Anyone own or played on a Vox VT series

[NHLfan2010]

So I am looking right now at smaller tube amps and the more (good) tones the better i'm thinking (since it will be my only amp at school). The Vox VT30 or VT50 both catch my eye. They have all the right features for me, just one question..."Do they sound good?" So if anyone owns one or has played one, how do they sound/feel? Thanks for your help!

 

(PS: I'm not talking about the old(er) AD sries with just 11 amp models, the new VT series has 22)

[jumpwin]

I have a vt30, but mine is the older black knob version, not the cream knobs. I gotta say, I love it. It is , without a doubt an awesome recording/quiet(er) practice amp. The 30 watter won't blow the roof off, but is plenty loud, and the array of tones available is perfect, not too many as to confuse, but not too little as to want more. The seperate gain and volume cdontrols can be tweeked to perfect crunch. And what a crunch it is, especially on brit.

[Lonnie99]

Not sure if this will help but here's a quick video I did of a Vox AD30VT XL about a year ago. Tremendous amp in my opinion. Lousy playing by me though.

 

[C-4]

I have an AD30VT which I have used for over four years now without one single problem.

I bought it as a practice amp, but soon found out that it sounded great for smaller non-mic'd venues, and even mic'd up for concerts when we were only going to be on for one hour.

 

I am going to buy a VT50 sometime this year as a backup amp for my Diezel amps, when we do places outside and there is a possibility of rain, or in "seedier" clubs.

 

The amps will sound good IF you know how to dial them in. If you have trouble doing this, then of course the amp will not give you what you want.

 

When I say this, I don't mean like trying to dial in a Mesa amp, which takes forever. I mean simply learn the functions of how the gain, EQ, and master volumes work for each amp model. I've had no trouble getting really great sounds from my amp. People listening to us in concert were amazed at how good the tones were. Especially when they learned I was using a Vox AD30VT.

 

Is it as organic sounding as a tube amp. No, it is not. But then again, it does have pleasing tones that work well, especially with the built-in effects.

if you have only a little room on stage, or just don't want to haul larger gear, the VT50 is a great choice. And, as it has an extension speaker out jack, you can get bigger sounds from it.

[Preacher]

I love my AD30vt. Can get pretty loud but has that great attentuator knob on the back. I don't touch the presets and you can get pretty great tones just by diming the volumes and using the attenutor knob to adjust volume. the Vox and Fender models are especially good - and seem to take pedals very well.

[Alt-me]

Awesome amps. I love mine, does a great AC30 and an ok black-face impression.

 

Don't touch the attenuator while it's on though guys, you'll blow the transformer!!! (according to the shop that sold me the amp)

[cbh5150]

 

I have an AD30VT which I have used for over four years now without one single problem. I bought it as a practice amp, but soon found out that it sounded great for smaller non-mic'd venues, and even mic'd up for concerts when we were only going to be on for one hour. I am going to buy a VT50 sometime this year as a backup amp for my Diezel amps, when we do places outside and there is a possibility of rain, or in "seedier" clubs. The amps will sound good IF you know how to dial them in. If you have trouble doing this, then of course the amp will not give you what you want. When I say this, I don't mean like trying to dial in a Mesa amp, which takes forever. I mean simply learn the functions of how the gain, EQ, and master volumes work for each amp model. I've had no trouble getting really great sounds from my amp. People listening to us in concert were amazed at how good the tones were. Especially when they learned I was using a Vox AD30VT. Is it as organic sounding as a tube amp. No, it is not. But then again, it does have pleasing tones that work well, especially with the built-in effects. if you have only a little room on stage, or just don't want to haul larger gear, the VT50 is a great choice. And, as it has an extension speaker out jack, you can get bigger sounds from it.

 

 

Serious truth up there - especially with the higher-gain models.

 

You have to treat the EQ as if it were set up for each individual amp that is selected - they do not work the same way for each one.

