Vox V810 Valve-Tone

EZ..

at one time i had a vox v837 distortion and it just didn't work out for me at that time w/that rig (no disrespect) but becuz of that i was a little aprehensive about buying this V810 pedal but i got a deal, & based on some of the reviews i read here... i say what the heck
This time i was NOT disappointed and also I'd say thet the reviews i read here were pretty right on the money .. i was REALLY surprised at how good it was , i A/B'd w a Ibanez TS-10 a Boss SD-1 and it held it's own and then some... i agree w / a reviewer below about how well it handles chord work ... of course i'm keeping all the above pedals but the point is the V810 valve tone is not 2nd to any of them - i was mainley switching back and forth between a 88 USA Fender Tele and another dual PAF tele but also a 84 jap strat - it was outstanding all around - the funny thing is that earlier.. i was already planning on selling it before i even got it home, i wasn't expecting much from it at all , but it won me over right away - now i'm giving it a 9.6 but i'm rounding up

one note here.... mine does not pop when i switch it off & on - i didn't notice anything sub standard about it at all...

cmon man, you know your on your own...

the v810 valve tone (imho) is kinda between the Boss SD-1 and the Ibanez TS-10 but it has it's own flavor too - you can also tell they're all from the TS family - the sd-1 can be so smooth (w/strat) and the TS-10 can be smooth too but REALLY shines when it screams (w/tele) while the V810 covers almost the same territory as the other two but i think i like it BEST w/ pafs - don't get me wrong i LOVE it w/ strat & tele too ! and also these are not being made any more so grab one while you can for not too much money ... even better that way... OH ONE MORE THING before i got this i tried to listen to sound samples on you-tube but the ones i heard sounded like the V837 distortion (which wasn't my fav) so don't trust that... TRY IT YOURSELF !!!

The Vox is extremely easy to use, I bought it used, so I dont have a manual, but it functions pretty much exactly like any other overdrive. With a bit of tweaking, it functions as a dirty boost, distortion, etc. Its my favourite overdrive, and i've found it comparable to my Hot Cake overdrive. Almost any setting will deliver a great tone. I personally favour a 10 o'clock volume with tone and gain at 12.

I normally run this overdrive with an Eric Johnson Strat and a 1962 Vibrolux, and it sounds great. Its not noisy, theres no hum, and it works exceptionally well with my Sovtek Mig60, as well as my les paul/Starfire IV

Now, this is unfortunate, as this is where this pedal takes a turn for the worse. Now, granted, i bought this used, but frankly, broken pedals arent terribly useful, and ive been having a constant struggle with this pedal to get it to function properly. My gain knob died, the volume cuts in and out unexpectedly, and the tone knob occasionally ceases to function as well. If this pedal didnt sound so damn good, i would have tossed it by now.

No contact.

As an eclectic musician(blues/jazz/country/rock/etc), i have never been let down by the sound of this pedal. The only thing that is not worthy of a ten is the build quality, which is highly suspect, as I read reviews from others having the same problems. If you can find and or afford this pedal, and you dont mind having it fixed once in a while, its amazing. Otherwise, find a Hot Cake or similar pedal.

no brainer... gain, tone, level

After all these years, it's still my favorite low-gain OD pedal. I use it to push the front end of my tube amps. Tried just about everything & always come back to the VT.

This pedal has a nice "Voxy" mid freq that puts a punch to the mids on a clean amp, or pushes a clippy amp into full OD. I like to use it with the gain almost off... typically 9 o'clock & the level at 3 o'clock.

Sounds great with all guitars & all amps. (I typically use a Matchless lightning, Bad Cat Cub II, Vox AC30, & a 60's Fender Vibrolux Reverb. Guitars are strats, teles, LPs with P90s, & sometimes a Gretsch)

It has it's shortcomings. I suggest... 1) Replace the bypass switch with a good one & wire for true bypass. Add 1Meg bleed resistors to prevent "pop" 2) some early version pedals had a little yellow cap & resistor on the output jack to ground... I remove it if it is present. 3) Replace jacks with high quality switchcraft. 4) Replace LED with high brightness RED or BLUE. Do these mods & the pedal will work flawlessly for years.

Does not exist...

With all the hype surrounding OD pedals, I am surprised the Valve-Tone doesn't get more attention... I own TS9s like everybody else, but still favor the VT for lower gain OD. I own several of these & haven't paid more than $50 for any of them. Great value, grab one if you can. If you don't like it, email me & I'll buy it from you. :)

Bought mine used, no manual, no problem.

American Series Strat (ES335/Carvin DC200)->CMAT Mods Compressor->Vox Crybaby->Vox Valve-Tone->EHx Holier Grail->t.c. Nova 1 Delay->BBE Sonic Stomp->Hot Rod DeVille 4x10.

Great, smooth sound for blues, rock, jazz. I keep the tone set at "0" for most applications.

Zero problems so far. Heavy chromed case, appears to be well-made internally.

Discontinued; mfg support n/a.

Purchased used, with a BRIGHT blue LED and a Fulltone switch already installed. No popping, on/off status easy to see day or night. It's a permanent part of my signal chain (as much as anything ever is). If lost or stolen, I'd try to find another.

As easy as it gets. Three knobs, and it's actually hard not to get a nice sound out of it.

A very nice vintage-sounding overdrive, and the added noise is very reasonable. I like it better with my Les Paul Special, and it sounds kind of thin to me with my Strat. Plays all the 60's stuff you want - the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Who, the Beatles - you name it.

Seems solid enough to me. I'm not too hard on my pedals though. The slanted footswitch problem that someone her had mentioned - well, I've never found the footswitch to be particularly vulnerable. All the glossy chrome requires a lot of wiping though.

no idea

This is the way to go if you want something different from a generic tubescreamer. I wouldn't exactly call it 'versatile', it's more of a one-trick pedal and does not do more than overdrive. But it's definitely a great-sounding overdrive.
These used to sell fo under 50 bucks at Guitar Center back in 1998, I wish I was smarter and bought one then. They get increasingly hard to find and the average price for a used pedal is about $90 now. I got lucky to get a new one for a hundred, and hell, I'll make sure it doesn't get stolen, becasue I'd hate to go looking for another one.

Simple as 1-2-3.

This is a follow up to a review I did three years ago for this pedal. The footswitch broke after a while and I tried to replace it with a switch from Maplin (big mistake) but that didn't last. I then replaced it with a heavy duty switch from an amp manufacturer (local) and it has been trouble fre ever since. In fact it has been very well used for gigging and recording.

Fantastic quality overdrive, nice and smooth. Has the sound and looks of a much more expensive valve powered pedal.

Since I replaced the switch, no problems and no audible popping sound when switched.

Never tried to use them.

A wonderful pedal at a bargain price. I have yet to compare it to a true valve overdrive, but I have a fender deluxe with inbuilt valve drive channel. I often prefer the VOX sound to the amp's own overdirve.

I can see this VOX on my pedal board for a very long time indeed.

