Behringer VINTAGE TUBE MONSTER VT999

Not a \'tube amp in a pedal\' - but still quite good

This is a strong and quite well made pedal. The components and layout inside also feel of a higher quality than Behringer\'s cheaper plastic pedal range. The switch stomp switch is excellent. This is more like the build of the MIC200 valve preamps - which is welcome - and justifys the cost of this item.

The equaliser is responsive, allowing a good scoop for metal, or roll offs of the top and bottom. The master volume effects the output level of the \'overdrive\' effect - in relation to the bypass. This is good if you want to use it through a near clean channel on your amp (to give a two channel feel) - but is perhaps a missed oppurtunity. I would have rather there was a gain boost giving a cleaner/ dirtier switch instead. A boost/drop pedal before the VT999 can facilitate this very easily however, and I built a passive gain dropper switch to put in front myself.

The sound is quite good. You get a decent higain preamp - suitable for grungy or chuggy metal. However this could have been achieved easily without a valve, it is also not the sound advertised to be found with the pedal.

Fortunately there\'s more in the preamp though - most of the finesse is lost because the Gain control itself has too sharp an onset and is in fuzz distortion before you ever hear an overdrive breakup. Using a gain dropper/ volume pedal etc - you can lower the input to get a very decent overdrive feel. The pedal in it\'s off the shelf state seems to like a fairly higain setting on the dial, and a low input signal - this give an edgier, hotter feel that is more like a valve amp. The noise gate is good - which is just as well as a higain on the pedal and a low input from the guitar does make for a noisier operation.

I highly recommend the use of Bitmo modifications that increase the useable range of the Gain knob - it is VERY easy to perform if you have basic soldering skills. I performed this mod and while the sound didn\'t really change - the control over it was vastly improved and the focus was brought onto the character of the edgy breakup area.

Selecting / Choosing / Picking valves / tubes for a Starved Plate design..
The next thought to upgrading this pedal is a new valve/tube - so I bet you\'d like to know what happens?

Although you CAN hear the character of different valves trademark responses - their outputs and noise levels are not as expected in this circuit.

Basically I found that an ecc81 or 82 gave more distortion - not less - lowering headroom.
Shorter plate designs seemed to give lower, weaker outputs and the JJ ecc83s was very quiet and also rather noisy.
The NOS valves didn\'t magically light it up as they couldn\'t seem to get going - so don\'t waste money there - just for research I tried a Mullard 83, an RFT 83 (both short/mid length ladder plate) and a 12AX7WA Philips JAN (which was pretty good actually with the longer plates).
Chinese highgain (which the Behringer tube is) came in strong with a smoother, bright and less crumbly \'overdrive\' sound - however this then faded after a few seconds (as the valve self biased presumably) - then they were weak and quiet which was a surprise.

The best by a mile was the Sovtek 12AX7 LPS - with the big long plates - this gave 10db more than all the other valves I tried and seemed to be a much stronger signal to noise, smoother sound.

To me it would appear that there are only certain valves that will actually work in these low voltage circuits - I\'m happy to report that the Sovtek LPS is one of them and it is a great valve. In this circuit I think it keeps the character I\'ve heard it have in amps. You do need to boost the treble a bit though for a biting chuggy overdrive/distortion - but that\'s what the EQ is for.

Lastly - the differences between the sound of different valves/tubes is subtle - in this case it\'s finding valves that WORK properly that is important!

With the modifications this is a great preamp - but it can\'t quite ever manage that power tube bite and character all on it\'s own. Nontheless, with a bit of tweaking it makes some very useable sounds as part of a larger rig.