Vibravox

[ZOT!]

How comparable is the Cooltron Vibravox pedal, versus the orignal Vibravox Channel on the AC30. I think the 90s AC30TBX also had this feature, so maybe that is also worth a comparison.

If I'm not mistaken the current AC30CC doesn't feature this, only a simple tremolo, while he heritage series have nothing at all (my reason for asking). For those curious the Vibravox is a tremolo + vibrato channel that was on the original AC30/4, which was supposedly recreated in the current Vox Vibravox Cooltron pedal. Thanks for any help.

 

[AshlandBump]

I have a Vibravox that I run with my JMJ30 (Vox clone, no tremolo/vibrato). My only direct comparison is with an AC30TBX that I owned years ago, so it's been a while. My take is that the Vibravox is way more flexible than the TBX's vib/trem channel. You can control the depth, speed and shape of the trem/vibrato whereas the TBX only gives you three speed settings. The Vibravox sounds very good -- I'm happy with it, though I use it more for vibrato than trem. The trem is not as good as the Toneczar Powerglide I used to have, but that's pretty much the holy grail to me for pedal-based tremolo. Sorry I can't be more specific about the comparison.

 

[ZOT!]

Thanks, that helps, I suppose my main interest is in how close of an approximation it is to the original VOX sound, warts-and-all authenticity, rather than in comparison to other pedals. I realize that it has some modern improvements, but can it also recreate the original tones? I suppose a worth noting that the EH Wiggler also offers an "Acey" (as in AC30) setting and the Colorsound Tremolo also advertises itself as being based on the Vox tremolo.

 

[John Thigpen]

I've been looking at tremolos but wasn't familiar with this one. Here's ProGuitarShop's review of it.

http://www.proguitarshop.com/product.php?ProductID=378&CategoryID=

John

 

[AshlandBump]

Thanks, that helps, I suppose my main interest is in how close of an approximation it is to the original VOX sound, warts-and-all authenticity, rather than in comparison to other pedals. I realize that it has some modern improvements, but can it also recreate the original tones? I suppose a worth noting that the EH Wiggler also offers an "Acey" (as in AC30) setting and the Colorsound Tremolo also advertises itself as being based on the Vox tremolo.

The best thing I can offer is if you give me an example of the Vib/Trem channel, I'll tell you how the Vibravox stacks up against it.

 

[ZOT!]

This is the only clip I could find, and this dude is pretty weak. Vibrato sounds pretty good, even if he doesn't. Maybe I should try this in the amp forum...thanks for giving it a try!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot3S_WOij9Q

 

[drive-south]

I asked my local Mom & Pop about the VibraVox a while back and they told me it was discontinued so we ended the discussion there. I stopped in to visit today and they said they had recieved one. I took a few minutes to try it out through a clean amp with a Telecaster. I thought it had a better vibrato than my MDV2 and the trem was also cool. It has 2 sides to it. You can assign the tem and vib to either/both sides and can control the speed of each side independantly. Since this pedal is discontinued, they offered to sell it to me for $119 so I jumped on it.

I'll post some more after I put it through it's paces at home.

drive-south

 

[drive-south]

I spent some time this weekend with the Vibravox.

I love the sound of both the trem and the vibrato. I greatly prefer this vibrato to my Fulltone MDV2. It sounds like a vintage amp vibrato, not a unavibe. It really fits well with my playing style and has that great swampy sound.

On the down side, I don't think this unit is true-bypass, and it has a tendency to make a nasty crack/pop sound when you turn the affect on/off or switch from 1 to 2. Touch any of the jacks and you also get the nasty crack/pop as well. This will probably be staying in the studio and used for recording but not for live use. I plan to open it up and spray some deoxit into the switches and jacks to see if this helps.

For the money, I can't complain, but I will probably be looking for something that sounds like this unit but more bullet-proof and road worthy.

drive-south

 

[Blue Bee]

Necro bump because I love this thing especially for $100 used! Can’t believe there’s not more talk about this incredible analog trem/vibrato pedal.

 

[puddlesurf]

I'm looking at picking one up. What did you like about it?

 

[drive-south]

I love my Vibravox but the right side is not currently working. I can still use it for tremelo or vibrato, just cant switch between 1/2.

I also have Boss TR2, VB2W, Bigfoot Magnavibe, and just purchased a Source Audio Vertigo. The Vibravox does vibrato better than the VB2W or Magnavibe in my opinion. Compared to the Vox the other 2 are darker sounding. The Vox has great clarity and never sounds muddy.

I'd like to get my Vibravox repaired. Best pedal I own and I own lots.

 

[Blue Bee]

I'm looking at picking one up. What did you like about it?

Everything
The tone of the trem is the best I’ve heard and the vibe is great too. The ramping between speeds, switching between 2 effects, soft click switches, runs on 9v or aa batteries, works as a great boost pedal, you can hear the tube tone in the signal. Packed full of analog goodness!

 

[Blue Bee]

I love my Vibravox but the right side is not currently working. I can still use it for tremelo or vibrato, just cant switch between 1/2.

I also have Boss TR2, VB2W, Bigfoot Magnavibe, and just purchased a Source Audio Vertigo. The Vibravox does vibrato better than the VB2W or Magnavibe in my opinion. Compared to the Vox the other 2 are darker sounding. The Vox has great clarity and never sounds muddy.

I'd like to get my Vibravox repaired. Best pedal I own and I own lots.

Yeah it’s a great pedal. Bummer yours has that issue. My guess is it’s a foot switch gone bad. Did you open it up and look inside?

 

[drive-south]

Well I figured out there is nothing wrong with my Vibravox. User error.

So looks like the Vertigo will be on my smaller board, replacing a Boss TR2.

 

[Rowboat]

I'm a dinosaur, so it's no shame on me to exhume this discussion.

During the 1980s I had the good fortune to own (and the extreme idiocy to sell) a 1962 AC30/6.

Mine was the pre-top boost model with three channels (normal, bright, vib/trem) each with high and low gain inputs. 3x2 = 6.

I've missed that incredible vibrato ever since. So far, nothing has really come close to being able to bridge normal to bright - or the bright channel and vibrato - or just to wind up the vibrato channel alone.

I've hunted for a VibraVox pedal, but haven't succeeded in tracking a good one down. Not entirely convinced it could replicate a mains powered Vox vibrato channel, but I'd like to know.

EHX Wiggler was ho-hum, and terribly noisy. On the right track, but not there. My current compromise is a Waza vibrato, which being a facsimile can be made to sound ridiculous quite easily, but at least doesn't stink.

The original Jennings/Denney phase-shifting vibrato circuit can be researched on the linked page below. The site is a good resource for AC30 nuts.

Unfortunately, Jennings and Denney *never* disclosed the true and full Vox vibrato schematic, and even hid the values of all critical components from their own staff!

Nowadays, it would be possible to peer inside the epoxy used to seal some of the soup-tins, and (possibly) to determine what they hid.

But only a large and wealthy outfit like Universal Audio would have the resources to do it

https://www.voxac30.org.uk/vox_ac30_vibrato_gl.html

 

[billybling]

Those mid 90’s to early 2000 AC30TB’s are sooooooooooo good!

I need one.

 

[drbob1]

Fascinating story. So, in addition to Fender's bias vary tremolo, and LDR tremolo, we have:

The Hammond organ chorus/vibrato used in the Scanner effect-which is mechanical, contacts rotating over a series of capacitors
The Fender Harmonic Tremolo using dual band bias tremolos which result in some phase and frequency shifting
The Magnatone true pitch shifting vibrato
And the Vox Vibratone? which involves some phase effects as well as volume effects?