I plugged it in, stepped on it, played for a while and got some great sounds from it; Beatles-taxman and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, to the who-my generation, love that the 9v input is on the side(saves space on my pedalboard). Manual is ok and has all the information you need.

This is the best overdrive i have ever tried. Rock'n'Roll all the way! I just fell in love with it. Perfect for BritPop (Oasis, Blur, Verve..). I use a fender japan tele, TU-2, CS-2, V810, TS9, Muff, Maxon CS-550, DD-6, PN-2 throug a fender Princeton and a Hot Rod Deville 212.

Have had no problems yet, and dont belive I'll ever have. Buildt in a beautiful stealbox with quality rubber on top and feet, matches perfectly with the v-847 wah. I don't have backups for any of my gear. Just pray before gigs, has worked 140 times so far.

Have played for ten years, mainly british rock. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy a new one and keep it in my underwear to protect it. Vox should reissue this one, but on the other side I like that people ask what it is when they see it.

I first reviewed this pedal four years ago. It hasnt' went anywhere since.
That should tell you plenty in this overdrive of the week market we're in.
Very easy to use. 3 chickenheads. No muss, no fuss. The only problem I've
encountered is the dim, amber colored LED. None too easy to see. So I'll give it
a 9 here.

I go from Peterson Strobostomp tuner > Crybaby Classic wah > Vox Valve Tone >
Fulltone OCD > Maxon AD999 delay > Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb

The key to my tone remains the Vox. Harmonic content, perfect low end, definition,
musicality. A truly stellar pedal, better than any tubescreamer or variant I've tried.
Again, this comes after four years of consistant use, so this is no honeymoon. It's a
marriage. This pedal goes to 11 in terms of quality tone, but HCs max rating is 10.
10 it is for tone.

Ok, here's the only place where I have to scold my little Vox. The exterior is rock solid.
The components, particularly the chip, are top notch. However, the switch has always
popped a little on the first engagement. It's now popping pretty much everytime.
These discontinuned gems orginally sold for 60 clams. (Now fetching 100 clams due
to its reputation.) So what do you want? Give her a 9 here.

Discontinued pedal, so this doesn't really apply. I plan on sending my little buddy
to analogman, or some other pro to install a new switch and a bright blue LED.
Then she will be the puuuuuurfect OD pedal. They better not damage it, or change
its tone in any way, or they're cruisin for a brusin. Still a fantastic pedal after four years.
Think I might hunt down another for a backup.

Not much left to say. If you're looking for a transparent overdrive that doesn't
sound like all the others, this is the prime ticket. Works great for the Blooze, everything
from Chicago to electric Delta. Slappy and fun for funk, particularly with some wah.
Will do Beatles chimeydirt. Will put a grin on your face.

It's just as easy as a tube screamer or any other overdrive pedal, just three knobs and a switch.

This is really the important part. I come from a background of blues, so I'm going for the traditional sound of an overdriven tube amp. I have a TS-9 modded by Analogman, and I also have an original TS-10 with the JRC4558 chip, both sound just right for that blues sound (SRV). I've put this Valvetone side by side with the Tube Screamers and I can hear NO difference. It's just as nice!!! Actually, I like it more just because it has slightly more overdrive when the gain is cranked. But it's nice and smooth with the gain down. It has the usual midrange hump like the tube screamers. All-in-all, it's a boutique quality pedal, for a really low price! I'll give it a 9 only because there's a slight pop when you engage the switch, but that's not uncommon for a 3pdt switch.

It's been very dependable. I would definately use it without a backup. It's extremely solid and heavy, with that chrome cover and solid housing, you can't go wrong.

Never dealt with the company.

These were discontinued by Vox after only a couple years of production I think. I got a first year pedal because as soon as I heard it I knew it was a bargain. You can find them on Ebay once in a while for cheap. Not only do they sound fantastic, they are BEAUTIFUL pedals, and they are built like a tank. Another plus, if you have one of these, not many people do, so they get noticed, it's like having a rare boutique pedal. I use it every gig. The only problem is the LED which is a very dim yellow color. I had it modified by a local tech with a bright blue led, but it's really just a cosmetic thing.

my son of three knows what to do with it.....

very good, crunchy, I used it a lot for rithme and when playing leads I pushed it up with a Boss SD-1 to get a very rich tone.
If you want to play solo on this thing my guess is that it's to dusty or muddy sort of speak, but for chords it's very good

No f****** chance, the layout of the pedal is wrong, the surface where the switch is on is angled to much. Maybe it's just me, but I had to replace it twice already, ok , in 6 years. I do gig with it, but I only use it when I need to break out of the mix now as it is in front of my Mesa V-Twin. I replaced the switch myself, even that is childs play. ;-)
The nuts drive you nuts as well..... ;-)

never dealt with them as I repair my own stuff.

good nifty little thing, but if you don't use it a pedal case or something (so I mean a loose pedal that you pack in a softbag every night ;-) you will have to buy ten of them not to have a problem.

Simple as can be. The tine knob does make a difference and Gain and Level are self explanitory.

Great sounding overdrive, similar to Tubescreamer or Tubeblower. Certainly got its own character and I alternate it with my Tubeblower to vary my sound during a gig. It has a nice fat sound and gets really dirty at full gain. I really like it.

Okay for 12 months, then the foor switch broke. I tried to replace it myself, but it seems to have problems cutting out intermitently. Maybe that's my fault and I shouild have it fixed by an expert. Otherwise the pedal is solid and the knobs are big and chunky.

N/A

If it hadn't broke I would probably never bought another overdrive pedal. It has a great sound and is way better than my old Boss SD-1. It compliments my fender hotrod amp very well. Overall a great sound, shame about the build quality.

It couldn't be easyer!!!! Just plug and play. Volume, Gain and Tone!

I use a Big Muff > Ernie Ball Volume > Dunlop Rotovibe > Dunlop Crybaby > Ibanez PUE7 (Tube Screamer + Tube Drive + Digital Delay + Chorus Rotary) > DOD Envelope Filter > MXR Dyna Comp > Boss Octave 2 > Boss OD3 > Vox Valve Tone. I use a Boss TR-2 > Boss DD3 > Boss Super Shifter > Electro harmonix Deluxe Memory man plugged into de PUE7 Fx Loop.
I use a fender '52 telecaster butterscotch blonde, a fender strat 60 player w/texas special pu's a Gibson Les paul Calssic 1960 Goldtop and other axes, all run mainly into a Fender Twin Reverb. I also use a Fender Blues Junior and a MESA BOOGIE DC5. I play with a lot of bands and in very different palces, so many times i have to play with other amps like marshalls, h&K etc.
I never play without my VOX VALVETONE. I leave it on all the time, for the extra fatness and the soft crunch. It gets any amp play right, specially the Twin Reverb wich is to clean for me (except when i play jazz or bossa nova). I use with the volume at max the gain at minimum and the tone at minimum or 9 o'clock.
It makes a litle noise when you turn it on or off, but since i leave it on all the time...
i'm think about getting another one.
It makes other overdrive pedals sound great. The Big Muff sounds full and rich.

