Vox V810 Valve-Tone

Price Paid: 35 (GB Pounds)

Ease of Use: 10
Simple as can be. The tine knob does make a difference and Gain and Level are self explanitory.

Sound Quality: 9
Great sounding overdrive, similar to Tubescreamer or Tubeblower. Certainly got its own character and I alternate it with my Tubeblower to vary my sound during a gig. It has a nice fat sound and gets really dirty at full gain. I really like it.

Reliability: 5
Okay for 12 months, then the foor switch broke. I tried to replace it myself, but it seems to have problems cutting out intermitently. Maybe that's my fault and I shouild have it fixed by an expert. Otherwise the pedal is solid and the knobs are big and chunky.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 8
If it hadn't broke I would probably never bought another overdrive pedal. It has a great sound and is way better than my old Boss SD-1. It compliments my fender hotrod amp very well. Overall a great sound, shame about the build quality.

Submitted by Steve at 08/20/2005 14:16

Price Paid: 70 (euros)

Ease of Use: 10
It couldn't be easyer!!!! Just plug and play. Volume, Gain and Tone!

Sound Quality: 8
I use a Big Muff > Ernie Ball Volume > Dunlop Rotovibe > Dunlop Crybaby > Ibanez PUE7 (Tube Screamer + Tube Drive + Digital Delay + Chorus Rotary) > DOD Envelope Filter > MXR Dyna Comp > Boss Octave 2 > Boss OD3 > Vox Valve Tone. I use a Boss TR-2 > Boss DD3 > Boss Super Shifter > Electro harmonix Deluxe Memory man plugged into de PUE7 Fx Loop.
I use a fender '52 telecaster butterscotch blonde, a fender strat 60 player w/texas special pu's a Gibson Les paul Calssic 1960 Goldtop and other axes, all run mainly into a Fender Twin Reverb. I also use a Fender Blues Junior and a MESA BOOGIE DC5. I play with a lot of bands and in very different palces, so many times i have to play with other amps like marshalls, h&K etc.
I never play without my VOX VALVETONE. I leave it on all the time, for the extra fatness and the soft crunch. It gets any amp play right, specially the Twin Reverb wich is to clean for me (except when i play jazz or bossa nova). I use with the volume at max the gain at minimum and the tone at minimum or 9 o'clock.
It makes a litle noise when you turn it on or off, but since i leave it on all the time...
i'm think about getting another one.
It makes other overdrive pedals sound great. The Big Muff sounds full and rich.

Reliability: 10
Never had a problem and i own it for 10 years

Customer Support: N/A
never needed it

Overall Rating: 10
It's my main thing. I never play without it. It's allways on.

Submitted by Budda at 07/27/2005 07:55

Price Paid: $90 new (Singapore Dollars)

Ease of Use: 10
It has the same bloody controls as a tube screamer. Unless you're retarded, you should have no problems.

Sound Quality: 9
I use les pauls into marshalls. My review is split into 2 sections 1) Pre-mod: sounded just like a tube screamer(TS) but with the highs slightly attenuated so it was less harsh. Not much low end. Mid-hump like all TS's. Tone knob was not useable after 2 o'clock. Drive knob delivers good sounds throughout its entire sweep, which is rare enogh for any pedal, much less one that costs so little.Basically a medium-lite gain one-trick pony 2) post-mod: tried to clone a keeley-style TS mod for the valvetone. Now its a lot better, there is MUCH more low end, more drive, more gain and less of the mid-hump. Basically this pedal is for those of you who want a TS style drive pedal but don't want to be seen with one of those green beasts. It really sounds similar to a TS, and any mod available for TS's is also applicable to this pedal(look insde, it's virtually identical to a TS)and will improve its tone in the same way. good pedal for a good price, but only after a mod. If you mod it properly, its a real gem. Oh, the LED is bloody useless, especially if you are playing in the daytime, in the open, then you won't be able to see shit, it's GOT to be changed. It's also really pretty...

Reliability: 10
Have owned this pedal for over 10 yrs. was reliable as hell before i modded it, is still reliable as hell now. the switch is over 10 years old and has been used and abused at countless jams and gigs and is still working fine!!(i guess i've jinxed it now). Would definitely gig without a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with the company.
As for repairing it or modding it, if you can mod a TS, you can mod or repair this, its exactly the same! Not a complex pedal at all component count is very low.

Overall Rating: 9
I play blues/funk/rock. This pedal is a good match for what i play. Have ben playing for 15 yrs have owned almost every drive/TS style pedal/clone under the sun (ebay is addictive and dangerous!)This is not the best clone avalable(Barber Direct Drive gets my vote for that)but if you want an attractive, cheap TS style pedal to mod this is perfect for you and it will really SING once you mod it properly. It was decent when it was original, it is GREAT now its been modded. Yes i would buy it again, if it were stolen it would really hurt cos i've owned/used it for so long that its got a fair amount of sentimental value attached. So...if you like TS's, buy it, its a great little pedal.

