ZVex Vexter Super Duper 2-in-1

The ZVex Vexter Super Duper 2-in-1 is a boost pedal that puts two Super Hard-On circuits in one box, with a Master Volume control added so it can also work as an overdrive or distortion¹. The Vexter Series version is built to the same specs as the hand painted Super Duper 2-in-1 but sold at a lower cost¹. It was designed by ZVex founder Zach Vex²³.

ZVEX describes the range plainly: the two channels can give any amount of gain, from a soft bluesy boost in two stages, to a crunchy rock level, to a wild sustaining sound¹. The SHO circuit itself is a high input-impedance preamp with wide-ranging gain, from unity up to 60X¹.

What it does

Each channel is a Super Hard-On boost. Channel 1 is a conventional SHO with its gain knob on the far right and a yellow LED; Channel 2 has the very same circuit, but the bleeder resistor on the output has been replaced with a Master Volume control, which lets you turn the output level down even when the gain is set high¹. Channel 2's gain knob is on the left, the Master Volume is the middle knob, and its LED is red¹.

Because Channel 1 is cascaded into Channel 2, the Master Volume is active whenever Channel 2 is on, whether alone or with both channels engaged¹. With the Master wide open, you have two identical SHO pedals in one box, cascaded¹. Channel 2 can distort on its own at any volume level by using the Master to limit its output¹.

The two footswitches can be pressed at once, letting you alternate between the channels with one stomp¹. Each channel has the same crackle-okay gain control as the SHO: a rushing or crackling noise when you turn the knob is normal, because the gain and bias of the transistor are being reset¹.

The pedal gives four volume levels¹:

1. Both channels off: your guitar is true-bypassed¹
2. Channel 1 on¹
3. Channel 1 off, Channel 2 on¹
4. Both channels on¹

ZVEX suggests setting the outside gain knobs anywhere up to 3:00 and the Master wherever you want it¹. The maker's own warning on the Vexter version is blunt: "I WARNED YOU TO BE CAREFUL."¹

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is a single Super Hard-On: the Super Duper is essentially two of them cascaded, with a Master Volume on the second³. When that Master is turned up all the way, both channels are precisely the same as a Super Hard-On, apart from frequency response³. Zachary Vex limited the Super Duper's frequency response to 3Hz to 100kHz, because with the near-DC response left in, the unit would nearly shut down and go silent for half a second on a hard chord with both gains cranked³. He also decreased the 100nF input caps to 10nF going from the SHO to the Super Duper, to slightly reduce very low frequencies and the shuddering that happens on heavy chords³. Builders report the same behavior: sound cutting out for about a second when engaging the second switch with Channel 1 on and the gains maxed³.

The Vexter Series itself is the difference in the lineup: same specs as the hand painted version, lower cost¹. ZVEX also made a one-of-a-kind hand painted Super Duper 2-in-1 by painter Daniel Buettner, listed at $459.00 and sold out, with parts otherwise identical to the standard pedal⁴. The standard Super Duper 2-in-1 lists at $379.00¹. A related variant, the Super Duper Sunn Concert Bass Mod, differs from the regular two-channel pedal by packing only one Super Hard-On channel⁵.

Power and connections

Plug your guitar into the input jack, marked with a guitar, which activates the battery, and run the output jack, marked with a speaker, to your amp¹. Analog Man's page on the pedal noted power supply jacks arriving in October 2001, so DC power came to these units over their production run².

What reviewers said

In a 2010 demo through a Fender USA Standard Telecaster and a Budda Superdrive 18, the TheToneShack presenter called it "Loud as hell and surprisingly versatile," adding that it "Almost had some fuzz qualities at higher gain levels, but that may have been my amp dying!"⁶

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In a 2012 demo, Shane of intheblues found it "a great preamp boost and volume boost," noting that it "gets really really loud" with both channels on⁷. Builder johnk, writing on Guitar FX Layouts, was more reserved about heavy clipping: "when the drives are turned up to clip alot, its distortion is a bit too one dimensional for me, but if used as slight boost/overdrive it's not too bad."³

Warranty

ZVEX gives a lifetime warranty on hand painted pedals¹. The Vexter Series is the lower cost version of the same circuit, and ZVEX states no separate warranty term for it, so the lifetime coverage applies to the hand painted versions such as the Buettner pedal⁴.

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