How did the Chi-Lites achieve the shimmering, angelic, "floating above the clouds" sound on 'Have You Seen Her'?

Am I correct in assuming that the guitarist used a Fender combo with built-in vibrato?

The "rate of the shimmer" seems to change throughout the song. Did he have an assistant working the vibrato knob while he played? Or, was the amp modified so that an external foot pedal could be employed to vary the periodicity?

Am I on the right track?
Does anyone know the *exact* amp he used?
Is it actually 'sine wave' trem instead of vibe?

It sounds as if there's a an extremely subtle use of compression and soft-knee limiting.

As far as the fuzz box intro goes, does anyone know which pedal he used? Is there an accurate modern facsimile of it? I think it's a pair of severely mismatched Germanium transistors. It almost sounds like a kazoo. I can *almost* get that timbre with my Ashley Bass FuzzBrite, which is a Mosrite repro. It gives me more of a "Spirit In The Sky" feel than this tune.

I'm running a heavily Throckmorton-modified Mesa LOOGIE F-50 1 x 12 combo. I tamed the grossly excessive surplus preamp gain and eliminated the ripple. The ripple was of such a disturbing magnitude that it sent Otis Campbell back into rehab. My next purchase is a Fuchs.

Thank you in advance for any insights into this Chi-Lites sound. I'm 39 and the music is of a different generation. However, I don't why this song did not make it into Guitar Player's "Best 100 Guitar Tones Ever Recorded" issue. Oh well.

Mang, I just love my mother's Motown/Stax collection. I'm glad she raised me properly.

The tremolo sounds like a Vox Repeat Percussion or a similar tremolo. It's very tight and puffy sounding, which doesn't sound like a Fender amp at all.

The intro guitar sounds like any cheap and buzzy fuzz from the era... Maestro? Bosstone? It's one of those early cheesy fuzzes with no decay/sustain. I love that stuff.

Great tune.

Roger

Hello Roger,

Thank you for the info regarding the Vox Repeat Percussion or a tremolo closely related to it.

I'm positive that your suggestion will help me peg down the sound I've been seeking.

I sincerely appreciate your help.

Kind Regards,

Throckmorton