Pedalboard / 084
Bo Diddley
Diddley's debut-session guitar runs through the handled electromechanical DeArmond Tremolo Control that gives the rhythm its watery pulse.
Signal path / A
Debut single tremolo path
Historically documented recording effect
Documented equipment · Source-described order · Serial path
In a 2007 Guitar Buyer interview, Diddley described buying the DeArmond Trem-Trol from guitarist Jody Williams after first building his own mechanical tremolo; the article calls the commercial unit Model 60. Premier Guitar's dedicated history identifies the unit on the 1955 recording as a 601, and Guitar.com's independent history corroborates the early standalone effect. Because the surviving specialist sources use both model numbers, the display keeps the model-neutral faceplate name Tremolo Control and preserves 601 and Model 60 as aliases. Amplifier reverb and later guitars with onboard EQ, delay and chorus are outside this dated snapshot.