Vox V810 Valve-Tone

I bought it used so there was no manual. But who cares it is very easy to edit patches. Only three chicken head knobes and paramater. It sounds straight forward or what?

I have standard american strats and Les Paul. My amp is a 69 silverface Fender super reverb (4X10"). My other effects are marshall vibroverb chorus, BOSS DD-3 digital delay, Boss super overdrive, VOX V847 wah and finally Ibanez TS-9 reissue which was my pride and joy once upon a time. But not anymore. As a SRV and Hendrix fan, I have only one word to say for VOX 810. PERFECT.....
OK let me explain the development of theis conclusion. First of all, the V810 does not change the original tone which I want to boost. This is very important for me because I am one of the guitarists who believe that the perfect clean tone is essential for perfect overdriven tone. Secondly, there is no doubt that V810's sound has a strong character. I mean, it is not a TS9 imitation but a better balanced blues pedal. If you are looking for extraordinary mid, look around somewhere else. This pedal gives just reasonable amount of mid. Not less, not much. The bass and treble is also very balanced and this enables the player to use power blues chords even with high overdrive. Finally, its true Bypass keeps your clean tone alive when you do not switch it on.

I've never had problem with it. Its chasis seems reliable. In fact I never play without backup and I am using backup for this one too. Once I was using MXR distortion + (you know this little tank), even that time I used backup pedals with it.But I thing it deserves at least 9. It never let me down since I bought it.

I have NO IDEA...Sorry

I mainly play blues and rock. I like to play SRV, Hendrix, Robben Ford etc. I have been playing for almost 12 years As I said before it is a perfect match for blues and rock in terms of light drive or booster. I it were stolen I would definitely look for another V810. Unfortunately I think it is hard to find nowadays. I think, Guitarists they began to realize how well this monster is. And also VOX does not produce this anymore. Soem day this will be a collectible item folks. I'm telling you....
In addtion to its sound the look of the pedal is owesome. Looks like alredy vintage. And of course it is cheap in comparison with other "famous" ones like TS 808, TS 9 or DOD 250. Consequently, I strongly recommend this pedal to anyone who wants to play straight blues and rock. At least try one, you don't lose a thing ha?

3 knobs and uses a standard 9v adapter. Couldn't be more logical to dial in your sound. I A/Bed the pedal to see how close it is to true tube overdrive, see my Sound Quality comments. The ByPass and the construction quality of the pedal is superior, much nicer in most repsects than the Ibanez TS9/808 in my opinon.

I used my reference Strat, with Kinman pups. I ran the pedal into my 100w Rivera, British and American channel, A/B both clean and dirty.
The result was the V810 emulates the overdriven sound of Rivera running dirty on the British side perfectly. I couldn't tell the difference between the amp in high overdrive, and the amp clean with the pedal active. Creamy.

On the American (Fender) channel the story is a lot different. the pedal washes out the notched mids and converts the Fender clean sound to more of a Marshall sound, and as a result it doesn't sound anything like the Rivera clean side in overdrive. Here the Ibanez TS pedals might be a better choice.

So, the bottom-line is, terrific overdrive for that classic British vibe. However, it flatten's Fender amp frequencies to the point it doesn't sound much like a Fender, even when exaggerating the mid-range notch.

Since it's a Vox-British overdrive I guess it should earn a 10.

Again, you might want avoid this pedal if you're doing that American Tweed thing. If you're looking for that classic British overdrive, not grunge or shred metal, than this is your pedal. Considering how well made they are, how cool they look, and how inexpensively they are - wow. Earns a 10 because Vox suceeded in nailing the sound they helped invent with a pedal that's under $100.

It is an overdrive pedal ,not a woman, so it is easy to understand.
Three knobs-level ,tone,gain.You have to tweak depending what you want.True by-pass!!!!!I use an AC adapter so I don`t have to unscrew the bottom to replace the batery...unfriendly way ,that is why I give it a 9.

