News: Vox/Joe Satriani Ice 9 Overdrive

I guess a lot of people want to sound like Joe Satriani these days and they must be buying lots of Satch-endorsed Vox pedals. Why else would Vox be cranking them out so frequently?

Hot on the heels of The Time Machine (delay), The Satchurator (distortion) and the Big Bad Wah, Vox is introducing an overdrive pedal named “Ice 9” that is expected to ship in June this year. It’s a curious name because overdrive is all about warmth so I think the marketing guys could have come up with something better and more satchalicious. “Alien Overdrive ” anyone?

Here’s what Vox has to say about it at http://www.voxamps.com/us/pedals/ice9/

• "Two voices of overdrive: Vintage or Modern
• Gain and Volume knobs offer exacting distortion control
• Tone and Bass controls deliver detailed tone-shaping
• The signature Joe Satriani 'More' button

"The Vintage mode employs a special op amp and premium diodes to offer overdrive effects that are sweetly warm and classic, with just the right amount of sparkle and sustain. In contrast, the Modern voice utilizes a Germanium diode to kick up a cutting-edge overdrive that is altogether new and aggressive. "

As for the Tone and Bass controls, Vox says:

“The Bass control adds extra bottom to the sound before it enters the drive stage, delivering dynamic low-end response. Turning the Bass down will result in an overdrive tone with a crisp, extra bite The Tone control shapes the sound as it exits the drive stage, offering even more sonic flexibility.” The More button apparently adds a 14 dB volume boost.

So this sounds like an overdrive with superior tone control and a boost, in a similar style to the CMATMODS Super Signa Drive that I covered here http://tonewarrior.blogspot.com/2010/02/news-cmatmods-releases-super-signa.html

It will be interesting to hear how this sounds as the overdrive market is very competitive, despite most of the pedals in this space being fairly undistinguished in my opinion. No pricing details as yet, but Vox is going to have to deliver a killer pedal at a killer price to knock the Paul Cochrane Timmy off my board.