Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I'm looking for a small amp to mess around with pedals in my apartment and maybe do some recording. How does it sound? I'm guessing the cab isn't too great but it will have to do for now - I would probably upgrade it further down the track though. The headphone output could be really useful, as long a it doesn't sound horrible. i'm mostly after hours cleans with nice breakup. I mostly use pedals for dirt. So what say ye? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IRG Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 Here's the PGS clip of it if you heard it already. Seems pretty decent to me.http://proguitarshop.com/vox-lil-night-train.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 Yea it sounds pretty good in that clip, but then again that's the point - that want you to buy it. I a wonder how much in the way of cleans it has, I mean it's only 2 watts. it probably gets pretty dirty pretty quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Demented Avenger Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I think the demos I have watched sound great. I just wonder how it would handle a delay in front, with some hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I think the demos I have watched sound great. I just wonder how it would handle a delay in front, with some hair. Yea me too. I also wonder how it handles od and fuzz pedals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snowden Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 It's the only amp I have atm. It sounds more AC30 like to me than the AC4TV I had. Takes pedals pretty similarly to the AC30 I used to have, which, to me, is just fine. I run it with the gain up half way for some hair when I really dig in. It's a fun little amp and doesn't sound like a toy like some micro amps can. The cab sounds just fine after letting the speaker break in. If you like the AC30 sound, it's really easy to get with this. But the headphone out sucks. I didn't expect much from that anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 It's the only amp I have atm. It sounds more AC30 like to me than the AC4TV I had. Takes pedals pretty similarly to the AC30 I used to have, which, to me, is just fine. I run it with the gain up half way for some hair when I really dig in. It's a fun little amp and doesn't sound like a toy like some micro amps can. The cab sounds just fine after letting the speaker break in. If you like the AC30 sound, it's really easy to get with this. But the headphone out sucks. I didn't expect much from that anyway. Awesome, thanks! what are the cleans like? Do you think it would record well? Yea I didn't expect the headphone out to sound that great, but it's still nice to have for night time noodling. I might be able to find something else to act as a speaker sim if it's really that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snowden Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I really like the cleans. I'm playing with a tele, so if you're keeping the gain knob below a quarter, it does get kinda thin, but still sounds really decent. I record with mine all the time, demos and such, and it works well. It's just an easy way to get the Vox clean or jangle with some dirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I really like the cleans. I'm playing with a tele, so if you're keeping the gain knob below a quarter, it does get kinda thin, but still sounds really decent. I record with mine all the time, demos and such, and it works well. It's just an easy way to get the Vox clean or jangle with some dirt. Cool, got a link to any of those demos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Yea it sounds pretty good in that clip, but then again that's the point - that want you to buy it. I a wonder how much in the way of cleans it has, I mean it's only 2 watts. it probably gets pretty dirty pretty quickly. Depends on the efficiency of the speaker you connect to it... the more efficient it is, the louder the "amp" will be. Speakers are measured and rated at XXdb @ 1W / 1m (one watt input, measured at one meter distance = XX decibels); have a look at those specs and pick accordingly - the higher the number, the louder it will be. Generally, anything over 100dB @ 1W / 1m is considered pretty darned efficient... anything in the mid to upper 80s is relatively inefficient. A 10dB difference will sound approximately "twice as loud", a 1dB difference is just noticeable. Most people are surprised by just how loud 1 or 2 watts can get. If all you're going to be doing is playing in an apartment and recording with it, the low wattage of the Lil' Night Train shouldn't be a problem (it's probably nearly ideal), but when in doubt, always try before you buy - or at least buy from a place with a good return policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 Depends on the efficiency of the speaker you connect to it... the more efficient it is, the louder the "amp" will be. Speakers are measured and rated at XXdb @ 1W / 1m (one watt input, measured at one meter distance = XX decibels); have a look at those specs and pick accordingly - the higher the number, the louder it will be. Generally, anything over 100dB @ 1W / 1m is considered pretty darned efficient... anything in the mid to upper 80s is relatively inefficient. A 10dB difference will sound approximately "twice as loud", a 1dB difference is just noticeable. Most people are surprised by just how loud 1 or 2 watts can get. If all you're going to be doing is playing in an apartment and recording with it, the low wattage of the Lil' Night Train shouldn't be a problem (it's probably nearly ideal), but when in doubt, always try before you buy - or at least buy from a place with a good return policy. Apparently it's a Celestion VX-10 'custom' speaker, which I can't find any sensitivity specs for. I'm sure it'll be able to go much louder than I could get away with in an apartment building, I just read a review that said it was only really good for dirty tones - but other reviews don't seem to agree with that. I've started another, more general, thread about finding a small amp. If any of you guys have some thoughts on the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 . Takes pedals pretty similarly to the AC30 I used to have, which, to me, is just fine. I run it with the gain up half way for some hair when I really dig in. It's a fun little amp and doesn't sound like a toy like some micro amps can. The cab sounds just fine after letting the speaker break in. If you like the AC30 sound, it's really easy to get with this. But the headphone out sucks. I didn't expect much from that anyway. W O W !!! I am looking into the AC4 right now. How would you describe the AC4's tone then ? Sorry, not tryng to hi-jack the thead. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snowden Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 W O W !!! I am looking into the AC4 right now. How would you describe the AC4's tone then ? Sorry, not tryng to hi-jack the thead. Cheers While I thought it sounded fine, it still sounded like a cheap amp. More of a flat, 'cardboard' sound than jangly. I've heard some demos that made it sound good, but the Lil' Night Train works better for me. Way more jangle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yarbicus Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 I concur with pretty much everything I see here. The AC4 just sounds small and boxy to me. However, whenever I head to a guitar store to try out guitars, I look for a Lil' Night Train or, if not available, its bigger brother to play through. Just a great, open tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SnorkelMonkey Posted October 8, 2011 Members Share Posted October 8, 2011 While I thought it sounded fine, it still sounded like a cheap amp. More of a flat, 'cardboard' sound than jangly. I agree with you when it comes with the stock speaker but ran into larger speakers/cabs that little circuit sounds amazing. I've got the 8" version and I kinda like having that cheapo EL84 amp sound available for recording when needed. I can plug it into other cabs for more options when tracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambient Posted October 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 9, 2011 Hmmm, a lot of the demos/reviews make it out to be quite jangly, especially clean. However the pgs does sound pretty throaty but who knows what they did to the sound in editing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Apparently it's a Celestion VX-10 'custom' speaker, which I can't find any sensitivity specs for. I'm sure it'll be able to go much louder than I could get away with in an apartment building, I just read a review that said it was only really good for dirty tones - but other reviews don't seem to agree with that. I'm not familiar enough with the sound of the Vox cabs to comment - sorry. I've started another, more general, thread about finding a small amp. If any of you guys have some thoughts on the subject. I fixed the link - it wasn't working when I first tried it. It should be working okay now. I'll head over there and check it out now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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