Never had a problem and i own it for 10 years

never needed it

It's my main thing. I never play without it. It's allways on.

It has the same bloody controls as a tube screamer. Unless you're retarded, you should have no problems.

I use les pauls into marshalls. My review is split into 2 sections 1) Pre-mod: sounded just like a tube screamer(TS) but with the highs slightly attenuated so it was less harsh. Not much low end. Mid-hump like all TS's. Tone knob was not useable after 2 o'clock. Drive knob delivers good sounds throughout its entire sweep, which is rare enogh for any pedal, much less one that costs so little.Basically a medium-lite gain one-trick pony 2) post-mod: tried to clone a keeley-style TS mod for the valvetone. Now its a lot better, there is MUCH more low end, more drive, more gain and less of the mid-hump. Basically this pedal is for those of you who want a TS style drive pedal but don't want to be seen with one of those green beasts. It really sounds similar to a TS, and any mod available for TS's is also applicable to this pedal(look insde, it's virtually identical to a TS)and will improve its tone in the same way. good pedal for a good price, but only after a mod. If you mod it properly, its a real gem. Oh, the LED is bloody useless, especially if you are playing in the daytime, in the open, then you won't be able to see shit, it's GOT to be changed. It's also really pretty...

Have owned this pedal for over 10 yrs. was reliable as hell before i modded it, is still reliable as hell now. the switch is over 10 years old and has been used and abused at countless jams and gigs and is still working fine!!(i guess i've jinxed it now). Would definitely gig without a backup.

never dealt with the company.
As for repairing it or modding it, if you can mod a TS, you can mod or repair this, its exactly the same! Not a complex pedal at all component count is very low.

I play blues/funk/rock. This pedal is a good match for what i play. Have ben playing for 15 yrs have owned almost every drive/TS style pedal/clone under the sun (ebay is addictive and dangerous!)This is not the best clone avalable(Barber Direct Drive gets my vote for that)but if you want an attractive, cheap TS style pedal to mod this is perfect for you and it will really SING once you mod it properly. It was decent when it was original, it is GREAT now its been modded. Yes i would buy it again, if it were stolen it would really hurt cos i've owned/used it for so long that its got a fair amount of sentimental value attached. So...if you like TS's, buy it, its a great little pedal.

It's only got three knobs: Volume, Tone and Gain. Very straightforward... Completely stock... Didn't come with a manual, but you shouldn't need a manual to dictate your sound...

I've tried several overdrive pedals and this one seems the most transparent and doesn't color my guitar tone at all. I'm using a Gibson SG w/ P-90's and a stock American Telecaster into a Fender Concert amp. The only other pedals I use are a ProCo Rat and sometimes a Boss delay (but only rarely, 'cause it sucks the tone). I set it with Volume at 2 o'clock, Tone at 3 o'clock and Gain at 11 o'clock. Anything above that on the gain and it starts to sound the same. Also, I find the tone doesn't have enough variety (i.e. it sounds warm up until around 2 o'clock. Anything above that is too harsh - I end up using the tone turned up high on the pedal and adjust the tone with the tone knob on my guitars.

In terms of sound, it's great for blues and brit-rock type sounds. Think the Beatles "Revolver", or with the gain around 9 o'clock, early Who recordings. In terms of response, it cleans up nicely when you lessen your attack or lower the volume on the guitar. It's one of the few OD pedals I've tried that doesn't seem to color my guitar sound at all. However, I do feel like it thins out the bass sound a little bit - I'm starting to look at boutique pedals, but this pedal just sounds great. It's a pretty quiet pedal compared to other OD pedals, but as with others, it will give a bit of a hiss at higher volumes - especially since my sg w/ p-90's and teles are single-coil guitars. It does have a nasty pop the first time you turn it on, so make sure you click it on and off before cranking your volume. It's true bypass as well, unlike tubescreamers and boss pedals. For the price, I think it's a better value than a lot of pedals out there without forking for boutique pedals.... Make sure you always have fresh batteries or an adapter in it though as once the battery starts going, the tone is horrible and it really squashes the signal...

I've gigged with this for about a year and a half without a back-up and it's held up pretty well. However, the construction looks a little shoddy. In fact, I think the footswitch is about to go. Sometimes I stomp on it and the OD only sometimes kicks in.... So, I bought a Boss SD-1 for a backup for our last gig and sure enough, the Vox pedal died during sound check..... Not sure who to send it to in order to get it fixed as they don't make these pedals anymore...

n/a. Have not dealt with them. Will probably try and get my pedal fixed locally. Hopefully, someone can fix it....

For the style of music I play, it's perfect. I've got a ProCo rat for heavier distortion sounds, but this is an excellent overdrive pedal and, for the price, it's very transparent and it's true bypass... Only complaint is lack of tone variety and the bass sound seems to be a bit diminished when the effect is on. Just wish it was built a little sturdier, but I guess I got a year and a half's use out of it...

it easy one button three knobs the light is a b*tch to read sometimes

im using a parker p 38 standard into a v830 booster(much better pedal) a fender blues deville (4 X 10)
and i can get some good blues tones but nothing else do not expect this to give you and kind of scream

noisy when running both the v830 and the v810

no trouble yet... but bring a spare battery to a gig its hard to tell when it getting low

never delt with them

great for svr tone blues and nothing else if you looking for the more classic rock solo distortion go for the v830 its better (cheaper too!!)

Stomp on switch, twist a few chicken head knobs and you're cookin'!

My setup goes: Fender Strat(kinman woodstock pickups)Fulltone Clyde deluxe wah-Fulltone deja vibe-Custom made Fuzz (used a a boost with the fuzz down slightly) vox V810-Danelectro echo-Akai tuner-Fender 63'Blackface bassman head into Marshall 4x12" with celestion greenbacks. I find the pedal does not color my sound and is not noisy, it's a great pedal for light rock/ blues, and with humbuckers will give you some great vintage lead sounds, but as I use a strat with single coils, I need to boost the signal going into it for some superb solo sounds, note ,this is a players pedal, it wont mask your sloppy playing like a "supermetaldeathslayingturbobooster" but if you love the tone of your guitar and amp but wish you had a little more drive and sustain,track one of these down!I have been playin over 32 years and in the past couple of years had and disgarded various pedals including: Voodoolab sparkledrive/Jaques tubeblower/Fulltone 69/more Roger Mayer pedals than I care to remember/Barber dd/Barber dd ss/Boss BD2/Boss SD1 and Keely modded TS9, now I am not saying these pedals don't cut the mustard, but I was looking for something else, and by chance came across the Vox V810...It looks like I can stop looking!!!Also i have had a look inside and see that it has the same rare chip TL4558P inside that my Keeley modded TS9 had....can't be bad.

Only had it a while ,no problems so far, but anything will break down eventually! Its a few years old already, and still workin fine.

This pedal is discontinued,but if I have any probs. I have a good tech. who will sort it.