My set up is a `95 strat with hsh pu`s configuration(Barden`s two-tone
in neck and bridge position and s-standard in the middle)-V810-TS9-Ibanez AF9-TCelectronic SCF(chorus-flanger)-Ibanez AD9-various amps(Fender Quad reverb and H&K Tube 20...)It is not noisy and the sound is awesome.I use in two ways,either as a booster(level max,gain zero)or as overdrive(gain 3o`clock)In both ways it doesn`t color the sound of my guitar as the TS9 does.It has not much gain as TS9.As a booster
it preserves my clean sound(alla Dire Straits,JJ cale).As an overdrive
it starts to do the sound that remainds me to a champagne.The drive is like those bubbles that play in your mouth.Like a happy cat when you touch her belly and caress her.It is not a heavy sound.I can get the sound of Jimi Hendrix`s first notes of 1983...from Electric Ladyland or the sound of Axis:bold as love.For heavier sound I run the V810 and the TS9 together.It works fine with HB and SC pick ups.
I give it a 9 just because HOPE is what we need but to be honest for what it is it does for 10.

Well to be honest I do not gig around as a professional.I ussually play at home or rarely in another place where we can turn tha amps
louder(the house is in the wood).It seems solid but I realy don`t know if the components are of good quality,so I am not going to rate this one

I don`t know so no rate.

I`m playing since I was 9 and I`m 35 now.My first electric guitar was
a `79 strat back in the 1982(gone)I used to play and tried to play Hendrix`s songs and Pink Floyd,Jefferson Airplane,Rolling Stones,Lynrd Skynrd so you got the picture what kind of music inspired me.We all know that Hendrix used fuze face but what he did
with the amps is still a mistery but anyway i can get some sounds with
this pedal.So the point is you love some sounds more today and some sound more tomorrow and the question is what are you going to do with these sounds.You can`t play hard core heavy metal stuff with this pedal.You should try with your gear every pedal and see if you like it
before you buy anything.I tried to explane the sound comparing it to the bubbles of champagne and not to coca cola .It is individual.As for the guy that sold me the TS9 for 15 bucks because he thought that the pedal was not working properly,than I realised he likes heavy metal and he couldn`t get any heavy soundfrom it.We have an expression in Croatia that goes:100 men,100 wonders.

Three Knobs. User Friendly. No need for a manual..

Excellent top notch overdrive/crunch for rhythm work and mild-moderate gain for classic rock and blues. Great for 60's and 70's rock especially. Was not designed for heavy rock/metal so don't mark it down because of that.

Never failed yet. Used for 6 months constant gigging so far.

N/A. Never had to go there..

Overall rating a "10". Please consider this...Even used and now a collectable pedal, they can be had for $100 or less if you find one at auction. TS-9 and many others are similarly priced but aren't as good, and this pedal also has DPDT switch/true bypass, very uncommon in this price range. A future collectable...get one now for $100 or less while you can...

Three knobs, level, drive and tone. Very easy to use.

I mainly use my V810 with three guitars, Fender Jaguar, Epi Casino and Tokai Tele. My amp is early 70's Fender Pro Reverb and I must say that pedal works just great with this setup! Nice smooth and warm overdrive! And VERY transparent. I've tried before with several pedals like Dano, Ibanez, Dunlop etc. but always I end up same conclusion: The pedal itself coloured sound way too much! But with this box I haven't had that kind of problems!! Natural sound of guitar and amp is still there!!! Awesome!!

Metal box, built like a tank. No problems so far.

I haven't never need any kind of support, so...

What can I say. The best overdrive pedal I have ever use! Only thing that decrease points from 10 to 9 is country of manufacture... China.

THIS THING IS GREAT AND EASY TO USE..VOL,TONE,AND GAIN.ITS ALL YOU NEED FOR AN OVERDRIVE.

