Vox AD60VT Valvetronix 112 Combo

Price Paid: US $350 used

Features: 9
1X12 combo. MIDI switchable with foot controller. FX loop (parallel). Phones and direct out with level. I use this amp live with a cover band weekly. Plenty of power for me, because I run everything through the board live anyway. Tube (12AX7) front end on power amp section with switchable power level (1 15 30 60 watts). VERY COOL.

Sound Quality: 10
I am not at all a modeling fan but you simply must have this amp. I have been playing semi-pro for 23 years and have done everything from pop, blues, country, christian, rock, punk, r&b and ska. I am also classically trained and have studied jazz and music theory. Essentially, I have been around music and music gear for a while. I have had lots and lots of equipment. Some good and some bad. This is one of the better pieces. This amp actually replaces my 240 watt all tube rack mounted pre amp/power amp rig. It is shamefully heavy and I got tired of lugging it around. I experimented with a couple of modeling amps, because they seem to be popular and I initially bought a Line 6. Not the Vetta, but the mid priced one. This was a waste of my time and effort, because after one gig and about one week I took it back and swapped it for a used Vox, which I actually wanted to begin with, but a new one with a controller was around $1000. The line 6 was around $600 with a simple controller. I got the VC12 with the Valvetronix amp and I HIGHLY recommend this if you play live. Modeling to me is a huge marketing strategy that misleads younger players into thinking that the "models" are exact replicas of the original. not true for the most part. However, all this aside I don't care what "model" an amp is supposed to model, but does it sound good when you play it? Not necessarily does it sound like a JCM 900 or a Triple recto, but does it make good tones and does it FEEL good and like a real amp should? This one does. Most importantly is that it feels like a good amp and sounds wonderful for its price. However, if you are not into modeling at all and already have decent effects then you may want to check out a good two or three channel tube amp, which could possibly be had cheaper. Visit shops and try some different ones on. This amp does not disappoint for what I paid for it though. The F/X are really of stomp box quality and are probably supposed to be exactly that. i am used to a little higher quality F/X, but the ones onboard are more than sufficient for live play. Good piece, but pricey new.

Reliability: N/A
No problems yet.

Customer Support: N/A
No problems yet.

Overall Rating: 7
If it were stolen I would try to replace it with another used one. I have better rack mounted stuff and if I had to buy a new one I would probably not for $800 and some change. I would just have to go back to killing my back moving my rack rig and cabinets.

Submitted by guitar_man at 12/23/2005 23:36

Price Paid: HK$ (4,000ish)

Features: 8
A great modelling amp - bought mine in Hong Kong and have had it for three to four months now and have used it with both Fenders and an epiphone semi-hollow body. P90s and humbuckers. Great sounds all round and easy to set up once you've got your head around it. I also have the fancy foot pedal which means I can conreol everything from the floor. Sounds spookily like an all-valve (tube) amp.

Sound Quality: 8
Great variety of sound textures with a choice of versatile overdrives. The AC30 sound is very authentic.

Reliability: 2
Now here's where it all goes pear-shaped. It's just come back from the doctor's after developing Fading Sound Syndrome (FSS). I notice that other reviewers' amp have also suffered from FSS. The amp let me down badly at a gig. We had to scramble round and share amps, costing me time and loss of effects (as they're all onboard - I didn't even have my tube screamer with me). These amps don't travel, that's now becoming obvious. In my case it was a dicky board that needed resoldering. It's back but . . .

Customer Support: 7
Have to say that the irritating problem above was dealt with promptly by Tom Lee Music in Hong Kong working closely with Vox, who explained the problem. A prompt repair, but Vox really MUST sort out this reliability thing. They're getting such bad press for an amp that would otherwise be getting great reviews.

Overall Rating: 5
On balance I have to say that if the amp was stolen I would replace it with a Mesa . . . and that's just 'cos of the lack of trust following the reliability issue.

Submitted by steve cray at 12/22/2005 18:12

Price Paid: 480 (Euros)

Features: 9
Modelling amps usually have lots of features and this is no exception. However what this amp misses, is the possibility to select different cabinets for each modelled amp. Other modelling amps do have this feature.
But the advantage is that it is very ease to use. They've done a good job designing the control board lay out. And the effects are all there; I especially like the fact that it has a treble booster and an auto-wah on board. Stomp boxes aren't necessary anymore. Although you might want to buy the VC-12 control board if you want to use this amp live.

I just want to add that the sounds are much more important to me than the features.

Sound Quality: 10
The sounds, well I guess you could say that they're awesome. This is most likely the best sounding modelling amp on the market. The sounds come extremely close to what a real valve (as the British say) amp sounds like. I guess the fact that this amp has a valve in the pre-amp section makes a huge difference. Someone loaned me a Line6 Flextone II XL and that sounds not half as good as this one. The controls also really work, tweaking them changes your sound and that's not always the case with (modelling) amps.

Reliability: 6
This is were the plot thickens. Vox amps aren't famous because of their reliability and neither is this one. It broke down just two weeks after the one year warranty period ended... Fortunately my dealer convinced the manufacturer that the warranty period hadn't ended, so I didn't have to pay to get it repaired. I seemed that the input section had to be replaced. I own this amp for about 1,5 years now and apart from that it works just fine.

Customer Support: 5
It took quite some time to get it repaired, so that's quite disappointing. Apart from that I don't have any experiences with Vox' customer support.

Overall Rating: 10
Like I said, if you want to buy a modelling amplifier, then this is the one to buy. The sounds are great, the looks are great (classic Vox with a twist), the right name is on it (Vox is a big name and something different than Marshall) and it is relatively cheap. It stands up very well against Line6 amps, which is a company that is known for its good modelling amps. All in all makes that the AD60 VT a great deal.

The fact that it sounds great and is versatile are the reasons I'd buy a new one if it were stolen (although I might consider a good valve amp like an AC30...).

Submitted by M. Otte at 07/31/2005 11:13

Price Paid: US $475 used

Features: 9
First off-the review below me is right on the money! I will echo it. I'm using this amp to find my sound-for that it is perfect. Reliability here for me is questionable-more later.

This amp has a ton of features:
Several Classic Amps to chose from: My favorites are basically all of the Marshalls (UK Blues,70s, 80s, 90s, The Fender Bassman (Tweed 4x10), Fender Blackface (Black 2x12) and the two Dumbles (Boutique CL, Boutique OD.)
Some cool pedal effects to choose from: Comp, Wah, Octive, Tube OD, Fat OD.
Great Reverb and Delay choices: (my favorite feature of this amp.)
Headphone out, Power selector 1, 15, 30 and 60 watts-nice.

Sound Quality: 9
Using Am. Fender Hardtail Strat with SD JB Jr in bridge, and customized Gibson Faded SG into this. Again, the best feature of this amp is it allows you to experiment with a lot of different sounds.

The strat sounds beautiful using the neck pickup into Fender Bassman model (Tweed 4x10.) Crank the Volume and Gain, and solo..nice.

The SG sounds great in any of the Marshall settings. Add Some OD and delay and bang-Tony Iommi.

The preprogrammed factory settings in my opinion, suck. (Just try out the "Angus Beef" wannabe AC/DC preset-a joke.) There are a few that are OK, but I find myself primarily using the manual mode.

Again-this amp will probably play a big roll in future equipment purchases for me, it allows you to try out a lot of sounds.

Reliability: 3
Here we go...simple answer-probably not.

I wouldn't gig with this. I use this amp as a home practice type thing, and have rarely moved it. There have been at least 5 instances where I'd turn it on, and get NO sound. Lights up-no issue there. The fix for me is crank the Volume, Gain, Treble etc. and it finally kicks in. Twice, I had to turn it off, wait 20 minutes, then turn it on again, and it works fine. Can't imagine having that happen in public.

The headphone jack is sketchy. Sometimes, I need to apply upward pressure to the headphone plug to get sound through the phones...Not cool.

Although it's always ended up working for me-the nagging voice in the back of my head will always be there-so it gets a 3.

Customer Support: N/A
Purchased this used-so haven't dealt with them. I'm sure service on this thing will take weeks, travel time, and $$$.

Overall Rating: 8
I'm going to give this an overall 7.5 (rounded up to an 8 I guess.)

I've had it about 6 months now. Got it used with a VC-4 foot pedal for $475 bones...which so far was well worth it. (Although the first major service to this thing may have me thinking otherwise in the future.)

The Good (and it's really good)-You have an amazing array of sounds/tones/effects that you can get with this. When it's working, it can be pretty incredible. The technology that allowed Vox to create such a versatile package is amazing-I've really enjoyed experimenting with different sound combinations.

The Bad-the technology. Just doesn't feel reliable. Kind of like a really hot girlfriend that won't accompany you to that important event where you can show her off.

I'm still going to give this an overall thumbs up. Just know what you're buying it for.

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/05/2005 11:51

Price Paid: US $400

Features: 8
Bought the amp in early 2004, so assume 2003 or 2002. I play rock, blues and the amp is extremely versatile. Modelling amp that emulates 16 different amps, multiple pedals and effects. It's a 1 channel amp. It has both an effects loop and a headphone jack. One very cool feature of this amp is the power switching. 1, 15, 30, and 60 watts. I wish it had a great footswitch that came with the amp at the regular price. I almost never use some of the amp models b/c I just don't think they sound good. Oddly enough, they are the VOX models (AC15, 30, etc.) This is a modelling amp with one tube.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a Am. Std. Strat 2000 model. S/S/S stock pups. I tend to use the "UK Blues" channel for rock and blues. I just think this sound has the most soul. It emulates an old JTM 45. Sometimes I use the "Boutique Clean" for jazzy or country clean. the amp is noisy, but it's made that way, to emulate the old amps it copies. This thing is extremely versatile. Goes from Fender cleans to REcto fuzz. I think the Boutique clean will stay clean at fairly high volumes. The distortion that I use goes up to Classic Rock. I don't switch over to the REcto channel, b/c it's not my style, so don't know how close it gets to the real thing.

Reliability: 6
I am not sure I can depend on it. The first time I took it into a practice with a loud drummer, it crapped out after about 45 minutes of being above 7 on 60 watt setting. Started sounding like very flabby reverb was on when I had none, and chords sounded out of tune. Took it in to the local VOX repair hut, and they said (1 damn month later) that it was a "bad LS1" or somesuch. They said it was some IC chip that was failing. They replaced it and now the amp sounds better than ever. And, it was under warranty (barely). So the fix was free to me. But, it was out of action for a month which meant I was stuck playing some old POS amp. I honestly do not trust this amp, I wouldn't gig without a backup. I don't know the cause of why it broke down. I have babied this thing.

Customer Support: 8
Didn't deal directly with VOX. Had bought this at Guitar Center. They helped get the paperwork over to Audio Electronics in Dallas. AE fixed it but it took them quite a long time. To be fair, it was through the holidays, though. Was under warranty. Found AE easily after talking to Guitar Center. Warranty is 1 year. I think it's shorter for tubes.