Submitted by Noel at 04/26/2005 22:33

Price Paid: US $70 / Ebay used

Ease of Use: 9
It's only got three knobs: Volume, Tone and Gain. Very straightforward... Completely stock... Didn't come with a manual, but you shouldn't need a manual to dictate your sound...

Sound Quality: 8
I've tried several overdrive pedals and this one seems the most transparent and doesn't color my guitar tone at all. I'm using a Gibson SG w/ P-90's and a stock American Telecaster into a Fender Concert amp. The only other pedals I use are a ProCo Rat and sometimes a Boss delay (but only rarely, 'cause it sucks the tone). I set it with Volume at 2 o'clock, Tone at 3 o'clock and Gain at 11 o'clock. Anything above that on the gain and it starts to sound the same. Also, I find the tone doesn't have enough variety (i.e. it sounds warm up until around 2 o'clock. Anything above that is too harsh - I end up using the tone turned up high on the pedal and adjust the tone with the tone knob on my guitars.

In terms of sound, it's great for blues and brit-rock type sounds. Think the Beatles "Revolver", or with the gain around 9 o'clock, early Who recordings. In terms of response, it cleans up nicely when you lessen your attack or lower the volume on the guitar. It's one of the few OD pedals I've tried that doesn't seem to color my guitar sound at all. However, I do feel like it thins out the bass sound a little bit - I'm starting to look at boutique pedals, but this pedal just sounds great. It's a pretty quiet pedal compared to other OD pedals, but as with others, it will give a bit of a hiss at higher volumes - especially since my sg w/ p-90's and teles are single-coil guitars. It does have a nasty pop the first time you turn it on, so make sure you click it on and off before cranking your volume. It's true bypass as well, unlike tubescreamers and boss pedals. For the price, I think it's a better value than a lot of pedals out there without forking for boutique pedals.... Make sure you always have fresh batteries or an adapter in it though as once the battery starts going, the tone is horrible and it really squashes the signal...

Reliability: 6
I've gigged with this for about a year and a half without a back-up and it's held up pretty well. However, the construction looks a little shoddy. In fact, I think the footswitch is about to go. Sometimes I stomp on it and the OD only sometimes kicks in.... So, I bought a Boss SD-1 for a backup for our last gig and sure enough, the Vox pedal died during sound check..... Not sure who to send it to in order to get it fixed as they don't make these pedals anymore...

Customer Support: N/A
n/a. Have not dealt with them. Will probably try and get my pedal fixed locally. Hopefully, someone can fix it....

Overall Rating: 8
For the style of music I play, it's perfect. I've got a ProCo rat for heavier distortion sounds, but this is an excellent overdrive pedal and, for the price, it's very transparent and it's true bypass... Only complaint is lack of tone variety and the bass sound seems to be a bit diminished when the effect is on. Just wish it was built a little sturdier, but I guess I got a year and a half's use out of it...

Submitted by Pete J at 07/30/2004 12:29

Price Paid: US $90.00

Ease of Use: 10
it easy one button three knobs the light is a b*tch to read sometimes

Sound Quality: 8
im using a parker p 38 standard into a v830 booster(much better pedal) a fender blues deville (4 X 10)
and i can get some good blues tones but nothing else do not expect this to give you and kind of scream

noisy when running both the v830 and the v810

Reliability: 8
no trouble yet... but bring a spare battery to a gig its hard to tell when it getting low

Customer Support: N/A
never delt with them

Overall Rating: 8
great for svr tone blues and nothing else if you looking for the more classic rock solo distortion go for the v830 its better (cheaper too!!)

Submitted by Jake at 07/25/2004 15:23

Price Paid: 55 (sterling) used

Ease of Use: 10
Stomp on switch, twist a few chicken head knobs and you're cookin'!

Sound Quality: 9
My setup goes: Fender Strat(kinman woodstock pickups)Fulltone Clyde deluxe wah-Fulltone deja vibe-Custom made Fuzz (used a a boost with the fuzz down slightly) vox V810-Danelectro echo-Akai tuner-Fender 63'Blackface bassman head into Marshall 4x12" with celestion greenbacks. I find the pedal does not color my sound and is not noisy, it's a great pedal for light rock/ blues, and with humbuckers will give you some great vintage lead sounds, but as I use a strat with single coils, I need to boost the signal going into it for some superb solo sounds, note ,this is a players pedal, it wont mask your sloppy playing like a "supermetaldeathslayingturbobooster" but if you love the tone of your guitar and amp but wish you had a little more drive and sustain,track one of these down!I have been playin over 32 years and in the past couple of years had and disgarded various pedals including: Voodoolab sparkledrive/Jaques tubeblower/Fulltone 69/more Roger Mayer pedals than I care to remember/Barber dd/Barber dd ss/Boss BD2/Boss SD1 and Keely modded TS9, now I am not saying these pedals don't cut the mustard, but I was looking for something else, and by chance came across the Vox V810...It looks like I can stop looking!!!Also i have had a look inside and see that it has the same rare chip TL4558P inside that my Keeley modded TS9 had....can't be bad.

