To the depths with Tortuga Effects’ Neptune
Washington-state’s Tortuga Effects has been in the pedal game for a few years now with a good selection of offerings ranging from its Sasquatch fuzz to the Standard Issue Phaser. Today, WTDP? is going to look at the company’s answer to the classic Univibe pedal – its Neptune Opto-Vibe stomp. The controls to the Neptune may look a little confusing to idle eyes as the names keep with the God of the Ocean motif – such as Slosh, Depth, Dive and Surface. Tortuga’s goal with the Neptune was to stay true to the classic vibe tone with out sucking out all the midrange.
The Neptune comes in the standard boutique plain white wrapper. Inside is the EHX XO-sized stomp (laid out horizontally) and a one-page instruction sheet that walks the user through the controls and their funny names along with pertinent warranty information. The pedal itself is a powder-coat white sporting a cool graphic of the Roman god of the sea. Our test Neptune was #023. The stomp can run on 9V battery or a DC power adapter (as tested). You do have to take a screwdriver to the backplate to get to the battery compartment.
The controls of the Neptune promise a dual mode pedal. The two channels are identical, but are controlled differently. The Obey switch turns the pedal on. Depth I and II control the signal depth for the appropriate channel. Slosh I and II control the rate on the corresponding channel. I or II switches between channels. Dive is the instrument input, while Surface is the output to your amp. Kneel is the power adapter input. One difference you will notice right away is that the Slosh controls are not the same. For Channel One it is a conventional knob control, but for Channel Two it is a light-sensitive optical sensor that allows the player to use his foot to control the rate of the effect. Since Channel Two really needs a visual to give the effect more meaning, we’re going to stick to Channel One for the clips.
Diving into the Neptune vibe, we grabbed the Strat and using the bridge pick-up we dialed in the stomp for a subtile vibe tone. On Channel One, the Depth was set at 2 o’clock and the Slosh at 3 o’clock. First clean, then the Neptune.
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Switching to the Les Paul, we dialed things up a notch. Still on Channel One, we pegged the Depth and moved the Slosh to around noon. First dry, then wet!
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Hopping back on the Strat, this time with the neck pick-up, we dial in more slosh to get the vibrato going faster. With Depth at around 11 o’clock and Slosh dimed, here’s the Neptune. Clean first, then to the depths!
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The Tortuga Effects Neptune is a great sounding pedal. I’ve never been a big vibe guy, but the textures and depth you can dial into the Neptune truly won me over. That said, the pedal does have a few drawbacks. Like most vibes, the Neptune is expensive. At $300, it is a pretty stout investment. I think the pedal is competitive with the run of higher-end boutique vibes I’ve heard, such as the Sweetsound Mojo Vibe and the KR Megavibe, but it would probably be best to test drive any pedal before you lay down that kind of scratch for it. Also, while the Channel Two optical sensor works like a charm in a studio setting, it is less than practical when sitting on your pedalboard in a dark club unless – as Tortuga points out in the manual – you spring for an external light to shine onto the sensor to allow for consistent use of the effect. Having just shelled out ‘tres Benjamins’ for the pedal, some may balk at the added investment. These quibbles aside, I bought the Neptune… and am enjoying the hell out of it! That’s our take anyway… you mileage may vary!
PLEASE NOTE: All YMMV Review clips are played through a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo amp with 1×12 extension cab. No reverb or other effects were added to the clips. Guitars used in this review include a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.
