Vox releases second quartet of NuTube-powered Valvenergy Pedals - an EQ, Compressor, Treble Booster, and Tube Overdrive

Jan 25, 202413:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

BoostBoost and OverdriveCompressorEQTube OverdriveUtilityVox Amplifcation+-

So a couple of years after the Valvenergy Series launch - Vox has 4 more NuTube candidates for your consideration, where the template has supposedly been somewhat refined and simplified. I believe the first 4 were originally priced at around £169 (c. $215), where currently they go for £119 / $129.

The original quartet consisted of VE-CD Copperhead Drive Distortion (Plexi), VE-CE Cutting Edge Distortion (Tight Metal), VE-ME Mystic Edge (AC30), and VE-SD Silk Drive (Fender Black Face). Of which I have and have reviewed the Copperhead Drive and Mystic Edge.

The new quartet consists of the - VE-TS Tone Sculptor 6-Band Tube Preamp Equaliser, VE-SI Smooth Impact Tube Compressor, VE-PB Power Burst Tube Booster Treble Booster, VE-FI Fuel Injector Tube Overdrive. Each of those have somewhat simpler controls than the first four mostly - while their pricing has yet to disclosed - presumably somewhere between £119 and £169!

My understanding is that the fluorescent thermionic valve type is not entirely new or unique to the NuTube - rather that is just the latest evolution format of that type of vacuum tube. My experience of NuTube devices to date has not been particularly satisfactory as I seem to detect a marked difference in core timbre and breakup texture versus similar peers - which is somewhat very slightly woollier and more muted than the more conventional and traditional vacuum tubes and replacement transistors.

My own 2 Valvenergy pedals don’t seem to have the same bite, crispness or clarity of my other favourite overdrives and distortions - in fact one of my readers described the output as being somewhat akin to a wet blanket having been thrown over the amp speaker / cab.

I can get somewhat decent tones out of my Copperhead Drive and Mystic Edge - but they don’t ever come close to matching the prowess of my favourites for those genres.

So I hope that the Vox / Korg engineers have made further tweaks to the core NuTube textures and timbres - to give that the vibrant articulation that I feel the format needs / deserves.

If you look up Vox Pedals on the Andertons site - they only list the Mystic Edge from the Valvenergy Series among 4 other out of stock Vox pedals (mostly Wahs) - and that Mystic Edge is the only Vox pedal they still have in stock - seems like they’ve discontinued the support of the other 3. I did witness the prices of these pedals coming down gradually - and interestingly the Mystic Edge is priced at £129 at Andertons, but only £119 on the official Vox Website.

There’s currently no sign of the new quartet on any vendor’s site - and not even on Vox’s own webstore - while there is a fair smattering of new promotional material on social media / YouTube and on some of my friends’ sites - like Gear News.

The pedals are beautifully constructed and engineered - and I love everything about the format - including the new relief details etched / machined into the front facia. These are very well made pedals - while I still remain to be convinced on the merits of the NuTube - I didn’t get on with the Nu-TubeScreamer, and as mentioned I was a little underwhelmed by the Mystic Edge and Copperhead Drive which I still own. So I’m seriously hoping that Vox / Korg have honed and improved that formula for the 4 new pedals featured here.

Some of my learned readers have mentioned Fetrons and Retrovalves among other valve technologies that tried and failed to win over the tube amp cohort - certainly predecessors of the NuTube. Supposedly with fluorescent type tubes - to which the NuTube is very directly related - there is some sort of degree of top end fizz that emanates from the nature of those ’lamps’ core functions and environments - those are then typically filtered out (to reduce fizz) which can then give the damping / trumpet muting effect I seem to be experiencing.

The jury seems to be very much out still on the NuTube as no one has yet had any significant success with that format (certainly not within the pedal realm) - and relatively few of the Korg’s / Vox’s NuTube project have received anything close to universal acclaim. In a head-to-head situation the differences seem pretty obvious, while less apparent in stand-alone scenarios. I’m still hoping to come across a NuTube-powered device one that that has the potency to blow my socks off as such. It hasn’t happened yet - hopefully one of these 4 might be the one to change my mind.

I don’t really need any of these specifically - I already have several preferred pedals in each category - and beyond the NuTube and LED screen thing - these pedals aren’t really offering anything particularly innovative. The form factor and general function is great - we just need to get the output up to the same level of quality.

Interestingly I would take my Alchemy-modded GE-7 above the Tone Sculptor 6-Band EQ, and certainly my regular Empress Effects ParaEQ 2 Pro is still the top of that pile. My mainstay JA Bloom Compressor / EQ / Boost is unlikely to let any other pedal in on that slot, while I have several rare Transistor Treble Boosters and Rangemasters - so the Power Burst is not really in the running there. And I probably need a little more time to make my mind up abut the Fuel Injector Tube Overdrive - as to whether there is any BK Butler inspiration here - or what other Tube Overdrive classic might have inspired this.

I’ve always thought that the Fuzz genre was likely the best application for the slightly fizzy nature of fluorescent valve tubes / NuTubes - while I’m not sure I’ve come across that variety yet. That kind of makes more sense to me than the other 8 Valvenergy pedals that have been released to-date.

I would be interested in hearing from any of you who have more insights here - particularly on the contextual matter of head-to-head comparison. Where the production and manufacture here is of the highest level - there’s just something about the NuTube that is still somehow failing to connect with players - including myself - there don’t seem to be many of the original 4 in circulation currently these pedals don’t seem to have been re-stocked by the major dealers for whatever reason.

I do hope that these new 4 can go somewhere to redeeming the format - I’m open minded here - and I’m open to persuasion that I may somehow not have tackled these pedals in the best manner. While the Mystic Edge and Copperhead Drive definitely did not perform so well against the other 8 pairs in that selection / rundown.

I would love to get your opinions and insight here!

Here after the 2 intro videos follow the individual details and demos for the 4 new varieties :