[Guitar Heel]

I've got a little VT15 that I bought for road trips and lessons, and it's the best $119 I've ever spent (after rebate). Mine pretty much lives on the AC30 setting, and I let my pedals do the work from there if they're around. Honestly, it sounds great. Some of the other models, not so much, but it's certainly worth every penny for me. Also, these things are really light, making them really easy to travel with.

[SmoothJK]

 

 

 

Odd, I've been turning the attenuator with the power on for the two years I've had the amp now. Probably one of those best practices things that rarely makes a difference in real-life usage. Then again, I don't play through my amp very often (usually just practice through my ToneLab via USB).

[Preacher]

Odd, I've been turning the attenuator with the power on for the two years I've had the amp now. Probably one of those best practices things that rarely makes a difference in real-life usage. Then again, I don't play through my amp very often (usually just practice through my ToneLab via USB).

 

No problems with the attenuator here either - and I only adjust it when the amp is on.

[Malfunction]

 

Odd, I've been turning the attenuator with the power on for the two years I've had the amp now. Probably one of those best practices things that rarely makes a difference in real-life usage. Then again, I don't play through my amp very often (usually just practice through my ToneLab via USB).

 

 

I have done that a lot too and have had no problems.

Love the amp too.

[Into Nation]

Odd, I've been turning the attenuator with the power on for the two years I've had the amp now. Probably one of those best practices things that rarely makes a difference in real-life usage. Then again, I don't play through my amp very often (usually just practice through my ToneLab via USB).

 

Same here... Can find nothing in the manual about this or google search.

[nuke_diver]

Never had trouble using the attenuator while it was on either.

 

They are good amps for practice amps. When I got a all tube amp though I stopped using mine. There was something missing even though you can get accurate tones out of it. I guess I'm just a tube guy at heart...probably because I'm old

 

I've moved mine to the place we practice but the few times we've had two guitarists it struggles to keep up with the Lone Star that one of the other guys has and a drum kit. Maybe we just play too loud

[Alt-me]

Ah well, the guy in the store said he'd had a few of them back because people had blown them using the attenuator while powered up

 

They had me paranoid

[Olympus]

I have one of the newer VT30s as a practice amp. I am really pleased with it. Like someone else said, it took me a couple months to really get it dialed in where it needed to be. But that seems to be the case with most modeling amps. If you've got the time and patience to tinker with the dials a little at first, you'll be pleasantly happy with it. The 30 is PLENTY for a practice amp and might do okay with some small 3-man gigs on it's own. I haven't tried it yet for that purpose. But I really like mine.

[brandass]

I've had an AD30VT-XL for several years now, and my experience jives with what already has been said here:

 

1) No problems with attenuator, adjust it powered up and on the fly all the time

 

2) Great tonz when I take the time to dial in one of the models the right way; falls short when I flip to a different model and expect the EQ to be similar - it never is

 

3) Plenty loud as a practice amp, even with moderately loud drumming, and the attenuator is invaluable for quiet raunch

 

4) When all is said and done, the tonz don't quite measure up to a nice tube amp; it is what it is, and it does a particular job well, so for me it serves a function and has hung around despite the tubes, but it can't replace them

[plasticscouse]

I have the VT15, and it is a really good amp, does everything I want to do and more. The VT15 was loud enough for me (and I couldn't carry the 30, I have no car).

 

I belive the only difference between them is only the wattage (although I'm no expert!).

[jbviper4]

I have gigged with mine - plenty for a small to mid size space. Some models are great, some are useless (to me) but the www.valvetronix.net site helped me figure out what worked for whatever I needed. I love mine.

[Riggins]

 

 

 

so how did they say to adjust it...

 

turn it off, adjust attenuator, turn it on, no, that's not it...

 

turn it off, adjust attenuator, turn it on, no, that's not it...

 

turn it off, adjust attenuator, turn it on, no, that's not it...

 

turn it off, adjust attenuator, turn it on, finally!

 

seems a bit silly to add an attenuator adjustment that can't be changed while listening to it.

