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2009 Hewitt's Garage Liquid Drive Tremolo

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Year: 2009
Brand: Hewitt's Garage
Model: Liquid Drive Tremolo
Class: Tremolo
Owner: Jeff Hewitt

The basic principal is the same as the Dearmond Tremolo Control. The Dearmond used a liquid that when agitated, grounded the instrument signal making the sound cut in and out. Due to this the sound of the Dearmonds is very fluid and very unique.
I decided building a clone wouldn't be very hard, but I wanted to make it more visual. A merge of art and effect.

I decided on two offset containers with an unbalanced motor mounted between them. The containers were the hard part. I needed a clear container that could be sealed and easily drilled. I found com older stlye relays to have the perfect housing. I removed the relays then proceeded with wiring and sealing the units. I originally mounted the entire assembly using springs. Although it looked great, the vibration noise was awful. The best mounting method for quiet reliable operation seems to be rubber mounting.

The case was fairly easy to construct. Since I would be covering the unit in vinyl anyhow, the type of wood wouldn't be an issue. I simply used some left over treated wood from another project. It was the right size, thickness, it was straight, and I already had it. I went ahead and sorted out the mounting points and decided I needed to build a grounding plane into the case. I used some tin tape to ground the entire housing to prevent excess noise.

The interior of the case was lined with black felt, and the exterior was covered in vinyl. The controls would be at the base of the units and all of the electrionics contained there as well. This made for an easy to access bottom for wiring. I decided I liked the look of a flush mounted control panel.

The Dearmond Tremolo Control used and unknown hydro-fluid, but most people repair them with regular Windex. My agitation system was going to be much more erratic and intense. When I tested this caused Windex to bubble and foam, which in turn ceases the tremolo. After some testing I was able to come up with a mixture that sounds just as good, but does not foam when heavily agitated. Since my liquid would be clear, I mounted a bi color led in the base of each container. But since the bi color led i used can light both colors at once it effectively makes a third color. This really looks cool reflecting through the agitating liquid and it lets me change the effect color depending on the mode.

I used a full face of clear impact acrylic for the front and mounted it using the protective corners. All of the front controls are mounted theough the acrylic, I think it really looks sharp. I tried a reflective back drop behind the agitation unit, but in the end it just looked bad. I decided on a simple black backing. The rear panel I covered in black felt.

Phillip nicknamed the unit "Tone Gigalo", which I liked so much I put it on the control panel.

See an hear it in action!