Members thebrownkey Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 damn search! sorry, but its no worse thatn some of these other questions ive seen that get asked week after week, year after year PLEASE read on for my needs and let me know what you think. im disabled and have been since i was 21 (im 30) so even a small purchase like this needs to be thought out. i need to play one again, but its hard for me to travel and i live in B.F.E. ive played and/or owned a good number of "classic" amps, had a few stacks and played for about 19 years now. so comparisons with other amps/tones are welcome here. Im pretty familiar with most amps in general. please be descriptive. what about the high-driven tones is lacking? i thought they were OK, but i was pleased with the cleans and crunch on the amp mostly I know some of you really like your VT series amps. I remember tlbonehead speaking of them for a few years now. ive messed with the ad30 enough to know that overall id really dig it myself, but not owned one so i cant say i fairly explored the amp. ive got the squishy smooth and round clean tones down with the few tube amps I have left. what Im wanting is something that sounds good for cleans as well as handling some rock and occasional metal (lotsa pushed cleans that breakup smoothly and almost overdriven). im disabled so no gigging to worry about anymore. i play pretty much everything, from gatton on my strat to iron maiden/early metallica on my solidbody bucker guitars. id like something that sounds good turned up. not gigging levels but good and loud for home use- i cant play low volume. I have sold off my last jcm800 and classic 30, so i will be using clean and light to medium gain often. I still love metal as much as I did when I was in my early-late teens. i still get the urge to headbang, but honestly i use a high gain tone about 15% of the time, thats it. so tell me the strengths and weaknesses of these amps. please be direct and thorough if you will. im wanting something that sounds good at loud home levels, but not like the jcm800 where it ONLY sounded really good really loud. when i started playing it was full gain, boosted, mids scooped, etc. after 5-6 years i learned to love mids, after a few more years mygain started getting lower. now im happy with round, smooth cleans and a good overdriven sound. but dont get me wrong- my few moments of metal madness are still important. eventually ill have another hard crunch machine, so for now I can live with just decent hi gain, nothing outstanding needed here FX are not too imprortant, although id like decent reverb and compression anyway - thanks to all here. I really would appreciate your comments here, it could save myself from an uneeded purchase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ron Burgandy Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Clean to crunch is great on this amp. Actually with the Soldano model I can get some great high gain tones. Reverb is decent, compression works, etc... I love my AD60vtx, and would recommend it over the AD30vt by a mile. I've had the 30 since they first came out, but when AMS dropped the price of the ad60vtx 1x12 to $500 I jumped on one. Night and day difference as far as tweakability, tones, tonal quality, etc. Far better amp. I'm not trying to say the 30 sucks by any means, but the blue grill cloth'ed 60 is just that much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebrownkey Posted July 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Clean to crunch is great on this amp. Actually with the Soldano model I can get some great high gain tones. Reverb is decent, compression works, etc...I love my AD60vtx, and would recommend it over the AD30vt by a mile. I've had the 30 since they first came out, but when AMS dropped the price of the ad60vtx 1x12 to $500 I jumped on one. Night and day difference as far as tweakability, tones, tonal quality, etc. Far better amp. I'm not trying to say the 30 sucks by any means, but the blue grill cloth'ed 60 is just that much better. thanks for the reply man - wow, there is that much tonal difference between the 30 and 60? the tweaking difference matters to me as well, but tone is top priority here in this search. i want something i dont have swap tubes every 6 months, something that sounds good enough for home jamming and miced recording that i wont want to ditch it 2 years later for the next thing it sounds like its what i need, easy portability and low maintenance with different tonal options to fit my many musical tastes/styles. i dont know if i could swing that anytime soon. i hate to admit it but after paying bills im pretty much broke, and recently sold a few things to fund this. im really concerned with feel. i like response from an amp, and i liked the short time i had with the ad-30, but if the 60 is that much better, maybe ill hang on for a while. do you think its just a matter of the speaker? if so i usually wire an extension jack to my tube combos anyway for using different cabs, but it sounds like theres more to it than a speaker upgrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ron Burgandy Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Hang on, it's definitely worth it. Check out the control panel of the AD60vtx, and the AD30vt. The 60 has effects/"pedals" you can run before the amp such as wahs, overdrives, compressor, uni-vibe, etc...then you pick the amp model, next are the modulating effects, then on to delay, and finally reverb. Each section