Z.Vex Effects
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Z.Vex Effects is an
effects pedal An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with el ...
company founded by Zachary Vex and based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
. Z.Vex played a large role in popularizing
boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...
pedals.


History

In 1994, Vex left his job as a
recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...
due to
tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...
and was soon evicted from his apartment. With relocation money from the Minneapolis Community Development Agency, he found a new apartment and turned to pedal-building after finding the schematic for a 1960s Shin-Ei Apollo Fuzz Wah printed on the inside of its casing. Vex built his own, but found the result uninteresting. With several circuit modifications, he had his first pedal, the Octane, an octave-up fuzz that he sold three of to a local dealer, who just wanted Vex to leave the store. The dealer subsequently encouraged Vex to keep building pedals and asked for another design, which Vex had to create overnight because his relocation money had run out. The result was the
Fuzz Factory The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is a fuzz pedal made by the American inventor and musician Zachary Vex of the Z.Vex Effects company. The Fuzz Factory is based on the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal first sold in 1962. Invented in the mid-1990s, the pedal ...
, a five-knob fuzz pedal design capable of a large array of unique sounds for a fuzz. Vex founded Z.Vex Effects in 1995, with the Octane as the company's first offering. Unable to afford
silk screen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" ...
printing that other pedal-makers used, Vex turned to his then-girlfriend to paint the pedal casings by hand, which she did for the first year or so. Z.Vex's Minneapolis-made pedals continue to be hand-painted by an employee, with "beautifully-crazy" graphic design work serving as a hallmark for the brand since its beginning. The popularity of the Fuzz Factory upon its release established Vex as a pioneer in the boutique pedal industry.


Products

The company's most famous product is the
Fuzz Factory The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is a fuzz pedal made by the American inventor and musician Zachary Vex of the Z.Vex Effects company. The Fuzz Factory is based on the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal first sold in 1962. Invented in the mid-1990s, the pedal ...
. All of their pedals (except the budget-line Vexter series) are hand painted at their factory in
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. All Vexter subassemblies are made in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, but the final assembly is completed in the United States. *
Fuzz Factory The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is a fuzz pedal made by the American inventor and musician Zachary Vex of the Z.Vex Effects company. The Fuzz Factory is based on the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal first sold in 1962. Invented in the mid-1990s, the pedal ...
(
fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...
) * Box of Rock (preamp-booster/overdrive) * Box of Metal (high gain
distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...
) * Woolly Mammoth (bass/guitar
fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...
) * Super Hard-On (preamp-booster/overdrive) * Super Duper 2-in-1 (preamp/overdrive) * Machine (
fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...
) * Ooh Wah II (step-sequenced
filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...
) * Ringtone (step-sequenced
ring modulator In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple wa ...
) * Lo-Fi Loop Junky (analog looper) * Instant Lo-Fi Junky * Seek Wah II (step-sequenced
filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...
) * Octane III (octave-generating
fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...
) * Seek Trem (step-sequenced tremolo) * Tremorama (step-sequenced tremolo) * Jonny Octave (octave) * Wah Probe * Fuzz Probe * Trem Probe * The Nano Head (tube amplifier) * The iMPAMP * Distortron * Mastotron * Basstortion (bass
distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...
) * Sonar (square-wave
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
w/ Machine circuit) * Double Rock! (dual cascading Box of Rock circuits w/ sub control and Super Hard On conversion, originally designed for J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.) * Loop Gate (high-headroom
noise gate A noise gate or simply gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the amplitude, volume of an audio signal. Comparable to a limiter, which attenuates signals ''above'' a threshold, such as loud attacks from the start of mu ...
w/ adjustable release time, chop mode and wide-range sensitivity control) * Drip Guitar (discontinued) * Volume Probe (discontinued)


