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ZVex Super Hard On Review

anthony — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:20:17 +0000

If you’re looking for a great preamp pedal, one of the best out there is the ZVex Super Hard On. This pedal is designed to resemble those great pedals from the 60s, right down to featuring a volume knob with a negative-feedback control that crackles when you adjust it, just like those older knobs did.

Over time, the magnets in the pickups of vintage guitars start to deteriorate. To get around this issue, the ZVex Super Hard On features a very high input impedance. It’s so high that it does not actually accept any input from the guitar, so the pickup is perfectly clear. You can actually get an output level of more than eight volts without any distortion. You can add in distortion, but it doesn’t come out as fuzz; instead, it’s a triode overload. This amp makes your guitar sound much larger and pushes your amp much harder than any other pedal, giving you a great effect. Players who complain about that strange disappearing guitar effect will find that this pedal is the perfect solution to this problem.

It’s important to note, however, that the incredibly high input impedance that the ZVex Super Hard On puts out may be a bit more than what many people expect. However, lowering the crackle okay gain knob or simply leaving the guitar volume completely open will reduce this effect. One of the other downsides of the ZVex Super Hard On is the price: it’s $239.

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ZVex Vexter Series Super Hard-On Preamp Boost Pedal

This is the perfect preamp pedal. The "Crackle Okay" volume knob is a negative-feedback control styled after classic 60's recording console inputs. (They crackled when adjusted too.) Most vintage guitars suffer from steadily deteriorating magnets in their pickups, since permanent magnets aren't really forever. The Super Hard-On's input impedance is so high (>5 Meg) that it refuses any current flow from your pickup... maintaining the most magnetic field around each string, so you can hear exactly what your pickup sounded like the day it came off the winder. The output level can exceed 8 volts peak, and when it finally distorts, the wave is shaped like triode overload, not fuzz. It's so transparent no one will be able to tell you're using a pedal. Perfect for making the most of a classic amp and guitar, because it simply makes your guitar bigger and pushes the amp harder, causing natural overload. This sound can be the solution to the 'disappearing guitar' effect you get sometimes on stage when you stomp on your distortion and sound weaker. When cranked, it sounds much louder than a fuzz or distortion under stage conditions. The SHO's input jack contains the battery switch. Please unplug from this jack to preserve battery life. NOTE: After plugging in your pedal turn it on and off a few times to equalize the voltages between your guitar, other pedals, your amp, and the SHO. Otherwise you may hear a "POP!" when you turn on your SHO during a gig. If you adjust the boost level, you may hear a "POP!" when switching too. It goes away after a few switches.

ZVEX Super Hard-On Hand Painted

It's so transparent no one will be able to tell you're using a pedal. Perfect for making the most of a classic amp and guitar, because it simply makes your guitar bigger and pushes the amp harder, causing natural overload. This sound can be the solution to the 'disappearing guitar' effect you get sometimes on stage when you stomp on your distortion and sound weaker. When cranked, it sounds much louder than a fuzz or distortion under stage conditions.

ZVEX Super Hard-On w/ LED

ZVex Vexter Series Super Duper 2-in-1

The SUPER-DUPER 2-IN-1 has two rather delightful Super Hard-On pedals in one small box, with two switches and LED indicators. Also, in this SUPER-DUPER 2-IN-1 is a Master volume control that lets you use it as an overdrive/distortion with any output volume. CHANNEL 1: This channel is a conventional Super Hard-On (TM), which I will henceforth refer to as the SHO, in order to reduce potential offense to young ears and sensitive persons. Its gain control is on the far right, and it's LED is yellow. If you are familiar with the SHO, you'll know that it's a very sparkly sounding high input-impedance preamp with incredible headroom, wide-ranging gain (unity to 60 X), and a maximum volume that will knock out your fillings. Channel one has no Master Volume control, but it's cascaded into Channel 2, which does... CHANNEL 2 AND THE MASTER VOLUME: This channel has the very same circuit as Channel 1, but the bleeder resistor on the output has been replaced with a Master Volume control, which allows the user to turn down the output volume even if the gain is set quite high. The knob on the left is the gain, and the middle knob is the Master Volume, and the LED is red. When both channels are on, or if only Channel 2 is on, the Master Volume is active. If you leave the Master wide open, you have two identical SHO pedals in one box, which are cascaded.

