BUILDER PROFILE:
Zachary Vex was a recording engineer who had ideas about improving the tools he used in the studio and squeezing them into a package small enough for guitar players to take on the road. In 1995, he founded ZVEX and started bringing his ideas to life. “I try to make my pedals sound as if there’s an engineer working with you,” says Vex. “I see guitar pedals as production tools.” These pedals are for players looking for tight control of their sound so they can lead it into ever more inventive territory. ZVEX stomps sound good out of the box, but will be at their best after you take some time to get know them. 31 effects range from classic (Fuzz Factory), to inventive (Lo-Fi Loop Junky), to intriguing (the Probe series of Theremin-controlled pedals). Each pedal is hand painted by American artists to make sure it looks as unique as it sounds. Enhance your rig or transform your playing style, ZVEX goes above and beyond expectations for what a pedal can do.
REVIEW: Double Rock FX Pedal – $369
ZVEX’s Box of Rock is a pedal that’s earned a reputation for recreating the classic sounds of a dimed Marshall JTM 45. That wasn’t quite loud enough for J. Mascis, so he asked ZVEX to make a pedal that had two Boxes of Rock in one. This got them thinking, and soon enough they produced the Double Rock, two independently controlled Distortion circuits in series that can also be converted into separate Super Hard-On circuits. This means that one Double Rock can function as a Distortion, a Super Hard-On, two Distortions cascaded, two Super Hard-Ons cascaded, a Box of Rock with boost, or a Super Hard-On going into a Box of Rock. For those of you keeping score, that’s six pedal combo possibilities in one. If you ever need more distortion than that, may God have mercy on your soul.