This pedal is a little gem, if I find another I will buy it.It can be used as a almost clean boost, and anything else from Jazz to rock.
I recomend as with any pedal try it out with your own gear in a live band situation, thats when you will find a pedals faults,I looked on this site for comments about it and by and large they are spot on! It has not got the best tone sweep that ive heard, but I have tone controls on my guitar and amp!!It also gets along fine with my other pedals.

2 knobs not complicated at all, s

ive tried it with a fender super 60 rackmount head into a marshall cabinet , with a musicman custom with empg pickups, I am able to get a crunchy but light rock guitar sound.
also with a fender bassman reissue strat guitar I can get a open chord playing type of sound , kind of like guns & roses type of sound, very cool sound.
I will not do a gig or even rehearse with my band if I do not have this pedal, If you see one at a store please email so I can buy it!

new batteries do make a difference ive had it for about 4 years no problems

never dealt with them

this pedal is awsome, I play from funk to reggae to punk hardcore latin rock, if you have a overdrive pedal already add this one and it will sound better warmer, if you want to play blues this is it, whatelse can I say , after 4 or more years with it I want another one

Pretty easy to use: gain, tone and volume knobs. The yellow led makes it hard to see when the pedal is on. Eats batteries easily (so I recommend using the AC Jack).

I can get great overdriven tones using it with my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI and Gibson ES 335. It gives me an amazing tone like The Who's Live at Leeds with this setup. I've tried a lot of overdrives before I go for the Valve Tone (Ibanez TS 9, Marshall Drivemaster, Dano Daddy O, Boss ODs and Rats are some of these), but this was the only one which gave the sound I was looking for.
The bad points: it only sounds good with new batteries, so it's better use the AC adapter for a nice tone. It's a bit noisy too (probably due to cheap construction).

It doesn't seem very trusty. Seems to be made of cheap components, but in fact never had a problem with it.

I've been playing for 11 years and I play mostly pop, classic and alternative rock with this setup. If it was stolen, I'd ask an electronics expert to make a copy of it using 1st quality parts (in fact I'm considering doing this and keep this one for selling it for big bucks when it becomes a "classic", like the tubescreamer). It has a very nice tone by itself and it's well worth an upgrade.

Easy to use. All controls do what they are supposed to do, in a linear and predictable way.

I play jazz, modern type (funk and rock).
Gibson 335 or Gibson SG -> (Several effects) -> ValveTone -> (Several effects) -> Digitech 2120 (rack) -> Fender Twin Reverb
I wanted the ValveTone to help me in keeping the Twin at a low volume and still get warmth, boost and a little character in my sound. I use a lot of the tone control to help me cut thru the mix. You could leave it on all the time it would not hurt your sound (for blues and rock I leave it use on almost full time).
It has true bypass, which is a necessity for all kind of rigs. It has a little compression that makes you feel like you are playing a loaded tube. Voicings are not wide, but it gives nice power to chords and leads without sucking bass.
I compared it to almost every other pedal available, and it was second to none. Even pedals with a tube inside could not get the fantastic sound the ValveTone has. Plus it looks good and has a functional design (except for battery changing (by the way, make sure to have a fresh battery; it makes aaall the difference)). The switch makes you feel when it has "clicked" and you can easily see the "on" light.

I gigged with it 3 nights a week for months, in some really bad places. Had a few problems with jacks getting loose, but I was able to fix it on the spot. It does make an extremely annoying and dangerous POP the first time you turn it on, so I recommed turning it on and off before turning up the amp volume.

I'm from Argentina... we basically dont have customer support for anything.

Great, great pedal. You can get a lot of good sounds out of it: distortion, overdrive, booster; warmth, bite, creamy, sustain, etc., etc. You only have to be careful not to mistake "warmth" for "mud".

Strongly recommended. Any questions please email me at: dropelin@hotmail.com

Plug in, twist the three chicken head knobs and GO CAT GO!

Excellent sounding low to medium gain overdrive pedal. Smooth overdrive tones abound throughout the entire ( yes, entire ) knob sweep...except the tone control that is...I have to leave it all the way down (off) as it is a bit bright ( for my taste ) anywhere but 0. Using a homebrew USACG chambered mahogany tele with a Duncan Seth Lover humbucker ( excellent pickup by the way ) in the neck and a Duncan Lil' 59 in the bridge. I like to roll the tone control back to 1/2 - 3/4 when the valve tone is engaged. Doing this results in some of the finest, creamiest, smoothest overdrive tones this side of midnight....especailly with the Seth. This pedal seems to like tube or solid state amps equally and shines while playing crunchy chords or single note flurries. I usually have the gain anywhere from 12:00 to 4:00. I've tried to replace ( or add to the tonal spectrum of ) this fine pedal with an Ibanez Tube King, Butler Real Tube, Boss Blues Driver, Reverend Drivetrain and a few others. The Drivetrain
( first issue ) came the closest, but still did not have the pleasing tone of the VT. The Boss Blues Driver is still in use as a clean - semi / clean boost. Anything other than 9:00 on the BD and it becomes a bit fizzy / splattery. A mod by Keeley, Analogman or Doob-Tone is in order for the BD and that will be happening soon. The 8 rating in no way makes this a bad pedal. I just ordered a barber direct drive and I'm hoping that will bring a 9 - 10 rating. We shall see. Suffice to say, this is fine sounding unit. I guess it's based on a tube screamer. I vowed in the early 80's to never play a tube screamer. I played with my buddys 808 he bought in 79 - 80 and I was never that impressed with it. Of course at that time, I was running it into a clean amp and using it as a distortion pedal. It did not have near the gain or tone as my Washburn Stack-in-a-box! If it is indeed based on a TS, I guess my tastes have changed. Don Butler ( "The Tone-Man" ) will be getting this little gem in the mail soon to work his magic on it. From the reviews I've read here on Don's mod, and the kind people who have responded to my queries, it's worth the $45.00 he charges. The consencious is it makes the VT more "open" sounding, increases the range of the tone control, ( that alone would be worth it for me! ) and makes it sound more "transparent". I'm trying to figure out what transparent sounds like...if you have a clue, please let me know! One fella told me Dons mod makes it sound more like a tube amp rather than a pedal. The final result is slight, but all say it's worth it. Anything that would take this fine pedal to the next level is OK by me. I should just concentrate on my playing and leave the pedal tweaks alone.....but you know what? Damn it Jim, I'm a guitar player not a drummer! We gotta tweak, get new gear and change pickups every other week or we'll shrivel up and die!

Built like a Shrick hit brouse. You could use it open a pound of macadamia nuts, raise a welt on your forehead, frame a mini-bar, plug it in and play a White Room, Badge, Sleepy Time Time medly and not miss a beat. On top of that, it's very well constructed!

In 30 + years of playing, buying gear and managing music stores, I have NEVER sent a piece of gear back or contacted the customer service department of a company. I've been very lucky ( and blessed ) with my gear. Of course, I take excellent care of my stuff so that may have a bit to do with it.

I play the blues, worship music, gospel, old style R&B, motown soul, a bit of country, some faux jazz, ( I can fake it, but I ain't no jazz player...damn ) altered tuning original stuff and I help my friends out on their original tunes. My first love ( as it has been for over 30 years ) is the blues. With the USACG chambered Tele I just built, ( one of, if not the finest guitars I've ever played ) sweet, fat, woody, corpulent, plump, fereal and fecund tones spew forth like the creamy head on a well poured Guiness. The syncronicity of the guitar and the Valve Tone make it easy to not overplay. Like the fine Vox amp I once had the pleasue to plug in to....with touch senstivity, it becomes near effortless to play from your heart. You can say what you need to with several well chosen notes instead of fighting for tone and over playing. Anything that enhances your playing gets high marks from me.

please, I won't answer this item...

Well, Washburn Wi-64, two humbuckers, and the excellent Behringer GX210, which is the best emulation of a fender twin ever!!! The pedal is not noisy at all. I use it alone or mixed with the amp's overdrive. Despite its simplicity, you can get a really wide sort of tones, but allways with the same quality. Good sustain, creamy... don't know how to explain it, but it's very similiar to an AC-30, with that mid honk. I've have a lot of different pedals and This is my favorite one. In the store I compared with others like boss ds-1, ds-2, Ov-1, some ibanes boxes, and none of them could deffeat the vox.

well, is a vox pedal... I'm not sure if this unit can resist a nuclear assault, but for using in normal conditions I gess It'll be a god parter for a long time.

never dealt with the company.

Nothing more to say, read the guys bellow, all we agree about the incredible quality of this pedal. Great sound, great tone. I play almost everything but in the last time I've been a lot with Radiohead and the last album of Nick Cave, and this beauty do the job. It's so close to a real ac-30, that even at low gain it rings stronger than many other pedals. Maybe someday I'll buy a Big muf or a pro-co rat, just for curiosity, but the vox is my pedal.

you don't deserve to hit a stage if you're unable to use it.

this is the fifth OD/dist pedal I've owned, and search has come to an end. guys at Vox know what a tube simulation pedal has to sound like.
absolutely perfect for creamy overdriven rhythms, clearly responsive to dynamics, both w/ single coil and humbuckers.
set the gain at 0 and you'll get a clean tube channel sound, or at 3/4 to get some brit-sounding smooth grits.
as for me I guess I'll never ever switch it off.
no noise at all.

bought it four days ago.

I think I've found the only one left in my whole hometown, so I paid for it a little more than I was supposed to. but this thing is worth every single cent. I compared it with my danelectro daddy o (see my review) and the voodoo lab sparkle drive, which is a little more versatile than the v810 but almost twice the price, and I couldn't afford it. the valvetone has a honor membership in the overdrive family in my opinion, think of a ts-9 with a little more low ends (that's what I need, as I'm a natural rhythm).
brilliant, with a great personality, get one and you won't regret it.

It's real easy to use....3 knobs.

I use an LP classic with Seth Lovers through a Goldtone. It sounds pretty good, but it just didn't wow my world. I personally think it thins out my sound a little. It does the low gain to moderate overdrive ok...I prefer it to my ts-9 reissue, but it just doesn't have have enough tonal variability for me.

Seems sturdy enough.

N/A

My setup is LP->ernie ball volume->budda wah->direct drive->brotech fatpipe pro->bosss dd-5->goldtone, powered by a pedal power 2.The Vox is a respectable overdrive unit, better than a lot of others in its price range. I just got a Barber Direct Drive and I personally feel like it has a lot more tones to it than the Vox. Still, it can do a good tube sounding crunch. Check it out if you ever find it used at a pawn shop, see if it's your cup of tea.

The most difficult pedal I've ever used. You have to actually pick up your foot and press it down on a little button to turn it on, and then ( if you can believe this! ) repeat the process in order to turn it off!! Why they can't make this easier to operate is beyond me!!

I've had this solid chrome gem for 3 years now. I've tried to replace it with an Ibanez Tube King, a Danelectro Daddy-Uh Oh, a Dano Flab Tone, and a Reverend Drivetrain. The Drivetrain is the only thing that came close! The valve tone excells at mild to moderate overdrive tones. The tone control is a bit useless ( at least to me ) as I have to keep in all the way off in order to keep the warmth I like. Other than that, the tones it produces are stellar. I use an assortment of teles, a strat, a 335, a dano 12 string, a 40's Kay lap steel, a 50's Gibson lap steel, a....ah....you get the idea. The current favorite is my USACG Chambered tele with a seth lover pups. I run it into the Drivetrain + Valve tone + Diaz Tremodillo + Ibanez Chourus + Arion Stereo Delay + Ibanez Stereo Vol Pedal. I have a Digitech DigiDelay after the vol pedal run stereo into a Roland Blues Cube 60 and an old Dean Markley RD40. Just using the Valve Tone into the Vol pedal and the DigiDealy set to the Tape Echo or Solo setting is a very, very beautiful sound. I'm giving this a rating of 8..not because it's bad, but because I've yet to hear a 10 and I'm still searching! Maybe a Barber, Fulltone, et all..but for the money, this Valve Tone can't be beat! Even if I find a ten, it will still have a place of honor on my pedal board as it has a specail tone I can't get with any other pedal. Oh, what the hell...I'm giving it a 10!

I take very good care of my equiptment, so I usually have no problems. The swith does make a big ass "POP" the first time you engage the unit...then it goes away. So, the first thing I do when I set up, ( before turning up the volume ) is switch it on and off. Then, no more "POPS" during switching it on or off. Bought it new as a closeout. Last one they had and it was stuck away under the counter. I happened to see it when they were looking for something else and uncovered it. Had a $120.00 price tag on it. I offered $50.00, they said, "How about $60.00"? I said, "O.K."

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Excellent pedal. Why they discontinued it is beyond me. If I find another in the price range I paid, I'll buy it and use both of em. The Reverend Drivetrain I use in conjuntion with it is a similar excellent sounding unit. The Drivetrain has a bit more gain and more tonal variation, but the valve tone just has a sweetness I can't get out of any other pedal I've tried. It's a rich, smooth, creamy sounding pedal. I love using it with the front pickup while backing the tone control down. It also produces Rev Bill G approved pinch harmonics while using the bridge pickup. All in all, a stellar overdrive.

Great Sound! Easy to use. Three knobs. Quite self explanatory!

Sounds Great! I use ,it believe it or not, with an AC-30. It gives that extra umph! when I can't turn up the AC-30. I also use a tele, strat, and LP Standard. The Gibson is ok, but the single coil strat and tele sound amazing!

Never had a moments trouble. Great product. Heavy construction.

I e-mailed Vox about some nos mullard tubes for my AC-30, and they never e-mailed me back. Maybe they're busy!

I play Christian Rock and this pedal was one of the best investments I've made. Next to the AC-30 of course! No matter what, this pedal doesn't replace the real thing, but it still sounds great. I would replace it if it were stolen or lost. I own other overdrive pedals and they don't come close.

Features level, tone & gain knobs, pretty standard overdrive controls.Until you are used to the layout though, you could strain your eyes on a dark stage trying to see the lettering since it is etched into the chrome rather than colored, black or white. And the yellow LED is a bit of a drawback, too small and very difficult to see. There's a REASON most of the real world uses red LED's.

Very Brit sounding, makes you wanna play "Back In Black" or "Tie Your Mother Down" intros. Not a real WIDE voicing, but if you are after that certain sound, this one DELIVERS. Not a thrasher or metal unit, but if you like that sweet limey grind, this is a joy to play with.

Seems to be well built & solid.

Can't really rate this since I haven't had it that long or needed to get any support. Not being made anymore, either(from what I've been able to find out).

Play a variety of music and am a dedicated single-coil guy.Use G&L and Fender Teles and Strats, Fender and Ampeg amps. Using this pedal on a clean Fender amp is kind of like "Instant Marshall". Have AB'd this against a couple of Boss units(DS-1 & Blues Driver), Marshall BBII, Danelectro Daddyo and this unit may be my new favorite. Blows away the Marshall & Daddyo(IMHO). Not quite as diverse or capable of the saturated overdrive as the Boss units, but a bit tighter sounding, though.Does not clean up quite as well as Boss when you back off the volume on the guitar. Seems to have a LOT more range on the tone control between 3 & 5 0'clock than it does between 7 & 3. A slight dropoff in overall volume when set at unity on volume & gain, but you can set this to taste. Overall, this has become my favorite real fast, mostly because of that certain VIBE this has.True bypass as well. If not for the stupid yellow LED, I could almost give this one a 10.

This is a classic 3 knob overdrive pedal, very easy to use. Good sized pedal, very clear layout. Looks great although the LED is pathetically dim! In terms of other criticisms, I would say that the 9V socket is poorly situated - it's on the side of the pedal close to the input jack. There's a reason why most 9V sockets are on the top rather than the side of the pedal but the Vox/Korg designers seem to have their own view of this!

GREAT! Silky, smooth overdrive with none of the Tube Screamer harshness or midrange hump. I also have (actually "had" as I just sold it) a reissue Tube Screamer modified by Robert Keeley that I'd recommend to anyone who wants the Tube Screamer tone but, for me, the Valve-Tone is the right pedal. It nails the neck pickup "woman" tone and has a very soulful, organic quality to the overdriven tone. It has enough overdrive for me, but it sure isn't the hottest pedal I've ever heard. I use this single coil guitars (Strat, Tele, Reverend Slingshot) through small (2 x 6V6 or 2 x EL84) tube amps and it sounds great. The only other effect I use is a Holy Grail Reverb pedal and the two get along fine!

Too early to say but it's very well made and I wouldn't expect any problems.

I play mostly blues and have done so for 25 years. I'm not a big pedal guy but I do need something to push my amps into bluesy crunch and overdrive at low volumes for home playing/practice and this pedal is great for that purpose. If it got lost or stolen, who knows? For what I paid for it ($60 on eBay) it was a bargain as these regularly sell for $90-110 on eBay.

Very easy to use: 3 knobs. Find your tone and go.

Great overdriven sound. I have to say that it doesnt color your sound a lot..but it does some. It seems to add alot of midrange to your sound..but it's a good thing. You can set this to a very slight "amp just breaking up" sound to more of a classic rock "old vox turned way up" sound. However, if your looking for a ton of overdrive...then you want the Vox Distortion Booster. Valve Tone is more subtle.

Seems very rugged. Metal casing. Checked the guts and they look clean.

never used it

I puchased this a few years ago. Incredible pedal for what I paid...and excellant pedal at any cost. The others who are singing the praises of this are correct. I've seen that they are going up in value quite a bit and will only get more valuable. I talk to more and more vintage guys who love these pedals.

I play Blues Rock/Classic rock. My setup is an 81 Les Paul into a Fender Super amp. My two overdrive pedals are the Vox and a Tech 21 Double Drive. For more crunch, I use the double drive...but the Vox gets me probably 80% of the sounds I need.

One very bad thing about this pedal: Yellow LED. You absolutley cannot tell if it's on if there is any light in the room. Dont know what the Vox engineer was thinking about when he designed this peice of the pedal.

Overall, I will keep looking for these pedals because I think that they will become collectors items. I had a chance to A/B this and a TS9 and a Fulldrive 2. This blew the TS9 away (just overall better sound) and was a close 2nd to the Fulldrive. All had about the same amount of gain with Fulldrive II offereing a little more bottom end.
I'm giving this an 8 because it needs 2 points knocked off for that LED. I'm guessing that Vox will eventually reissue this however..and hopefully they'll fix the LED issue.

Easy, very good sound. Harrison.
El LED es una mierda. Yellow LED. Very dim, impossible to be seen unless you play in absolute darkness.

Strato > Boss Cs2 > Boss Bd2> Ibanez Ge-601 Eq > Boss Ls (line selector)> Loop: EH Small Stone (70's) > Vox Valve Tone > EH Big Muff > Vox Wah (70's) > EH Small Clone > Delay (I'll see...) > Fender Blackface Bassman.
A bit noisy in any setting. True bypass.

Very rough construction. Beautiful.

Play Rock Pop. Exellent pedal, I really like It's sound, like a Ts9, but much better. Not to much gain range, so I use it with two other dist/ overdrives. I wish It had a real LED, no se ve una mierda ni siquiera cuando ensayas, I can't tell if it's on or off.

This pedal is not very difficult to figure out. Three knobs, chicken heads. The only thing that could have been improved upon is the LED light, but it's really no big problem. It's a little hard to see. So what.

I use a Fender American Series strat into a 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue. The pedal only hums at the highest gain settings. It is transparent, as others metioned and produces great harmonics when set at medium gain to higher gain. I tried her next to a ts-9 reissue, a sparkle drive and others and there was no comparison. The vox won, hands down.

Very dependable in a great chrome case. It has never failed on me and the battery life is phenominal.

Vox is not making this anymore but you can snatch them up on ebay for under 100 bucks. it's well worth it.

I play blues and rock and funk and it's a great match. I might try something else if this pedal were stolen or lost, but I'd be hard pressed to find something of similar quality.
It really does help me to make music because it is so transparent and clear and dynamic. It is true bypass, as well, almost unheard of in this price range. Try this pedal if you can.

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.

A chimp could figure out how to use this pedal! People who have trouble operating a Fuzz Face might be thrown for a loop by the Valvetone's third knob, however.

This effect is pretty quiet and has a true-bypass wired footswitch so it won't degrade your tone when its switched off (a necessity). I've used this pedal with a number of guitars and amps live, in the studio, and at home practicing. In every situation, without fail, this pedal has sounded excellent. My favorite combination is a guitar with humbuckers (like my ES335) through an amp that's starting to break up (like my Marshall 50W Suprelead) and the Valvetone's gain set at about 2 O'clock and tone knob almost maxed. However, its great for adding gain to a clean Fender too. The bottom line is that this pedal does what a good O.D. should, it lets your guitar and amp's tonal characteristics through (in other words, its very transparent).

Its made in China, which I used to associate with cheap quality. However, there seems to be alot of really high quality, well made musical products coming from overseas these days and this pedal is no exception. The metal casing is rugged and the switch looks like it will last a long time. The knob shafts turn easily and feel pretty solid. Unless you really abuse your gear, I doubt you'll need a backup. This pedal is very tastefully designed and looks great next to my Vox Wah.

This pedal rules for classic rock and heavy blues type stuff or anytime you want to hear your amp louder and dirtier. It works well as a clean boost too when you set the gain to a minimum and dime the volume. The tone control doesn't seem to be especially versitile but works for adding or subtracting high end bite. I used to use a Tubescreamer Reissue but always thought that it compressed and altered my basic tone a little too much for my taste. I know what some of you might be thinking; "you gotta have an original TS808 or TS9, dude!" Well, my friend has two vintage TS9's and I did a lengthy comparason between them and the Valvetone and I thought that the Valvetone sounded a little less compressed and more natural. I also used to have an old Marshall Guv'nor O.D. pedal(an original one) but sold it as soon as I heard the Vox, no contest! I have never compared it with any botique boxes (Fulltone Fulldrive, Klon Centaur, Menatone etc..) so I don't know how it matches up but as another reviewer said, I can't imagine them being much better. If it was stolen or lost, I would be very unhappy. I don't think that these are being made anymore and I've noticed that used ones go for way more than the originals sold for (and I got mine on sale originally). If you see one for a good deal, snap it up and if you want to sell yours , E-mail me.

3 knobs: Level, Tone and Gain. I give it a nine for the same reasons as everyone else: Yellow LED can be difficult to see (but looks cool) and the need for a screwdriver to change the battery. No big deal. Also a jack for a 9-volt adaptor to save those batteries. It's true, it is easy to get good sounds right out of the box, but work with it. You can get GREAT sounds with a little extra effort. More on that...

I'm playing mostly a Gibson Les Paul Jr Lite with P-100s, but I also have a Rickenbacker 360/12 and an Epiphone Dot. My main setup is a P.E. Yardbox=>Vox 847 Wah=>Vox V810 Valve-tone=> Boss Tremolo through an Ampeg Reverberocket reissue. At first I was afraid there wasn't enough gain. It seemed like I always had the gain turned up all the way. Then I realized how much interplay there is between the volume and gain. I never had the volume up high enough. Just boosting the volume gave me more headroom on the gain. Now I always keep the volume up halfway (12 o'clock). This seems to maintain a consistant volume from my guitar (compared to clean), but gives it that overdrive boost. In fact, with my Dot, I often have the gain down all the way and it's still quite beefy. I think another guy said that this pedal is for people who like the sound of their guitar. That line pretty much sums up the pedal! No problem getting those British sounds (with the guitars I have): The Jam, Oasis, Ride, Stones, Kinks, The Who, even some T Rex and The Cure(e.g. Never Enough). Add the Yardbox for soloing and you've got a great Cream or Yardbirds lead sound. My Les Paul Jr actually sounds like Rickenbacker-era The Jam with this pedal (not to mention my...well, Rickenbacker). I haven't noticed any noise when the pedal is engaged. Oh, it also works GREAT with the Vox Wah. I won't go anywhere without this pedal. Is it over the top to say it's a work of art?

It's a pretty heavy-duty pedal. I've had it for a year and have not had any problems. The knobs seem a little bit on the flimsy side and vulnerable up there on the top. Well, "Flimsy" might be an overstatement, but I keep it in the original box for travelling because of this.

I haven't communicated with Vox.

I like to play British Pop from pretty much any decade from the 60s on. I couldn't imagine a pedal being more perfect for this style. I compared it side-by-side with the V830 Distortion. I just dug the sound of the Valve-tone. The V830 seemed a bit muddy, though it did have more gain. If anything happened to my Valve-Tone, I would be very bummed out but immediatly shell out the $110-$120 that guys are getting for the "New Old Stock" on Ebay. If you're looking for a good, crunchy-yet-transparent overdrive in a gorgeous, shiney package, I have two words for you: Get It. --------NOTE TO MATTSTER: Do punt the FuzzFace and get a Yardbox.

Plug it in and go! 3 chicken head knobs so you can easily see where they are pointing... fanastic sounds straight out of the box! Only gripes (it says be critical) are the yellow LED is cool but hard to see under some stage lighting... and you have to unscrew the base to fit the battery.

Amazing! I use it between my Les Paul and a Fender Deluxe Reverb and it sounds superb... I've also used it in the studio with a tweed Fender Pro Junior and it sounded huge! You can set it to boost the level and sustain too much distortion - great for driving the amp into feedback for those Neil Young moments... also great for Kinks / Who type sounds... I love it!

No problems with it, doesn't squeal like other pedals I've had... cool chrome casing, quality switch... built like a tank but infinately cooler!

No problems so no need to call...

I got it in a sale (I think the lsit on these was around #70 to #80) and it's the dogs bollocks as far as I'm concerned... I play in a retro-sixties-timewarp and this is the business - Kinks / Who / Stones / Neil Young / Dylan... this does everything I want and does it very well. I got a Fuzz face recently to add a different colour to my palette (Purple Haze?) but I think I'm going to punt it... this baby's more fun! If it got stolen I'd hunt the bugger down and politely ask for it's return... don't think they make 'em anymore, which is a real shame....

This is easily the BEST overdrive pedal you will find - I have tried many trying to find not a distortion but a tube overdrive sound for my all - tube Vibro-King Fender, which is not a master volume control amp and I cant turn up to "5" everytime I want a nice tone.The V-810 sounds very natural to me-it does not take the place of the amp turned up-but such a good simulation.So simple to use - every setting sounds good

No noise what so ever- great tone - lovely overdrive tones - I use it with the Vibro-king and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a TopHat Club Royale

Appears to be reliable and solid-a nice pedal if you can one!

N/A

If you can find one of these get it - you will be glad you did

Using this is very easy, only 3 knobs (Tone, Level and Gain). To change the battery your have to remove screws and remove the back cover, a primitive system but pretty reliable. The LED could be bigger or brighter, like in a TS9. The pedal looks very cool and vintage, it has a durable chrome cover and a true bypass (better than the TS9). I don't need any other control or switch in an overdrive.

The sound quality is extremely good, in fact the best overdrive i've ever used (and I always try all I can). I'm using both Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Strats, as well as other guitars with both valve amps and transistor amps. Not noisy at all. The make clear the sound it produces I'll compare it to the TS9 which I also own. The Vox is more dynamic (very important in an overdrive!) and lets you hear the chararcter of your guitar and technique much better than the TS9, which was my favorite till now. I mean there's quite a lot of difference between the two, from the first time I plugged the Vox I realised it was far more natural and valve-like. I'll sell my TS9, no longer needed!

I haven't used it in a gig so far so I can't tell, seems to be very well built.

Don't know, these are no longer made.

Perfect overdrive for me, I can't compare it to a Klon or a handmade very expensive overdrive but these can't be much better. I've been playing 8 years. I play blues, classic rock (stones, lou reed... ) and country. I've used and tried all the overdrives I've been able to, since it's (for me) the more important pedal for an old rock'n'roll and blues sound. I really helps you to make music and improve your playing because it's SO dynamic. I can't believe it's so cheap and unknown compared to the TS9.