[Elias Graves]

+1 to the above posts. Good for most uses. The effects are passable and not noisy.

My son got a Peavey Vypyr and I think it does the high gain models better than the Vox. The Vox is probably the more verstile of the two, but if you play mostly high gain stuff, you might find the Vypyr has more choices in that realm.

 

EG

[Misha]

I've had a Vox AD50VT and a Vox VT50. Sold them both now that I have a tube amp. Didn't have them at the same time but if I remember well, the AD50VT sounded better for AC15 - AC30 tones... It had a Celestion speaker in it unlike a Vox speaker in the VT50.

 

The VT50 is still very nice! I've also had the VT15 and it sounded very good too. (I sold it to my teacher and he likes it a lot.) It's small and portable but the VT50/AD50VT have much more headroom.

 

I often see AD50VTs in shops for cheap, sold as new old stock...

 

The VT series has a separate reverb knob unlike the AD series. I mean, it's possible to get other effects plus reverb. I would still get the AD50VT for the speaker and the cleans.

 

Maybe you can dial the same clean sounds with the VT series but it was sooo easy with the AD50VT...... (I miss that amp!)

 

I'M not saying theses amps sound as good as good tube amps but they are good hybrid amps and they sound better than some tube amps.

 

Edit: If you go for a 15 Watts though, go for the VT15 and not the AD15VT. It has been upgraded a lot compared to the AD15VT.

 

If you go for 30 or 50 Watts, get whatever you prefer!

[Olympus]

Couldn't agree more, Elias. When I bought mine, I was between the Vox and the Vypyr. Gain was noticeably better with the Vypyr. I'm not a gain player, so I opted for the Vox. And maybe it was just me, but I found the user interface with the Vypyr way to confusing.

[SmoothJK]

BTW, I had an AD50VT and switched to an AD30VT for portability. Even with my G10 speakers put in, the 30-watt version still doesn't sound as rich and full as the 50-watt (duh). But both of them are excellent for the price. People who complain about the sound probably aren't dialing it in right.

[SpeedRacer422]

I don't want to be the one guy in this thread bashing gear, but...

 

I had one of the newer ones for a week. I played it in the store, Liked the sound and the usable effects, I read mostly positive reviews and went ahead and ordered a 30 watt 1x10 from guitar center (Local GC didn't have it in stock).

 

When my amp came, I noticed the knobs for the effects didn't line up...at all :/

 

Not that they were off a little all the way around where I could kinda tell what they were supposed to point to, but I would actually have to turn the effects knob to say phaser to get delay (I don't remember what effects were on there) :/

 

Then I noticed the LEDs behind the tube:rolleyes:, and the VOX logo on mine was made of that super cheap brittle plastic that dollar store toys are made of, w/ little bits still sticking out from the mold.

 

Now I'm not super particular; I had just picked the guitar back up after not playing for 7 years and was interested in these modeling amps. I bought this to practice at home (the ability to crank down the wattage was a seller for me) and do a little practicing w/ my buddies. The amp did that well enough at a decent price and put out some decent sounds.

 

The quality was just overall poor...I was debating on keeping it.

 

I was browsing Craigslist and saw 2 VOX VT series amps for sale by different sellers, both of them dirt cheap and both broke:confused:

 

So I said {censored} it. I took it back to GC and no {censored}, on my way in, some poor kid was returning a broken VOX VT amp; arguing w/ the manager who told him he'd have to send his amp out for repairs and it may be a week or 2, lol.

 

Now, Idk if those amps are typically prone to failure, but that was a weird coincidence, combined w/ the overall poor initial quality in mine, I'm happy I returned it (plus I still got a $50 rebate check in the mail from VOX:thu:)

 

 

I bought a fender vibro champ xd for home use and an Epiphone Valve Senior 1x12 for practice/gigs and couldn't be happier.

 

 

YMMV,

 

 

Speed

[Slave2TheAudio]

I would save your money...I have seen soooo many used VT series for sale at every guitar store I go to. Save your time and money and get something with more quality.