Valvetronix users

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Biddlin

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I have a Vox AD30VT. I have used it a lot. After a long time, I stilll can't tell you if I like it or not. It always works well. The models are very good. The attenuator is useful at home or in small venues. Storing programs is like reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It has more warmth, also more noise, than my solid state amps.
I would like it more if it had an effects loop. I have used it less since I acquired a Crate Palomino V32, all tubes, but I am still holding on to it, using it in stereo with the Crate for some specialty numbers, but I have a pair of matching Fender Mustang amps that would serve that purpose as well or better.
I know some of you have or had one of these, so, what say ye?
 
I have the Vox VT30. Is that the same? I am with you in that it seems to have great functionality and some really good sounds. Then again, it has some not-so-good sounds. I think the biggest issue is the controls. they are far from intuitive and fidgety even when you know how to use them.. That said, it does have presets, but even those have "banks" etc. As much as I like mini toggles and push-pulls on guitars, I often feel that amps should be simple.
 
I am missing the question Biddlin? What say us ??? about VOX AD30VT's?

I had the 20 watt version. I liked it --- then I went to the Fender Mustang side (which arguably had a better online interface---which i rarely used) then I went the other direction to as RVA says

SIMPLE -- 2 knobs --tube tone ---
panama.jpg


Which was awesome.........but.........i needed to get my tone tweak fix on and went with

StompLab_Gallery_800x600_1.jpg


At the guidance of one Mr. Bgood.
Which is like --- HALF of the control panel of an AD30VT if I am not mistaken?????????

so----VOX modeling???? yup --- I am a fan
 
I'd say keep it. It's a classic. I had two of the same for a time. Kept one for the cottage. I spend a few months in summer playing that one only and as long as I don't have tube amps around, it sounds great. I like how it takes pedals. I mostly only use slight reverb and delay on it. Distortion effects can sound harsh, so I use a pedal.
 
alexander paul said:
i wont buy anything complicated that doesn't interface with a computer... the choices are a 5 minute route in purgatory or you open a window & click the choice de jure in 1 second...
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I like the Mustang's interface, though I don't use it. I really have no reason to get rid of or keep the Vox, for that matter. It only crosses my mind to part with it as part of a bundle with an SG Special for a full hollowbody Loar 302t, for instance. Then I decide I can't sell the SG and it becomes irrelevant, again. What prompted this mini-rant thread was the realization that after at least 9 years with this amp, I still feel like I'm not smart enough to use it. Getting the effect depth and rate by tapping and twisting and chanting the names of the 13th Floor Elevator members is also tiresome and un-intuitive to me. But when I plug in and set it to the AC-15 model, I am suddenly playing my ancient Vox ac-15. I am not usually sentimental about amps. For some reason, this one is different.
 
I'm a big fan of simple amps that I can set with a few switches, adjust the tone, and play. I hate fiddling with gear, especially while playing live. At most I'll switch from the clean to the drive channel for different songs. I'm not a good enough player to try and figure out amp settings on the fly. I have tried the Valvetronix and found them too distracting. I kept looking for something, fiddling. I don't even use pedals live except for a tuner.
 
Biddlin said:
I like the Mustang's interface, though I don't use it. I really have no reason to get rid of or keep the Vox, for that matter. It only crosses my mind to part with it as part of a bundle with an SG Special for a full hollowbody Loar 302t, for instance. Then I decide I can't sell the SG and it becomes irrelevant, again. What prompted this mini-rant thread was the realization that after at least 9 years with this amp, I still feel like I'm not smart enough to use it. Getting the effect depth and rate by tapping and twisting and chanting the names of the 13th Floor Elevator members is also tiresome and un-intuitive to me. But when I plug in and set it to the AC-15 model, I am suddenly playing my ancient Vox ac-15. I am not usually sentimental about amps. For some reason, this one is different.
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Kerry Brown said:
I'm a big fan of simple amps that I can set with a few switches, adjust the tone, and play. I hate fiddling with gear, especially while playing live. At most I'll switch from the clean to the drive channel for different songs. I'm not a good enough player to try and figure out amp settings on the fly. I have tried the Valvetronix and found them too distracting. I kept looking for something, fiddling. I don't even use pedals live except for a tuner.
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my line in the sand is simple amps & from simple pedalboard/s to racks of digital craziness... i wont buy anything crazy without a usb interface since i prize my sanity {the little that's left}...

iu
 
Kerry Brown said:
I'm a big fan of simple amps that I can set with a few switches, adjust the tone, and play. I hate fiddling with gear, especially while playing live. At most I'll switch from the clean to the drive channel for different songs. I'm not a good enough player to try and figure out amp settings on the fly. I have tried the Valvetronix and found them too distracting. I kept looking for something, fiddling. I don't even use pedals live except for a tuner.
Click to expand...

There is something to be said for simple. Nothing like a Tweed style amp, basically plug in and go and the tone stack doesn't really do much anyway. But...I gotta admit I do like tweakability too. I am a one-amp guy these days, and I wanted something that would cover all bases so I got a Mesa Mark 5. It's complicated and ultra-tweakable (as are all Mesa's), but once you learn to dial it in you can coax any sound in your head out of the thing, and that versatility is pretty addictive.
 
I mostly use a Mesa TA-30 Transatlantic. It is tweekable, 2 channels, one with two voices and the other with three. I setup one voice on each channel then just switch channels. It takes me five minutes to setup each channel for the room and I'm good to go for the night. Rarely I may tweek the gain for a song. As the night wears on and things get louder I may adjust the volume.
 
I really enjoy my Vox VT-30. There are lots and lots of tones on this amp, most of which I would never use.
But they sell these amps worldwide, to performers of all different stripes. So one man's ceiling is another man's floor, eh?
I've managed to isolate two excellent tones on this amp, and save them as presets. That's all I use in performance.
All the rest of it goes unused, except when I'm practicing and feeling adventuresome. And that too has its virtues.
I actually love to be able to twist a few controls and end up in some alternate universe with my SG in hand, and then
get back to where I started with a stomp on the honking big Vox floor pedal.
Vox pedal@100.jpg

I too wished for a few extras on this rock machine. I got them by installing Retrobob's Loop mod, which comes in a kit.
The installation is not too difficult... if I can do it, you can certainly do it. Or get a good amp tech to do it. Here's a
thread on the Loop mod for the AD30VT.
http://www.valvetronix.net/forums/retrobob-s-universal-loop-mod-t6069.html

My VT-30 is the next model after the AD30VT. Basically the same amp, with some "improvements."
I bought mine after Davie and I hired a guy to play a record release concert with us, as our trusty multi instrumentalist
side man. For the songs that needed electric guitar, he brought his AD30VT. I'd never heard of them before, but he
got such great tone out of his that I checked it out after the show, and wrote down the model name.
The AD30VT was discontinued by then, but I found the VT-30 for a very attractive price.
Luna and Vox 2016@100.jpg

Here's what the loop mod looks like on the back of my VT-30:
12 amp back@100.jpg
Here's a closeup:
06 loop mod closeup@100.jpg
I would recommend this mod for anyone who is happy with the sound and volume of this amp and needs
to make it more versatile. The mod also replaces the input jack with a high quality Neutrik one, and this
unplugs many of the nagging troubles these Vietnam made amps seem prone to. I've gotten great service from
mine. Retrobob is great to work with, and seems like a very cool person.
 
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