Z.Vex Effects

The Z.Vex logo

Z.Vex Effects is an effects pedal company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their name derives from the name of founder Zachary Vex who is a respected^[1] innovator^[2] in the business, and by some described as a "mad scientist".^[3]

Products

The company's most famous product is the Fuzz Factory. All of their pedals (except the budget-line Vextron series) are hand painted at their factory in Minnesota. All Vextron subassemblies are made in Taiwan, but the final assembly is completed in the United States.

Fuzz Factory (fuzzbox) Box of Rock (preamp-booster/overdrive) Box of Metal (high gain distortion) Woolly Mammoth (bass/guitar fuzzbox) Super Hard-On (preamp-booster/overdrive) Super Duper 2-in-1 (preamp/overdrive) Machine (fuzzbox) Ooh Wah II (step-sequenced filter) Ringtone (step-sequenced ring modulator) Lo-Fi Loop Junky (analog looper) Instant Lo-Fi Junky Seek Wah II (step-sequenced filter) Octane III (octave-generating fuzzbox) Seek Trem (step-sequenced tremolo) Tremorama (step-sequenced tremolo)

Jonny Octave (octave) Wah Probe Fuzz Probe Trem Probe The Nano Head (tube amplifier) The iMPAMP Distortron Mastotron Basstortion (bass distortion) Sonar (square-wave tremolo w/ Machine circuit) Double Rock! (dual cascading Box of Rock circuits w/ sub control and Super Hard On conversion, originally designed for J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.) Loop Gate (high-headroom noise gate w/ adjustable release time, chop mode and wide-range sensitivity control) Drip Guitar (discontinued) Volume Probe (discontinued)

Notable users

Greg Camp former guitarist and writer for Smash Mouth, currently of Defektor Malcolm Young of AC/DC uses the Nano Head at home[4] Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails owns a Fuzz Factory, a Machine, a Woolly Mammoth and a Nano Head Alan Sparhawk of Low Matthew Bellamy of Muse, owns guitars with a built-in Fuzz Factory Stephen Carpenter of Deftones J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top Isaac Brock (musician) of Modest Mouse Brad Shultz of Cage The Elephant uses a Z.Vex Mastotron John Frusciante, previously of Red Hot Chili Peppers owns a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory

Eric Erlandson of Hole Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins owns several Z.Vex pedals Jack White of The White Stripes Nels Cline of Wilco owns many Z.Vex pedals Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine owns numerous Z.Vex pedals Efrim Menuck of A Silver Mt. Zion Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie uses a Box of Rock and Super Duper 2 in 1 Annie Clark of St. Vincent uses a Z.Vex Mastotron Michio Kurihara of Ghost Mike Kerr of Royal Blood uses a Z.Vex Mastotron

Other products

The company also manufactures a Probe line of effects (the Fuzz Probe, Wah Probe and Tremolo Probe) that are modified versions of other pedals the company makes. What makes this series of pedals unique is the copper plate, which has an antenna underneath it that senses how close your foot (or something else) is to the pedal, giving you the ability to manipulate an aspect of the pedal's sound. From the company's website:

"The probe circuit generates a small (one or two inches high) 'bubble' of RF energy at about a million cycles per second above the copper plate. As your foot or hand (or any wet or metallic object, for that matter) approaches the copper plate, the RF field is disturbed and the circuit reacts by increasing the brightness of an LED, which drives a photoresistive cell and controls the circuit."

References

1. Hunter, Dave (Aug 31, 2004). Guitar effects pedals: the practical handbook. Hal Leonard Corporation.
2. "Weird Science". Guitar World. Aug 10, 2008. Retrieved Mar 4, 2012.
3. "Every Trick in the Bag". Fretboard Journal (6). Summer 2007.
4. zvex.com :: View topic - AC-DC

External links

• Z.Vex homepage