Zvex box of rock

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crazypaws
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Zvex box of rock

Post by crazypaws » Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:08 am

I still think this is one of the most under appreciated pedals on the market! Love the way it cranks and brightens up my tone! Definitely makes all of my modulation effects sparkle! Anyone here enjoy theirs?


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Last edited by crazypaws on Sun Sep 02, 2018 3:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Sid Nitzerglobin
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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Sid Nitzerglobin » Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:28 pm

I think it's in my top 3 of Marshall in a box type pedals so far. I think the Double Rock edges it out just based on sheer utility, but sometimes you don't quite need all those option in a single pedal...

The (very) recently acquired Keeley 1962x could be making a run at these Zvex boxes for me for Marshall-y goodness, but it's a little too early to send the plaque to the engravers... ;)

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by tele_pathic » Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:47 am

I loved my BOR when I had it. I had the BOR, loved it. It lacked the "two drives in one" aspect, so I bought a ZVEX Distortron to place after it, which I also loved soooooo much. I found with the BOR, though, that I didn't use the boost function too much. So I sold the BOR and bought a second Distortron. I had one for low gain and one for high gain.

Anyway, at the time, the Double Rock was pure custom shop, purple sparkle only. When the Vexter version was released, I began the hunt for one, while the BOR and Distortron were still on my board. Finally, I found a good price on a used Double Rock. Bought it and instantly fell in love with it. Sold both Distortrons and the Double Rock functions at such a high level for me.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:52 pm

For you guys who know, is the Box Of Rock a Distotron with a SHO for the boost?
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MechaBulletBill
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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Aug 01, 2018 4:49 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:52 pm
For you guys who know, is the Box Of Rock a Distotron with a SHO for the boost?
Yeah, it's just missing some of the tweaking options of the distortron (which I preferred! Nice to dial back the bass a tad).

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 4:54 pm

Interesting. I've never played either, but I've got a friend who might soon be getting into pedals, and I think the Marshall sound would be his thing. I know some of you guys love the way the SHO sounds too. I'd probably build him a custom one with the main Distortron circuit and SHO/boost in there too.
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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Sid Nitzerglobin » Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:52 am

If you want to give him all the options, try to find a schematic/layout for the Double Rock.

Either of the two sides of it can be configured to work as a SHO w/ master/Channel 2 w/ tone shaping options or a Distortron/BoR. In practice it really does give one a lot of flexibility in gain staging/layering of clipping.

I gotta think it'd be a really big pain to build one into the same enclosure footprint w/o sourcing a lot of tiny surface mount components and a PCB to house them though.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by shoule79 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:34 pm

Loved the boost, was a bit meh on the drive. It didn’t agree with my AC30, but loved my other amps.

I sold mine, and even though I didn’t click with it, while I had it I ended up using it to record a lot.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by cpeck » Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:37 pm

I’ve got a purple sparkle Double Rock and it is an incredible recording pedal.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by tele_pathic » Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:11 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:52 pm
For you guys who know, is the Box Of Rock a Distotron with a SHO for the boost?
The boost on the BOR is NOT an SHO, even according to the company’s own paperwork. The boost is SIMILAR to an SHO, but to call it an SHO is misleading.

OTOH, the Double Rock CAN be an SHO or a Distortron on either or both channels. It’s such an awesome pedal.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by tele_pathic » Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:12 pm

cpeck wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:37 pm
I’ve got a purple sparkle Double Rock and it is an incredible recording pedal.
This is my holy grail pedal!!! Combined with a J Mascis JM in purple sparkle.

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:00 pm

Sid Nitzerglobin wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:52 am
If you want to give him all the options, try to find a schematic/layout for the Double Rock.

Either of the two sides of it can be configured to work as a SHO w/ master/Channel 2 w/ tone shaping options or a Distortron/BoR. In practice it really does give one a lot of flexibility in gain staging/layering of clipping.

I gotta think it'd be a really big pain to build one into the same enclosure footprint w/o sourcing a lot of tiny surface mount components and a PCB to house them though.
Dig it! Double Rock sounds like it's an almost perfect gain pedal then. Especially for my friend.

Well, that's the thing, I absolutely hate the Z-Vex enclosures. Size is ok, and the paint jobs are amazing, but I can't stand that they're sideways. Unless your board is filled with just Z-Vex, it's just wasted space. I'd probably put it in a 1590BB with top jacks.

tele_pathic wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:11 pm
The boost on the BOR is NOT an SHO, even according to the company’s own paperwork. The boost is SIMILAR to an SHO, but to call it an SHO is misleading.

