually looking at. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Horrothia Effects Berkeley Uni-Vibe takes center stage — stacked with the Mythos Pedals High Road Fuzz (Joey Landreth Signature), into my Benson Amps Vincent on both clean and dirt channels. Stratocaster with Lollar Pickups throughout.
The original Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe was designed in 1968 by Fumio Mieda — a four-stage phaser built around a single incandescent bulb surrounded by four light-dependent resistors arranged in a cloverleaf configuration. As the bulb pulsed at the rate set by the LFO, it modulated all four resistors simultaneously, creating an asymmetric, reverse-sawtooth waveform that produced the thick, swirling throb associated with Hendrix at Woodstock, Gilmour on Breathe, and Robin Trower on Bridge of Sighs. That circuit, with its quirks and non-linearities, is the target.
Tom Oakes of Horrothia Effects built the Berkeley to be as close to that signal path as possible, while solving the original's reliability problems. In his own words: "Carbon film resistors, Mylar caps, transistors... Some small key changes have been made in line with mods done in the late '60s to open up the low-end and add more liquid movement." Where the original used a bulb, the Berkeley uses four hand-chosen Vactrols — photocells matched one by one in a custom test fixture to sit within a defined sweet spot. No guessing.
Controls on the face: Intensity, Rate, a Chorus/Vibrato toggle, a Level knob for the integrated boost circuit, and a 1/8" TRS expression input for real-time Rate control. Inside the enclosure, three trim pots allow deep customization: phase notch depth, impedance, and voicing from vintage to modern character. We go through all three in the video.
The Mythos Pedals High Road Fuzz is Joey Landreth's signature — a high-biased silicon fuzz designed for focus, immediacy, and the kind of attack that interacts beautifully with a vibe circuit in either order in the chain.
Speaker and instrument cables by Caulfield Cables — use code "EOB" for a discount: https://www.instagram.com/caulfieldcables/
🎛️ Horrothia Effects Berkeley Uni-Vibe: https://www.horrothia.com/berkeley
🎛️ Mythos Pedals High Road Fuzz: https://mythospedals.com
🎸 Lollar Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent: https://www.bensonamps.com/amps/vincent
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🎸 Stratocaster | Lollar Pickups
🎛️ Horrothia Effects Berkeley | Uni-Vibe | 4 Matched Vactrols | Boost Circuit | Expression
🎛️ Mythos Pedals High Road Fuzz | Joey Landreth Signature | Silicon
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent
In the words of the creator, Tom Oakes: "Carbon film resistors, Mylar caps, transistors... Some small key changes have been made in line with mods that were done in the late 60’s to open up the low-end and add more liquid movement. There are 4 photocells, but no bulb. Hand chosen Vactrols are matched one by one in a custom test fixture to make sure that every component works within a well defined ‘sweet spot’ range. No guessing here."