Overall Rating: 7
Playing 20+ years. Own the Strat and a handcrafted Yamaha Acoustic. I would probably buy something else. I'd probably go buy a real JTM 45 reissue or something in teh Marshall line that got close to that sound. The cool thing about this amp for me was that becuase it modelled so many amps, it let me "live with" a bunch of different amps and try them out over the past year. (If you will.) This enabled me to discover (after about 10 months) that the sound I preferred most was this "UK blues" sound. But now that I've found that, that's about all I use this amp for. Might as well have the real deal, all tube, anybody can fix it, and wierd obscure chips aren't breaking and in need of repair like with this thing.
I love how authentic it sounds. I like its size. It looks pretty good. I hate that it broke on me when I was right in teh middle of rehearsal. I hate that it took a freaking month to fix. The reason I bought it was I wanted a tube amp, but had minimal bucks to spend. Honestly, at $400, this sounded better than a lot of all tube amps I saw that were close in price. Sounded better than a Peavey Classic 50. It sounded better than one of those new little Gibson Class A amps (forget the model name). Sounded better than an old Ampeg V4. And I figured someday I'd get an all tube whatever. I wish it came with the good footpedal just kinda "thrown in" instead of having to go pay another 279 or whatever it is. Geesh. Be careful if you're fallign for this amp. It's got its good points, it can help steer you to finding your sound. But I'm just not sure you can trust this amp to be reliable for you when it counts. This thing is very complicated under the hood. When I get the dough to replace it, I'm getting somethign simple under the hood. Simple usually means reliable.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/28/2005 20:25

Price Paid: 869 (Can$)

Features: 10
I bought the Amp just in the spring this year of 2004. It took me a lot of time deciding and what kind of equipment one should buy, especially playing only once or twice week, but prcticing every day. Once the Dude in the store turned on the Amp, I almost fell over. Features galore! Everything a howdy doody Musician such as me needs without spending thousands to get all the effects and possibilities. Power? Blows all the other stuff on it's class away, from what I have seen. I probably spend the rest of my measly, mortal existence to figure out all the options this thing has. Oh yeah! Read the manual (or whatever they call it). Hold it, got those of you who have to worry about a non-understanding female partner. There is a vent on top of the Amp which will generate enough warmth to keep you and your dog from shivering out in the cold dog house, once you have plugged in and cranked a 60 watts (my old lady found out how much I spent on the amp AND the VC-4 foot controller)

Sound Quality: 10
I play a Takamine GZ-300 with brutal humbackers and that is the only electrical guiter I handle. Also use a Washburn acoustic EA16MBL for some some mellow stuff. I range from Santana to Chuck Berry, Tragically Hip, Led Zepppelin and really all over the board. Plus we play our own material which is kinda 60's and Blues. The Vox Valvetronix handles everything superbly. Even Iron Butterfly and Black Sabbath is no problem (I finally found a website to help me get started with the settings, www.patchtronix.com). Due to my brutal pick-ups, I have to be careful with the gain settings, but really not a biggie. Even had some Dudes asking me the other day after a concert, whether I was really playing "that VOX behind me", because it did not sounds like one.

Reliability: 8
Played every event without a back-up, but did have a cold solder. Not everythting can always be perfect. One of my group members tossd me a Fender thing and let me tell you ... I want my VOX back! Service was done in less that 24 hours, just a cold solder, my Dog and I are happy again. I will not toss any equipment and everything rides comfortably with me in my air conditioned car safely belted down (wife and kids ride in the trunk, preferably, because the do not have an "OFF" switch). If someone would do anything to my Amp, I would most likely hire a Voodoo Guru to put a curse on the person who swipes or hits it.

Customer Support: 10
Support was the best I ever had. No cost very fast turn around and questions will be answered almost instantly. The Store which sold it to me got it serviced ... in less than 24 hours, Dudes. Now that is cool!

Overall Rating: 10
What can I say, playing for 30 years off and on, got rid of a lot of equipment when I immigrated to Canada, so I could eat, but still kept an old Ross amp. Would buy a Valvetronix gain, no question. I love the versatility of the equipment, I can play any gig anywhere and sound like anything. Compared it to the equipment my brothers in my Band are playing (Mesa, Fender, etc. and yes, I can do that!)
Wish it would come with a booklet on settings for artists. It would make life a lot more easy.

Submitted by The Rudedawg (Bogo) at 08/19/2004 08:37

Price Paid: 740 (€)

Features: 10
Brand new amp bought with the VC4. A lot, I meen really a lot of features ...

Sound Quality: 8
Here we go ; I'll try to do my best, english is not my natural language.
At the time that I got the amp I was not playing in a band but I was searching for (anything between blues, jazz, metal etc...). I was really impressed by the sound (damn close to a valve amp) and the versatility so that it was a very natural choice for someone who's practicing at home and trys to find a band in a not precise style. And then I found a band, mostly covers from reggae to grunge going through brittish invasion and ska ...In that moment I thought there could not be a better choice than a (very) good modeling amp with a lot of "brittish" character ...The amp did the job very well ....on practicing. When the moment came to play live (and we had a lot of dates) I just could'nt hear what I was playing (using 60W output, master at 5/6 !!!). And we don't play very hard stuff with a drummer kicking his mind of ...I tried several effects, especially a GE-7 in the loop, it was better but ...A the end I had to buy a full valve amp (Hot Rod Deluxe limited edition with the Jensen speaker which is perfect, just perfect). I used the Vox only at home with the very helpfull 60/30/15/1 W features. Finally I read the manual which is writen in a kind of idiot tennager english that made me sick at the beginning. I don't understant why people from Vox made such a "technical" amp using that kind of language in the manual !! Anyway, I found that technical informations given for each of the simulated amps are very helpfull, I'd say essential. That changed anything. I played last week-end live just with the Vox and the VC4 (by the way kind of cheap but indispensable on live situations preferring putting money on other material than the VC12 ...). It was OK. Not perfect but on a very good way. There were even some kids doing some kind of skate nu metal (whatever)rock, they played on our gear and it sounded like skate nu metal (whatever)rock ... So read the manual (try to forget the style ...) and spend (a lot of) time on it.

Reliability: N/A
So far so good.

Customer Support: N/A
Didn't had to deel with them

Overall Rating: 8
Playing for more than 20 years. Never was a gear freek. I'm trying just to play guitar (from metal to blues and from bossa nova to satriani etc. etc..) and become every day a better musician which is not the same thing. I use a PRS SE Tremonti, an ESP custom, an Ibanez s470, a very old japanese Aria Pro II RS, an Ovation Celebrity 2001 and a Cuenca classic guitar. I'm (was) a stomp box collectioner but with the Valvetronix and the Fender Hot Rod there's no special need.
Compared the Vox to what is possible to compare, the flextone III : I spend too much time on the Line 6 , about ...2 minutes, it was enough. The Vox is a keeper especially for people like me who play a lot at home, doing home studio and doing a lot of live gigs in many different styles. Try to put a commpressor in front and an equalizer in the loop and you even have a decent metal sound.

Submitted by Kosta at 08/04/2004 03:34

Price Paid: 487 (£)

Features: 10
I bought this amp new and from the minute I tried it I was hooked. This amp does just about everything, I wouldn't mind if it had an option for a Cry Baby as well as the Vox Wah but thats just me being gredy so I can't deduct points for that. I also have a vc12 foot controller so I can use the thing hands free which is pretty much vital if your playing live.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a slightly dodgy telecaster copy but even that sounds great through this I mainly play indie, rock and a bit of blues but without too much fiddling a huge range of sounds is available. Because everything is modelled on classic gear there isn't a duff sound in the box and obviously the valve just gives everything more life. From boutique clean to insanely distorted you want it, its got it and more.

Reliability: 10
Depend on it? I wouldn't gig without it! I haven't had it that long but its shown no signs of any problems nor do I expect it to

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't had any need but I spoke to them at a guitar show and they seemed nice enough.

Overall Rating: 10
I can't say enough good stuff about this amp. If it got nicked I unfortunately couldn't afford a new one but I would strive to own it again. I picked this over anythig else partly due to the valve, partly due to the ease of use and also because a huge portion of my favourite bands (REM, Queen, the Beatles and many more) all use Vox amps.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/28/2004 14:15

Price Paid: US $349.00

Features: 10
2002-Korea. I was told this was THE modeling amplifier to buy, and was EXTREMELY suprised at the verstility and maneuverability of the controls. Easy to program. Plenty of power, despite what previous reviews have said. I assume that professional gig-playing gurus can afford to blow 3X as much on more powerful equipment, but for the price, this thing is seriously worth it.
For a tube amp at 349.00, I challenge anyone to tell me where a better deal could possibly be found.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Les Paul Plus {Epiphone}, an American Standard Strat, An Ibanez 580-G, and A mexican-made {boo!} Telecaster. All of these guitars sound killer, especially with the modeling of the amps corresponding to each of those guitars. The Effects are "good enough" for enjoyment by everyone but top-notch gigging professionals. Being able to hear practically ANY guitar sound and being able to imitate that sound damn well, is worth 3-4X the price I paid for this Vox/Korg collaboration

Reliability: 10
I have tried it under various conditions, inside, outside, 1 watt/ 60 watts, volume at "almost" 11, and it has perfromed VERY well. I have had it for 3-4 months and NONE of the technical issues other reviewers have been upset about.

Customer Support: N/A
The warranty is 1 Year , I believe. I have had no issues at all so I cannot comment on the service I would receive, should I need it in the future. I can only PRAY,I suppose, that I it nver becomes necessary to ask for help.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing 23 years. I would have to have another one if it was stolen, absolutely. I looked at all the Line 6 stuff, but the totally digital stuff, in my opinion, removes the "realism" of the sound. If you want EXACT tube sound, blow $1000.00 more and get something you feel is THAT perfect. Otherwise, be realistic and buy one of these 60VT's.
Anyone know which setting is pure MARSHALL SOUND for my Les Paul to absorb ?

Submitted by Glendon Kushner at 06/21/2004 00:29

Price Paid: 399 (sterling)

Features: 8
I bought this amp new ,and have had it just on a year,the features have been pretty well covered in other reviews,plenty of power for most gigs.

Sound Quality: 10
I havent heard all the amp models live apart from valve fenders and a marshall dsl which I own,I can actually stand it next to my marshall and replicate the sound exactly!,I have waited to do this review because you need to live with these amps for a while to get the best out of them. some of the critisisms mentioned on this forum are user faults not the amp! first thing to do is press and hold both buttons till a big red o appears,you are now out of the demo programmes korg put in,and you should never go back to them if you have any taste at all. low volume and muddy indistinct bass, ok select black 2x12 or boutique clean ,gain 3/4,vol max, treble 1/2 mid1/2, cut the bass loads,click to fat od, select 15watt output and strap on tele or strat and fire. now sweep up the dead spiders and tell me that was muffled.what Im saying is this amp is not just plug and play but can give awesome results with some time spent experimenting,ok its not perfect the acoustic patch is awful,and the footboard pedal sweep is way to short,but hey take off the anoraks whether it has every nuance of that vintage whatever amp it is supposed to model,really doesnt matter,if it sounds great "in the style of" why worry? and make no mistake these amps are as good as it gets without spending silly money.

