This is a pre-owned pedal.
All pre-owned pedals have been tested and are in proper working order. Each pedal is rated for condition on a scale of 1-5 (5=excellent condition/as new; no paint chips or scratches). The rating is for the pedal only. If it comes in the original box, that will be noted in the listing.
The condition of this pedal is rated 4/5.
The Qunitessential British Sound Overdrive Pedal
From the back shelves of the southcoastmusic VAULT, this is the highly sought after Big Ben Overdrive from the VOX Cooltron series of Valve powered effects pedals. The VOX Cooltron system delivers a real valve experience and provides sublime sonic performance at very low voltage and at reduced heater current making it ideal for inclusion into guitar effects pedals such as this one.
VOX Big Ben Overdrive
The VOX Big Ben Overdrive really emulates the quintessential British overdriven amp tone. This pedal has been built to the highest standards and its designers have captured the characteristics that the best of British amp design.
The VOX Big Ben Overdrive belts out a big low end and a nice mid-range punch making it a no-brainer for Driven Hard Rock Rhythm duties. plus for solos it sizzles in the top end. Turn up the volume and Big Ben takes on another character altogether. Dynamic and expressive, sizzling harmonically rich tones are there to launch your most inspired solos.
The valve-powered Big Ben Overdrive pedal responds to your playing dynamics and cranks out that extra firepower when you really dig in and want to cut through. The Gain knob varies the overall gain of the pedal from bluesy and mellow to fat and saturated, while the Tone knobs adjusts that overall tonality of the pedal. As with all COOLTRON pedals, the Big Ben’s true bypass allows you to let your signal flow through untouched.
VOX Cooltron Technology…if you are interested
Normally, valves are used at high voltages and this restricts their use in battery-powered devices such as guitar effects pedals. Historically, attempts have been made to use valves at low voltages in what has been dubbed “starvation” mode, but these circuits don’t allow the valve to function in an acceptable manner acting little more than expensive light globes. The tube simply cannot be biased to a satisfactory operating condition. Plus, the necessary heater filament current is too high to deliver acceptable battery life. Imagine how annoying it would be to have to change batteries every ten minutes during a gig…
With their COOLTRON Technology, VOX have changed everything. The COOLTRON circuit basically operates by using two very special signal paths. The first is the “servo circuit,” which provides the right conditions between the plate of the valve and the grid. This achieves controllable, stable parameters for the valve and provides the correct operating conditions for the valve to function as it would if run at a higher voltage. The second circuit is a patented power supply that provides a low voltage, low current supply to the heater elements in the valve. Since the valve is now running at such a reduced supply level, the anode current is much smaller than normal. This means that the amount of heat required at the cathode to achieve sufficient cathode current emission is much smaller – hence the ability to run the heaters at a lower level and for COOLTRON pedals to run for 16 hours on 4 x AA batteries!