OTOH, the Double Rock CAN be an SHO or a Distortron on either or both channels. It’s such an awesome pedal.
Sweet! Thanks dude!
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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Sid Nitzerglobin » Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:40 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:00 pm
Sid Nitzerglobin wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:52 am
If you want to give him all the options, try to find a schematic/layout for the Double Rock.

Either of the two sides of it can be configured to work as a SHO w/ master/Channel 2 w/ tone shaping options or a Distortron/BoR. In practice it really does give one a lot of flexibility in gain staging/layering of clipping.

I gotta think it'd be a really big pain to build one into the same enclosure footprint w/o sourcing a lot of tiny surface mount components and a PCB to house them though.
Dig it! Double Rock sounds like it's an almost perfect gain pedal then. Especially for my friend.

Well, that's the thing, I absolutely hate the Z-Vex enclosures. Size is ok, and the paint jobs are amazing, but I can't stand that they're sideways. Unless your board is filled with just Z-Vex, it's just wasted space. I'd probably put it in a 1590BB with top jacks.
I think if they're into Marshall dirt and have a tube amp, there's not a better one I've tried personally. I'm w/ shoule that I haven't been ecstatic w/ the dirt of any of these (BoR, Distortron, or Double Rock) into the Vox types amps I've got/have had but then I've found I'm usually more into keeping the pedals transparent and cranking the amp more w/ them. They've all sounded pretty great to me into the OR50 or Fender-y or Marshall-y amps or when keeping it strictly boosty w/ the BoR or Double Rock into the Vox-y ones.

I think the Zvex form factor is sort of a godsend for some pedalboards, they're perfect for the first row of pedals on the Pedaltrain Metro boards IMO. You can butt most of the longer pedals in a second row flush up against the back edge of the Zvex's and there's still room for their cable ends to not over hang the board. They'd still be awesome bigger and w/ top mounted jacks though too, and probably a lot less of a hassle to try and hand solder ;)

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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Aug 02, 2018 8:21 pm

Sid Nitzerglobin wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:40 pm
I think if they're into Marshall dirt and have a tube amp, there's not a better one I've tried personally. I'm w/ shoule that I haven't been ecstatic w/ the dirt of any of these (BoR, Distortron, or Double Rock) into the Vox types amps I've got/have had but then I've found I'm usually more into keeping the pedals transparent and cranking the amp more w/ them. They've all sounded pretty great to me into the OR50 or Fender-y or Marshall-y amps or when keeping it strictly boosty w/ the BoR or Double Rock into the Vox-y ones.

I think the Zvex form factor is sort of a godsend for some pedalboards, they're perfect for the first row of pedals on the Pedaltrain Metro boards IMO. You can butt most of the longer pedals in a second row flush up against the back edge of the Zvex's and there's still room for their cable ends to not over hang the board. They'd still be awesome bigger and w/ top mounted jacks though too, and probably a lot less of a hassle to try and hand solder ;)
That's an interesting point. The reason I'm looking at building a few pedals for my friend is because, one, I'm not buying him a pedalboard, but could probably build it cheap-ish, but two, because he's been playing a Line 6 combo for years. I've been trying to get him into a better amp (regardless of tube or solid-state) and the last time we jammed, he loved the sound of my Delta Blues. He used to be in metal bands in high school, but no longer. He's almost the same as me for the style he likes to listen to and play. He borrowed my Laney Cub for a bit, and seemed to really like the way the tubes reacted compared to his Line 6 (Spider 3?). What's an interesting point (sorry, got off on a tangent there), is that he won't likely be getting a Vox, so I'm not too worried about them not sounding as good with that amp architecture.

I hadn't thought of that, but you're right: the Z-Vex form-factor would be fantastic for that first row on certain boards. I've been tempted to buy a Gig Rid Quartermaster switcher for a few pedals if not my whole board, and if I only got one for gain/compressor and delay/reverb, I'd have this space between the switchers where the Z-Vex would fit perfectly.
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Re: Zvex box of rock

Post by Sid Nitzerglobin » Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:14 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 8:21 pm
I've been tempted to buy a Gig Rid Quartermaster switcher for a few pedals if not my whole board, and if I only got one for gain/compressor and delay/reverb, I'd have this space between the switchers where the Z-Vex would fit perfectly.
Yup, that's how I've got most of my board setups arranged (w/ loop switching on the first row) and they work really well filling out the rest of the row. I can fit a couple of the EQD or Walrus tall pedals (or one of the big ones) in the second row above a Zvex w/o stressing about their cables hanging over the edge of the board.

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