Zvex Compact Capsule Collection is up to 4 now with the recent Yvette Young Box of Rock Vertical Edition Addition

I’ve long spoken about how I’m mostly at odds with horizontal orientation enclosures (that aren’t multi-fx workstations) - particularly compact and BB-size varieties. So I was delighted back in early 2018 when Zvex introduced its vertical editions of pedals - which at launch were the Fuzz Factory (Germanium), Box of Rock, ’59 Sound and Vibrophase. A year later they launched the Vertical Instant Lo-Fi Junky.

There have been several limited editions and iterations over those 5 years where we’ve seen Silicon and Hybrid Versions of the Fuzz Factory too. Furthermore the artworks for both Fuzz Factory and Instant Lo-Fi Junky have changed fairly recently.

I always intended to get the full set of 5 - and the Yvette Young editions made the those Instant Lo-Fi Junky and Box of Rock editions even more appealing for me. Although it took 3 batches of the Yvette Young Lo-Fi Junky to snag that one - it’s often about timing and budget allocation - and luck!

The Lo-Fi Junky was Joel Korte’s predecessor to his Warped Vinyl from his time of working with Zachary Vex; the Fuzz Factory is that classic modded and feature-extended Fuzz Face, the Vibrophase is a very unique vintage-style Phaser based on Zvex’s magnificent sculptural and thermo-mechanical Candela Vibrophase, the Box of Rock is based on Zachary’s favourite cranked Amp - the JTM45, and the ’59 is of course based on the Tweed Fender Bassman. 

I was hoping that Zvex would have rolled out a few more Vertical editions of their classics by now - including their Mammoth and Mastotron fuzzes - while there’s been no movement since 2019’s Vertical Lo-Fi Junky. In the meantime I’ve gotten a Wooly Mammoth 7 clone from Greek’s Side Effects, and a Vertical Mastotron Clone from Russia’s NFYFX - both really great. While I feel that Zvex is missing out on opportunities by not having more of its pedals in the more pedalboard-friendly Vertical orientation. I would certainly be first in line for more of those if they every materialise!

Box of Rock Controls - Boost, Volume, Tone, Drive, Boost Footswitch, Stock Footswitch (Engage).

As mentioned - the Box of Rock is a take on Zachary’s favourite JTM45 Amp fully cranked. It renders as a fairly dark and dense crunchy sort of breakup - while the various controls open it up nicely. It’s a fairly distinctive voicing - I have a few JTM45 style drives in the collection and each has a slightly different core character and texture. I always say pedals have their own personality and character and inspire different styles of playing - and the same is certainly true of the Box of Rock.

I would say it’s not quite as extended-range as several of my other Marshall / MIAB style pedals - but it certainly does its own thing well. And the Yvette Young artwork definitely adds appeal. I kind of wonder how many more Zvex pedals might benefit from a Yvette Young makeover?

In any case I’m delighted to be up to 4 Zvex Verticals now - just the ’59 Sound to go - I will look to get that hopefully in some sort of a custom artwork - as the standard edition design doesn’t do too much for me!

In any case I acquired the Yvette Young Box of Rock direct from the Zvex Webstore as it didn’t look to be getting into UK distribution any time soon - while several of the USA dealers have those in stock now - including Coast Sonic - where I first spotted it!