Reliability: N/A
Well it has not broken yet,but then as every amp I have ever owned has gone down at some stage in their life,I expect it will!guitar amps are like that, I usually take some thing to make a noise through just in case. at least its only got one valve(tube)to go wrong! some guy on the net reckons you can change the 12ax7 for an el84! interesting.

Customer Support: 5
Emailed Korg once, no reply, Emailed them again moaning, instant response. are these things even repairable?

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for about 20 years, I have made as many mistakes as you have, the next guitar/amp/effect/will always be the ONE the holy grail of tone.but if I cant do it with my american series tele and this valvetronix then I probably cant do it at all. after this it just becomes dick size.If someone stole it I would buy the same again

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/18/2004 17:17

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
This amp has all the features I want plus way more than I'll ever need. I used it for a 5-month house band gig that called everything from Elvis to Eagles, Donna Summer to Broadway hits. with the cheesy pedal board, it gave me every sound I could want.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using it with a Nashville power tele with Fishman bridge and a hot rails in the center position. With this guitar and the selection of amps & effects on the Vox, anything is possible. One word of caution, the acoustic simulation kinda sucks big-time, and with the volume up, becomes basically worthless.

Reliability: 3
Here's where I run into problems. After about a month I noticed intermittant buzzing and static, like a worn tube amp or cold solder joint. This only happened maybe 6 times in 5 months but something's not quite right. Last night I turned it on and nothing. No lights no nothing. It blew a fuse. I went to radio shack and replaced the fuse (with the correct 3.15A 250V, that it calls for). When I turned it on it buzzed for a second and something audibly popped inside. Then came the unmistakable smell of burnt phenolic. I'm screwed. I started calling around for service today.

Customer Support: N/A
I guess I'll find out how servicing goes. It's still under warranty. This sucks big time. Now I'm scrambling for a suitable amp for the upcoming weekends gig.

Overall Rating: 6
I love this amp, but it let me down! Kinda like the girl you loved in High school, you just wish she'd not run off with the milkman.

Submitted by Mac at 06/16/2004 21:45

Price Paid: 415 (Pounds Sterling)

Features: 9
Amazingly versatile.. only got 9 cos it doesn't come with the footswitch. The power selector feature is a work of genius.. Allows me to use this as the mother of all practice amps ands till get amazing tomes at low volume.. or crank it all the way and fill a good sized pub venue. In case you don't know, you can select an output level from 60, 30, 15 or 1 Watt. At high volume this can be used to get closer to modelled amps in those ranges, like the AC15. The in built effects are limited to one pedal plus mod plus delay plus reverb and noise gate. Limiting, but that's not what this amp is about so don't judge it on that basis (I see others have - buy a Tonelab instead and stop bleating).

Sound Quality: 10
Some reviewers have a point whern they reserve 10 for the real deal. But I put the price in here and came to the conclusion that in this price range it is a 10. In the buotique range it would get 8 - 8.5.. Yeah, it's that good. It behaves as a real tube amp would. It responds to subtleties of playing.. It has clarity. It rings.. It roars.. It feeds back.. it gives nayuarl sounding harmionics.. I had heard that this thing doesn't like being driven by external pedals, but I just love what I get from feeding my guitar through the treble boost on a VOX BM-1 and through the in built treble boost then in to the AC 30 model.. The in built treble boost is a bit under powered, IMHO.. But you get well ni to Brian May creamy distortion territory. And the Boutique Clean channel is gorgeous.. The tone controls have different effects on the suond depending on the original amp's circuitry. If you could change it on the original you can change it on the model - and sometimes more. These are better than any other modeller I have tried. Simople as that. If you want a modeller, buy this. If you don't, don't.

Reliability: 8
Gets an 8 because there is a common fault with these - a resonant 'buzz' especially noticable on the cleaner settings.. Sort of a rattling from the back of the cab. The is a known cause and cure. The cause is air passing through the line out jack socket. The fix s a plastic blank or tape over the hole. Poor show on an amp in this price range. Apart from that it works every time.

Customer Support: N/A
Went back to the shop with my buzz, so never tied them. I hear they will supply the blank plugs on request though.

Overall Rating: 10
I would cry my little eyes out if it was stolen. I love this amp. My all valve Peavey Triumph has been mothballed since I got it. Would have liked to have seen the footswitch included. I hear that the VC 4 is crap and the expression pedal tricky to use on wah - too sensitive and cramped. The VC 12 is pricir but offers 2 pedals and the ability to operate 2 valvetronix devices at the same time. You can store patches in both pedals. There is no midi or USB support on the amps or pedals which is a pain, but they are so easy to program it isn't that bad. It might even be a blessing.. forces you to think about how you are setting it up.
I play better with this amp. No, not because I turn all the effects on and kid myself I sound good, but because it responds so well to the way you pay the guitar.
For more info on patches there is an exchange site : http://www.patchtronix.com and a discussion group http://www.voxtalks.com

Submitted by Jonathan Hill at 05/03/2004 09:25

Price Paid: US $400

Features: 8
They have all pretty much been said before so I won't go over it again. You can look down on the page to see. For a modeling amp it has more effects than most. Like three reverbs and three echo choices. They even sound pretty good. Different amp models and best of all wattage switching from 60, 30, 15, and 1 watts. Pretty nice in all.

Sound Quality: 9
First of all I would like to say that I don't care as much about it nailing that specific amp perfectly as much as I care about it just sounding good. I play a lot of different music from honky tonk to 60's music to blues to metal. So the main thing that attracted me most was versatility. Basically all of the amp models sound pretty good. The vox models sound the best surprisingly (duh). The AC30 is my favorite. I really like the ability to change wattages on the vox amps so the AC15 can be set to 15 watts and so forth. The Fender models are the ones I am most disappointed in. The tweeds sound pretty good, but I was a little disappointted with the blackface, the twin reverb. The twin reverb was always the amp I used on clean sounds but I found this one to be disappointing. It doesn't sparkle enough. It doesn't sound like the Fender, but more importantly I don't care for the sound anyway. The distrotions are pretty good, I especially like the British dist. The boutiques sound really good too. Just upset about the fenders, but the Vox models have become my new favorite so I don't really miss the fenders anyway. I think that it sounds very good though and has a great smooth tube liek sound. I mean it's not 100% but for my needs it is definaltey a great deal. I have tried many other modeling apms and none can get as close as this one does. Someone mentioned the Cyber Twin, and it does the Fender amps better than this one, but the rest of the Cyber twins sounds suck. I must admit that the vox sounds very close a lot of times to real tube amps, even if it may not have quite the power of one.
As for the effects... well I liked the reverb, it was pretty good. The tape echo sounded nice and dark. but a lot of the stompbox effects were less than satisfactory. They are all just passable effects if you want to play around in your room or jam with friends but I would prefer to just use real pedals. Some of them sounded pretty good though like the uni-vibe and the fuzz. I found that after working with some of the effects that can be made to sound pretty good. Some though just sound crap though. But all in all I think that they are above average quality for a modeling amp. Presets ALL suck like usual, but they are very easy to write over. I am very happy with my amp though. I gives me some really great tones and tons of versitility. I think that it is probably the best modeling amp on the market. And by the way, even though it has a Mesa/Boogie amp don't expect to be able to play nu-metal on this thing. It just won't work. It really is meant for lots of clean stuff or medium to high dist. (just not metal). But why would you buy Vox if you want to play nu-metal or hardcore?

Reliability: 7
hmmmm... I don't know if I would gig without a backup. It has worked fine and never had a problem yet, but I feel with all of the technology in it I wouldn't be comfrtable without a backup. But it seems sturdy and reliable. I take VERY good care of my equipment so I think it will be fine for me but I am pretty anal about taking care of my stuff so I am not sure how it would fair being banged around. But it seems well made.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know. Heard a lot of people say bad stuff but also heard good stuff.

Overall Rating: 9
I own a strat, 72 telecaster thinline, a telecaster custom, and a Taylor acoustic. They all sound really good through it and each retain their own character. If it were stolen I think that I would get another, but recently they re-released the valvetronix and made a 30 and 15 watt one to go along with the 60 and 120 watt. I might save up and go for a 120 if it were stolen though. I think that it beat the competition hands down. It has wonderful tones and has a very tube like sound. It may not sound exactly like a tube amp but for the money, and if you need something really versatille, then it's really the best choice.

Submitted by Jeff at 02/12/2004 00:06

Price Paid: US $570

Features: 8
There are a TON of features... some other posters put em' in so I won't tire out my digits with repetitious garbage here.. suffice to say, if you're toolin around and want a lot of choices - this will suit you fine.

Sound Quality: 8
I've got a Fender fat strat, s Squire strat and a gibson les paul copy from the early 60's that has been outfitted with some EMG's...

Now, I'm not joe musician, I'm just a hobby guitarist and other weekend open mic'er... but I can do just about anything I want to with this. We usually cover some SRV, Tesla and even some jazzy stuff... I don't think there is a sound I can't at least some close to with this. Here's the deal people, if you're looking for a band in a box that sounds like a live recording, not only are you smoking something, but you're totally unrealistic.. It's almost unfair to say that this amp sucks because you can't replicate a leslie with a vox wah with a fuzz with a (insert your choice here)... that's not what this is about.. this is about getting a variety from the amp... if you want purity go spend thousands and carrying a TON of sh*t around...
If you wanna sit down and play and have some fun... spend your money here.

Reliability: N/A
I've only had it since Dec of 03 but it's already been to 2 open mic and travelled to practice 3-4 times a week.. cheezy gold trim pulled a bit (hope it's not a sign of things to come) but other than that.. no issues...

check with me at the end of this year and I'll let ya know how that went! =)

Customer Support: N/A
Again - no issues to report but from what people have said here, the support sucks... My local shop has a VOX dude there so I hope I won't have an issue

Overall Rating: 9
So far it kicks ass... it's not as loud as I thought it should be but I suspect that it's all the digital modeling that is keepin her grounded. I HATE the manual... I'm not a stoner surfer.. give it to me in laymans terms

Overall, if it was stolen, I'd replace it... If I had more cash.. i'd but her bigger brother...

Submitted by Mark at 02/02/2004 11:39

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 7
First, let me quantify this review. In my opinion, there is no 10. Since digital modeling is an interpretation of an ideal, 9 is tops.

How do I use my amp? I play twice a week, several hours at a time at my church, direct into a 32-channel mixing board. We use personal earpiece monitors, so I get to hear myself very clearly. I wanted a complete package, it had to sound authentic and still be an amplifier that I could use anywhere. I had the money to purchase whatever I wanted, & the Vox won.

The amplifier is loaded with features, similar to everyone else in the category. The latest models have speaker cabinets but mine does not.

Positives: Once you learn how to access everything (i.e. speak Valvetronix), it is easy to make changes, even when playing live. I can tune while playing, or do it silently between songs. I can turn my effects/reverb/delay on or off from the pedalboard.

