Vox AD120VT Valvetronix 212 Combo

Price Paid: £700.00 (Sterling)

Features: 8
Great selection of 16 amp models gives enough range for all styles. Effects are plenty but not as adjustable as on some other modelling amps. Plenty loud enough. Smart looking amp too. I'll compare a lot of features to the Cyber-Twin which is the only other modelling amp I have owned.

Sound Quality: 9
Using a couple of Fender American Series Stratocasters the sound is good. This amp has a better all round sound than the Fender Cyber-Twin. The Vox models are excellent in particular the AC15. The Fender Twin model is better than that on the Cyber-Twin too. I put the general sound being better than the CT down to the fact that the tubes are used in the power amp rather than pre-amp. Most of the effects are good, some are exceptional and some are just OK. The Acoustic sim, Overdrives, Compressor, Auto-Wah, Octave, Phaser, & Reverb are all excellent In fact the compressor is one of the very best I've heard including any pedals I've used, it doesn't thin your sound out or make it sound weak like some compressors do. The delays are Ok but not brilliant. They could do with more flexibility also they are mono which is disappointing, the stereo tape delays on the Cyber-Twin are the best I've heard. The flanger is the weakest effect here - the controls need to be set very low or it just sounds silly! You cannot get an authentic Andy Summers/Police flange with this amp - I could nail it perfectly on the CT. Some of the effects are a little basic in the amount of adjustment that can be made - most other modelling amps offer more tweakability. However, that said, many "boutique" or top class amps have just a spring reverb with one control! - so the Valvetronix is superior effect wise to any of these types of amp.
As for general tones: Great clean sounds, this is the only modelling amp that nails the Shadows sound. The Fender Twin model is better than on the Cyber-Twin! As for distortion and overdrive, The Van Halen "brown sound" as on "ain't talking about love" is exact! You cna dial in a SRV just breaking up tone with a Strat by using the Tube OD effect with any of the "Fender" amps and it is most convincing. I could not get "just breaking up" sounds to sound right on the Cyber-Twin but the Vox allows this and it sounds smooth. As for full on distortion - no problem - dial it in.
Through headphones the amp sounds excellent and you really get to appreciate the stereo reverbs.

Reliability: 9
Solidly built. I would say more solid and less likey to damage than the Cyber-Twin. Someone here complained about the build quality - why..? It's the most solid amp I've owned. Can't vouch for electrical/electronic reliability as I've only had the amp a week.

Customer Support: N/A
Can't comment.

Overall Rating: 9
Better sounding and better looking than some other modelling amps and at some £500+ cheaper than a new Cyber-Twin you could buy anew guitar as well with the money and still get a terrific sounding amp.

Submitted by GazzaBloom at 12/31/2002 15:12

Price Paid: US $957.00

Features: 8
First a complaint: Please don't submit reviews for products you don't own. Playing it for a few minutes at the music store hardly makes your opinion review worthy. Ok, that said, I have owned my Valvetronix for about 6 months now. I love this amp. I have three other boutique tube amps made by Top Hat, Bedrock and Crate. I find myself using the Vox because of the ease of use and modeling options. And the effects are very usable. I usually pick and amp model and use some reverb and add an effect by way of the footswitch. Its great.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a Les Paul Custom, yes a Gibson, a American Strat, a 2000 model with the improvements and an Epiphone 58' Flying V reissue with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups. The models of this amp are OFF THE WALL! Man they rock! I put my pickup switch in the middle on the LP, use the UK Blues patch with some slapback delay and I have Jimmy Page nailed. The best tones of any and I own an POD that never gets used anymore.

Reliability: 8
Hasn't broken yet!

Customer Support: N/A
Can't say. No need yet!

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for 38 years. I have done shows with Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Ronnie Montrose and Gamma, Savoy Brown. I mentioned my other gear above. I rate this amp a strong 9. Why bitch about the footswitch. That isn't what I bought the amp for. But used in a way that works for me, its fine. This is an awesome sounding amp with plenty of volume and the ability to change the wattage to suit the model. 15 watts for the AC15 model, 30 watts for the AC30. Awesome tone! Awesome amp!

Submitted by Dave at 12/30/2002 16:20

Price Paid: 1200 (euro)

Features: 10
i have this amp for a week now, and every day it impressed me more.
features to much to discribe.

Sound Quality: 10
great sounds after tweaking.
the vox is the ultimate tone machine.
i compare it with my boogie mark 2c and heartbreaker combo.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
i play for 20 years and have or own all great amps on the world.
me and my band go for a gig on newyearseve and i leave my boogies at home with the exception of 1 because i dont know the reliability that tells enough.
for the sound i gonna use the vox only.

Submitted by Boogieman at 12/25/2002 17:39

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Well, after owning this amp for a long, long time, and messing with this and that, and ultimately selling it, I have a few points to ponder. The first is that I STILL think this amp has the best sounding models in it to date, on ANY modeling amp (including the Vetta and H&K ZenTera). Dry. By dry, I mean with no effects. None. Because they all, to some degree, cloud up the sound of the amp. The last reverb at the very bottom wasn't bad, and the tape delay (with low effect settings) sounded alright - dry, with new strings, and with the Master almost full up (has the "cheap and plastic" sound at low Master settings - probably why they put the wattage selector on the back). The majority of the rest of them are pure cheese. Both standard and pedal effects, with a few notable exceptions, sound horrible. The same with build quality. I don't mind a "cheapie" product using an inferior grade of wood, BUT, a particle board cabinet is just unacceptable on an amp that costs a grand when you finally get the (terrible) pedal board. All around cheap crap (it's baffling to me now why the dry models sound good, because nothing in the amp is quality). With both the Vetta and H&K, I don't like the dry models quite as well, but you can hear them much better through the very transparent effects on those particular amps. But hell, even a Flextone has much better build quality, and even the effects are still better.

However, the floorboard controller is what cinched it. Not only is it an act of congress (by stage performance standards) to change banks of four sounds - three or four clicks involved, one that you have to stand on for a second - but also, like someone else said on here (I thought "what a wuss" until I actually tried the footswitch), the footstomp buttons are way too small AND way too close together for my size twelves. I hit one switch (I think), and I see all of the little LEDs lighting up like Christmas tree lights, until finally the wrong preset is selected (kind of jarring when you're trying to go for a clean passage and get Pantera distortion). So, it's basically unuseable in a live situation. A bummer, because I still wanted to use it at practice and the occasional small club gig. Basically, I was limited to practicing right next to the amp, and reaching over and hitting a button on the amp when I want to change sounds (my fingers at least aren't too big).

Overall, I'm still upset over Vox's "screw you, just don't buy it" attitude towards customer complaints and suggestions for improvement. It's obvious they had a good design team at first, and then "big corporation-itus" got to them and the shareholders just couldn't take it, they had to weigh in with their obvious "expert" opinions on how to use this part instead of that one to save 15 cents here, and hey, why don't we use particle board instead of that costly wood - who cares if it rains, there's a rip in the cheap tolex, and the shell melts. I was hoping these were concerns that would be addressed by (perhaps) an upcoming "flagship" model. Not now, Vox can fall off the face of the earth as far as I'm concerned - and though I'd love to buy the new AC30HW, as it's most likely made in the Marshall factory with the other reissues (and won't fall apart if you look at it), I'm still not buying another Vox product. At least not until someone else buys and sells the company again for the 10th time. Then, maybe (hopefully) somebody will start doing something right. Maybe Marshall or someone will buy them. At least they'll be better built.

Submitted by Jimmy at 12/24/2002 11:21

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
First of all, I do not own this, so I'm not biased after dropping a grand. I did, however, consider it for purchase. This amp was HIGHLY hyped by Guitar Center, and for good reason. This amp comes the closest I've ever heard to sounding like tubes. BUT, it is not tubes. This is evident not so much from the tone, but from the amp's "feel". Notes just do not spring from this amp like a tube amp. There is a noticeable amount of compression and "harshness" which is still typical to solid state. This amp is awesome for the home studio guy, but it just does not compare to what I ultimately purchased--a Soldano SLO-100. Effects sound very good, but I use my vintage effects for a reason. I'd rather not pay for duplication.

Sound Quality: N/A
see above

Reliability: N/A
n/a

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 8
As close as I've seen to tubes yet, but still not there.

Submitted by Robert Levasseur at 12/22/2002 19:05

Price Paid: US $650, no foot controller

Features: 5
standard digital amp features, amp models, effects. 5 because it has nothing more than any of the other digital amps out there.

Sound Quality: 5
as far as digital amplifiers go this is the best sounding. The vox models are really cool. the delay is realy nice it sounds really good, for a digital amp. I use a prs ce 22 with dragon 2 pick ups. this amp really rocked when I was at home and I was pretty excited to use it with my band. I took it to the studio and it still sounded really cool, untill my band started to play. no head room man. all the cool little nuances it made when palyed with out the band were lost as soon as the bass and drums kicked in, bummer. not like my AC 30. I did a comparison and the valvetonix doesn't really sound like an AC 30. I took the valvetronix back. this amp would be great for home jamming or studio recording, not so good with the live band. 5 because it isn't total shite, but it isn't to bad.

