Z.VEX PEDALS PREVIEW
Posted on Thu 20 October 2011 in entries
This feature is taken from Issue 7 of our brochure and was written by one of our guitar technicians, Lee Williams...
Z.VEX PEDALS - FROM A TO Z.VEX
We’ve played with and sold plenty of effects pedals in our time and we know how important it is to get exactly the right weapons in your effects arsenal to achieve exactly the right sound. Recently we’ve been seeing a lot more ‘boutique’ pedals appearing on the market. These unique sounding, carefully crafted pedals give you effects with a bit of personality in both their look and sound, and none is more unique than the range of stompboxes from Z.Vex...
Z.VEX PEDALS - WHAT’S IN A NAME?
This premier range of effects pedals is the brainchild of one Zachary Vex who has been designing and making his ever-growing family of effects pedals in the USA for over a decade. These funky boxes have acquired a pro user following that other, more corporate effects manufacturers can only dream of!
The USA-made pedals feature hand-painted artwork that is distinctive between one pedal and the next. This means that pedal collectors everywhere are keen to grab not only a great sounding pedal but also a true piece of art. This uniqueness had pushed the price of the pedals above some of our meagre budgets, but luckily, in an attempt to bring Z.Vex pedals to a wider audience, the Vexter range has now been introduced. Using the same internals as the USA pedals, these boxes are mass produced in the Far East with silkscreened artwork in an effort to keep up with the ever-rising demand.
Z.VEX PEDALS - LET’S PLUG ’EM IN
The range of Z.Vex pedals is mindblowing, with so many effect types and wacky designs to choose from and we’re lucky to have a great selection of original and Vexter pedals available to try and buy in-store and online at Absolute Music!
One of my favourites is the Box Of Rock (available in both USA and Vexter models). If you’re looking for some unabashed crunch with a solid low end, this is the first place to turn. If you’re in need of a touch more high end as you load up the Drive levels, simply turn the Tone knob. Want a bit more roundness from your amp sound? Just tweak the Boost knob. Job done!
If deep and dirty bass fuzz is more your thang, look no further than the Woolly Mammoth, a favourite with Muse’s Chris Wolstenholme (and our bass specialist, Robin). In fact, it’s acclaimed by some guitarists as the best fuzz pedal ever made. By playing with different combinations of Pinch and Wool, you’ll get some really cool sounds that’ll beef up your bass no end and turn a run-of-the-mill riff into a thwacking great dirty ball of wool!
Even more unique-sounding is the bright blue liveried Mastotron. This silicon fuzz generator will produce any level of fuzzy fun you require, from a heavy cloud of distortion to minimal, eight-bit style fizziness thanks to the pulsewidth control and the Relax/Push knob that lets you give and take the source impedance.
You should also look out for a few more of our faves, all of which you can try before you buy in our guitar showroom: Box of Metal, Box of Rock, Fuzz Factory, Distortron, Super Duper and the charmingly named Super Hard-On. Probably one to keep out of reach of your granny…
To view our full range of Z.Vex guitar effect pedals, click the link below: