VOX, the company whose amplifiers were the signature sound of the 1960s “British Invasion” has announced two additions to its critically acclaimed COOLTRON series of tube-driven effects pedals, the Duel Overdrive and the VIBRAVOX. Like all the pedals in the VOX COOLTRON series, these new stompboxes use a dual triode 12AU7 (ECC82) preamp tube powered by four AA batteries to deliver authentic tube-driven tone, which was previously unavailable from battery-powered units. Each will be available this month with a U.S. MSRP of $300.
With two foot-switchable overdrive circuits based on the VOX Big Ben Overdrive, the Duel Overdrive (and yes, the spelling of “duel” is correct) has two fully independent channels that can be voiced to deliver anything from warm blues to full-on shred. Separate Gain, Volume and Tone controls are available on both overdrives, while the bypass switch allows you to also access a clean sound, while an assignable Bass Boost adds fatness and low-end rumble to either channel.
The VIBRAVOX is actually named after the company’s first amplifier tremolo circuit, and brings the unique signature sound of the original 1958 VOX AC amps to any modern amplifier. It can be configured as a tremolo-only or vibrato-only pedal with two foot-switchable speeds or it can be configured to switch between tremolo and vibrato. The pedal automatically ramps between speeds, just like a real Leslie. Expanded controls and features have been added, including Depth, Ratio, Skew, Volume, Speed 1, Speed 2 and Mode Select. We’ll take one of each!
