Designed in homage to classic 70’s distortion modulators such as the Flying Pan and Jetlyzer (both of which Maxon designed and built for Ibanez), the VJR-9 Vintage Jet Riser creates a Doppler jet effect so realistic you can almost feel the wind in your hair.
Rather than sticking with the old-school Jet design of phase shifter into distortion, the VJR-9 features an analog Bucket-Brigade Flanger as the modulation source to add a more realistic depth of field to the effect. Speed and Width controls allow adjustment of the flanging from slow takeoff to sonic boom.
In similar fashion, Maxon has forgone the use of a distortion circuit in favor of a voltage-controlled white noise generator to more accurately simulate the sound of a jet in flight. Featuring a combination of VCA and VCF circuits, the VJR-9’s Jet effect reacts to playing dynamics within a range preset by the Sensitivity, Range and Jet controls.
These two circuits can be used separately or in combination to create a wide variety of effects from subtle to extreme - classic chorus and flanging; tremolo-like auto-wah; massive sky-is-falling Jet sweeps; bizarre and other-worldly metallic tones bordering on ring-modulation – all these and more are possible with the VJR-9.
The VJR-9 also features a jack to connect an external switch (bypass or momentary) for the Jet function, allowing the user to add the effect in against the Flange when desired to accentuate certain note, phrases, or song sections.
The VJR-9’s internal voltage-doubling circuitry provides maximum headroom to eliminate input distortion. The higher operating voltage also allows it to be used in an FX loop in order to place the effect post-gain.