THE QUALITY SOUND ON THIS LITTLE MONSTER IS DEFFENETLY FANTASTIK
TRUE BYPASS.I USE THIS BABY WIYH A CASINO EPI,LES PAUL,AND A TELE.
ALL RUN THRU A VOX AC30 TBX.I COULD ACTUALLY GET THE SOUND I WANT,LIKE BEATLES 1965-1970 ERA,THE KINKS,U2,SODA STEREO,CURE,SMITHS,SOUNDGARDEN,SRV,RADIOHEAD,PETTY,CRANBERRIES,OASIS,AND MANY MORE.GOOD FOR 60'S AND ROCK ALTERNATIVE MUSIC,EVEN BLUES.

I BOUGHT THIS MONSTER WHEN IT CAME OUT PROBABLY 1999 I THINK AND I HAVN'T GOT A PROBLEM SINCE THAN SO I THINK IS RELIABLE.

NOT YET DEALTH WITH,NO PROBLEMS YET...

I PLAY 60'S,BLUES AND ALTERNATIVE MUSIC AND THIS TANK DOES THE JOB,FORGET THE TUBE SCREAMER WHICH I HAD AND SOLD IT,IT WAS NOT THE REAL THING I WAS LOOKING UNTIL THIS MONSTER CAME OUT,IT DOES MAKE MY MUSIC SOUND THE GOOD IF NOT THE BEST ESPECIALLY WITH THE GEAR I HAVE WHICH IS A CASINO,LES PAUL AND AN AMERICAN TELE,ALL HOOK TO MY BEAUTIFUL RE-ISSUE VOX AC30 TBX.ALL MY STUFF SOUNDS VERY INTELECTUAL,SO BEAUTIFUL THAT MAKES MY WANNA CRY. IF YOU COME ACCROSS ONE TRY IT WITH YOUR GEAR,FEEL IT,AND TASTE IT.I THINK THEY DISCONTINUE THEM SO YOU MIGHT GET IT USED,SOORY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
YOU MISSED IT NEW,THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL GET IT IS USED...///0-0\\\ PEACE AND LOVE...

Three knobs- level, drive, tone. Throw the manual away, or use it as a coaster, mop up spills, roaches, whatever. You won't be needing it, and it's not terribly informative anyway.
There isn't a bad sound in this thing unless you've broken it. Just plug it in and be impressed. There's not an awful lot of variation, other than the amount of overdrive, but it's such a great sound, who cares? The knobs are nice and smooth, the switch feels pretty solid. No worries...

I tried this thing out initially with a crappy strat copy in the store, and it sounded great. So it was no surprise to get it home and have it sound even better with my Fender JD Tele. My spare guitar is a Korean Squier strat, which has always been a little lacking in the treble strings. A little boost on the tone control fixed that instantly.
It's not a Metal Zone, and if you try to make it be one it's just going to laugh at you and make fun of your mullet. What it is is a very natural sounding overdrive with not too much drive, but a sweet, transparent sound that really lets your guitar's natural tone come through. It reminded me of SRV, and a little of Richie Sambora in his bluesy moments. NO, not 'Living on a Prayer'. I got a pretty close approximation of CSNY's 'Ohio' sound too...
I A/B'd it with a Boss SD-1 in the store for reference, and it's got about half as much range on the drive control and sounds less aggressive and much clearer, more 'retro'. Turning it on kinda makes your guitar sound like a bigger, meatier version of its clean sound. It's been described as a pedal for people who like the sound of their guitars, and that's about right. It really seems to bring out the nuances- the 'strat-ness' or the 'tele-ness', rather than covering your guitar sound with 'Valve-tone'.
Now here's the weird part. Although the pedal sounds totally natural on it's own, when I ran it in my effects chain-

DOD Classic Fuzz->Crybaby wah->Valvetone->Danelectro Dan-Echo

it had a really strange effect on the DOD Fuzz. Now this is a Fuzz pedal, right? It's a nasty, evil fuzzy disgusting thing that crackles and fizzes and only does lo-fi, but when I ran the Valvetone as well, expecting a slight boost- POW! smoother than James Bond's pick up lines!
It cleaned up all the high-end scuzz and gave me a clear, smooth, sustaining, saturated-but-controlled sound that was miles away from anything you'd expect from a fuzz pedal. Cool.
There's a little background noise, especialy when you dime the level to do the tubescreamer thing with a tube amp, but not so much that it gets in the way, and much less than on other ODs.
Most of my initial trying out was done on my home amp, which is a Laney GC 30 30W SS amp, set clean, but the sound was equally good on my gigging/rehearsal amp, a Fender Bassman 135, (channels bridged, flat out, master on 2-3) although the character of the amp did alter the tone slightly.