Negatives: The VC-4 pedalboard is difficult to use because of its small size. It’s great that it fits in the back of the amp, but the buttons are small and the controller pedal has a small arc radius. You cannot control a wah properly. Spend the extra money and purchase the VC-12. Also, you cannot use more than one effect together (like the tube distortion & wah or a compressor & rat pedal). I don't use MIDI, but the fact that you can't do that with a Vox seems to matter to many people.

Sound Quality: 8
This is absolutely subjective. My rating compares to the state of the art in the modeling category.

I play mostly clean or with overdrive so that I can hear a lot of the character of each string & note. I really like to have the amp overdriven, & roll off the volume to clean it up. The amp does this. As far as acting like a “real” amp, the Vox is tops in the modeling category. Rating = A.

The individual amp models can be a shortcoming. With the exception of the Tweed Deluxe, the Fenders are missing whatever it is that makes the originals so remarkable – the Cyber Twin does them better. Rating = D.

The Marshall/Boogie overdrives are all good. They sound/act like most I have played. Rating = C.

The Vox AC-15/30’s are wonderful (of course). In fact, now I pretty much use the AC-15 as the platform for most of what I do. The clean has a lot of sparkle, the overdrive is downright brutal. For shear fun, put the amp on 15 watts, select an AC-15 with a small touch of reverb, max the gain and go to town. Rating = A.

The effects are close to a good pedal – the delay is good, the reverb is OK, the chorus, flanger and phaser are serviceable. At least I don’t have to have five pedals, five plugs, three adapters, blah blah. Rating = C.

In total, the amp earns a strong B. Overall, it does its job better than everything else out there regardless of the price.

Reliability: 9
I've had it two years with no problems. My amp is serial #10xx, which was early in the production. I practice/play for 5-6 hours at a time, at least twice a week. It goes in/out of the truck that many times, too. It is a tank. It weighs as much as one.

I know, it has a PCB board. Well, so does your Fender/Marshall/Line 6/Crate. It’s as well made as any other piece of mass-produced goods out there.

Customer Support: 5
I’ve sent one e-mail & got no reply.

The owner’s manual is the only support I have relied on at this point. Dudes – (can I say dudes?) the owner’s manual reads like the liner notes from a Def Leppard CD. Don’t talk to me like I’m 14, tell me how to use the damn thing. Geddit? How British. Well, how big-corporate-marketing-guy trying to sound British.

What warranty?

Overall Rating: 8
What I wanted was a well-built unit that allowed me not to worry about 20 things at once. I need to get home from work, grab the guitar/amp, plug & play, and be happy with the sound. The Vox does that.

What I hope to convey is the opinion of someone who has been playing 25 years and has owned some very nice equipment. I love the amp for what it is, and if stolen I’d replace it with another Vox.

Submitted by Mike Seymour at 01/30/2004 11:30

Price Paid: US $475 (about) used

Features: 6
This is an amp loaded with good ideas that ends up falling short, probably due to cut corners and low-grade components in the name of bringing this baby in for less than the Fender Cyber. To use such a low sampling rate that kills the brilliance & shimmer of the clean models & effects is a real shame. To build such a cheap box & chassis is an insult to a once-great brand name. As so many others have mentioned, the foot controller is nothing less than a slap in the customer's face. And to eliminate MIDI or any other kind of outboard storage is unforgiveable, especially coming from such a MIDI-savvy outfit as Korg. This is NOT a professional piece of equipment. Some would argue that's true of any modeler.....I don't believe that's necessarily the case, but it IS true of the Valvetronix. It's a novelty, but OK, an interesting one.

Sound Quality: 4
I've been playing this with a Les Paul, Epiphone semi-hollow, a couple Strats, '66 Rickenbacker 12-string, several others. Most of my guitars have Duncan or other upgraded pickups so no problem there. I'm a lot less concerned about modeling authenticity than I am about usable tone. There's a peaky, spikey icepick quality to this amp in all the clean sounds, yet still it sounds muffled, like there's a sharp hi-mid peak right below the steep filter cutoff frequency. In another post I mentioned my attempts at speaker swapping to smooth things out but this only led to other problems.

As for the effects - all the right ones, but their usefulness is defeated by the low quality. The chorus commits all 3 of the unpardonable sins of chorusing - audible slapback, audible pitch-change swoop, & lack of shimmer. The Univibe, flange, chorus & rotary all sound like slightly eq'ed versions of the same sound. Only the phaser sounds halfway authentic. How anybody who's ever used a decent chorus pedal or a JC120 could like the Valvetronix' chorus is beyond me. The compressor is really a limiter - a big "pop" for attack and then a weak fade-out without adding any sustaining balls to the signal. The delays and reverbs are thick and lack shimmer; they tend to just mud things up without contributing any sparkle or real musical depth. The overdrive "pedals" are pretty good, although I've never owned a Rat or a vintage TS-9 so I can't say how authentic they are. The octaver is very inconsistant and the "acoustic simulator" is subject to high-frequency digital aliasing, the very worst kind of distortion. So to get good effects you're still going to need your pedalboard.

Reliability: 4
When I got this the wattage switch was intermittent in the 1- and 15-watt positions. I'm an electronic tech so out came the chassis...I was stunned at the cheapness of the PWB & many of the components. The switch in question was unbelievably flimsy and far from being a standard, easily replaceable part. I removed it & applied some artful pressure to the contacts to get them to seat right. It's better now, but still a bit touchy. I've never played out with this & if I did you'd better believe I'd have a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
Wouldn't even want to try.....

Overall Rating: 5
I've had this for 1 1/2 years now and I've really wanted to like it. I've tried to hear it thru the same ears as those here & elsewhere who swear by its "real tube-like response" & genuine modeling authenticity. I've changed speakers, carefully developed graphic EQ settings in the effects loop, run the line out to different amp/speaker combinations, tried several different 12AX7's....and I'll tell you, I'm tired of all this turd polishing. It's going on Ebay along with my Tech21 TM120 (another turd) and I'm getting a Mesa Boogie Lonestar. And a good pedalboard.

Submitted by Wabash Slim at 12/25/2003 21:01

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 9
Lots of feature, lots of voices, numerous amp models, VC-4 expression pedal, 1x12 cab; The amp does have plenty of power; I use a 2x12 amp to gig with, but I do feel that the amp would be more than adequate to gig with. It does have a really good speaker emulated preamp-output, which has its own gain control, so my setup would be to run the AD60VT 1x12 cab speaker just for stage volume, then run it to the PA. I downgrade the amp 1 point because I do feel that its Fender models, in particular the Twin Reverb (Black 2x12) are less authentic than I was hoping for - yet they are OK (I've owned 2 Twins, so guess I was extra picky). Most people say they like the Twin voicing. To me it just sounds thin and edgy in a digital way. All of the Marshall and Vox voices are good. Overall a very good selection.

Sound Quality: 7
We use the amp primarily as a studio amp. We run mostly vintage instruments here, Rickenbackers, early model Strats and Tele's. Mostly single coil rigs. There are a wide range of distortions available. But... don't ditch your effects pedals. Even though Vox pitches that the Valvetronix amps have all the sounds you want, they don't. For example, it is impossible to have compression on and a distortion pedal voice on at the same time. In cases when you want Distortion and comp, you have to monkey with the gain controls and the compression. It just doesn't get there (at least not all the way). That being said the rig is still very good and most of all convenient. I am holding back a couple of points here because I do believe that VOx / Korg could have created a way to have more that one pedal effect going at once.

I like the amp better than the Fender equivalent - the Cyber Deluxe.

Reliability: 8
We'd had no problems with it, but like I said it's a studio amp and doesn't get lugged and banged around. If it did, I'd have to believe it would be relatively durable. I am holding back 2 points in the reliability area for Vox's use of plastic 1/4" plug receivers (females). These will fail well ahead of metal ones. I am also holding back a bit in this category because I feel that the tolex is thin a cheesy. We've never bang our AD60, yet the Tolex is peeling back in a couple of places. Disappointing for a $700 amp.

Customer Support: N/A
Never used them. Can't say.

Overall Rating: 8
Overall rating is an 8. I believe that th AD60VT, like all modeling amps is a compromise. Said another way, amps like this provide a wealth of capability in a single package. They are very good, but not perfect. I do like the AD60's size. It is small enough to be real easy to move about. Yet is large enough to have real beef. I like the tone better than the Line 6 or the Fender. Personally, I've been playing for too many years to report, lots of bands, lots of projects.

Overall I would recommend the amp, with the caveat that this amp, like all modeling amp with get you "a lot" of what you are looking for but not everything.

Submitted by StudioMac at 10/14/2003 07:03

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
Very feature laden.Not too much but just the right essential effects

Sound Quality: 10
Sound great with my anderson classic my prs or anything.I esp like the ac15, ac30 top boost and non, the dumble lead (I sold my Fuchs Dumble copy) and the blackface 2x12.Folks,This amp does not sound fake its real!

Reliability: 10
I depend on it constantly in the studio and live.I have used it on major recordings and love it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing professionally for 15 years.Dont compare this to line 6 or other models.I compare it to the real deal. I sold a $3000 amp when I got this. Sure the amp sounded good but could I call up an ac30 for chime, a blackface for clean and a dumble for solo?Add some spring reverb and tape echo and I'm Very happy! I currently play with a capitol records artist who has 3 gold records and I tour professionally and not to be blunt but I know what Im talking about.The only thing is when you demo one turn off all the effects and go for tone.

Submitted by Shane at 10/08/2003 05:57

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
Awesome group of features, everything that a working musician needs and wants in a single box.

Sound Quality: 10
I have played virtually every modeling amp on the market, cybertwin, cyberdeluxe, zentera, vetta, etc. all of them had some dood useable sounds but the valvetronix hands down smokes them all, the tones you get from this box will virtually capture you and take you into tone nirvana. It is truly a pleasure to play.

Reliability: 5
I have owned this amp for almost a year, gigging 2-3 nights a week without backup and without a problem. I purchased the VC-4 foot control, (which sucks spring for the new vc-12) and I have had alot of problems with the foot control and the amp not working together. In other words the foot control lights up and acts like it is working but the amp does not respond to it. I have tried multiple vc-4's, and cables as well as the new vc-12, still the same problem so it is the amp. the annoying part is it does this sometimes and usually always a the WRONG time. I have taken it apart and had the local shop look at it to see if anything "noticable" stuck out such as a loose wire etc. nothing. So it sits at home as a "jam" amp, since it works flawlessly without a foot control. Since I have recently purchased the VOX AD120VT. What can i say the valvetronix sounds so good I have to go back...... classic moth to a flame story I guess.

Customer Support: 1
I tried to call Korg/Vox, they tried to send me to a "authorized repair center". I called 5 diffrent shops in my area, half of them had never even heard of the valvetronix. So i did not feel comfortable sending my amp to them. I just decided to live with it. VOX YOU NEED A LONGER WARRANTY AND A PLACE TO GET THESE AMPS FIXED! Killer products, customer support is hard to find and very snobby.

