Question:
it finally came in today! i ordered it around june 30th and its been on backorder; i've been waiting a while.
i've only had it a couple hours so far, and i've been experimenting with different amp models. for those who don't know much about the valvetronix series, it is an amp modelling system. it is, in a sense, a hybrid. it uses a tube to get the tone, and then it amplifies it using solid state. so far, it seems to have great tone and flexibility. i've been experimenting with the tweed, blackface, and ac30 models.
it sure beats my old setup- ibanez gax70 -> rp50 -> kalamazoo model1 (5watt tube- class a). that setup worked and sounded good, but was lacking some. at practice yesterday, i was wanting to get a nice clean tone, yet be able to switch to a somewhat dirty rhythm quickly, and then change back. i used a tweed setting on the rp50, turned up my guitar (neck pickup), and rolled back the tone, which gave me a nice clean when strumming close to the bridge and some distortion when strumming harder at the neck. the clean sounded great, but it didn't break up the best and felt too trebly and... well... digital. today, i was experimenting with what i could do to get something better. i selected the ac30, and got a nice clean using both neck and bridge pickups, with the bridge's tone rolled back. then by selecting only the neck pickup and strumming a little harder, it breaks up wonderfully and gives a full, rich sound.
usually, i wouldn't go for a modeling amp, but this is definitly a nice one. i didn't get a chance to try it out before i ordered it, but the reviews were too good at harmony-central.com not to go for it. i'd been looking for a better amp for some time. i shot pretty high on a laney lc15 on ebay, but didn't get it. many reviews on the laney said the clean was a lot like a vox, but not quite there. i finally looked into vox and found this one that was within my price range (<$300).
anyways... there are a couple things a wish this amp did have... effects are grouped. comp, comp & phasor, comp & chorus, chorus & reverb, flanger & reverb, delay, reverb, (you get the idea). this doesn't bug me too much(i've never had the use for modulation effects anyway), but it'd be nice to have different types of reverb and some more options here... its a little limited, but it works. (effects loop would be usefull here, but there isn't one)
it'd be nice if it had more than 2 savable channels. also, there is no footswitch included. $30 to buy one to be able to switch channels on the fly. i'll probably buy on... (probably wouldn't be hard to build one though). more channels and an included footswitch would have been nice.
one more thing - i line out would have been very nice. it has a phone/line jack, but it disconnects the speaker when you plug into it, which is kinda useless, unless using headphones. at church, i've been playing through my model1 and through a line-out i built for it. i guess i'll have to do build a line out for this one too. its a closed-back amp, so that'll make it a little bit more difficult (and i can't shove my cords back there anymore... ).
while there's a couple things that would be nice if it had, it is still a great amp and has some good features. the power level control on the back is especially nice. think of it as an extra volume control that doesn't affect the tone. another guitarist i've played with has a fender with 120 watts, which can get unbearably loud in a medium/large-sized room; even when the volume is on one. it'd be nice if all amps had this feature.
its hard to go wrong at $240. sounds great, plenty loud, tons of possibilities. i give it a 9/10.
i'm done ranting now ,
Tom
Answer:
Congrats !! I have heard good things about the Valvetronics stuff, particularly that they do a good job of emulating Vox amps.
Watch out though, the forum police are probably going to move this into the Amps forum, along with stuff about vocal monitors, bass amps and powered mixers. even though guitar amps are an integral part of GUITAR tone... hint hint
Answer:
Originally Posted by tht00 it finally came in today! i ordered it around june 30th and its been on backorder; i've been waiting a while.
.
it sure beats my old setup- ibanez gax70 -> rp50 -> kalamazoo model1 (5watt tube- class a). Tom
Congrats on the new amp! Like Major Tom, I've heard lots of good stuff about the Valvetronix line.
Let me know if you'd like to get rid of your Kalamazoo. (send me a PM).
Answer:
Originally Posted by Sinker Let me know if you'd like to get rid of your Kalamazoo. (send me a PM).
sorry, the kazoo is staying with me. its too nice tube amp (and vintage!)- very hard to overdrive it though- 8-9 volume. sounds like the speaker is about give at that volume. my next project will probably be building a speaker cabnet for it. (and replacing the caps to get rid of the buzz). it is also awesome to play cds through.
Originally Posted by Major Tom Congrats !! I have heard good things about the Valvetronics stuff, particularly that they do a good job of emulating Vox amps. Originally Posted by Sinker Congrats on the new amp! Like Major Tom, I've heard lots of good stuff about the Valvetronix line.
thanks. there are a ton of extremely positive reviews out for this series. (as opposed to behringer and line6 modeling amps. ) i remember reading some people were having trouble with the higher end models of them - AD60vt and above; but they are virtually a different line. (more models, stomp box emulator, delay & reverb separate from effects, a real line out, effects loop, etc) i havn't heard of any problems like that about the lower end ad15, 30, (and the 50 is supposed to come out sometime)
as for how accurate they are in emulation, i'm not sure. i've never played an ac15 or ac30 (wish i have), but those 2 models do seem to sound especially good. everything else seems to be in the right place too.
also, its nice that i'm finally using my guitar to its full capacity now. before, i always used the neck for rhythm and the bridge for lead/distortion. now, i can use both and get a better sound (on rhythm). before, using both just caused too much treble; i didn't get much use out of the middle setting.
Answer:
congrats!
and i too have heard good things about that amp.
vox certainly has a good clean tone. even on my little vox pathfinder 10.
Answer:
Congradulations- you will love this the more you use it.