Reliability: 7
Only had it a while ,no problems so far, but anything will break down eventually! Its a few years old already, and still workin fine.

Customer Support: 2
This pedal is discontinued,but if I have any probs. I have a good tech. who will sort it.

Overall Rating: 10
This pedal is a little gem, if I find another I will buy it.It can be used as a almost clean boost, and anything else from Jazz to rock.
I recomend as with any pedal try it out with your own gear in a live band situation, thats when you will find a pedals faults,I looked on this site for comments about it and by and large they are spot on! It has not got the best tone sweep that ive heard, but I have tone controls on my guitar and amp!!It also gets along fine with my other pedals.

Submitted by John C' at 07/09/2004 08:12

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 10
2 knobs not complicated at all, s

Sound Quality: 10
ive tried it with a fender super 60 rackmount head into a marshall cabinet , with a musicman custom with empg pickups, I am able to get a crunchy but light rock guitar sound.
also with a fender bassman reissue strat guitar I can get a open chord playing type of sound , kind of like guns & roses type of sound, very cool sound.
I will not do a gig or even rehearse with my band if I do not have this pedal, If you see one at a store please email so I can buy it!

Reliability: 10
new batteries do make a difference ive had it for about 4 years no problems

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
this pedal is awsome, I play from funk to reggae to punk hardcore latin rock, if you have a overdrive pedal already add this one and it will sound better warmer, if you want to play blues this is it, whatelse can I say , after 4 or more years with it I want another one

Submitted by Allen at 04/16/2004 11:05

Price Paid: 400 (Brazilian Real) used

Ease of Use: 8
Pretty easy to use: gain, tone and volume knobs. The yellow led makes it hard to see when the pedal is on. Eats batteries easily (so I recommend using the AC Jack).

Sound Quality: 9
I can get great overdriven tones using it with my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI and Gibson ES 335. It gives me an amazing tone like The Who's Live at Leeds with this setup. I've tried a lot of overdrives before I go for the Valve Tone (Ibanez TS 9, Marshall Drivemaster, Dano Daddy O, Boss ODs and Rats are some of these), but this was the only one which gave the sound I was looking for.
The bad points: it only sounds good with new batteries, so it's better use the AC adapter for a nice tone. It's a bit noisy too (probably due to cheap construction).

Reliability: N/A
It doesn't seem very trusty. Seems to be made of cheap components, but in fact never had a problem with it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing for 11 years and I play mostly pop, classic and alternative rock with this setup. If it was stolen, Í'd ask an electronics expert to make a copy of it using 1st quality parts (in fact I'm considering doing this and keep this one for selling it for big bucks when it becomes a "classic", like the tubescreamer). It has a very nice tone by itself and it's well worth an upgrade.

Submitted by Ricardo at 09/28/2003 11:39

Price Paid: US $65

Ease of Use: 10
Easy to use. All controls do what they are supposed to do, in a linear and predictable way.

Sound Quality: 9
I play jazz, modern type (funk and rock).
Gibson 335 or Gibson SG -> (Several effects) -> ValveTone -> (Several effects) -> Digitech 2120 (rack) -> Fender Twin Reverb
I wanted the ValveTone to help me in keeping the Twin at a low volume and still get warmth, boost and a little character in my sound. I use a lot of the tone control to help me cut thru the mix. You could leave it on all the time it would not hurt your sound (for blues and rock I leave it use on almost full time).
It has true bypass, which is a necessity for all kind of rigs. It has a little compression that makes you feel like you are playing a loaded tube. Voicings are not wide, but it gives nice power to chords and leads without sucking bass.
I compared it to almost every other pedal available, and it was second to none. Even pedals with a tube inside could not get the fantastic sound the ValveTone has. Plus it looks good and has a functional design (except for battery changing (by the way, make sure to have a fresh battery; it makes aaall the difference)). The switch makes you feel when it has "clicked" and you can easily see the "on" light.

Reliability: 6
I gigged with it 3 nights a week for months, in some really bad places. Had a few problems with jacks getting loose, but I was able to fix it on the spot. It does make an extremely annoying and dangerous POP the first time you turn it on, so I recommed turning it on and off before turning up the amp volume.

