Question:
Hey everyone,
Since I didn't see this topic on the front page of this forum (and i'm too lazy to dig any deeper) I thought I'd just start my own thread.
I am interested in purchasing an electric guitar amp. At first, I was gonna go with a marshall stack, however, two issues. One, money. Two, I don't think it's gonna provide the sound that I want. I want the kinda twangy, not muddy sound. Kinda like a lot of the new rock bands out there.
Anyways, after looking around a bit, I had a friend recommend this guitar amp, the VOX Volvetronix AD120VT. I haven't had a chance to play one yet, however I have heard them, and i liked what i heard.
I was wondering if anyone here owns one or has played one for some period of time, as to maybe give me an idea of the quality, durability, etc of this amp.
Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Pat D
ps. also, anyone willing to give one away for free would be loved by me forever PD
Answer:
the valvetronix line, eh?
i don't think anyone has really brought up a discussion on the higher end models (ad60vt and up), but i have recommended the lower models(ad30vt and ad15vt) on several occasions.
the main reasons that i have grown to love the valvetronix line is its sweet tone, insane flexablility, and great price. i have the ad30vt, which is essentially the stripped down version. 11 amp models instead of 16, no stompbox effects, and limited effects in general - tone is still there and sounds great, but doesn't offer everything. that said, i would love to get my hands on one of the higher end models, but wouldn't be practical for me to do so (much higher cost and i don't especially need the extra flexability mentioned at the cost of the price).
also, i know that some of the upper models have had some problems, while others are fine- i'm not sure which ones these are, but you should be able to find these if you look into http://www.harmony-central.com/User_Reviews/
the tone is absolutely fantasic from these amps, and i would highly recommend them. literally everything from fender cleans to marshall high gains. cleans are nice and warm - boutique (matchless, i think), blackface (fender), and tweed (fender). i don't use these for cleans much though. they all sound great, but are (naturally) hard to overdrive. the tweed model can be overdriven, but doesn't offer a whole lot of gain without a boost pedal. i tend to like the vox models myself. the high end models valvetronix models have the AC15, AC15TB, AC30, and AC30TB... while the low end valvetronix has only the AC15 and AC30TB. ) the AC15 feels and sounds like a small tube amp. overdrives like my old kalamazoo. the AC30TB has a much more aggressive sound to it. i almost always use it for both cleans and distortion. cleans up nice, but when the gain is turned up, the amp just shines. add a booster pedal, and the distortion gets even crazier.
the marshall models are also good. uk 70's makes for a nice blues amp at lower gain... nice vintage-like sound. this amp can get enough distortion for powerchords, but you have to max out the gain and sometimes turn the EQ up as well. the uk 80's amp has a great overdrive/distortion. somewhat vintage-sounding... pretty high gain. uk modern - very modern sounding... high-gain... great to jam with. US high gain model is very aggressive and has a tight low end. can maintain high distortion without getting muddy at all. boutique OD - i havn't used it much... could be used for lead playing. havn't explored this model out much. numetal - i think this amp is only on the lower-end amps. i havn't used it much at all. somewhat fuzzy distortion. its good- just not my style.
so, i would definitly recommend the valvetronix line. you can get almost any sound your looking for, and it sounds fantastic. i'm sure many will tell you to just get a tube amp, but they just don't understand .
if you get a chance to try one out, definitly do. even the lower end models (ad15 & 30). they do the best job that i've ever heard at modelling, and blows digitech crap out of the water. it seems that most modellers can do cleans... and they can do high-gains... but they can't cover the middle ground. the overdrive/light distortion sounded horrible on my digitech, but sounds awesome on my vox. tone is absolutely great
Answer:
the VOX Volvetronix AD120VT The guitarest in my band has that amp. It's nice.
Answer:
Hey Man,
I owned the Vox AD60VT for about a week, I couldnt stand it! For starters it had a humming noise that would come up every few minutes of playing. After a while it got very irritating. To me it sounds digital, except for the AC30 and AC15 Amps, those amps sparkled with tone. However, if you plan to use pedals with this thing, forget it. Your pedals sound terrible through it, its hard to explain I guess its all the digital stuff in the Amp. The thing also weighed a ton!!! Hire a roadie if your gonna gig In my opinion I would go ahead and buy the Marshall, they are very versatile amps, i've owned two already (Fixin to be 3 ) Later! Good luck on your choice!
