Vox Cooltron VibraVox

hey cats, this is just in reference to the manual saying 'dont use in direct sunlight/humidity/dust etc.'
i played a festival in the australian summer with this pedal, the set started out sunny and hot (around 41*C) and by midway there was a raging storm. my vibravox got totally soaked it kept working. i figured it would be f*cked though, but i run a towel over it sat it somewhere dry for the night and it was fine the next day.
since then (7 months ago)i've played two more hot and dusty outdoor festivals and about 40 club shows and i've never had a problem.
...thats just my experience...the one thing that sucks about this pedal is that it makes the loudest ugliest popping noise when i switch it on...which can really f*ck with things when you insist on recoring everything live.
peace. =)

It's pretty easy to use. Pop in four AA Batteries, plug in your guitar, out to an amp and you're in business. Depth control, dual speed controls and Volume knobs are quite useful. Reading the manual, you'll find that the Ratio knob works well with tremolo, controlling the guitar signal/silence ratio. In the Vibe mode, it's almost imperceptable. The Skew knob sorta controls the wave form in the Tremolo mode (the manual describes it as moving from a symmetrical sine wave to what I interpret as a "saw tooth" wave). In the vibe mode, again, it does almost nothing. On-off switch (true bypass) and speed selector switch. Lastly, there's a cool feature which lets you set it up as a dual speed Trem, dual speed Vibe or split it into Single speed Trem and Single speed Vibe. If you use the latter mode, both the Trem and the Vibe must share Depth/Ratio/Skew settings.

I ran a strat through a compressor->OD->VOX into a 1x12 Tube amp. The VOX unit is very quiet. No added junk and no perceptable signal degradation. As for the effects: Since this unit claims to cover two different sounds, I can only give a "half way" rating. It does Tremolo very well. I'd give the Trem a "9". You can get subtle waves or choppy syncopted stuff quite easily. The Ratio and Skew knobs really give you a lot of Tremolo versatility. HOWEVER: I have to be critical of the Vibrato. It is simply not thick enough. At slower speeds with the depth at full-on, it's hardly noticable - just a faint pulse somewhere behind the guitar. At higher speeds it gets closer to a rotating speaker type of sound, but still I would expect much more depth from this effect. If you've listened to the Fulltone, Voodoo Labs or Vibezilla, you'll hear a heavy, thick "wowyow" type of vibe with a good amount of detune, etc. The VOX cannot get close to that in its vibe mode. In short, the Tremolo is great, the Vibrato needs to be MUCH THICKER!! Vibrato gets a "3".

Seems rugged. Nice box. HOWEVER, I'm gonna drop the rating a notch only because of a wierd thing I saw in the manual: the manual cautions against using it in "direct sunlight", "extreme temperatures and humidity", "dusty or dirty locations"... So, no summertime outdoor giggin'?? I dunno. We'll have to see. I just got the thing yesterday.

I've only dealt with VOX once in the past, and they were less than accommodating. I had a primary piece of gear break down and they claimed that they couldn't get a replacement part for around 8 weeks or some rediculous time frame. They didn't seem to care that I was a professional musician and I needed it up and running to get back on stage. I had my local tech source the part from a Mouser catalog.

I have been playing professionally for 25 plus years. I play all styles, (literally everything from classical to cajun and all points between) live, studio, commercial, etc. After listening to a billion sound clips, I purchased this unit without hearing it (no sound clips were available) because a) it combined the two effects I was looking for and b) it had the ramping feature which gradually sweeps between the two preset speeds. I really like the tremolo and the ramping feature. I like that it will run on a standard 9v adapter. It wins MAJOR MOJO KUDO's for its use of colorful speed indicator pulsing (red & blue) behind the tube. The speed controls are very good, nice range. Plenty of output, too, which is nice. HOWEVER... I wish it had a thicker, fatter Vibe setup. I own several guitars, lots of pedals and play through Sundown tube amps into a variety of cabinets. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably get something else. In fact, I may return it. I still have time. There's nothing wrong with the pedal, it just doesn't deliver what I purchased it for, which is that deep, throaty Trower/Hendrix vibe.

