The TonelabLE is a celebrated piece of multi-effect wizardry, with its huge array of effects and its 12AX7-driven power amp emulation. Yet the floorboard's gargantuan size and near-boastful metal-flake finish just aren't as in tune, as it were with the world around us it was, say, ten years ago. These mammoth symbols of American prosperity* are yielding market prominence to more practical, efficient designs. And so the TonelabLE begets the VOX TonelabST.

TonelabST features the same vacuum tube driven signal, and it still features a plethora of amp emulations (33) speaker cabinet emulations (11) and guitar effects (25). It still features an assignable expression pedal for real-time control over various effects parameters, as well as an ASIO-compliant USB output for direct-to-computer recording.

What the TonelabST does without are the LE's near-overabundance of footswitches. Whereas the LE has switches, buttons, and dials galore, the ST gets by with only two footswitches for scrolling up and down through presets. There are 100 presets to choose from, including 50 factory and 50 user-definable, so sacrificing mild convenience does not mean sacrificing tonal options.

Plus -- and this is just my opinion, here -- I like the look of it. The stealthy black finish reminds me of the SR71 Blackbird, the most lavish and impractical spy plane built by the US. I'll be able to step on the ST and reminisce about the heyday of American military dominance (and another period of intense economic decline, now that I think about it).

The VOX TonelabST will be available starting, well, this month, and it'll have an MSRP of $275.00 US. Wow! Not bad!