Make your amp scream with true tube distortion. This pedal delivers the warm sound of a vintage tube amp.
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The Vintage Tube Monster VT999 effects pedal has that full-tone roar of a tube engine under its hood, letting you take off with anything from warm blues overdrive to heavy distortion.
This high-quality stomp box has the warm sound of a hand-selected 12AX7 vacuum tube. In addition, the VT999 offers an integrated and switchable noise gate with adjustable threshold that keeps your sound noise-free. A status LED for effect On/Off is included, plus there is a true hard-wire bypass for ultimate signal integrity.
With this monster engine, your guitar playing will definitely be kicked into monster overdrive!
zZounds is an authorized dealer of
Behringer products.
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"zZounds offers a combination of low prices and quality service unmatched by any of their major competitors." - customer on April 26th, 2012
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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
"I Really Think You're Gonna Like This..."
Sound:
This is simply the best starved-plate front-end I have heard yet. This is my first Behringer product, and I have no prejudice against the company as many seem to. I also have built several single- and multi-tube preamps over the years. This pedal's circuit design is a success. The stock tube was unimpressive, bland, and murky; but still not the worst distortion sound I've heard. I substituted an old RCA 12AU7, followed by an old, generic 12AT7. Wow... Each tube completely changed the character of the pedal. The tone controls enabled dialing in the optimal settings for each tone. Mind you, I've had the pedal two days, and I'm running it into a Digitech RP200 (to add a touch of reverb--that's all!) and straight into my PC with its tiny speakers. IMO, this only increases the challenge for the VT999. I was extremely impressed at the variety and musicality of the tones I was getting, with little thought or effort. And I want to emphasize something---many players buy a distortion pedal, crank it to 10, and bang on power chords during their evaluation. Even the WORST products sound decent when you do that. The real test of this type of pedal is when you dial it back and listen carefully to how the sound breaks up as you're just starting to overdrive the tube. Bang a chord and listen as it fades to clean. Such testing separates the good distortions from the wannabes. The VT999 does very well in this department.
Feature:
The VT999 is simple, straight-forward and does what it says. I haven't used the noise gate feature yet, because it is so quiet. It's nice to have, though. Comes with AC power. Sweet.
Ease of Use:
I haven't read the manual yet. No learning curve at all. Just get yourself a Phillips screwdriver and scavenge a few old, used 12A_7-family tubes and do a mess of swap-and-listen sessions. (BTW--forget about NOS tubes at this point -- until you home in on a favorite, just stick in whatever tubes you can find--stuff you may have pulled from Granny's Philco radio, etc. If you find one you really like, THEN worry about hunting down a few NOS tubes of that brand.)
Quality:
Solid construction outside, absolutely adequate and typical inside. Nice spring clamp for the tube. Some find the spring too tight. Mine seemed just right.
Value:
The sound is fantastic. BUT it only does one thing, so I think its typical selling price of around $70 is a bit steep. But IMO it's a pedal you will use a lot, so that must figure into the question of value.
Manufacturer Support:
Unknown
The Wow Factor:
I don't "lust" after equipment anymore...I'm too old. This pedal is not particularly pretty, but it sounds incredible. THAT'S what attracts me to it.
Overall:
If lost/stolen, I would immediately replace this pedal. It makes me want to play, which is high praise. Since it is simply a distortion pedal, it does need some sweetening with back-end EQ and reverb/delay. In my experimenting so far, I'm not sure if I would attempt to use it as a DI box, but that would require more testing. I'm eager to hook it into the effects loop of my Carvin tube amp. If I had to change anything (practical) about it, I'd be interested to hear a version of this pedal with a higher plate voltage. I bought this pedal because I know from experience that low-voltage tube circuits can work, but most are executed badly. The reviews I read told me the VT999 was different.
Style of Music: Progressive rock, blues and jazz
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"A great low priced pedal with few design flaws"
Sound:
The pedal sounds really nice, it's very responsive to even the slightest of changes in the settings. Is doesn't have a really variable sound, as it will always stay quite warm and round, but thats also the case with almost every tube overdrive I've come across...
Someone may dislike the true-bypass on the pedal, but it suits me perfectly...
Feature:
The pedal is very straightforward - it has controls for bass,mids and treble, and has level and gain knobs. Also, it has a very usable noise gate with a threshold knob and an on/off switch. The power supply included in the package is also quite reliable, as I've used it with a lot of other pedals...
Ease of Use:
Its very simple to make the wanted sound, a matter of seconds, really.
The presets in the manual are quite logical and usable, also...
Quality:
The casing is robust and can be kicked around a lot, so its very usable on tours or for constant gigging. I've had it for around 3 years and it survived some 20+ gigs and countless rehearsals. Only thing to watch on are the knobs which are made of hollow plastic and aren't replaceable.
Some pedals also have a faulty tube in them, so try out before you buy them !
Also, the blue power LED is too bright and will annoy the hell out of you if you use it in low-light situations (I've put gaffer tape over it)
Value:
The pedal has a great sound for a very low price in comparison with other tube overdrives out there.
Manufacturer Support:
Never had the need for it...
The Wow Factor:
It's a love-hate thing with this one - some think it looks very retro and like it, some think it is ugly and looks like a russian sewing machine - a matter of taste on this one.
It could get a better combination of colors, as this dirty-white with a giant black V gives it a cheap look...
In my case, I don't mind the look as long as the sound is right.
Overall:
I play a variety of genres (from electronic-rock crossover to grindcore) and this pedal has proved really useable for all of them. If it died on me, i'd buy it again. I may need another dist pedal with a more synthetic metal sound, but this one will remain in the setup aswell.
Style of Music: Metal / Crossover
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Really. It's not a problem for us. In fact, we'll thank you
for the chance to live up to our lowest price guarantee!
It's fast and easy
Just tell us where you saw the lower price - another
website, an email offer, your local store - and we'll send
you our lowest price offer in a matter of hours.
Simply click the Seen it for less? link
Next to the item you want, or give us a
call at 800-zZounds (800-996-8637).
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
