Customer Reviews

Behringer VT999 Classic Vacuum Tube Overdrive

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Behringer has a reputation for products that are cheaply made and perform poorly.
After using this both for rehearsals and a live 'gig' I can say without reservation, Behringer has hit a home run with this one.

What possessed me to try this Overdrive stomp box - I listened to clips on their page (at the click of a button you can hear the clip with the box or sans box), read reviews et cetera.
And the relatively inexpensive price compared to boutique boxes.

It's a 12AX7 preamp with Gain, Master Volume, Bass, Treble, Midrange and a Noise Threshold controls.
The tube is an Eastern European 12AX7, a nice jobber boxed Sylvania made the tone warm up considerably.
The noise gate is useful since the tube can easily be driven into distortion.

The switch is a tru-bypass - however it is not a mechanical switch. If you're looking for a satisfying click to denote when the box is switched, you will be left looking at the LEDs instead.

It runs off my pedal board, although it comes with it it's own power supply.

My one and only complaint is the sheer size of the box - it covers more than half of my pedal board.

This is a great base OD/distortion pedal. Open it up and replace the stock 12AX7 tube with a 12AU7 tube (I used JJ Tesla). Far far better distortion OD. I tried lots of different tube types even used 12AE7 (meant for 12V plate operation). Generally, what I found is that the lower gain factor tube types work really well with these type of pedals; 12AU7 was by far the best. Now, that's information you'll not easily find! Enjoy it.

With some trials using different tubes this pedal can add something that is very tough to get otherwise. I run my guitar direct because I don't like amps or having to cart the things around. There are so many shades of tone available that it's tough to really praise this gadget enough especially considering the low cost. I also found using a compresser before it helps. I have a Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone & it made a big differrence. I highly reccomend this tube pre-amp & encourage trying out different tubes to get the sound you want.

This is a great sounding pedal - I was shocked when I went into a store asking about a good marshall-esque distortion pedal and they pointed to this gem. I was looking at $200 pedals, and kept asking about the expensive ones and they kept pointing me to the $75 pedal - fine, I'll try it. I am glad I did. The store had several and they all sounded different, which is clearly attributed to the variations in the generic tubes that ship with them. Buy one on Amazon and grab yourself a handful of spare 12AX7s (or any compatible tube) and go to town until you find one you like. I ended up with a Jan-Phillips 12AX7WA in mine which gives it a great over the top marshall sound - good and grindy. I had two different Jan-Phillips and one sounded so-so while the other was defined and clear. So, working through several different tubes is important to make this pedal work for you - it will be worth the time spent.

very good pedal tube is great sound is amazing i recommend this 2 every guitar player

This is clearly the best distortion pedal I've ever owned, including mxr's, digitech, boss and others. I too swapped out the Bugera 12ax7 -- which did sound good -- for a RCA long black plate 12au7, which sounds incredible. The tube swap gave all 3 tone controls more range of tone and gave the gain itself less of a high end tinniness and a fuller sound. I recommend this pedal to anyone who loves distortion that is pure without a lot of buzziness. If I had paid 3 times as much for this pedal I would still be happy, it sounds that good. It came with a power supply so no need to order one. The pedal is large, almost 3 times larger that other pedals. It also comes with a noise gate which, since I swapped the tube, I don't even need to use. This pedal does not sound cheap, it indeed equals or in my opinion is better than it's competitors.

I was trying to make my crappy Fender FM212R amp sound better and this pedal was perfect. Seems to have good stompbox construction and plenty of "dial in" sounds.

Folks that like the original Ibanez Tube King will love this pedal. Sturdier construction than most of Behrenger's other pedals- The housing is metal and the knobs seem a bit more solid. Folks talk about how bad the stock tube is, but that has not been my experience. I may experement with a low gain JJ in the future, but the stock tube is staying put for now. Maybe I got lucky and they 'hand selected' the right one? This unit sounds really incredible when it's running into the front end of my EL84 powered tube amp. The sound is really organic and gritty, with great harmonics and smooth sustain. Sounds decent but not nearly as good going into a solid state amp (no suprise there). Still, an improvement from the sterile solid state tone. Be forewarned - this pedal is gigantic in dimension. Who cares, so long as it sounds this good?? I'd wanted a vintage Chandler/Butler Tube Driver forever, but now I honestly don't need one. This pedal gets me all the way there and then some.

I use several Behringer products (amps & pedals). I got this one last week and really hated the sound. The OD was WAY too harsh starting at level 1!

Lots of settings and tones, though. I changed out the tube for an Electro Harmonix 12AY7 and it sounds MUCH better. Don't expect "true" tube sound. It is, after all, only 1 preamp tube. It does give a "tube-like" OD sound, though. Close, but not exact. Good enough and built solid.

I was all ready to ship it back, but I'm now keeping it.

I recently switched back to guitar after moving to bass for a few years. Unfortunately most of my old guitar gear was traded off in an effort to piece together a solid bass rig. Which now left me in the position of trying to make my old back up amp (a Peavey Valve King head) compete with our other guitarists Mesa Triple Rectifier. This pedal was just what i needed. The amp went from thin and treble-y to chest thumping palm mutes in seconds. I traded out the Sylvania 12ax7 for a Tung Sol and couldn't be happier with the purchase. Within the first few minutes, I was able to dial in a tone somewhere between a JCM and Triple Rec. with no trouble at all.


FYI this and the Vintage Time Machine pedal (the Memory Man copy) are manufactured in Germany and not some third world country. And both are definitely worth the money.