NAMM 2024: Four years ago almost to the day, Vox unveiled its Valvenergy Series of overdrive pedals to NAMM 2020 attendees.
Now, the storied British amp, guitar and stompbox brand has expanded its effects arsenal with a quartet of new Valvernergy pedals that double down on the lineup’s gain heritage while also taking it beyond into the realms of compressor and EQ.
As the “Valve” part of the name implies – and, as per the flagship pedals – each pedal comes loaded with Nutube tech: a popular innovation that supposedly creates the same overtones and harmonic character of conventional vacuum tubes.
The quartet of new-for-2024 Valvenergy units is made up of the Power Burst, Tone Sculptor, Fuel Injector and Smooth Impact.
Introducing its new expansion pack, Vox wrote, “Each of these pedals were designed to focus on enhancing the sound & natural character of your amplifier. We've harnessed NuTube technology's potential to craft tone-shaping pedals that elevate your amplifier's sound without imposing their own tone atop it, setting them apart from others on the market.
“These effects are dynamic and responsive, and will bring your amp to the next level, it continued. “They boast user-friendly controls, an OLED display exhibiting oscilloscope and pertinent meters, and a newly engineered buffer that's ideal for lengthy signal chains.”
To find out more about each pedal, scroll down…
Vox Valvenergy Fuel Injector
Continuing the tube amp-like overdrive tone mission that was set by its predecessors, the Fuel Injector is dubbed a fully original overdrive/distortion stompbox that looks to introduce “tons of musical overtones” into your signal.
A mode toggle switch – which flicks between Natural and Fat voices – is flanked by a standard gain control layout comprising Level, Tone and Drive parameters.
Vox Valvenergy Power Burst
Equally intuitive to operate, the Power Burst has been marketed as a three-mode boost pedal whose role it is to give the front end of your amp a sonic kick.
One Boost rotary control, as well as a three-way toggle that chooses between Treble, Middle or Natural voices, complete the topography of the blissfully simple stompbox.
Vox Valvenergy Smooth Impact
By comparison, the Smooth Impact is the Valvenergy line’s first compressor pedal – and, as Vox reports, “one of the very first tube driven compressor pedal[s] in the market”.
Again, three modes are available – Vintage, Natural and SAG – which are the mercy of Output, Tube Gain and Comp controls.
In terms of tones, Vintage is said to be a traditional compressor perfect for pop and country, while Natural aims to appease those players who are of a modern persuasion: “Perfect for players who want a nice pillow while playing modern playing style such as two hand tapping.”
That just leaves SAG, which, as you’d expect, looks to recreate the distinct tonal behaviour of natural tube sag.
Vox Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
Last but not least is the Tone Sculptor. No prizes for guessing what this pedal does: it sculpts your tone, and does so by way of a six-band EQ. A broad frequency spectrum is covered – ranging from 100Hz to 5.6kHz – with each individual band adjustable from +10 to -10.
There’s also a seventh slide control assigned to Level duties, and that one can be boosted or cut by +12 or -12dB.
Official US prices for the latest Valvenergy pedals are yet to be confirmed.
To find out more about each pedal, head over to Vox.
It's been a busy week for Vox in the lead up to NAMM 2024. In this week alone, the company has issued recreations of the first-ever production wah pedals, unveiled the APC-1 guitar, expanded its amPlug range and announced the AC Hand-Wired series.
Visit our guide to NAMM 2024 news to keep up to date with all the new gear releases.