Overall Rating: 8
Great amp, going to get better I know, If vox would extend the warranty a bit, make easier to get QUALIFIED people to work on it or at least answer questions, this amp will be one of the best gigging amps EVER produced. I am very happy with my amps and will continue to support the Valvetronix line.........for now,
Peace

Submitted by Scott at 10/01/2003 10:41

Price Paid: 999 (Euro)

Features: 10
As described by others: fabulous - I like this 1-15-30-60W option.

Sound Quality: N/A
Here is my real problem:

I thoroughly tested Valvetronix AVT60 combo ... and I used my Les Paul and my Strat.

Initially, I always test 3 basic sounds (NO effects):

Cleanish like the Fender Twin (jazz, country)

Bluesy overdrive like the Fender Bassman ('Buddy Guy')

Singing warm-tube Sanatna-like Mesa-Boogie lead

Well, at 60W Vox offerred some of that taste, and blues
was almost sweet with AC15 amp at 1W setting ...
so we almost gave it a very good rating

BUT then

I just plugged the guitar to the nearest class A tube combo
15 Benedetti (no reverb) - cheapo VoxAC15 copy from Korea :

and

THE class A tube TONE completely smoked the Valvetronix ...

I emphasize that it was not subjective: everybody could hear
an enormous difference in my local store ... the tube dynamics of even an industrial cheapo class A tube amp smokes this Korg-Vox-amp.

In summary, I admit that you can TWEAK some great sounds
from Valvetronix and that 1-15-30-60W switch is useful
BUT ultimately it sounds like my AX1500G through a good amp
but it cannot provide a sonic complexity of any of my 15W tube
amps: Gibson GA15RV and THD Univalve dominate it sonically.

I am not giving a note here. If THD Univalve is 10 then Valvetronix
is 8.5 and Roland VG-88v2 is 9 ... just as an orientation ...

Fwiw, Davor

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A
Korg have great network but the local dealer tells me that
they had some problems in the past.

Overall Rating: N/A
I play since 1960 and have tested and owned just about any gear out there. I really wanted BADLY to bux this amp, but couldn't:
sonically not sufficiently expressive for my style.

To be even more precise even Roland VG-88v2 sounds to me
slightly superior to Valvetronix yet again I repeat Vox is
a very good sounding emulation amp and a good option if you
have the time and nerve to adjust various knobs/parameters ...

Out of the box for an old-time school of guitar playing
one should rather consider any decent all tube (class A) amp ...

I do believe that AVT120 may sound somewhat better
as it has 212 and greater loudness so psychologically
it impresses more, but the INSIPRING BREATHING TUBE TONE
simply is not there ...

Still, I think it's an excellent buy for a guitar player that has not yet been blessed with the very best analog-tube class A tones ...
although in digital arena even ZOOM Fire 30 now offers goodies for only $229 ... anyway, let your own EARS decide ...

Submitted by Davor at 09/07/2003 01:47

Price Paid: US $699 ?

Features: 10
I suppose it was made in 2002. Versatile? gimme a break. If this amp is NOT versatile to some mamby pamby guitar players, just go away. For me, the features are plentiful. However, I probably use this amp differently than most. I play solo Instrumental jazz/blues guitar and I don't use a pick AND I play at relatively low volumes AND I predominantly use very clean sounds. I have the gain at 12:00 on only one amp sound. All the other sounds I have the gainn between 9-11:00. Distortion sucks (usually) to me, unless it's mild dist. Yeah, it has plenty of power for me. I have a ported, closed back single 12" cab (bag-end) I could use for a little more dispersement if I need it.

Sound Quality: 10
I use strat type guitars w/ med/power alnico 2 type pups. It suits my style perfect, EXCEPT I'll never use any of the "right side" amp models. (all distortion models). Am I the only one who would like a modeling amp that specialized in clean & vintage sounds for various jazz & blues sounds??? Not everybody plays pop, rock , Indy or metal(although I enjoy listening to them)!!Is the distortion BRUTAL???What mentality is this questionaire aimed at (only kidding).SOOOOO- my avorite sounds are the 3 fenders, the AC30 & AC15 ((the TB models are too harsh )AND lastly but no leastly: the Marshall Bluesbreaker!?(it's called UK Blues). This setting, (with the bass all the way off) is my favorite for clean, warm tones. Incidentally, for those complaing of lack of headroom and unwanted distortion; try turning the bass WAY down or even off in the case of the "UK BLUES".

Reliability: N/A
I turn it on & off frequently. No problems, yet.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for 30 years (so what)The effects are either decent or very good. I just use a guitar, 1 guitar cable and the amp! How awsome is that??? The more I play it the more I like it and the less "special" my tube vintage amps seem to me. I'm giving it a "9" and not a "10" because all of the unusable dist/metal features for me and the stupid teenager language of the manual.

Submitted by Kurt Kish at 08/26/2003 06:02

Price Paid: US $625

Features: 10
US $625, VC-4 pedalboard included. Made in Korea, I guess, 2002. Has everything already described in previous posts. 1-15-30-60watt switch is probably the best thing I ever had!

Sound Quality: 10
Custom Tele, 1982 Strat, 2002 LP,Tokai Love Rock, Rickenbaker - they all sond VERY good (provided you have a custom sound for YOUR guitar). I totally disagree with a couple of angry men, who just failed to understand the structure of the amp. There is a big difference in a tonal structure of amp modelling in this machine between, say, VOX and Marshall. It is EQ. Sometimes the EQ is put BEFORE the preamp, sometimes - AFTER. Once you get it - you are in the sound heaven, no doubt about it. Besides, YOUR guitar is the Master. Ajust the sound wich suits your guitar. Have a Strat? Turn treble counterclockwise etc. And always pass 2 o'clock in Gain and Volume. That's it!

Reliability: N/A
Don't know yet. It sits in my studio, probably forever.

Customer Support: 3
Good website, very poor quality demos. That's about all.

Overall Rating: 10
Was using lotsa amps. Marshalls, Fenders, German stuff, both tube solid-states. Found them all in this little box, let alone array of stompboxes. Line6, Fender Cyber-Twin are way more digital, if you know what I mean. You can't be wrong with this amp. Just BE PATIENT, read the manual!

Submitted by Vladimir at 08/25/2003 06:07

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
See website, other reviews. Fully featured.

Sound Quality: N/A
I have owned valve amps such as Marshall DSL50, Laneys (LC and TT20). Modelling amps such as Line6 old flagship the AX2. Every FX unit going (GT6, PodXT, Pod2, VAMP, GNX2).

The Valvetronix sounds like it has a blanket over it, cab sims are too heavy handed. Just try one in the shop and you'll see. I took the stock speaker out and tried a Celestion V30 and it was the same. The line outs are even darker.

I understand why people think this is the least digital sounding and the smoothest modelling amp - it has no hi-frequencies! But no real amp sounds this dull.

To get the same sound from any real amp and a Pod or modeller:
Set the modeller to Direct/PA mode with cab sim on!

Another point to remember, the modelling and FX is done by Korg so essentially this is a AX1500 in a valvestate combo.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
I owned this amp for 3 days before sending it back. I tried another one at the store because I was sure it must have been faulty. Wished it lived up to all the other reviews here but I need frequencies above 3khz from my amps...

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/22/2003 05:46

Price Paid: 930 (Euro (con VC-4))

Features: 10
16 simulazioni di ampli (...e tutte buone!!), sezione 'pedali' (piazzati tra chitarra e pre) con Overdrive (Ts E Rat), Wah (Auto e a pedale (Vox)), U-Vibe, Compressore, Octaver, Treble Booster e Acoustic simulator. Sezione modulation (tra pre e finale) con: tremolo, chorus, flanger, phaser . Sezione delay (tra pre e finale) con: Delay, Tape echo e Multihead echo.
Regolatore di potenza da 1, 15, 30 e 60 watt.
Altoparlante da 12" Custom Vox (Celestion Made).
32 locazioni di memoria dove salvare i propri preset.

Sound Quality: 10
Ragazzi come suona !! Le 2 recensioni precedenti sono state redatte probabilmente da sordi....o dalla concorrenza !
L'ampli e' veramente versatile e, come gia detto, suona alla grande; i suoni sono sempre pieni e ben definiti (nessun effetto 'zanzara', distorsioni piatte o peggio ancora "digitali") con qualunque modello di ampli prescelto e con una grande sensibilita' sulla dinamica.
Io lo uso con una Gibson LesPaul custom e una Fender MIM '72 e con entrambe le chitarre l'ampli 'si comporta bene'. (meglio con la LP ...ma e' solo una questione di gusti e .....affezione !)
Se lo provate in negozio, tirategli il collo ! Selezionate la potenza almeno a 15 watt (..meglio 30) e mettete il master a 3/4; in questo modo il finale comincia a 'lavorare' ed i suoni prendono respiro.

La stessa qualita' di suono non l'ho trovata nel line out (qui il suono risulta parecchio zanzaroso come se si fossero dimenticati il cab simulator)....ma per questo c'e' sempre il vecchio caro POD.....

La VC-4

E' abbastanza solida e compatta (forse un po' troppo...). Facile e veloce il passaggio da una patch all'altra nell'ambito dello stesso banco. Un po' meno veloce e' invece il passaggio da un banco all'altro: bisogna essere molto svelti di piede ( e poco sani di mente...) se si ha la sciagurata idea di settare, per lo stesso brano, i suoni su due banchi diversi.
Il pedale d'espressione non ha una gran corsa quindi bisogna fare attenzione nel dosare i movimenti.

Voto ulla pedaliera : 7

Reliability: 8
La costruzione e' abbastanza solida. Lo strato di vinile e' un po' sottile ed i paraspigoli sono in plastica quindi, trattatelo con cura !
Lo uso tutti i giorni in casa e 4 o 5 volte al mese dal vivo (settato su 30 watt e microfonato)

Customer Support: N/A
boh !

Overall Rating: N/A
Suono da piu' di 25 anni e ho usato un po' di tutto, dai solid state agli ibridi fino alle tanto amate valvole (che non sempre sono sinonimo di bel suono (ho qualche esempio alla mano.....e in casa)). Bene, il "calore" e la compressione delle valvole e' veramente riprodotto bene da questo ampli specie sui modelli Vox dove il finale passa in classe A.
Prima dell'acquisto l'ho confrontato con il Flextone III e lo H&K ZenAmp combo (lo ZenTera "semplificato").

- Il Flextone suona bene, ha qualche funzione in piu' (tipo l'utilizzo via MIDI), suona meglio nell'uscita simulata ma decisamente non ha lo stesso feel del AD60 quando deve "fare l'ampli" e tirar fuori le palle !!

- Lo ZenAmp e' veramente un bell'ampli ! In termini di costruzione ed "equipaggiamento" e' decisamente meglio del Vox ma, in termini di suono (....e prezzo), continuo a preferire l'AD60.

Soddisfatto dell'acquisto?
- SI !

Lo riacquisiteresti ?
- SI ! (Magari il 120 (2x12))

Lo consiglieresti ?

- SI
a chi della chitarra elettrica ne ama i suoni e la versatilita'

- NO a chi suona un solo genere di musica ed e' affezionato a QUEL suono. Meglio una "macchina" dedicata.

