Vox V809 Repeat Percussion

all you can do is adjust speed. as noted it's not a stomp box so you have to plug it in directly to your guitar or to the side of a pedal. this part is annoying.

Sounds amazing. Listen to spacemen 3...their music is drenched in this affect. It's the pulsing, hypnotic, vibrato effect that is all over the perfect prescription.

This effect was built into Pete's guitar.

Mine works well and I handle it gingerly. In terms of construction it is no Boss pedal. The construction is on par w/something from an old Atari 2600.

It doesn't exist. The wiring seems simple enough though where some electronics geek could probably fix it.

It is very psychedelic and is a huge part of my sound. The best vibrato effect I've ever heard. I play in a noise band and it gets peoples attention.

speed. you cannot adjust anything else.

I disagree that this is a tone sucker. i did not notice any tone suck.

This is a very cool effect. It is a TREMOLO. it does not sample your attack like the other reviews say. It is a very short ramp down waveform set at a depth of about 90% with a space between the ramps. this gives the illusion of an attack/decay that isn't there. remindes me of the banjo voice on some old organs.

I tried a lot of tremolo pedals trying to find this sound and not many things can do it. another old italian fuzz/wah/repeater pedal i once used sounded close. This effect is also built into some vox amps and guitars. The starsteamer for one.

In typical italian vox fashion these are made from the lowest quality and most breakable parts the 60's had to offer. It is a miracle that a working one exists at all.

to chang the battery you must take it apart. BE CAREFULL. there are little wires running between the two peices of the housing that easily can become detached from the board. I would recomend making a diagram of what color wire goes to where.

This is the holy grail of something. I'm not sure what to call it "repeaters"? All i know is it was a tone quest for me and in the end after years of try different things hoping for this sound i have found it with the repeat percussion.

Instant gratification. Nothing to edit, only a little dial to set repeat speed. Well on/off switch...
Plug and play...pa-pa-pa-pa-pa....etc.

Mine was a religious experience. this vintage mystic heaven.
Initially this mighty little gizmo is intended to be plugged directly to your guitar and then run a cable from its output towards the amp or whatever. After realizing that it was going a ridiculous waste of time trying to plug it into an stratocaster swiftly went for the Jazzmaster. EXCELLENT choice.

this little one samples your first pluck on the string and repeats it beautifully. No delay, nor echo, is difficult to explain, is a percussive repeat. At full speed does a nice warbling but very dry.

No significant signal alteration (I read about this being quoted as a voracious signal vampire) nor level or tone were affectedgat all. How ever IT DOES color your sound a bit.
Yeepeee!!

I used my little Orange Crush 15. Clean.

I guess is very reliable, looks very well built and I do not plan to tray hard on it, I bought it as a production sound option and I love it. is unique.

it will be a succesful experience if I run into such situation?, dunno about it.

I'm into anything goes...I love to discover neat, unique stuff like this.
I'm playing since 1988. i do not feel like listing all my gear.
I will hate to lose it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easiest part of this effect- an on/off switch and rate dial.

But but but there are major issues...you are supposed to plug the unit into your guitar and then run the output cable to your amp/pedal(s). Well I've got two BIG problems with that-
1. I have a Strat and I can't plug it directly in. buuuut....
2. I use a lot of pedals, I wouldn't want this to be the first effect in my chain. So in order to put it later on I kind of have to 'leech' it onto another pedal- by plugging it directly into the output of another pedal. It's like an effin symbiote...some may ask 'what is that mystery box sticking out of your Germ?'

Another issue is, since I put this in my effects chain, it's on the ground and has a manual on/off switch so I have to get down and flip it off BY HAND. Not sexy.

To prevent further confusion allow me to describe the box- it's about 2x2x2" ("what do you mean miniature? these are the dimensions you asked for--look, this is the napkin they gave me with the design...") A 1/4" input jack is on one side and the 1/4" plug is on another- crap, just look at this:

|-------|
| -----> (1/4" plug that's supposed to go into the guitar)
| VOX |
| |
|_______|
+++ <--(output jack)

Don't even get me started on battery switching.

Vintage. With vintage shortcomings such as:

TONE SUCK like a muther****! Your volume will drop and uh forget about that wonderful 'tone' coming from your axe. You will have to put this in an effects loop anyway (unless you plan on leaving this on or actually are bold enough to plug into your guitar) and if you don't have any boost pedals you're S.O.L. my friend. BE WARNED: You're going to have to put this into an effects loop or have a true bypass box just for this damn pedal if you expect to use it at a gig!


There are no controls for depth! When this thing is on...IT'S ON and it's on all the way baby!

So why an 8? Because this effect is what I've been looking for...bold and abrupt. It's kind of like a delay trying to act like a tremelo- AND THAT'S GREAT! The Repeat Percussion takes a split second sample of the intial attack and repeats it as the chord/note you are playing rings. Rate dial adjusts how slow/fast that repeat occurs...and what I love is that the rate can go from about a second between repeats to super fast stuttering. (Don't you hate knobs where there's really no change to the sound once you get past a certain position, or the rate change between the 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock isn't that much of a change at all?)

You know how some tremelos promise 'super deep helicopter swoosh' *coughcoughTHROBcoughcough* depth? Well this delivers (with the help of distortion of course) that chopp-pp-chop sound not by gating your volume, but by REPEATING your intial pick attack until the chord/note dies (does not continue to repeat when you stop playing so it's NOT A DELAY). I'm talking like that choppers flying overhead sound at the end of 'Evening with the Axolotis'.

Look I'm telling you, I work in Aviation with a bunch of Blackhawks landing and taking off all day...you can get those WHOOPWHOOPWHOOPWHOOP swooshes with some good bass.

This thing also sounds good clean...as long as you've got something to boost the signal this effect is doing it's damndest to suck away. I have a Germ and Mr. Squishy...they do a good job recovering the tone and bringing the volume level back with my overall sound. With the rate fast enough you get an odd hollow 'ping-pong' 8 bit video game sound that is unique.

I have not had this for that long so I really can't say...I think it could sustain a drop or two but the box is hard plastic so it may crack or something. Oh yes, can't forget it's old. However, I got this as 'New Old Stock' (aka sitting on a shelf for decades).

Make a plan for no support. Vintage. If you ask Vox about this effect, you may get a funny look in return.

I'll save all blah blah about me nonsense for now. Vox Repeat Percussion is what I expected the 'Chop' on my P.E. Throb to be (but wasn't). There are some logistical drawbacks, but the effect is worth it if you already have a good boost and/or effects loop. This would be a 10 if it was in pedal form and didn't suck the life out of my volume. I'm suprised these are so obscure.

I would buy it again, and as a matter of fact I'm considering getting an extra. It's a nice little box but don't pay more than 80 bucks for it.