The metal casing looks similar to the Vox wah pedals- die-cast base w/ chrome top, so I have no worries about that. The circuit boards and soldering look very neat. The switches are a little suspect, according to people who've had their pedals longer than me, so we'll see... It isn't going to be hard to switch out though, it's just a regular MXR/EH type switch. Nine because it's only a few weeks old and only time will tell...

Never tried. They don't make 'em any more, so getting a replacement is out. I'd like to ask them what the hell they were thinking discontinuing such a great pedal...

I've been playing the best part of ten years, but only recently have I developed such insatiable gear-aholism. I've played all kinds of things, from 60's garage rock to Metallica covers over the years, but mostly when I buy gear now it's to get the sounds I want, and the band can go eat doody. Saying that, every guitarist in the world needs a good, natural sounding OD, and this one is the dog's pods.
If this thing were stolen I think I'd have to go all freakin' Arnold Schwarzenegger on whoever did it. "You stoal my peddel, now I haff to kill youer whoal freakin' fammily!" They don't make these anymore, like I said, so it's not like I can go buy another one.
Fair enough, some people can't be bothered tracking down rare stuff, or can't understand what's wrong with just buying a Boss pedal, and that's fine. There are plenty of good OD pedals around, but I've never played one this good. My one piece of advice would be to get a 9V adaptor, because you'll never turn this thing off!

a stamp box with 3 knobs,so easy.

i use it with my lonestar stat, and l love the tone by using the neck pick-up.warm, smooth and so sweet. in addtion, comparing with my marshall bluesbreaker ( origiall black box), the vox has more gain, and the control knob does its job very well. i only use bluesbreaker when i only need light overdrive level. i have not got the chance to try a ts-9 or fulldrive cos they are too pricy.

just have it used for half of a year,so...

it suits my bluesy taste very well and you also can play some funky rock riff upon them. i used to have the vox distirtion as well but i sold it late cos i more go to the overdrive, and i would like to sell my bluesbreaker as well if it is not getting rare. now i am thinking it is not worthy to spend more on a effect unit,eccept it is a wah.

Simple to use, cool chicken knobs.

Sounds great with a Les Paul into VHT Pittbull in clean mode. Huge sustain, no noise, sweet distortion with a load of tone. It doesn't affect your guitars tone at all. Distorts really weel a bass too!

Trust it.

I guess it's not needed at all, cause it lasts for ever. It is so, damn well built.

If you want a good piece of gear just buy it, it will never let you down and it will never cause you problems of any kind. Much fatter tone than the Tubescreamer.

Very easy... just three knobs. My only complaint here (and this is very minor) is that the LED can be kinda hard to see if the unit is on or not. This is because the surrounding chrome reflects the lights of your studio into the LED making it look questionable if it is on or off.

Very very nice. Smooth overdrive, but not high gain or even medium gain for that matter. It is quiet and sounds great in front of a Big Muff to get that over-the-top sound. BUT...
I swapped back and forth between this thing and my DOD Juice Box. No matter what setting I put the Vox at, I could tweak the DOD to sound EXACTLY the same. I could also get my DOD to do things that the Vox couldn't do. For a few brief moments I thought the Vox sounded nicer, but then I'd switch back to the DOD and wonder if I was just hearing things. My DOD is about 1/3 the price of the Vox, so I sold the Vox.

Built like a tank. This is the only good reason IMO to buy the V810 instead of the DOD Juice Box.

Very good unit. Looks beautiful. Sounds smooth. But you get better bang for your buck by buying the DOD Juice Box.