Customer Support: N/A
I´m from Argentina... we basically dont have customer support for anything.

Overall Rating: 8
Great, great pedal. You can get a lot of good sounds out of it: distortion, overdrive, booster; warmth, bite, creamy, sustain, etc., etc. You only have to be careful not to mistake "warmth" for "mud".

Strongly recommended. Any questions please email me at: dropelin@hotmail.com

Submitted by Pedro at 08/20/2003 13:51

Price Paid: US $60.00

Ease of Use: N/A
Plug in, twist the three chicken head knobs and GO CAT GO!

Sound Quality: 8
Excellent sounding low to medium gain overdrive pedal. Smooth overdrive tones abound throughout the entire ( yes, entire ) knob sweep...except the tone control that is...I have to leave it all the way down (off) as it is a bit bright ( for my taste ) anywhere but 0. Using a homebrew USACG chambered mahogany tele with a Duncan Seth Lover humbucker ( excellent pickup by the way ) in the neck and a Duncan Lil' 59 in the bridge. I like to roll the tone control back to 1/2 - 3/4 when the valve tone is engaged. Doing this results in some of the finest, creamiest, smoothest overdrive tones this side of midnight....especailly with the Seth. This pedal seems to like tube or solid state amps equally and shines while playing crunchy chords or single note flurries. I usually have the gain anywhere from 12:00 to 4:00. I've tried to replace ( or add to the tonal spectrum of ) this fine pedal with an Ibanez Tube King, Butler Real Tube, Boss Blues Driver, Reverend Drivetrain and a few others. The Drivetrain
( first issue ) came the closest, but still did not have the pleasing tone of the VT. The Boss Blues Driver is still in use as a clean - semi / clean boost. Anything other than 9:00 on the BD and it becomes a bit fizzy / splattery. A mod by Keeley, Analogman or Doob-Tone is in order for the BD and that will be happening soon. The 8 rating in no way makes this a bad pedal. I just ordered a barber direct drive and I'm hoping that will bring a 9 - 10 rating. We shall see. Suffice to say, this is fine sounding unit. I guess it's based on a tube screamer. I vowed in the early 80's to never play a tube screamer. I played with my buddys 808 he bought in 79 - 80 and I was never that impressed with it. Of course at that time, I was running it into a clean amp and using it as a distortion pedal. It did not have near the gain or tone as my Washburn Stack-in-a-box! If it is indeed based on a TS, I guess my tastes have changed. Don Butler ( "The Tone-Man" ) will be getting this little gem in the mail soon to work his magic on it. From the reviews I've read here on Don's mod, and the kind people who have responded to my queries, it's worth the $45.00 he charges. The consencious is it makes the VT more "open" sounding, increases the range of the tone control, ( that alone would be worth it for me! ) and makes it sound more "transparent". I'm trying to figure out what transparent sounds like...if you have a clue, please let me know! One fella told me Dons mod makes it sound more like a tube amp rather than a pedal. The final result is slight, but all say it's worth it. Anything that would take this fine pedal to the next level is OK by me. I should just concentrate on my playing and leave the pedal tweaks alone.....but you know what? Damn it Jim, I'm a guitar player not a drummer! We gotta tweak, get new gear and change pickups every other week or we'll shrivel up and die!

Reliability: 10
Built like a Shrick hit brouse. You could use it open a pound of macadamia nuts, raise a welt on your forehead, frame a mini-bar, plug it in and play a White Room, Badge, Sleepy Time Time medly and not miss a beat. On top of that, it's very well constructed!

Customer Support: N/A
In 30 + years of playing, buying gear and managing music stores, I have NEVER sent a piece of gear back or contacted the customer service department of a company. I've been very lucky ( and blessed ) with my gear. Of course, I take excellent care of my stuff so that may have a bit to do with it.

Overall Rating: 8
I play the blues, worship music, gospel, old style R&B, motown soul, a bit of country, some faux jazz, ( I can fake it, but I ain't no jazz player...damn ) altered tuning original stuff and I help my friends out on their original tunes. My first love ( as it has been for over 30 years ) is the blues. With the USACG chambered Tele I just built, ( one of, if not the finest guitars I've ever played ) sweet, fat, woody, corpulent, plump, fereal and fecund tones spew forth like the creamy head on a well poured Guiness. The syncronicity of the guitar and the Valve Tone make it easy to not overplay. Like the fine Vox amp I once had the pleasue to plug in to....with touch senstivity, it becomes near effortless to play from your heart. You can say what you need to with several well chosen notes instead of fighting for tone and over playing. Anything that enhances your playing gets high marks from me.

Submitted by BB at 06/05/2003 13:30