Vox AD15VT with a Jazzmaster?

[spacecadet]

Anyone have this amp?  I have been unable to, and probably will be unable to, personally demo one before purchasing.  (None of the stores around me have it, so I'd probably have to mail order it.)  I'm looking for a small amp that I'll basically be using for practice and home recording.  I listened to the demos online and it does seem to have that tube sound I'm looking for, and the distortion channel sounds really heavy, not overly "fuzzy" or "crunchy" like a lot of transistor amps sound like.  It seems like most amps these days assume you're gonna be playing metal through the distortion channel, which I'm not.  I want a heavy, thick and dirty but warm sound, not just a lot of thrash.

I don't have $1,000 or even $500 to spend on an amp, at least not right now.  And I don't need an amp for gigging right now either; what I'm trying to do is set myself up to record all my own stuff.  So is this a good amp for my situation?  Anything better at this price with that tubular sound?  Vox is new to me; all my previous amps over the years have been Marshall or Crate, and I've never been really happy with either of those brands.  (Don't ask me why I kept buying them, I was young.)

Thanks...

[DB]

Hey, for what it is worth I'm a bass player first and guitar player second.  But I have a couple of the VOX AD amps.  The one I use is the 100 watt dual speaker that I use for my Jag baritone and my Bass VIs (reissue and CS 2006).  I love it since you can control the output wattage from 1 to 100 watts - easy to get the overdrive you like.  My 15 year old has the 30 watt version, and it has a bit different character due to different speaker config, but it is also a great low cost amp.  We have the ones from North Coast Music with the vintage grills - they look great as well as sound great.  Yes, it is hybrid tube pre, solid state power amp.  Good deal for the price.

I really wanted a Twin Reverb or Super Reverb for myself, but couldn't justify the cost (as least twice what the AD100VT cost me) and it would only have two tones ("clean and loud" and "clean and really loud").  Great for clean tones or an XII, but I do like a little dirt in my sound.

On another note, I just helped my friend buy a Line 6 Spider III 15 watter for his son's high school graduation, and think this thing is pretty simple but has some killer tones (the "Insane" setting is just fantastic! - even I can sound like an accomplished shredder!).  And only $199 USD.  It has headphone out as well for practice.  Great little amp in a small package, for a reasonable price.

Good luck in your search.

DB

[fourmations]

i was thinking about buying a second hand one of those
interesting about the output select option,

worth 90euro?

rgds

4

[berlinbetty]

  I had that amp (and *L-O-V-E-D* it) until one day it started fizzling out on me.  I'm still looking into why that is, someone on this very forum told me it might have something to do with the transformer, I haven't been able to confirm that yet.  My usual tech changed location and his website is down and so far hasn't answered my email (he's on eBay, that's how I emailed him...).  I'm pretty sure he's not avoiding me.  :-\

  Anyhoo, I loved the versatility of that amp and decided to go with the VOX DA15 (which is essentially the same, but it doesn't have the pre-amp tube) until my preciousssss is up and around again...

[Who Ran The Iron Horse?]

I've got the 30W one, and at certain times it sounds really amazing. The distortion channels are all horribly compressed, but the blackface and tweed models are lovely when the master volume is cranked.

By the way, it's a sold state pre-amp with a 12AX7 in the POWER amp section, so it actually sounds like a valve amp when the master is cranked. So it's a hybrid but done the other way round to normal. Very nice.

[DB]

I've got the 30W one, and at certain times it sounds really amazing. The distortion channels are all horribly compressed, but the blackface and tweed models are lovely when the master volume is cranked.

By the way, it's a sold state pre-amp with a 12AX7 in the POWER amp section, so it actually sounds like a valve amp when the master is cranked. So it's a hybrid but done the other way round to normal. Very nice.

I stand corrected, and thanks for the correction 

I haven't had any problems with either, but neither has seen gig use yet.

DB

[berlinbetty]

  I think I read on Harmony Central that the tube was for the pre-amp.  But I went back and checked the website and, sure enough, it IS for the power amp.
  Thanks, Iron Horse!
  I spend most of my time on the blackface setting.  I think it has a nice vintage sound.  The tweed is very nice, but tends to be too bassy for me.  And jazz sounds really good on theAC-30 preset setting.  Then there's the boutique overdrive setting...well, I could go on and on.

[spacecadet]

I've got the 30W one, and at certain times it sounds really amazing. The distortion channels are all horribly compressed, but the blackface and tweed models are lovely when the master volume is cranked.

I'm getting a little confused with the models here... are you talking the AD30VT or the AC30 or the DA30 (dunno if there is such a thing)?  I think the AC line is a more expensive line, isn't it?  I was interested in the AD15VT in large part because of how cheap it is for a hybrid amp.

I listened to the samples Vox has on their web site (for the AD30VT) and the distortion sounded great to me, so I'm a little concerned now reading your comment.  Obviously, they're gonna use the best sounding samples they can make to sell their amps, which is why I wanted real opinions.  I'm more interested in chunky sounding distortion than I am in the clean channel.  One thing about the samples they have on the web site is that the distortion sounds really deep and fat, not the thin, metallic sound of most transistor amps.  That's what I want - but that's not what you're hearing in your experience?

[berlinbetty]

  I can't speak for Iron Horse, different people have different tastes, not too mention different expectations from their amps.  I'm on the clean channels probably 90% of the time so I'm not what you would call a "distortion connoisseur", but I think the distortion sounds great!  Just last night I was spending a lot of time on the US HIGAIN setting playing Tush by ZZ TOP.  To my ear (again, not a connoisseur) it sounds just like the song...