Eph 2:10
Answer:
Originally Posted by 3dyota777 Hey Man,
I owned the Vox AD60VT for about a week, I couldnt stand it! For starters it had a humming noise that would come up every few minutes of playing. After a while it got very irritating. To me it sounds digital, except for the AC30 and AC15 Amps, those amps sparkled with tone. However, if you plan to use pedals with this thing, forget it. Your pedals sound terrible through it, its hard to explain I guess its all the digital stuff in the Amp. The thing also weighed a ton!!! Hire a roadie if your gonna gig In my opinion I would go ahead and buy the Marshall, they are very versatile amps, i've owned two already (Fixin to be 3 ) Later! Good luck on your choice!
Eph 2:10
yeah, i mentioned that some of the high-end models had some issues. some sound better than others, buzzing problems, reliability problems, and the such. thats why i recommend reading up on harmony-central's user reviews. usually, if there is something wrong with the model, you can find out there. not too impressed with this aspect of vox...
i havn't tried using pedals through it, although i have played CDs through it. i noticed that the uk modern (high-gain marshall) produced the cleanest results (gain very, very low, all volumes up). it was hard to find a model to amplify the sound accurately without distorting. it seemed like the different models colored the sound too much, but this is the only time i've noticed it. when using a guitar, everything feels like they should. doesn't seem fake or overexagerated.
the only times that i've noticed its 'digital' side is 1) when i have the effects section turned up high, i get some 'white' noise. not much, but it is there. and 2) when turning the dials, only noticeable when the volume or gain is turned almost off, you can notice the minute jumps as you turn the dial (these are VERY small, and not noticeable in any other conditions). as far as tone, i havn't noticed anything 'digital' about it. everything sounds like it should, and sounds great... might have been a problem with that particular amp or the model.
as for the marshalls, they usually are expensive... especially their good stuff (all tube). i wouldn't call myself a 'tube snob', but i'm close. i stay away from anything solid state. i love tube amps, but i do make exceptions with modelling amps, which i'm picky about. so, i wouldn't recommend going with a SS marshall... but thats me...
marshalls arn't usually incredibly flexable either, are they? they have a distinct distortion, which i like, but usually, another tone would fit the situation better.
Answer:
marshalls arn't usually incredibly flexable either, are they? they have a distinct distortion, which i like, but usually, another tone would fit the situation better.[/quote]
As Far as marshalls being versatile, I think they are. But of course, I play rock Anywho, Marshalls have a wonderfully thick clean channel, blues distortion that can crank up to metal distortion. If used with the proper guitar and playing techniqes marshalls are great for Blues, Rock, i've played country and gospel through a Marshall and got great results. It just depends on the players opinion.
Im partial to Marshall to begin with, in my opinion nothing rocks like a Marshall, except maybe for a Vox AC30TB. All in all it just matters to the player's expectations and what he likes and dislikes. If all Genres of music played marshalls the music world would be quite boring!
Later, God Bless
Eph. 2:10
Answer:
if your gonna go to marshall from the Vox i would start with the MC series, it will be closes to what it sounds like your looking for
Answer:
Originally Posted by Awzmgd117 if your gonna go to marshall from the Vox i would start with the MC series, it will be closes to what it sounds like your looking for
do you mean the MG series? it isn't much more than a SS practice amp, IMO.
and you can do a lot better than marshall solid state... the vox would be a better choice for sure... the low end valvetronix (AD50VT and lower) model 3 tube marshalls 70's (Plexi), 80's (JCM-800), and modern(DSL-2000). the high end models 2 more including the a 'UK blues' amp (JTM-45) and 90's amp (JCM-900). (3 marshalls for the low-end; 5 marshalls for the high-end)
while the marshall MGs might be decent amps, IMO, they just don't compare to tube amps - which the vox does an awesome job at modelling...
and if you go with marshall, i'd suggest going only with their tube stuff... although that can get incredibly expensive.
and also, paat, it would be useful to know more specifically what sound your looking for. 'twany, not muddy' ... are you looking for cleans - kinda like fender cleans, or more of a rock sound? clean or distortion? can you be any more specific?