Submitted by marco at 07/21/2003 03:58

Price Paid: US $500 used

Features: 5
Okay alot of digital features... But wow... what digital peice of equip doesnt... You can't even use the built in wah with a distortion because the wah and distortions are on the same knob.

Sound Quality: 1
If you what good sound is.. Don't buy this amp. I play through a 1968 SG custom. This amp is the mostweakest sounding, tone-less, digital hunk of crap I have ever played. This thing shouldnt have the vox name on it, I read the reviews here and was real excited and tried one at the store at low volume and it sounded ok... But I spent hours and hours trying to get a decent sound out of this stupid amp but it just didnt give me one. This amp sat unplayed next to an old princeton reverb with old tubes that thankfully I could plug into and get some real sound out of it. Analog sound people, not 1s and 0s. Digital is a joke. I would give it a 0 but it still makes sound so I guess it gets a one.

Reliability: 2
Id like to see one of these amps in 20 years. Hah!

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 3
I've been playing 6 years and I know what good tone is. This thing couldnt even get close to getting one good sound from its hundreds of crappy features. It made me not even want to play. Thankfully I just sold it on ebay because other people come in here and read all these good reviews people put out and think its a good amp. Like I did. But hey I'm sure it works fine for all the trendy-type of guitar players. ROCK ON!!!! Overall... very dissapointed in vox for releasing this amp. You guys should know better.

Submitted by Phil at 06/29/2003 13:55

Price Paid: US $450.00

Features: 10
This amp has every bell and whistle that they claim. To many options in my opinion. It is really fun to play around with, but I never really know when to stop PLAYING around! The features are so numerous that I'll direct you to their website. The nicest thing is the switchable power settings...1 watt up to the full 60 watts!

Sound Quality: 6
I play Telecasters with a few select stop boxes. This amp sounds pretty good by itself but it seems gimmicky to me. I thought I would try it out based on the Vox website (sales tactics!) and the other reviews I've read here. I don't really care for the factory presets. They are either clean and overprocessed or triple-rectified! My beloved Teles have no personality through this amp! A 30-year-old Danelectro will sound like a PRS with this amp. If that sounds cool to you, you'll probably like this amp. It models (mimmicks) other amps very well, just nothing original or organic about this unit.

Reliability: 4
I've had it for about three days...so I think it will last forever!!! Really though, a 6 month warranty, crappy construction, and pc boards all lead me to believe that this amp is not very rugged. I'm sending mine back to Musician's Friend as soon as my new tube head arrives. Free shipping and the ability to try this Korean-made, crappy toy for 45 days...what did I have to loose!?

Customer Support: N/A
No idea, but I've heard some horror stories. I do trust Musician's Friend though.

Overall Rating: 2
I've played guitar for 21 years. I play all kinds of rock based music, i.e; The Replacements, The Refreshments, Weezer, and the old guys too; Stones, Jimi, Robben Ford, SRV, ect. If this amp were stolen I would be pissed because I wouldn't get my $$$ back! This amp is kind of fun to mess around with, but I really hate messing around when I could just turn up a tube amp, step on a Tubescreamer, add a little chorus and wha and woodshed (that's practicing for you nu-metal dudes!)all night long! If this is the cream of the crop in modeling amp...well, the rest must SUCK! I sold my Fender Blues Deville because it was just to heavy and clean. I was running THD Yellowjackets which really helped, but I just wanted to lighten the load. After a couple of days with this Vox thing...I wish I had my Fender back! At least it was real tone, and not computer-generated noise. I'm waiting on my new (very basic, strait-ahead, tube)Pignose 60 watt head which I'll run through a Carvin 4x10 tweed cabinet. It may not be fancy, but my Teles will sing, and scream again! If you're into amp modeling (copying alot of other true sounds) you'll probably like this amp. The variable power switch is very cool but a guitar should be a little too loud. Right?

Submitted by Ryan Horyza at 06/23/2003 01:50

Price Paid: 1000 (Euro (with VC4 foot controller))

Features: 10
Made in 2002. Versatile enough to cover every style of music! 16 amp sim, 10 stomp boxes (included a good Vox Wah),Modulation efx (chorus, phaser, flanger...), delays (delay, tape echo, multi head tape echo), Reverbs (spring, room, plate), 32 user presets, 60 W, class A or AB depending on the amp model, EXF loop, Ext line out, headphones out ! Who need more ? Me ! A boost control...

I play in a 5 pieces rock cover band and I use this amp for gigs and practice. During a gig I place a shure mic in front of it, during home practice I set the power selector to 1 watt. When I practice with my band I put the power selector to 60 watt and the master volume at 6 out of 10 and the volume is loud enough to compete with my "iron hands" drummer ;).

Sound Quality: 10
I use the AD60VT with a Gibson LP custom with two Seymour duncan ('59 on neck, Custom 5 on bridge) and I think the sound is absolutely great! Some hiss in high gain amps models...just like the original...

- Amps section

Fender (Blackface 2x12, Tweed 1x12, Tweed 4x10)
Marshall (JTM 45, Plexy 100, JCM800, JCM900, JCM2000 (DSL) )
Mesa (Dual rectifier)
Soldano (SLO 100)
Dumble Overdrive special (Clean chan & Lead chan)
Vox AC15, AC15TB, AC30, AC30TB (The power amp switch in class A)

All the amps models sounds good and responsive to your touch !
With the JTM45 you can crank the gain to 10, roll back the volume control on the guitar and play a GREAT clean tone !
My favorites ? "BlackFace 2x12" and "Doumble Clean" for cleans,
JCM2000 for heavy riffs and lead parts, Tweed 4x10, JTM45 and Doumble OD when I'm in the blues mood (..every time I don't play with my band!)

The only thing it miss (IMHO) is the boost control. Yes I could replicate the same patch with different volume settings or turn on one of the two OD on the pedal section but a boost pedal don't change the colour of your sound in any way.
Thanks to the EFX loop I've now my boost control with a seven band EQ in flat position with the volume level to 7.5 out of 10 for some db when I need to 'come out' during my solo !

- Pedal section

COMPRESSOR
Good on lower settings, add some hiss on high settings (like every compressor when cranked...).

ACOUSTIC SIM.
Good enough to get an hollow body sound from a solid body guitar but for shure can't emulate an Ovation acoustic ;)

AUTO WAH
VOX WAH
I like it very much ! Very well modelled.

U-VIBE
OCTAVER
A little limited. It works only with 1 octave down.

TREEBLE BOOST
Sorry, I don't use it.....

TUBE OD
FAT OD
Tube OD (tube screamer) and Fat OD (?) are great !
No buzz or digital distortion here !

FUZZ BOX
I don't like it but it's a matter of taste as I hate also the original !

- Modulation EFX

I'm not a big efx lover; I use just a touch of chorus for cleans, some delay and reverb for rithm and lead parts.

- Delay and reverbs

DELAY
Mmmmmm...ok, but not at the top. Can be drived to a maximum of 2 seconds

TAPE ECHO
As the delay but with a 'low-fi' taste. I prefer this one to the delay

REVERBS
With three choices (spring, room, plate) I can obtain every reverb I need.

Reliability: N/A
I use it without a backup, so I'm knocking on wood !!

Customer Support: N/A
1 year warranty.

Overall Rating: 10
I'm not payed by Vox! I'm only happy to have found a great amp at a good price! I don't care if an amp is solid state, all tube, hybrid or digital; the only important thing is TONE! I've rated this amp at 10 because of TONE. Can the Valvetronix sounds like a vintage Blackface or Tweed or AC15? No! But can emulate/replicate so well the sounds and the 'taste' of these amps that, for shure, your audience (and your ears) will not be disappointed!

Submitted by Mark at 05/29/2003 07:42

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
This is an update to my posting from February, 2003. I have the model that c-r-u-m-b-l-e-s with static in dry/cold weather. Now that I have had almost 6 months and a dozen "gigs" under my belt, I'd like to comment more about this amp.

Bottom-line: This amp is so versatile, it has taken my playing to a whole new level. With an arsenal of the best amps in the world, you can create any, and I mean any, tone you want. I have added some external pedals (Boss acoustic, phase shifter and a Marshall Supervibe chorus)to run several more effects at once. I found the acoustic pedal on the amp not to my liking.

My only negative comment - when I have the gain "maxed", any note or chord on a long sustain crumbles at the end (after about 6 seconds). The amp does it consistantly - so - it is not a static issue. Luckily, the only time it makes a difference is when I'm practicing by myself and having "a little fun."

If you want one amp that can "do it all", this VOX is it. My only resentment - I wish I got the AD120VT instead!! The stereo effects would be nice to have.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/23/2003 12:42

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
This has been covered pretty well in other reviews. I'm giving it a 9 because there is 2 Vox models too many that could have been replaced with something else (Hiwatt, Matchless, Supro, ect.)

Sound Quality: 10
This is the best modeling amp BY FAR (at least for under a grand, I haven't tried the line 6 Vetta or the HK Zenterra). The reason it's the best I would guess is mostly because of the tube.
I'd say it's 80 to 90% comparable to an all-tube amp. BUT, that missing 10 to 20% can and probably will bug you occasionaly if you play or have played a good all-tube amp.

Still, I'm rating this for what it is, and for where the technology is now you really couldn't ask for better.
Your getting 16 amps for less than the price of any one of the amps modeled.
The Marshalls sound like Marshalls, the Fenders sound like Fenders, the Vox is excellent, and although I've never played a Dumble I instantly nailed a dead-on Stevie Ray Vaughan tone with my Strat on the clean Dumble model. I know he played Dumbles so I gotta assume this is good modeling. I play a Les Paul standard, American Strat, American Tele, Gibson 335 and an Epiphone Casino. Each guitar retains it's unique personality through the Valvetronix. The Strat and Tele sound best through the Fender models, the Les Paul through the Marshall - as it should be. The Casino through the Vox AC30 is unbelievably Beatles-like. Strat through the Marshall Plexi model is very Hendrix, and so on and so forth. Even the Rectifier model sounds like the nu-metal stuff, although I could care less about nu-metal.

Effects are ok, don't sell your pedals.
But, they're good enough that if you don't have any pedals or aren't a big effects person they'll do you just fine. The chorus, delay, reverb and tremelo are actually pretty damn good (these always seem to be the best effects on modeling amps). I'm big on the univibe and Leslie sounds, so these versions in the Valvetronix were not even going to do it for me. I have a Captain Coconut 2 to cover my univibe needs and a H&K Rotosphere for the Leslie sounds (dead-on pedal if your a Leslie fan). These 2 pedals cost as much as the Valvetronix, so if you have to make do with the versions in the Valvetronix for awhile, you'll be ok, and think of the money you're saving.