I have an AD120VTH that has been awesome to play. Every time I get a bad tone out of it I find that it is because of how I set it up. Never had a problem like those posted on HC, but that seemed to be limited to the early VTX (combo) units. Hail Mary full of guitar picks...

The "Clean Matchless" amp model truly sparkles on my acoustic and my Fenders can get as dirty as I like. The Marshall & MesaBoogie models are really nasty, in a good way. I have never needed more that the 30 watt setting in a worship setting, so I think you will be very pleased with the muscle behind your AD30.
Answer:
Originally Posted by RainCaster Congradulations- you will love this the more you use it.
i noticed already. had band practice this morning. the ac30tb is all i needed all morning- although i did set it on 'modern UK' and pushed it full blast to just jam with. it's much louder than what i'll use live. a lot of people don't seem to think 30watts is enough to gig with, but this is more than enough to stand out over drums and PA by itself. i was really impressed with the amount of low end it was pushing too. it was making the floor vibrate.
as for a worship setting, i was using about 1/2 power level volume and about 1/2 master, with the amp model turned up and about 1/2 gain. more than enough power.
Originally Posted by RainCaster I have an AD120VTH that has been awesome to play. Every time I get a bad tone out of it I find that it is because of how I set it up. Never had a problem like those posted on HC, but that seemed to be limited to the early VTX (combo) units. Hail Mary full of guitar picks...
i noticed some bad tone when i first plugged it in, but after some EQ tweaks, it was gone. a pro and con of this amp is the amount you can tweak it. it sounds wonderful when you get the eq and volume/gain just right... but i found myself going back in the middle of a song several times to try to get it to sound from 'good' to 'perfect'. i'll learn pretty quickly where i want everything after a while though.

Originally Posted by RainCaster The "Clean Matchless" amp model truly sparkles on my acoustic and my Fenders can get as dirty as I like. The Marshall & MesaBoogie models are really nasty, in a good way. I have never needed more that the 30 watt setting in a worship setting, so I think you will be very pleased with the muscle behind your AD30.
hmm... one of the bad things about the lower end models is that they leave out things. i don't have the 'clean matchless' and i don't think i have the boogie ('rectifier', right?). the list i do have is:
clean boutique
blackface 2x12 (fender)
tweed 4x12 (bassman)
ac15
ac30
UK 70
UK 80 (marshalls)
UK modern
nu metal (?)
US high gain (?)
OD boutique
i havn't tried hooking up my acoustic/electric yet. i'm guessing that the fender will work ok for it. i'll have to experiment. it did sound really good through my kalamazoo, which is still an option too.
i don't know what my portable cd player will sound like through it either. the kalamazoo was awesome at playing cds. it could get interesting....
Answer:
The "botique" models are based on two different Matchless amps. You've got 'em. The generic list on the cabinet actually maps to a real world set of amps (boogie = rectifier, blackface = twin reverb...), and I remember seeing it on the valvetronix forum, but I can't find the link anymore.

The only bad sound I had was when I forgot to turn up the power limitter on the back. I made it all the way through the first service in the 2 watt setting, wondering why it was so distorted. (I had been practicing at home at 2w setting) Once I set it back to 30 watts, things got crystal clear again.