Z.Vex Effects

The Z. Vex logo

Z. Vex Effects is a boutique effects pedal company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their name derives from the name of founder Zachary Vex (aka Tommy Roberts). The company's most famous product is the Fuzz Factory. All of their pedals (except the budget-line Vexter series) are hand painted at their factory in Minnesota. All Vexter subassemblies are made in Taiwan, but the final assembly is completed in the United States. Their products tend to be high end and thus are rather expensive because they are all hand made. Z. Vex effects pedals are known for the extreme amount of control that they give to the user. According to Zach Vex, all handpainted pedals are "warranted to be free from manufacturing defects for as long as I am on the planet."[1]

Products

• Fuzz Factory (fuzzbox)
• Box of Rock (preamp-booster/overdrive)
• Box of Metal (high gain distortion)
• Woolly Mammoth (bass/guitar fuzzbox)
• Super Hard-On (preamp-booster/overdrive)
• Super Duper 2-in-1 (preamp/overdrive)
• Machine (fuzzbox)
• Ooh Wah II (step-sequenced filter)
• Ringtone (step-sequenced ring modulator)
• Lo-Fi Loop Junky (analog delay/loop recorder)
• Seek Wah II (step-sequenced filter)
• Octane III (octave-generating fuzzbox)
• Seek Trem (step-sequenced tremolo)
• Tremorama (step-sequenced tremolo)
• Johnny Octave (octave)
• The Nano head (tube amplifier)
• Drip Guitar (discontinued)
• Earth Save passive boost (discontinued - 3 units sold)

Users

• Malcolm Young of AC/DC uses the Nano Head at home
• Trent Reznor, Guitar/vocals for Nine Inch Nails owns a Fuzz Factory, a Machine, a Mamouth, and a Nano Amp
• Alan Sparhawk, Singer and Guitarist for Low
• Matt Bellamy, Guitar/vocals for Muse, owns guitar(s) with a Fuzz Factory built in
• Stephen Carpenter, Guitarist for Deftones
• J. Mascis, Guitar/vocals for Dinosaur Jr
• Billy Gibbons, Guitar/vocals for ZZ Top
• John Frusciante, Guitar for Red Hot Chili Peppers owns a Z. Vex Fuzz Factory
• Eric Erlandson, Guitar for Hole
• Billy Corgan, Guitar/vocals for Smashing Pumpkins owns several Z. Vex pedals
• Jack White of The White Stripes
• Nels Cline of Nels Cline Singers and Wilco owns many Z.Vex pedals
• Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine owns numerous Z.Vex pedals
• Efrim Menuck of A Silver Mt. Zion

Other Products

The company also manufactures a Probe line of effects (the Fuzz Probe, Wah Probe and Tremolo Probe) that are modified versions of other pedals the company makes. What makes this series of pedals unique is the copper plate, which has an antenna underneath it that senses how close your foot (or something else) is to the pedal, giving you the ability to manipulate an aspect of the pedal's sound. From the company's website:

"The probe circuit generates a small (one or two inches high) 'bubble' of RF energy at about a million cycles per second above the copper plate. As your foot or hand (or any wet or metallic object, for that matter) approaches the copper plate, the RF field is disturbed and the circuit reacts by increasing the brightness of an LED, which drives a photoresistive cell and controls the circuit."[2]

Links

• Z.Vex homepage
• Z.Vex fansite