Zvex Nano – The World’s Smallest Tube Amplifier

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:04:03 +0000

Now this little bad boy looks too good to be true! The Nano is the latest release from Zvex Amps and it totally redefines the possibilities for getting a big sound in the home or professional studio.The Nano is a handmade, hand-painted all tube guitar amplifier delivering one-half watt of crushing power! But seriously, this little powerhouse will surprise you with its apparent volume. The Nano pushes out enough power to drive a 4x12 cabinet (or any 8 to 16 ohm speaker) and according to Zvex it is at least 20db quieter than a 50 watt head.

This is amp is anything but a gimmick. Anyone who has spent some time tracking guitars knows it can be pretty challenging and time consuming to wrestle out a decent tone from a 50 to 100 watt Marshall without overloading the mic. This amp is voiced to deliver classic rock tone, with a very high level of crunch available if wanted. It goes from a very quiet (1/10 watt) clean mode to a "micro-marshall" blast; Just jack up the volume to get the amount of distortion you need.

The obvious huge advantage in the studio is that the Nano is able to go into total saturation at a moderate volume so that you don't get any microphone distortion and you get a crystal clear reproduction of the speakers sound.

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Zvex Box of Rock Distortion Pedal

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:51:08 +0000

The Box of Rock (TM) is Z.Vex Effect's first "distortion" pedal, highly specialized to simulate the "everything on 10" sound of a classic Marshall ® JTM45 non-master-volume amplifier. You may use the Box of Rock effectively with many different amplifiers, but to get the sound I heard when I designed it, try it through a Marshall at least once. You may use your guitar's volume control to adjust for the exact amount of distortion you need, all the way down to very clean and clear with most drive settings. You will notice the words "distortron engine" on the Vexter version of this pedal (no, that's not a misprint) on the pedal. This is what I named my distortion circuit... call me crazy. On the hand-painted version, the stomp switch on the right is labeled "ROCK" instead, because our paint brushes are too wide for so many small letters.

The Box of Rock also contains an extremely high-headroom, unity-to-50X gain booster with nominal input impedance and low hiss. It is very similar to the SHO boost circuit, with refinements to make it sound more like a standard amp input and less glassy. The boost channel can be used alone or in conjunction with the "distortron engine" channel. The boost channel follows the distortion channel so that the distortion is able to hit your amp harder (at a higher volume) when both switches are engaged, for boosting solos and what-not.

The Controls:
Drive: Sets the amount of distortion. Start around 1:00 o'clock.
Tone: Adjust for treble content. Start around 2:00 o'clock.
Vol: Adjust for distortron engine volume level. Start around 9:00 o'clock.
Boost: Sets the boost level, which is engaged with the left stomp switch. Start around 11:00 o'clock.

The Drive and Boost controls are based on my original Super Hard-On gain control, so they may crackle when turned. This is perfectly normal.

Operation:
Plug your guitar (or any effect’s output) into the right hand input jack. Plug the output into an amp or other effect’s input. Rock out. Careful with the Boost setting when using a high-powered amp with lots of headroom... you may be shocked at how loud it can get!

The best way to complete this pedal is to run it through a Marshall amplifier on a warm clean setting (try strapping the channels, setting the volumes below 3, and setting all other controls to 6 as a start point), which has the proper voicing to reveal the "rock" in the Box of Rock.

Battery Change:
If the performance of your pedal seems diminished or the LEDs become very dim, it's time to change your battery. Remove the four screws on the bottom of the pedal and carefully remove and replace the old battery, putting it back exactly in the center of the pedal on edge so that it is gripped tightly by the lid when it is screwed back in place.

Specifications:
Uses 1 9V battery (preferably alkaline, but the unit is shipped with a carbon-zinc battery.) The low current operation of this pedal's circuit will give you a long battery life. Current draw is approximately 3mA. A DC power jack (standard Boss configuration with center negative) is provided on the side of the pedal. Use a high- quality 9V adaptor for all high-gain effects!

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