Reliability: N/A
I don't know man, if a tube amp breaks down I can fix it myself, but if this sucker breaks, it is going to be fried circuts.

Customer Support: N/A
??

Overall Rating: 5
I have been playing for about 15 years. I have used Mesa's, Fenders, roland(jc 120), crate, peavey,and vox. I currently own A vox Ac 30, wich is the coolest amp I have ever owned. I returned the valvetronix. I figure get yourself a good tube amp and buy some really good quality effects, like fulltone etc... why setlle for the digitaly modeled version,when you can have the real thing. yes this method means more stuff to carry around, and is more expensive, but if you are serious about palying then get good tools man, and stop being so damn lazy.
the valvetronix is pretty cool for a digital amp, but not good enough for the live band thing.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/22/2002 01:17

Price Paid: US $799

Features: 10
This amp was designed to be versatile, and the Vox-Korg combination got it right. I play rock and use the ADT120VT with a Marshall 100 watt amp in an A-B combination. However, I've been using the Vox more and the Marshall less.

The feature I wish it had was a foot switch included with the amp. The optional foot switch is way overpriced and has buttons that are too small for guys like me. Selling the foot controller optional seems to be the industry trend, however, so I guess Vox did what everyone else is doing.

Hooray for the three handles, too! That makes it easy to carry.

Sound Quality: 10
With a Trat PLus it sounds great, which is kind of surprising that the pickups could drive the amp so well. With my PRS it really rocks. There is a tremendous variety of tones, ranging from very nice clean sounds to Fender-y to Marshall. I used the Vox for the recording "Sink or Swim" that is available here: http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=Blame

The Valvetronix amp has 13 built-in effect modelings, including a Univibe clone. That's the one that sold me. It goes from a mild shimmer to an all-out Trower-Hendrix stoned groove.

I really like any modulation or delay effect that is in stereo. They seem so spacious with the ADT120VT. It's noticeable the moment you switch on the amp.

My only complaint is that there is a perceptible buzz when I record direct using the stereo line outs on the amp. I had to go back and edit out the buzz during quiet passages. A noise gate would clean it up, but I didn't have one in use when I recorded the "Sink or Swim" tracks.

Reliability: N/A
Can't say. I've owned the amp for six months and have had no problems in it. However, one design problem to be aware of: if you buy the footswitch, be careful not to slightly bump the volume pedal. I did a few times and it turned the amp volume to zero. I would switch the amp on and off and it would be fine. It took me a few times to figure out what was going on. The footswitch is too damn small! My unit has an extremely low serial number (<100) so I'm hopeful that they were still excited about making this amp when mine rolled off the line. It shipped double-boxed from the factory in China to the US distributor (Korg USA) then to my dealer on the West Coast. It made the trip nicely.

Buy the optional cover, too: I ordered it online and it never arrived, so I canceled the deal and got it from my local dealer in less than 2 weeks. The vinyl on mine still looks great.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't used it. Korg has been very helpful for Marshall dealings, though, so I would expect them to be helpful here, too. But I could be wrong.

Overall Rating: 10
Best value around. It's easy to carry, looks phenomenal (like an AC30), has different power settings (1, 15, 30, 60 watts x 2), priced right, and sounds great. It's definitely not a one-sound amp. I would like the next release to feature an alphanumeric patch display instead of the two digit numeric display Vox used. But hey, it can't be everything for that price.

Submitted by Brett at 12/21/2002 18:51

Price Paid: US $1099

Features: 8
This amp has alot of variety for sounds. Go to their website for the specs. They're plastered everywhere.

The only beef I have is I've played with so many pedals and multi-effect boards that the built in effects seem limited. The onboard effects sound excellent reguardless of the control options. In Short, I kept my Boss GT-6 to use it's EQ and other effects that the vox doesn't have or cannot operate at the same time.

I almost crapped my pants when I hooked my GT-6 up to this puppy! My old patches were tweaked in no time. My Boss GT-6 came to life! I could not believe this thing! I do make use of the vox effects in combination with or without the GT-6. I read that pedalboard for the Vox sucks and will just use the GT-6 for creating 4 readily available
channels. The VOX and GT-6 provide combined is a bad-ass array of LIVELY SOUND!