Stupidly simple to get a great tone out of it.

The first time I plugged it in I knew I had a keeper. It immediately became my crunch rhythm pedal. I just bought a second as a backup. My Les Paul -> Valve Tone -> Super Reverb is getting a great British Invasion tone. Into my Marshall small box 50 the tone sounds closer to AC/DC. I can't complain.

It looks well made, but I've heard of problems with the footswitches. I bought a second as a spare just in case... I love the pedal and use it allot so if the switch goes I wanna be prepared. I'm giving it an 8 just on perceived reliability as I've had no problems yet.

N/A Bought it used and they are no longer made.

Like I said it immediately became my crunch rhythm pedal. I've been playing 25 plus years. My main guitar right now is a '88 Les Paul flame top RI, though I also play a Heritage H-535 and a number of strats. My main amp is a '66 Super Reverb. I'm curently using a Fulltone FD2 TR100 for leads and VooDoo labs sparkle drive for clean boost and also top boost the Valvetone (a cool tone as well). If it were lost or stolen I'd plug in my spare and by another as a spare!

Easy to use, basic set up

I have been trying a lot of effects, and I use a lot of different guitars and amps, from Fender, Gibson + others, and clean to dirty.
Too many to specifiy.Les Pauls, Strats, Hofner, single + humbucker, Tele, etc.
This pedal, is in my opinion, unknown and under rated.
I have found a very nice and simple set up using the Vox then into TS10.
The Vox COMPRESSES more than most pedals, and this is a big part of its character. You can, for example, set it for low gain and then drive the TS 10 (or other), or just crank it and use it stand-alone.
It gets a great tone, and you may well like it more than a TS 9/10, etc (although they are quite similar), and like pedals in this class, is an overdrive rather than a fuzz/disortion, although at full gain will sound closer to that kinda tone.

Use it for pushed overdrive (SRV-ish), or try my chain and drive another pedal. The reason this is cool is because you can use either the Vox, or the TS10, etc, by itself, but using the Vox to drive the NEXT pedal will give you full on sustain and scream. Simple but effective set up.

Seems robust and road worthy.

The yellow LED is dim, so not too helpful for "on" status.

I play everything from totally clean and twangy (Shadows?) to Hendrix, Cream and Free!

The pedal is good for imitating Marshalls at 10 (without the gain), as well as very good tone shaping (see before). The use of the two pedal combo gives you access to a huge range of tones from simple o/d to shred without having to have a heap of dedicated pedals, and for a simple gig, use by itself.

I came across this pedal a bit by accident "on special" very cheap, but it is one of my favourites, the compression is its main difference, plus the tonal quality. My favourite pedals at present are the Vox, the TS 10 and an Ibanez SD9. I have made a clone TS9, and even put in the original op amp chip, but!! other chips sound better, and I think the TS10 sounds better. SRV moved to a TS10 as well as his TS808/TS9, and he knew which end was up! TS9s are good, but don't get hung up on them, and it is possible that many other pedals, (and even variations within one particular type) are worth listening to.
I would get another Vox if this one went west.

Aaaah...the V810....Very easy to get a vintage rock sound out of this bad boy. 3 Knobs: Level, Tone, Gain. Adjust them to get your sound...it's that easy. Quoting another review, the secret's in the Gain knob.

You like Free? You like Paul Kossoff, one of my personal favorites? You'll like this pedal then. Like yet another review says, which I'll add to it, think late-sixties British hard rock. I use a 1970 Les Paul Custom with Rio Grande pickups(and plan on getting a Les Paul Classic soon) into a Laney Pro Tube 50 head and a Peavey 4 x 12 cabinet. This pedal gives a bit more brightness to my already bright sound without overkill of high end. I use other guitars also, so I'll rate it based only on the Les Paul/British Amp sound, the AC/DC sound.

This thing is built well, in a cool chrome metal and black rubber housing with the VOX logo on it. There's an amber LED which seems to stay on forever, as this thing's easy on batteries. The switch works well also.

N/A......Never dealt with them..I assume that, since it's a British company, correspondence with them could be difficult....But I could be wrong.

I play anything from alt. country to good hard rock. I'd buy this pedal in a second if it were lost or stolen. For the money, as an overdrive pedal for non metal styles this can't be beat. Think of it in the same light as the value of a Big Muff to grunge and alternative players. This thing kicks the crap outta most OD pedals I've ever heard, including many costing twice to three times as much. Do yo'self a favor...go get one.

3 familair knobs.... level, tone, gain. No manual needed.

Sound really natural and musical... A bit noisy on most extreme setups but taht is expected form any kind of overdrive/distortion tweak it and you get nice tone!
Sounds really great on single coils, if you're playing blues this is a must have with single coils. Also tried it with rails single coils... great round warmth there also, with humbucker a bit of edge but still warm tho less round sounding. You can get tom Petty-ish sound with minimal tweaking if this is waht you're after... your guitar still sounds like itself after going through it only with better warmth to it hard to describe try one! TONE!

Don't know, I expect it to be reliable... teh switch is easy to replace if it ever fails me... but I take care of my gear.

Never dealt with them

This is a great match for blues and for adding that bit of warmth without much overdrive. I've been playin for 10+yrs, my gear list is online at http://www.angelfire.com/pq/glorbz/BunkerStudio.html
stolen or lost I'd like to find another! I love teh fact that it's true-bypass... also must say I really like how it looks also! I bought this one from liking Vox's Distortion /Booster so much... same housing only different guts. If you use a tele or strat this is something to seriously consider... with humbucker it sounds well but I prefer the Distortion/booster for humbuckers... (I don't really use humbucker for blues but more for rock so it makes sense for me) If you can find one for under 65$ shipped try it you deserve to give it a chance.

very simple to use, i think even americans could manage it.
nice sound. but thats it - just NICE!

controls are extremely subtle the tone control probably sweeps the smallest amount of frequency i have ever heard. the gain is mild and 'nice' - definately a mild overdrive pedal nothing more..
used with a fender jaguar, peavey bandit, big muff, digitech whammy/wah, boss tremolo. And sometimes with a semi-acoustic guitar with a fishman pickup (not nasty piezo)
the pedal is limited to one sound, unfortunately. but the one sound it does get is excellent hence high mark.....

sturdy little box - long baterry life

never had to..

I got it for 25 pounds - about 18 dollars i think, at a guitar convention in london, england. so i snapped it up know ing that it was about 1/3 the normal price.
anyway, its pretty irrelavant in my setup now so i'm selling it - for #65, so a nice profit will be made!!
- alt rock / grunge, bands like smashing pumpkins, foo fighters, placebo, muse, radiohead, sigur ros. not ideally suited to the music i play, so selling it will make way for delay/reverb. i'm thinking of getting the ZOOM RFX1000 or 2000 - if anyone has any idea how good they are please contact me. (one review on this site)