The Monumental is not cheap, but it should do just about everything that you’d want a tremolo pedal to do... Monumentally flexible and practical.
Pros
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More tremolo than you could ever want.
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Tap tempo.
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Programmable presets make life easier.
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Stereo operation.
Cons
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It is pricey.
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Walrus Audio doesn’t stand still, and the company likes to revisit its pedals with the aim of bringing out enhanced versions. The Julia chorus pedal led to the Julianna and the Slö reverb begat the Slöer; now we have the Monumental Harmonic Stereo Tremolo, based on its mono Monument sibling.
The Monumental can accommodate mono, stereo in/stereo out and mono in/stereo out operation. It also sports three easily-recalled onboard presets and extends the Monument feature set by increasing the number of waveshapes and the timing divisions for the tap tempo footswitch which now, has a secondary function (when held) of ramping the tremolo speed up and down for rotary speaker style speed changes.
Also new is the ability to morph between standard tremolo and the phasier harmonic tremolo found on a small range of vintage Fender amps, adding a new range of flavours.
The various waveshapes and wide-ranging rate and depth knobs combine to dial in exactly what you need. The sine shape gives the most classic examples of rounded tremolo pulse and throb, while the square wave lets you dial in sharp on/off sequencer-style sounds.
You also get asymmetrical sawtooth waves, the nicely rounded ‘Bumps’ and Random, which is exactly that, maybe not conventionally musical but ready to play its part if you want to freak out.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
While all work brilliantly in a standard mono pedal chain, anyone who gets the chance to use this pedal in stereo will be knocked sideways by the extra sense of depth and movement as the tremolo spreads across the stereo field, all controlled by a ‘Pan’ knob to set the stereo width.
Tap tempo and speed ramping give you decent performance tools from the get-go but you can add an expression pedal if you need more.
Okay, the Monumental is not cheap but it should do just about everything that you’d want a tremolo pedal to do and it’s perfectly set up to undertake that during a gig with your chosen preset sounds ready and waiting, and a tap tempo to keep everything in sync with the rest of the band.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
Specs
PRICE: $279 / £269
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Tremolo pedal
FEATURES: True bypass, three onboard presets. Tap tempo, Ramp function, available in orange/copper or black
Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.
