After watching both the 'JHS Show' and 'That Pedal Show' episodes on Univibe, I couldn't help but do my own shootout between JHS Unicorn v2, Fulltone Déja Vibe mk2, and Jam Pedals RetroVibe mk2.
I only tested the 'chorus' setting, and I used a Tele with Noiseless pickups, an (old US-made) Hod Rod Deluxe and a G2 switcher.
Result: the tap tempo on the Unicorn is great! Sound was good, but as with most JHS pedals a little bit too bright for my ears. I'm sure, this vibe won't get lost in the mix, but played on it's own – for my personal taste – it lacks some warm lo-mids/bass frequencies that I love.
The Dèja Vibe was almost perfect, not changing my original tone, but adding a great vibe. Con: bigger enclosure and it needs a 18V power supply.
The RetroVibe was kind of the opposite of the Unicorn: sound a bit dark, perhaps too dark in some setups, might get lost in the mix without an additional treble booster, no tap tempo, needs a special type of expression pedal to control speed by foot. And it does change the original tone, adding warm warpy beautiful magic that hit me in the face.
I would love a combination of all three: tap tempo and small enclosure of the Unicorn, no brightening or darkening of tone (like the Dèja Vibe), and the magic of RetroVibe.
But I had to chose and went for MAGIC!
