Vexter Box Of Rock

[GuitarsCanada]

Review Submitted By
gproud

Product Name
Vexter Box Of Rock

Would you recommend this product to others?
yes

Your overall review of the product
great

Did you feel there was good value for the money?
yes
2 pedals in one

What is your name?
Geoff Proud


How would you best describe yourself?
Part Timer

-----------------------------------------------------
Your full review

Well, I saw the video demo of the Vexter Box Of Rock on the Zvex site, and I was pretty blown away by what it could do. Now, I'm not normally prone to shelling out $190.00 on a pedal, boutique or not, but after seeing what the Distortron engine side, and boost side could do, I realized if I liked it, I could knock 2 pedals off of my board. So I bought a used one from Calgary Terry from the board here (thanks Terry) and it arrived the day I had rehearsal. I took this as a good sign, and when I got there I pulled my other distortion pedal and boost pedal off the board and hooked up the BOR. I dialed it in exactly as it was on the demo from the site (he was using a JTM-45 reissue, which is what I have, so I thought that would be a good starting point); and with the exception of a little tweaking of the Boost on the pedal and the Tone Stack on my amp, it sounds fantastic just like that. There's enough distortion in this pedal to choke a dinosaur, but I have it set around 1 o'clock, and the volume at unity, and I get a lovely old school Marshall crunch akin to a 'Brown' type sound. Chords are articulate, and it doesn't mush out on the lower strings. Now, the Boost is worth the price alone. With the Distortion side on, it actually boosts the volume, not just add more distortion, so it's perfect for soloing. Now, here's the real kicker; Both sides work separately from each other, so with the Distortion off, I can kick on the boost side and it boosts the front of the amp very nicely. Then, I just kick in the distortion side for my lead tones. So it essentially has turned my JTM-45 into a multi-channel rock monster. A nice on-the-verge breakup, full on distortion, and lead with the click of 2 footswitches. I've never been one to use distortion/overdrive pedals, as I like amp distortion, but the Box Of Rock is amp distortion; it's just conveniently located at my feet.

------------------------------------------------------
Gear used for this review

I use an Ernie Ball Music Man EVH guitar into a Boss TU-2, the Box Of Rock, and into a Marshall JTM-45 Reissue going into an Avatar 2x12 with a Hellatone 30 and Warehouse Speaker V30 Clone (the one everyone is talking about here). I like to keep it simple.

------------------------------------------------------

[sliberty]

Have you tried the BOR on a lesser amp? I am wondering how much of its tone is due to being in front of a marsall JTM45, and how much is in the pedal. If I played it through a Princeton, would I get the same tones, only less loud?

[hollowbody]

Have you tried the BOR on a lesser amp? I am wondering how much of its tone is due to being in front of a marsall JTM45, and how much is in the pedal. If I played it through a Princeton, would I get the same tones, only less loud?

I would say yes. You probably would. I run mine through a Traynor YGL3, which doesn't break up all too easy, and it gives me a nice creamy drive when I hit the switches. It's definitely a Marshall-in-a-box.

[Ripper]

On the distortion side, how would you say it compares to a crunchbox?

[hollowbody]

On the distortion side, how would you say it compares to a crunchbox?

I couldn't say for sure, because I've only heard a Crunchbox on Youtube, which really isn't the same, but off-hand, I would say that the Box of Rock has less of the 'brown' sound, and is more in the vein of classic Marshalls. I find the 'brown' sound to be similar to the Tubescreamer's mid-hump: a lot of midrange and is can get muddy. The Box of Rock definitely doesn't sound muddy. It's a very articulate pedal.

Also, the Box of Rock seems to have a more usable gain knob. It can go from mild drive to full on dimed Marshall sound, whereas the Crunchbox doesn't seem to excel at the low gain too much.

[Ripper]

Thanks for the run down on that. I've been thinking of picking up a BOR but have never had a chance to play one or hear one other on youtube. A buddy of mine has the crunchbox, and it's okay, but definitely a one trick pony

[sliberty]

Official Box of Rock demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0grV9CeHtbg

[hollowbody]

Official Box of Rock demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0grV9CeHtbg

Yeah, that video is a solid one. It sure sold ol' zack a bunch of pedals! The thing is, it's true. The pedal does actually sound like that. It makes my Traynor sound Marshallish, which is definitely a good thing, but it also makes a Marshall scream!

At my jam space there's a JCM800 full stack, and the other day I was playing through it (I don't usually) and had the preamp turned to about 8 o'clock (barely up) and the master up to about 11 o'clock or noon-ish. This made for a pretty clean sound with just a hint of bite when you really dug into the strings. Turning on the Distortron side brought out oodles of rich, creamy drive. Switching it off and hitting the boost hit the front of the amp like a sledgehammer, giving you that nice sharp gain of a pushed amp. Both together was just too damned good. I might be in the market for a JCM myself now, after seeing what the Z.Vex does for it.

My board still has a TS-9 on it and a Rat, but my main gain is definitely the Box of Rock.

[Ripper]

Official Box of Rock demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0grV9CeHtbg

I think for sure i need to get an up close demo of one of these now.

[Evilmusician]

BOR is an awesome pedal ! I'd say Crunchbox is more JCM 800 ish ,I run the BOR thru JTM 45 the sucker's too loud to dime ! Just picked up a DR.Z Airbrake too sounds great thru it .:rockon::rockon:

[moonlington]

aw man, i really want to try this pedal now.

[ne1roc]

I was really shocked to see my local L&M store now stocking Zvex and Keeley pedals! They have the BOR in stock so I think I'll give it a shot.

[PaulS]

I did.... really impressed when I tried one out so I bought it. Awesome pedal, two in one. Couple this with my Diamond J Drive TR and the bases are covered... :D

[CDWaterloo]

I compared BOR to a OCD vs2 at L$M through a Blues Jr. IMO ocd eats the distortion side of bor. But the boost side is amazing.

[ghiastrat]

Recently bought one from this forum .... and so far I'm really liking it ... definitely adds some muscle to my tone....

[sliberty]

The boost side of the BOR is a SHO. In fact, the whole pedal is essentially a string of SHOs. But the point is that if you really like the boost, you can get it by buying a SHO.

[Greenbacker]

The boost side of the BOR is a SHO. In fact, the whole pedal is essentially a string of SHOs. But the point is that if you really like the boost, you can get it by buying a SHO.

ZVex claims it is a slightly modified SHO circuit. It's less bright, to sound more "natural".

[sliberty]

I can't comment on that, except to say that the regular SHO sounds pretty "natural" to me.

[NB_Terry]

I was really shocked to see my local L&M store now stocking Zvex and Keeley pedals! They have the BOR in stock so I think I'll give it a shot.

According to Zvex' webpage, L&M & Musicstop only stock the Vexter BoR and FF pedals.

[ghiastrat]

According to Zvex the SHO has more sparkle than the boost side of the BOR. Something to do with a different input/output impedance. Other than that the circuits are apparently the same.