Vox Releases the Valvenergy Line of Nutube-Equipped Stompboxes

October 8, 2020 · 5 sources

Vox announced the Valvenergy 1st Series, a line of compact overdrive and distortion pedals built around the Nutube, the miniature vacuum tube developed by Korg and Noritake. Each pedal in the line pairs an all-analog signal path with the Nutube, which Vox says delivers "genuine overdrive and distortion tones with the feel of a real tube amp"¹. The line launched with four models: the Mystic Edge, the Silk Drive, the Copperhead Drive and the Cutting Edge.

The Mystic Edge is a valve distortion pedal inspired by the chime and midrange of the Vox AC30, and it is the one model in the line that is specific about its amp inspiration. Vox describes it as offering "the chime and midrange of the VOX AC30 in a compact pedal format"¹. The Silk Drive is a valve overdrive pedal aimed at "the dynamic clean and creamy overdrive tones of classic boutique amps," which Delicious Audio characterized as a lower-gain overdrive probably styled after a Dumble amp³². The Copperhead Drive targets "the powerful crunch of British full stack amps," a Plexi-style overdrive in Delicious Audio's description, while the Cutting Edge is designed to replicate the response of contemporary high-gain US amplifiers and adds a Tight knob for dialing in heavy metal chug⁴⁵².

All three pedals Vox detailed share the same feature set¹³⁴:

• An all-analog signal path powered by Nutube, for what Vox calls warm and responsive amp-like tones¹
• Three output modes: STANDARD, PREAMP and CAB-SIM, letting each pedal work as a standard pedal, a line-level preamp or a direct amp sim¹
• A BRIGHT switch and a MODE switch alongside gain and EQ controls¹
• INPUT, OUTPUT, DC9V and LINK jacks¹

The control layouts differ slightly by model¹³⁴:

The Mystic Edge's Tone Cut control echoes the AC30's tone-cut voicing, while the Silk Drive and Copperhead Drive use a middle control instead¹³⁴.

MusicRadar's reviewer Phil Barker found real differences between the models in use⁵. He found the Mystic Edge "nicely responsive to playing dynamics and, with a combination of grit and chime, some familiar Vox tones are here," and noted the Silk Drive "has plenty going for it" as a tone sweetener, with a little less midrange presence at noon EQ settings⁵.