Sound Quality: 10
This is the best sounding amp I ever owned! Clarity and tone that really jumps out. It's super on every setting!

PLEASE NOTE: Don't use stock pickups.. for example lets say you got an Epiphone Les Paul, they may sound great on $100-400 amps, but you'll kick yourself later or assume a more expensive amp sucks because of your import CRAP pickups! They may sound bad ass and heavy on cheaper amps, but when you get a good amp they are CRAP! Trust, me. I've been there! I have one guitar that has stocks and it
totally rapes the sound and are extremely noisy! It's my crappy guitar incase my main one goes out.

When I plugged in my bitch with the Seymour Duncan Dime this amp spits fire out of the speakers!!!

I've have had the following amps prior to this:

Marshall MG250DFX(pretty good, it didnt like my Boss GT-6)

Randall RG100SC(it had an awesome UNIQUE clean bassy-treble tone. I do not recommend running this amp without a pre-amp because the controls are lowsy. It had 70-80 celestions that kicked ass!)

Fender Roc Pro or something(the one for $1000...it was built like crap and had problems so I sent that back)

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe(one trick pony for sound, my opinion)

Crate Stack 1200H(picked up radio stations; really pissed me off)

Peavey(my 1st amp, can't remember the model or the sound. It was a good starter amp.

Reliability: N/A
I've had this for 2 days, no problems yet. I've seen review that this thing sucked for reliability, but these people neglected to leave their email address on the hate reviews. I personally do not give out my email because of spam jerks. I am anal when it comes to the construction of an item I shell out $1000 for! It's nice and sturdy and the tubes are contained nicely(for example a fender amp has the damn tube out in the open where this has a only a little of the tube tip exposed. I didn't open it up however to see how easy they are to replace, but I don't care. I LOVE THIS AMP!

Customer Support: N/A
Didn't need them, I don't think I will. I got an extended 1 year warranty on this baby! That's a total of 2 years!

Overall Rating: 9
An EXCELLENT PURCHASE!
I am very happy.

One more note.. these amps come in a huge box that you cannot pick up with two hands because of the awkward size. Inside this box is a regular sized box, and is very VERY well protected. That shows they have minds for quality.

Submitted by Jason at 12/16/2002 00:21

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
Alot of people will say "THIS IS THE REVIEW YOU MUST READ." Well, I"m no different, but it needs to be said that no matter what you've played on in the past, VOX always comes through. IF you are gigging, buy this amp. If your fiddling around at home, buy this amp. If your a new player and you can afford it, BUY THIS AMP or borrow money and BUY this amp. You can do ANYTHING with this amp. If your doing covers or originals, you level of experimentation will be complimented by this amp.

Sound Quality: 10
I've mainly used tube amps till now. And was skeptical that this would not have the same "warm" sound. BUT THIS AMP. It makes up for it with all of the options, you can AND will find the same warm sound. BUY THIS AMP

Reliability: N/A
Still too new to say.

Customer Support: N/A
Still too new to say.

Overall Rating: 10
BUY THIS AMP!!!!!

Submitted by Matthew at 12/13/2002 12:37

Price Paid: US $800.00

Features: 10
I found the feature set to be everything I imagined and then some. Save a buttload of bucks by using the features of this sound machine as opposed to buying features separately. This Valvetronix is feature packed and chock full of value.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a limited number of guitars through them amp because of my musical shortcomings. I have, however, been playing for over 35 years. I currently use a Washburn Strat and sounds amazingly good through the amp. I have also played a RIC 360/12 through it to my utter amazement! The variety of tone and effect is probably far more than an average guy could use... covers the bases very well and then some. I can find no true shortcomings in the modelling amp at all.

Reliability: 10
I've had no problems. I have had problems with other products in the past from different manufacturers. Some people here would have you believe a problem out of the box is isolated to VOX. How sad an assumption. Manufacturing today turns out defective products as well as damage occurring during shipping. Ever seen how some products are handled by shippers. You don't want to know. I've had no problems and will rate it a 10.

Customer Support: 10
I know Vox folks (I won't mention names) talk with others on several Vox related discussion forums. Easy to reach and offer up info as they are able. Support should be an easy thing to obtain.

Overall Rating: 10
You want sound? Tone? Value? Kick ass for the $$$? Buy this amp. Don't walk... RUN to your nearest Valvetronix and pick one up! You will like it. At least listen to it with your favorite guitar(s)!!

Submitted by Ron at 12/05/2002 10:17