Notable users

*
Greg Camp Gregory Dean Camp (born April 2, 1967) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band Smash Mouth and served as a guitarist and songwriter across several stints (1994–2008, 2009–201 ...
former guitarist and writer for
Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American Rock music, rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994 and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). Harwell's ...
, currently of
Defektor ''Defektor'' is a solo album released by Greg Camp. It was released on September 9, 2008, during Camp's time away from Smash Mouth. The editorial staff of AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an Americ ...
*
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was a member of AC ...
of
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
had used the Nano Head mostly at home *
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
of
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
owns a Fuzz Factory, a Machine, a Woolly Mammoth and a Nano Head *
Alan Sparhawk Low was an American indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993 by Alan Sparhawk (guitar and vocals) and Mimi Parker (drums and vocals). The band was a trio from 1993 to 2020, having featured four different bassists. Low disbanded f ...
of
Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...
*
Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, songwriter and producer. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist for the English rock band Muse (band), Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wid ...
of
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, owns guitars with a built-in
Fuzz Factory The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is a fuzz pedal made by the American inventor and musician Zachary Vex of the Z.Vex Effects company. The Fuzz Factory is based on the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal first sold in 1962. Invented in the mid-1990s, the pedal ...
*
Stephen Carpenter Stephen Carpenter ( /ˈstɛfən/ ''STEF-ən''; born August 3, 1970) is an American musician, known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative metal band Deftones. His guitar technique makes use of both ringing open strings and ...
of
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
*
J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...
of
Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, the band was forced to change their name because of legal issues. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter) ...
*
Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist, primary vocalist, and only constant member of ZZ Top. He began his career in Moving Sidewalks, who recorded '' Flash'' (1969) and op ...
of
ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
*
Isaac Brock (musician) Isaac Kristofer Brock (born July 9, 1975) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, principal songwriter, guitarist and only constant member of the indie rock band Modest Mouse, as well as his side project band, U ...
of
Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...
*
Brad Shultz Donald Bradley Shultz Jr. (born May 15, 1982) is an American musician. He is the rhythm guitarist and one of the founding members of the band Cage the Elephant, and is also a record producer. He is the older brother to current Cage the Elephant ...
of
Cage The Elephant Cage the Elephant is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their Cage the Elephant (album), self-titled first album was released. The ban ...
uses a Z.Vex Mastotron *
John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante ( ; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician and the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having been with the band across three iterations. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic gu ...
, previously of
Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...
owns a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory *
Eric Erlandson Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as a founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...
of
Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...
*
Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
of
Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...
owns several Z.Vex pedals *
Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...
of
The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals). They were a leading group of 2000s indi ...
*
Dean Fertita Dean Anthony Fertita (born September 6, 1970) is an American rock multi-instrumentalist.Brian McColluMetro Detroit musician Dean Fertita moves to the front lines with the Dead Weatherfreep.com Retrieved: 2009-07-25 He is best known as a keyboard ...
of
The Dead Weather The Dead Weather is an American rock supergroup formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009. Composed of Alison Mosshart (of the Kills and Discount), Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age ...
*
Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...
of
Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...
owns many Z.Vex pedals *
Kevin Shields Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an Irish musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine (band), My Bloody Valenti ...
of My Bloody Valentine owns numerous Z.Vex pedals *
Efrim Menuck Efrim Manuel Menuck (; born November 4, 1970) is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Menuck is also a frequent record producer ...
of
A Silver Mt. Zion A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
*
Anton Newcombe Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film '' Dig!'', alo ...
of
Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called '' Dig!'', and have gained media notoriety for the ...
uses Super Duper and Mastoron *
Ben Gibbard Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...
of
Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...
uses a Box of Rock and Super Duper 2 in 1 * Annie Clark of
St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...
uses a Z.Vex Mastotron *
Michio Kurihara (born 23 November 1961) is a Japanese guitarist who has played with Ai Aso, Cosmic Invention, Hazama, Ensemble Pearl, Overhang Party, Onna, Ghost, Damon & Naomi, Boris, Yura Yura Teikoku, YBO2, and The Stars (formerly known as White Heaven), ...
of
Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
* Mike Kerr of
Royal Blood A royal descent is a genealogical line of descent from a past or present monarch. Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic perspective, the number of unp ...
uses a Z.Vex Mastotron


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."{{cite web , url=http://www.zvex.com/wahprobe.html , title=Wah Probe , website=www.zvex.com , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010217120156/http://www.zvex.com/wahprobe.html , archive-date=2001-02-17


References


External links


Z.Vex homepage
Guitar effects manufacturing companies Manufacturing companies based in Minneapolis