Reliability: N/A
Here's where the fat lady sings. From what I've heard and what I sense you can't rely on it. It's like your friend is going to set you up with a really hot girl but she's only got a few days to live.
I've test driven this from Guitar center for 30 days twice now and it's gone back both times because I can't trust it. It's not just because of all the problems I've read about, it's a gut feeling. I mean come on, it's made in Korea, it feels flimsy, it's basically a computor with one tube and a speaker, no one locally can fix it, and the warranty is ONLY 90 DAYS!!! What the f***!! Obviously the company has no faith in their own product whatsoever, Sorry, but there's too many cool things you can buy for $700 to just throw it away. I won't rate this category because I haven't had a problem, but ...
And yet still I keep coming back to this thing like a moth to a flame. Make it better Vox, Korg, or whoever the hell you are. Iron out the bugs and put a realistic warranty on it. I will buy it if you do.
Otherwise I'm sticking with my Fender amp that has all tubes, a 5 year warranty, and one sound ... but a damn good one.

Customer Support: N/A
A 90 day warranty doesn't exactly scream "customer support" to me.

Overall Rating: 8
Ok, now that that's off my chest, this is a real good modeling amp that looks like a Vox AC30. It would be a good amp for someone who's starting out because it would give them an idea of what sound they're going for and what effects they may like. For example if they find themeslves favoring the Fender Twin model with the tubescreamer. They can go out and get themselves a Fender Twin Reissue and a TS9 pedal. If they favor the Dumble model though, they might have to start robbing banks.
For experienced players this is a great way to have a variety of amps in addition to their favorite tube amp. The Vox AC30 model is pretty much worth the price alone.
But your taking a chance with that warranty, so I'll give it an 8.

Submitted by Scott at 05/02/2003 16:15

Price Paid: US $640

Features: 10
I give it 10 because there is enough features to please almost anyone.
I like the delays and reverbs,as well as the pedal access from the footboard.
I gig with this amp with no hassle.

Sound Quality: 10
I play blues with a strat, es137 ,and a tele,this amp let the sound of each guitar come right through.You need to use your ears to tweek this amp,you will be treated to wonderful tone.
Great for BLUES,both traditional and modern.
Plenty loud when needed.
Plenty soft when needed.

Reliability: N/A
No problem so far

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
A 10 based on tone and flexibility to fit any room I gig in, and I gig alot.
Good price too!!!!!!!!!!

Submitted by rich at 03/25/2003 20:33

Price Paid: $1200.00 (Canadian)

Features: 7
2002 model-very versatile,I play mostly 60's british invasion style,blues rock,60's garage.the wattage selector is a great feature,allowing use from quieter settings to rehearsal levels. 60 watts valve/solid state hybrid still loud enough for playing over drummer.I wish the effects were more versatile.There are several effects which can only be used seperately .It would be nice to have the ability to add any in combination if desired.
.The foot controller is useful but could be constructed better

Sound Quality: 8
I mostly use my Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion but also have a SRV strat.After alot of dialing and tweaking I find it very good for my interest in 60's british invasion and american garage sounds.I've also found it gets that "late hendrix " univbe crunch tone nicely as well(for rhythm not so much his solo sound)
The amp requires you to dial in specific settings for each guitar you want to use.The settings for one may not be good for another.Overall I feel the sound is very good.I own a '63 ac30 and a 65 ac30 tb.I wouldn't say this amp is on the same level but there is alot of good tones in it if you take the time to fiddle with the settings.I couldn't imagine using any of the presets that it came with.They are embarrassingly bad.I prefer the vox settings with some reverb.I have added a bit of boost but find the gain tends to overdrive the sound more than it should.It can be a little tricky to get definition in the overdrive or crispness in the clean at higher volumes. After several months use I have found several settings that come very close to what I need.Rhythm or chordal playing is excellent through this amp.I feel it lacks the punch or screaming sustain tones for lead work.It might be in there but I just haven't found it yet.Might need more tweaking.That is the beauty of this set-up you can start with a basic amp tone you like and then save subtle add ons later.4 banks of 4 save settings seems enough to me.I use it in rehearsal and find no problem with volume.The fact that the settings remain the same at any wattage level is very helpful.I mostly use headphones at home.This is great feature although the sound is a little different than through the speakers.Overall the sound of the 60VT is very good.I hate lugging around my ac30's so this amp allows me to get some of the tones I'm used to in an smaller set up.It has it's own sound and is very close to an original vox tone.Pehaps the larger 120VT has an even closer tone to an ac30.I have tried running this 60VT thru an extension speaker and that added some more possiblities.I've been very pleased with it overall.

Reliability: N/A
Bought this in November 2002 .Way too early to say what will happen with it.I don't notice any problems with it so far.I play an average of 3-4 hours per day.Usually in one sitting.The reliability isn't what concerns me as much as how quickly it will become obselete.The main thing in this amp is basically a computer. As we all know ,computers have a life span of about 6 months.I really hope vox/korg offers some sort of ongoing upgrade system that owners can add to their amps any new features that following models may develop.Probably won't happen but it would be nice.I think this line of amplifier will be an ongoing product for vox/korg.

Customer Support: N/A
haven't had to use at this time

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing over 20 years.I've owned a '65 fender twin reverb.
I currently own a '65 voxac30tb and a '63vox ac30
I would replace this 60VT if stolen.For the price I doubt there is another amp with the sound and versatility.
I love being able to save my own settings and the simple ease of use.I hate the fact it 's a computer processor and will lose value in a short period of time.If something were to go wrong with it I'm sure it will need to be shipped back to the factory.
But overall it is a great value and when one adds the relative light weight and home recording possiblities it is a definte winner.I would highly recommend it.

Submitted by Greg at 03/06/2003 00:05

Price Paid: US $475.00

Features: 10
Had this amp for about 4 months and just cannot say more good things about it. I play mostly indie/alternative rock and this amp is just perfect for it. I mostly keep it the AC30tb model and it sounds just like the old AC30's of old. I also use a lot of effects and they shine through with the effects loop. I also like the adjustable wattage setting so I don't keep my neighbors up all night.

Sound Quality: 9
Like I said I use it mostly on the AC30tb model but it also has a nice Fender clean and a nasty Mesa Boogie crunch to it as well.I play mostly fender strats and I have love the tone it pumps out. The built in effects are pretty nice.Maybe not as good a $150.00 pedal but good enough to get the job done. The amp pretty quite and stay reletively clean at high volume with the help of a good EQ pedal.

Reliability: 10
I've played small bars and clubs with it, connected with a Fender 1x12 cabinet and it did the job without pulling out my Trace Elliot (my backup).

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
Modeling amps have always been a gamble.But I think that Vox just hit a homerun with this amp. Sure its not an AC30 but its pretty damn close as far as sound quality is concerned (especially if you can't afford $1500.00 for a new AC30.). It gives the best a tube and best of a solid state in one sturdy package.

Submitted by Dave B. at 02/27/2003 12:03

Price Paid: US $700.

Features: 8
The features are listed elsewhere so I won't go into them all. Overall the amp provides the usual features on a modeling amp. The inability to use the wah with the stompbox models is a drawback though. Personally I don't care for tap tempos at all-I'd rather know exactly what settings are on the delay. One nice feature is a led will light when you turn a knob to its stored setting-so you tweak all you want and easily return to it's factory/your stored setting. Another great feature is the power/output adjuster, lets you play with 1-/15/30/60 watts. I play with it on 1-watt in my house-plenty loud enough and the tone stays the same as the other settings.

Sound Quality: 9
I play mostly hard rock influenced material(satriani,vai, metallica,alice in chains). This amp handles pretty much all rock sounds extremely well-however for the heavier stuff (metallica/godsmack, ect.)you will need a distortion pedal. The rectifier setting dosent get that over-saturated gain needed for this, however the rectifier model does nail the gritty alice-in-chains sound perfectly. My favorite setting is the Uk modern-sweet hard rock tube tone that to me is perfect for Vai/Satch. inspired music, in fact I use that setting for most hard rock music I play. The US higain is another great hard rock tone, it sounds just like G. Lynchs tone on Mr. Scary, great for 80's metal.The Uk 70's model is great for that Led Zepplin tone and Boutique clean sounds very "full" or tube-like, not thin like some SS amps clean channels.The rest of the models sound good to me also but I dont use them much so I'll let others with more experience with those models rate them. On the negative side I don't care for some of the modulations ( flange,rotary) at all. The flange (to me) is too overbearing on everything except the lowest level,as is the rotary simulation. The rest (phaser,chorus, reverb, delay ect.)sound fine to me.This works out okay because I don't use effects much anyway. I play through the amp with a Parker nitefly M and various Ibanez guitars.

Reliability: 8
Had one problem with it (intermittent input jack) that was fixed at a local vox-parterned guitar shop in one day.Otherwise no problems.

Customer Support: 8
see above.

Overall Rating: 9
Playing about 15+ years through mostly digital modelers and solid state amps-none of them touch this amp, this includes the new Flextone-3 112.I had the flextone 3 for three days and compared the two for hours on end.While the flextone 3 has nice effects and a great pedalboard I always kept going back to the vox. It's all about the tone- the tube in the power amp section of the vox makes all the difference. There's a "fullness" to the sound of the vox that none of the Digitech(gnx1)or flextone 3 amps could duplicate. So the flextone-3 went back, (I love new stuff-thats why I bought the flextone-3). So overall= great tone,terrible pedal board (read others reviews on it-vc-4), waaaaaay better than my digitech gnx1 or recently returned flextone-3. I cant wait for the next version of the valvetronix-whenever they release it.

Submitted by dave at 02/26/2003 18:23

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 8
Been playing for about 20 years. Went acoustic and now back into electric. I lead our worship team at church and this amp is very versatile for my purposes. I like all of the effects and the ability to just "dial in" what sounds great. If I like it, I can save it to a patch location to call up later. I think the footpedal works great - when playing I can switch on/off effects, or, change patches between songs. I can also turn down the volume when playing much easier than using the guitar knobs.
If I were a pro, had lots of money, this is not the amp to buy. However, I think this can be a great amp for the "hobbyist" guitarist.

Sound Quality: 7
Using a Jimmy Vaughan Strat. Sounds great on all settings - however, I do agree with a previous post that on some settings, it does sound like someone threw a blanket on it (I usually crank the treble/mids or use the tube OD/treble boost pedals and that seems to "lighten" it up a bit. If you hate a sound - select another amp and that also seems to help. (Looked at a Cyberdeluxe - didn't seem as user friendly - I even got the Fender-based salesman to admit the Vox is more user freindly!)

One gripe - occasionally, when the amp is first turned on, the sound c-r-u-m-b-l-e-s apart and sounds awful! Turning the amp on/off clears this up. Luckily, it has not done this while playing (I just can't call worship team "gigging"!)

I can remeber in my high school/college years, had a 60's Fender tube stack amp (can't remember name) - looking back, it was a mistake to let go! Sold within 6 hours of being in the music store!!). That thing sounded awesome. No hack to this Vox, but the sound gets a 7 - don't misunderstand though- perfect for my use.

Reliability: 7
Techs at my local store tell me its static (due to severe cold we are having in the midwest). 90 day warranty stinks. The "crumbling" scares me - It did it when turned on in the store (humidified), but stopped within 60 seconds without turning on/off. Let's hope this goes away the rest of the year!

