# ZVEX Pedals



## Fragile Man (Apr 23, 2007)

Hey, any of you guys (or gals) had any experience with any of the ZVEX Pedals. Want to know some opinions and/or reviews. Thanks


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## adamthemute (Jun 18, 2007)

A lot of them interest me (Seek Trem, Seek Wah, Box Of Rock), but I don't have the cash to try them out...The BoR looks like it would suit your gear nicely.

That doesn't really help haha.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I have a Box of Rock. I like it but it is not the be all end all. I really like the boost on it but I find the bass flabs out on the distortion side. Haven't decided if it's a keeper yet.


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## Greenbacker (Mar 29, 2007)

Go to Songbird downtown Toronto. Moog Audio also has a decent stock. Zvex are great pedals.

I've had my Super Hard On for quite a while and swear by it as the best booster out there. It's not just a boost though, It's got a certain sparkle and shimmer to it. The boost in the BOR is a modified SHO circuit that is made to sound a little more "natural" like a cranked JTM45.

Try them. You'll love them. Or at the very least you'll conclude "Hey. These are different and awesome"


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## Fragile Man (Apr 23, 2007)

My son is interested in either the "Machine" or the "Fuzz Factory". And says if I buy him one for xmas I could use it too, as long as I ask permission. Funny kid!


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Greenbacker said:


> I've had my Super Hard On for quite a while and swear by it as the best booster out there. It's not just a boost though, It's got a certain sparkle and shimmer to it.


The SHO is the one I've always been interested in trying. That "crackle ok" knob makes me curious. Does the pedal make your clean sound any different?

TG


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## Fragile Man (Apr 23, 2007)

jroberts said:


> You might want to see a doctor about that. :smilie_flagge17:


He should go easy on the Cialis!

But seriously, thanks for the input so far...anyone else?


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Our bass player (also a guitarist) has a Fuzz Factory on his guitar board, and I've noodled around with it quite a bit. Its a high quality pedal for sure but, to me, it suffers from "too many knobs" syndrome. I couldn't imagine trying to use it live, where I have to quickly dial in the sound I'm looking for. It would awesome in a "studio only" kind of setting, where you time to mess around and find a good sound.


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## Fragile Man (Apr 23, 2007)

bagpipe said:


> Our bass player (also a guitarist) has a Fuzz Factory on his guitar board, and I've noodled around with it quite a bit. Its a high quality pedal for sure but, to me, it suffers from "too many knobs" syndrome. I couldn't imagine trying to use it live, where I have to quickly dial in the sound I'm looking for. It would awesome in a "studio only" kind of setting, where you time to mess around and find a good sound.


Good point bagpipe, thanks for the feedback. I'll pass this on to the boy.


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

zvex, is one of the pioneer's, some of his stuff is like nothing out there: I have had: seek wah, fuzz factory, sho, super 2-in-1, oohwahII, octaneIII. Have kept the ooh wahII (liked the random mode and hold @ 1), and octane III (just a killer fuzz /octaver)...takes a while like many zvex pedals, but the noodling will reward you with some unique tones). All of them good though.

like many pedals, I found the rewards lie in the "not so dimed" settings, there are tonnes of tones in his pedals, so that is the drawback, you have to spend some time with them. And I absolutely have to get the lofi loop junkie, nothing like that around !

the fuzz factory has alot of sounds in it, so its not a stomp and go, I strongly recommend checking them out before you buy if you can.

the machine sounds like a "sound disruptor/destructor" which can be cool, but may not suit your everday needs, worth checking out in person though.

good luck and either way you go, the graphics and art on the pedals is way fun !!

oh ya...the sho does add something when on, its subtle but it adds a hint of sparkle and shimmer as mentioned. (in my experience with it of course)


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## rounDSound (Jan 14, 2007)

i currently play a fuzz factory. some days i love it and swear it'll be the last pedal to leave my board. some days i feel i could give it away. it's temperamental, and i've been led to believe that it's so reactive to things like battery voltage that getting the EXACT same tone twice is nearly impossible.

try it out. be sure to play with it with your setup, and give it some time. 

common complaints i've heard and share:
-too bright, trebly if you play it into some amps(clean tone and type of amp has a huge effect on this box). 
-not enough control over basic eq
-way over-the-top with humbuckers

enjoy. it's a special pedal.


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## Greenbacker (Mar 29, 2007)

Ha ha!

The SHO is just killer. I'll never be rid of it. It is a clean boost, but it does add a certain shimmer as well. I think this is due to the ultra low input impedance of the pedal. It apparently makes your guitar work a little harder for it and makes your guitar sound bigger, hotter and generally more delicious. Some guys use it ahead of their other effects to add this grit and shimmer other guys (like Me) use it at the end to blast away at their preamp. This is why he called it the super hard on: Because it is 'super hard on' the preamp. I've used it for years now though without a problem

My bass player had a wooly mammoth for a while too. Definitely akin to the FF. So angry! Sounded great with guitar too.

My bandmate also has the Ringtone. I've never got the purpose of the ring mod, but this one is defintiely different than the others (as you can sequence it) If it's your thing, it's a lot of fun.


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## Warren (Mar 2, 2007)

I have a fuzz factory & it's awesome. There are a ton of great fuzz sounds available on it, but, live you pretty much have to use 1 of them because you don't have much time to fuss around finding the others.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

I love that Zachary Vex is trying to bring new ideas (or big rethinking of old ideas) to the pedal world. My personal experience with his stuf fhas been hit or miss, but the quality of his product is always very high. 

I have a SHO and it is a key part of my rig for a ll the reasons listed above. It just makes everything a little more crisp, shimmery and defined. Gives my guitars more of a Cake or Ennio Morricone Good, The Bad, and The Ugly sound on the lower notes. Awesome pedal. My favourite boost. I use it at the end of my chain too.

The Fuzz Factory and Seek Wah I had were both very cool and fun to play around with, but too complex for me to get any use of with my band. Lots of fun ideas and great tones in both of those pedals, but every time I pulled them out I'd spend more time twiddling knobs to find new tones than actually playing, so both were traded out.


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## adamthemute (Jun 18, 2007)

Anyone else have a Machine? It looks kind of interesting.


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