We already wrote in this blog about Korg’s new Nu-Tube technology just about one year ago, when Ibanez announced the Nu Tube Screamer, a version of the venerable overdrive featuring the new device KORG had recently developed: a new kind of vacuum tube much smaller than the original ones and with a much longer life.
At NAMM 2020 amp maker Vox, a brand owned by Korg, unveiled a series of new pedals featuring that same tube technology: it’s the Valve Energy series. The series is comprised of four gain pedals: the Mystic Edge Overdrive (based on the AC30); the Copperhead Drive, (a Plexi-style overdrive); the Silk Drive (a lower gain overdrive probably styled after a Dumble amp) and Cutting Edge (the metal member of the family). all pedals feature OLED displays that offer a visual waveform of the sound and a three-way EQ section + Bright switch or Tight knob.
Intriguingly, each of these pedals offers three modes:
- The Standard mode has the pedal behave like any other stompbox, to be place in your regular chain.
- The Preamp mode gives you a line-level signal out can be placed in a power amp return line or even power your cabinet.
- The Cab Sim mode emulates the EQ character given by a Vox cabinet for direct recording.
Another interesting feature is an upgraded channel switch input that allows you to control two pedals with one remote on/off switch, which turns on one pedal and off the other at the same time, emulating a two-channel amp configuration.
Here are the demos of the Vox Nu-Tube ValvEnergy series.