Answer:
yeah i did MG, oops
yeah i dont' like it a whole lot either but it seems like some people are down on Valvetronix so i was just offering something different that was the closest thing marshall made to that sound
personally i dont' like any of the marshalls
Answer:
I have an AD60VTX that I'm not allowed to play before Christmas, but today I got to plug it in a try it for like 10 minutes and I did notice a little humming noise, but it doesn't seem like anything that a simple ground lift couldn't fix. My Line 6 did something similar, only the hum was worse on that, moving into more of a buzz kinda sound. I'm gonna try and plug it in tomorrow with the ground lift on it and see what happens. I'll let ya know if it fixes it.
Overall though, I LOVE the amp. Looks super nice, sounds super sweet (and I just jammed on the presets!). Definately a recommendation.
Answer:
hey everyone. thanks for the responses.
basically, i want to be able to have a good rockin', "clean distortion" and by this i mean, like i said, i don't want the sound being all muddled together (is muddled a word?)
here's some bands that influence some of my sounds, so feel free to model your advice after these:
delirious, switchfoot, incubus, david crowder band, chris tomlin, dashboard confessional, starfield, turn off the stars,
basically, i want to be able to hear the notes i'm playing, with a crispness to it. i don't want muddy, i don't want a bad buzz. i currently am liking the fender deluxe 90 i've been playing, without the extra drive on (i think it's when there's a yellow light on).
i also was wondering, which effects are built into the amp? i would like to have delay, flange, etc. are these the types of fx this amp has? or no?
thanks for your help.
Pat D
note: just reading through some harmony-central.com reviews, it seems that everyone loves this amp. I hope I can get a chance to sit down and play one! PD
Answer:
Originally Posted by paat hey everyone. thanks for the responses.
basically, i want to be able to have a good rockin', "clean distortion" and by this i mean, like i said, i don't want the sound being all muddled together (is muddled a word?)
here's some bands that influence some of my sounds, so feel free to model your advice after these:
delirious, switchfoot, incubus, david crowder band, chris tomlin, dashboard confessional, starfield, turn off the stars,
basically, i want to be able to hear the notes i'm playing, with a crispness to it. i don't want muddy, i don't want a bad buzz. i currently am liking the fender deluxe 90 i've been playing, without the extra drive on (i think it's when there's a yellow light on).
i also was wondering, which effects are built into the amp? i would like to have delay, flange, etc. are these the types of fx this amp has? or no?
thanks for your help.
Pat D
note: just reading through some harmony-central.com reviews, it seems that everyone loves this amp. I hope I can get a chance to sit down and play one! PD
ok, so your wanting a non-muddy, crisp distortion? or maybe just a crisp overdrive? the vox should be able to handle that pretty well, although that is what most modelers stuggle with.
i might record and upload some samples if i get some time later this week (and if i can find my 1/4" to 1/8" convery... )
part of this feel will be from the guitar, part from the amp. i had stock p'ups in my ibanez when i got my valvetronix and it got a very muddy feeling at an overdrive/light distortion sound. new p'ups fixed that problem. (chances are though, the pickups arn't the problem... just a thought though )
and yeah, effects are included. the high-end models, like the one your looking at, has a much more expanded version of effects. even on my low-end, stripped down model (effects took the biggest beating too), the effects are all good quality and usable... and most are very variable. i'm not much of an effects user... i rarely use reverb even, but if i did use effects more, the effects are decent and most importantly, usable... take a look at the valvetronix demos at vox's site: http://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/va...vtOverview.htm
Answer:
Hey tht00, I was at guitar center and I saw the AD30VT. It's a lot bigger than I had expected. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try it.
Answer:
yeah... its not exactly a small amp, but its not too big by any means...
good sized, portable, and loud enough for gigs... i take it literally everywhere my guitar goes... (sunday night worship and worship practice, winter percussion (sometimes 2 practices per week))
it works great for what i need it to do... couldn't ask for a better amp.
Answer:
If I wasn't wanting to make really heavily effects driven music, I would probably get one. But I really like special-effect delays and such.