can be controlled separately whereas on the 30 you have amp models (11 models vs 16 on the 60), and preset effects combos. It's very limited in how you tweak it compared to the 60. The added Celestion Neo-Dog in the AD60vtx is simply an added bonus. Since you're looking to keep it a while, I would highly recommend saving for a while to get the 60. Not that much more money for a lot more amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebrownkey Posted July 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 cool i apprecite the pics and response. it does look like its got alot more potential. i am going to really have to think this over. id love to have the 60 - but not sure if i could actually save that much. id probably end up needing the $$ for bills or something before i got there! but damn all that extra versatility is sure tempting. thanks again bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ron Burgandy Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 You won't be let down by either man. One last thought: if you buy the 30 used from say eBay, then you can always sell it later down the line if you want to pick up the 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaXu Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 I'd propably go for at least the AD50VT. The bigger speaker will surely help with those higher gain tones. There's also a new Valvetronix coming out that is supposed to be more geared towards metal so you might want to check that out as well. It's not that the current ones can't do it, they just generally seem to be more voiced towards "classic" tones. I used to have a Yamaha DG80 combo which might suit you as well. They no longer make them but they were built well and sounded nice and definitely worked for metal too. Should be cheap on the used market since they're kinda unknown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members book_of_lies777 Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 YES, they are good amps! If I were in the market for an amp, I'd be happy to own a Vox Valvetronix. (I am disabled too - I certainly know what it's like being so tight money-wise.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ***1776*** Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Chuck Nutz is 110% right on this thread and brings valid points! If i was you i would DEFINTELY grab the 60 blue cloth version of the silver newer models - the effects, storange banks, tuner, playing dynamics and most importantly THE TONES are alot better imo.. As far as gain i dont know why people say it cant do metal? It has more gain than people think, it can do alot more than classic rock! ALOT --- Grab your favorite amp model and put a pedal boost on it (either Treble boost, Fat OD, Tube OD models) and the bitch can scream! It may not be a "metal machine" but it can do metal"ish" tones with no problem! NONE Killer amps imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members process sherpa Posted July 22, 2007 Members Share Posted July 22, 2007 There's also a new Valvetronix coming out that is supposed to be more geared towards metal so you might want to check that out as well. It's not that the current ones can't do it, they just generally seem to be more voiced towards "classic" tones. I think they're out already - I was just noticing them on MF the other day. They put an XL after the name (AD30VT becomes AD30VT-XL, etc.), and it looks like they cost about $50-60 more than the non-XL versions. The 30-XL also looks like it has a 12" speaker instead of the 10" in the regular version: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-Valvetronix-AD30VTXL30W-1x12-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=483004 I'd definitely consider one of those new XL versions if I wanted more metal/gain models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pr3Va1L Posted July 22, 2007 Members Share Posted July 22, 2007 Holy crap! The front panel of the VTX is great! All the effects, pedals to boost the amps, more effects and more processing power.. I was impressed with the 30 I tryed, but I can imagine that being very nice!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pepi Posted July 22, 2007 Members Share Posted July 22, 2007 I bought the 500 dollar AD60VTX from AMS around a month ago. I'm still loving it. Best amp I've owned in years. Not sure about gigging with it but for home use it is wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RichS Posted August 5, 2007 Members Share Posted August 5, 2007 I have an AD12VT & recently bought a AD60VTX from AMS. I love the tone. I think you will be happy with either one of the "Blues" or with a silver face Valvetronix. They all sound great & are very versitile. Pepi, do you have an extension cab you can connect to your AD60VTX? I have gone thru 4 brand new AD60VTX's from AMS & everyone disables the internal speaker when I connect an extension cab. I'm curious to see if I'm the only person with this problem. I didn't mean to hijack your thread thebrownkey. I hope you end up with a Valvetronix. I'm sure you will be happy with whichever model you get. They all sound great & are price well to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr JinX Posted August 5, 2007 Members Share Posted August 5, 2007 I thin the vox modelers just do that- I have a VR30 that i run into a 1x12 and it disables the internal speaker as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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