I found that a great sound could be had by setting the selector to trem/vibe.then setting the two outside knobs to full,and the two inside knobs to 3'oclock.To control the 'Ramp' speed,the second knod,or skew will work.I found out by accident at a rehersal when i had no ramp up.I got this pedal because of the ramp.

This effect covers a lot of space for me in copying sounds,like creedence,or trower,it also allows me to do things like organ type sounds,it works very well with my EV chorus.I am presently using this in a chain that includes a BBE boosta grade,35 year old thomas organ co. crybaby,marshall comp,tube works tube driver{it is the cats *ss} Onerr delay, Boss PS-2.EV chorus,Vibravox,Radial A/B box,fender stage tuner.I run these into a Vox ad50vt,and a Peavey classic 50 4 10.For guitars I use a 94 mexican strat with new pots and switch,and a 64 strat that has been much abused and tinkered with.There is some slight noise when the effect is on,but only when running gain boosting type effects.I like this effect,but I have not always liked many other of this type,and I avoided them for decades.So far this is real good to use

I don't know if I can depend on it.I also know there is no effect I need so bad that I couldn't play without it.

i have not dealt with vox

I play blues,rock,ska,punk,funk,country if I can't escape,metal,clean,dirty,quiet,loud, louder.so far it does ok.I have been playing for many moons,many many many moons.I have owned altogether a crappload of amps,fender, marshall,peavey,vox Kustom roll and pleats,sunn,etc.... if this were lost or stolen I would turn the amp up and plug strait in.Untill I could get another.I love the tone and two speeds,I hate that they actually thought that any one would be dumb enuff to put 20 bucks worth of batterys in it.I love the Ramp up and down.I compared it to the Boss rotating speaker emulater thing,It was good but I have been trying to get new effects that are true bypass.I play the guitar,effects add color but do not help or get in the way.

Pretty easy to use. Especially if you have used trem/vibe pedals in the past. Wish the knobs had more familiar names. Depth, shape, etc. But instead they give them some odder profiles.

The speed is the only thing you can change between the two channels. Which is probably the biggest drawback of this pedal. Having the ability to change the depth or shape or 'blend' between the two channels would be a nice addition.

UNIT NEEDS A RAMP SPEED KNOB!!!! (or the ability to turn the 'ramp' off)

There is an LED behind the tube that flashes with tempo. A+ for coolness!

Gets a 7 for the control layout and lack of needed controls.

Amazing sound quality! I have been using a VoodooLab Tremolo for the last couple of years, and a Boss TU-2 before that. I was about to buy a second VoodooLab model when this unit rolled in. But traded one of my many echo pedals in for this beautiful sounding trem.

the Trem is liquidy, and ranges from sublte to full on machine gun like trem. Solid tones that are smooth and never harsh. The volume knob is a must have on any and all trem pedals. This one can provide a large boost in volume if you set it to max.

The Vibe effect is also very sweet sounding. I have never really been a fan of it, but I'm happy to say I can bring it into my sound if I ever need it.

Compared to it's predecessors in my pedal board this unit is definatly the best sounding. That Tube just really warms everything up and just get rid of any 'digital' noise or clipping comonly plauging my tone. The Voodoolab is still in my kit as I feel it's more versatile in the sound category. And it's a friend I will never leave behind.


Did I mention I'm using this through an older 70's AC30? The trem in the real deal is not as sweet as this pedal. They took an old favorite and really made it sing!

New product... dont' know how great it will be on stage. Will be keeping my Vooodoolab Trem with me at all times for the first year of this pedals life.

Don't like the fact that the tube is only protected by small vents. I would feel better if there was some plexi glass or something there to prevent small objects from getting in.

never delt with vox. Everything but the AC30's are solid...but come on...if you buy an AC30 you have to understand it's going to blow up, it's part of the sound!! (and I love it!)

I play a lot of alt-rock, which is getting a lil heavier all the time. Trem is something I find that I can't live without in my sound, and having multiple trem settings/pedals has always been something I have needed. Until now I have just bent over and moved the knobs around, now I can just kick it over to the second speed mode.

This thing is great, giving me really warm open sounding trem clean tones, to heavily distorted chops when paired with my crowther audio hot cake.

I think overall it's a great pedal that will be with me for a long time, and seeing as how it takes up about the same ammount of room as two VoodooLab Trem's its just as good an option for me as a second black box.