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
Compared with Fender Cyberdeluxe, Line 6 and Marshall combo-DFX units, the VOX works best for me. You need to go to a store, get a guitar and have the salesperson leave you alone for 1 - 2 hours and play every combo DFX amp in the store (all wattages/styles, etc.). Buy what sounds/works best for you.

This board was invaluable while doing my research! Thanks for everyone's comments.

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/26/2003 11:14

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
you know....

Sound Quality: N/A
This is just a quicky report on my quest for a better speaker for the Valvetronix. Like some others here I think the amp sounds like it's under a blanket (most of the time), and the clean models, especially the Fenders, sound lifeless & honky. One of the anon posters below made a pretty accurate assessment of the pinched midrange. Taking his lead I went & bought a new Jensen C12N. Immediately the Fenders BECAME Fenders - naturally, since this speaker was OEM in many Fenders during the 60's (although this Italian reissue speaker isn't exactly the same, but that's another issue). The Vox models also gained a lot of sparkle, BUT at the expense of the English-ness that makes the originals so wonderful. This speaker is VERY bright compared to the original Celestion; so bright, in fact, that IMHO it's useless for the distortion models. EVERY model on the right side of the switch was excessively fizzy & buzzy so matter how the eq was set. Think fuzzbox straight into headphones....

This Jensen is on its way back to the store and in its place is a Peavey Scorpion that's been in my old BF Princeton Reverb for the last 15 years. This works better - the Scorp has nicely detailed upper mids without the tweeter-like stridence of the C12N. The Fender models still sound good - the Twin especially sounds more realistic than ever with all tones set on 5, and the Voxes still sound Voxy due to the Scorpion's subtle honk - not as extreme as the Celestion, of course, but enough to give some credibility. For right now it seems to be a fair compromise.

The scorpion handles distortion well too but nobody's gonna mistake it for a greenback. I have the original Celestion in the Princeton cab now and when I run both speakers together it sounds better & fuller than either speaker individually....depending on placement.

I'm really curious about the Weber Thames - it's supposed to be like a "high-power Blue Dog" (80 watts) but there's very few reports to go on and a couple of them aren't too enthusiastic. And then there's the Celestion Century, for $200.....

Reliability: N/A
n/a

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: N/A
I'm doing most of my playing these days with my '75 Les Paul & Epiphone Dot (both w/ Seymour Duncans) and an ESP Strat I just put a set of Texas Specials in. I have a Ricky 330-12 that's not all together right now so I haven't yet achieved the coveted "George sound", but it's coming. I've run this Valvetronix' line out into my Tech 21 Trademark 120's effects return for some interesting results. Brighter than the Vox's own speaker but lacking the British character.
I'll post again when I have another speaker to try.

Submitted by Wabash Slim at 01/24/2003 21:49

Price Paid: US approx 850 w/footswitch

Features: 7
I believe my amp is a 2001 or 2002 model. Bought new at the Musician's Friend factory outlet store in Kansas City. Since enough has already been said to define the features of this amp in previous posts, I'll not waste any more time on them here, other than to point out what I LIKE or DISLIKE about them.... LOVE the looks! This is a classy looking combo... I've gotten tons of compliments on it. Perfect for small clubs. I am also fond of the power dampening feature that lets you switch between 1,15, 30, and 60 watts of power. Makes practicing easier on the nieghbors when you live in a small apartment building like I do. Sounds are good. HATE the footswitch, (except for the fact that it is phantom powered by the control cable) which is what forced me to give this amp a 7 in this department instead of an 8. Why do I hate it? For all the same reasons that everyone else does in the other posts. It just ISN'T flexible from a working musician's point of view.

Sound Quality: 7
I primarily use my '93 American made Strat Deluxe with the lace pickups. This guitar is great... it can make any amp sound better. But how did this amp work with it. Ehhh.. so-so at best. On the plus side, one thing I really liked about the amp is that all the factory presets were at least USABLE... unlike many others that are just too damn wierd for my "classic" approach. But, that being said, I had to tweak FOREVER to find a sound I liked. Finally settled on one of the botique style over-driven amp models. It suits my purposes for now, but it still isn't "IT". I find that unless you're standing directly in front of the amp, with the speaker pointed at you, that it can be rather hard to hear in a practice/live situation with other musicians. Must be due to the "box" style of the amp and it only having the single 12" celestion. I HATE the effects section. Never been much of a Korg fan anyway. I prefer Roland/Boss by a LONG SHOT. I WILL say, that once you get the hang of it (it's rather easy, really), programming the unit is a snap. Over-all, the amp is DECENT for what it CAN do... all the tones are usable to one extent or another, but finding that one truly GREAT tone has been an ongoing chore with no end in sight.

Reliability: 5
Here's where this amp REALLY sucks, to me. I feel like I have to BABY this thing to keep it intact. Don't get me wrong... I take VERY good care of my gear. I can't afford not to. But this thing is just TOO fragile. Need I mention... only a 90 day warranty on this thing. One more time for emphasis... ONLY A 90 DAY WARRANTY ON THIS THING! I already had to take it in for repairs less than a year after purchase and since the 90 days had already elapsed, this amp cost me an extra $60 within the first year. Though my local tube-guru said it was more than likely a problem from shipping, it still wasn't covered under warranty and I had to pay for it! ARGH!

The cloth grill, though pretty swank and pimp looking, could EASILY tear, so beware sharp edges poking it.

And finally... Within a couple weeks after purchase, the black chicken-head knob on the back that controls wattage fell off and would never stay on after that. I remedied the situation by using some of what's called "Gorilla Snot"... a type of resin used by musicians to help keep a better grip on picks or drumsticks... and there hasn't been a problem with it falling off since.

Soooooo... with all that said, I just feel like a bundle of nerves when I'm gigging with this amp because it is so fragile... and I don't have a backup.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to refer to the company for support... especially, since when I NEEDED them my 90 DAY WARRANTY had already expired. Thank god for local/home-town tube guru's like our own Bob Booker! Without him, I'm sure fixing this amp would have cost quite a bit more to repair due to shipping charges and whatnot.

Overall Rating: 6
Overall... if I had it to do over again, I WOULD NOT buy this amp. In fact, I intend to have it replaced by this spring or early summer. Probably try out a "regular amp" this time. Kind of burned/disappointed with the modeling amps... especially since all I want is ONE REALLY GOOD TONE. Maybe I'll try the Vai Legacy amp from Carvin... if I don't like it, I'll send it back and just buy a Fender... they have 5 YEAR WARRANTIES anyway.

What I can't get over: Fragile construction of amp... Lack of thought put into footswitch... Korg effects... Lack of "sound spread" (Doesn't circulate sound well).

What I like: Not enough to make it worth keeping. It'll do until I get something better... This amp would be ok for studio musicians, but it isn't sturdy enough for the road. I like the tap-tempo feature for delay, and I like the phantom power that runs the footswithch.... the built in tuner in both amp and footswitch is nice too.

Submitted by Brian at 01/09/2003 14:57

Price Paid: US $799

Features: 10
Mine is a brand new, 2002 model, which hasn't really changed at all since they started making these babies a few summers ago. 60w, 1/12 in. celestion, effects loop (does anyone actually use these anymore?),16 amp models, stomp box models, modulation, reverb, delays blah blah blah. The vox offers just about everything other modeling amps offer. So why is it cool, you ask? First, the variable power rating switch allows you to switch from 60, 30, 15 or 1 watt output power. So it gets louder and quieter, big deal, right? Well #2 cool thing is that this amp actually has a 12AX7 valve in the preamp (not the power amp, as someone said before.)What this means is, despite having 8 less tubes than my old fender twin, it still reacts the same way: crank it up, and it sounds better. Now, because 60watts thru a 12 inch cranked is loud enough to get you evicted from just about anywhere, this switch becomes invaluable, especially in the case of home recording. Really and truly though, unless you play in a wedding band, you'll never need as much versatility as 16 amp models provides. it's a bit overkill, i'll say, because i'm willing to bet that the same people who salivate over the VOX diamond grillecloth are not running to it to check out it's Boogie impression....just a thought. It's got everything i need, though, so for me it's a 10.

Sound Quality: 5
Ah, sounds. So i plug in this amp for the first time in the store, and i go straight to the preset programs. They're good, if not a little cheesy (but chorus always sounds like cheese to me) so the store guy puts it in manual mode for me and i go straight to "AC15TB." I mean, it's a VOX with a single 12 inch speaker right? Minimal tweaking puts me in tone heaven, this model sounds delicious, and (valve purists, cover your ears) you can get a bit more sparkle than the original. The AC30 models are just as cool, although I think I'll always use the top boost, cuz i like the sparkle. So I go check the fender models and they're decent, and by now i'm in love with that AC15 sound, so I buy the thing. Here's the important part. READ THE MANUAL. The controls act very differently from model to model, and what I thought was a decent fender sound became great when i read the manual. If you bought yours used you can download em from VOX's site. This is no time to be a macho, "i don't need directions" type. READ THE MANUAL, even though it seems like it was written by Jeff Spicoli. (Killer tone, huh dude?)I HATE Boogie's and boutique amps, so i'll never use these settings. I can't figure out why Vox would even put them on here, as I'll say it again: most people will buy this amp because their stomach turns at the idea of the plastic coated LINE6's of the world. Give us more brit models, VOX! I don't even like marshall's all that much, but the "70's UK" model is pretty cool, in a perm your hair, tight leather pants, ZOSO symbol kind of way. I guess what i'm saying is I bought an amp with 16 models, and I'll never touch half of them. So there. I'm still happy

Reliability: N/A
It hasn't been long, but a fact's a fact. look, i love tube amps, but they're like zippo lighters. They cost more, and sometimes they run out of fluid at the least oppurtune time. Solid state's the way for a guy like me, who likes to play, not fix. so far so good, but let's not jinx it, eh?

Customer Support: N/A
I got the backup warranty from my local guitar megaplex, because VOX's warranty is too damn short. Haven't dealt with VOX yet, but I have dealt with KORG (who builds em now) and they are alright, in a strictly corporate kind of way.

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing for ten years and I am actually quite happy with my set up for once. I play a telecaster mostly, but I also have some 60's junk-o guitars i like to use (like a Supro 12 string, nice!) I got this amp because i wanted something that sounded good and wouldn't break windows during home recording, but also so i could take it out and jam with my friends. I'm a home recording nut, really into bands like Guided by Voices, Sebadoh, the Beach Boys, Beatles, Yo la Tengo, early REM, and this amp does me fine for the music i play. and it's a VOX, silly. my girlfriend thinks it's "pretty." and she's right.

Submitted by jeff at 12/30/2002 09:39

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
Has all the effects I'd need, ample models to cover most circumstances etc. The line out is very accurate to a mic'd speaker. The ability to tune out the noise reduction is a BIG plus. THANK YOU to Vox for that!
Why it didn't get a 10--
1) The Biggest drawback-- the footcontroller is very limiting. The bank select feature is a pain. There is no way to set the 'minimum' volume of the volume pedal feature. Also you can only access the first 16 of the 32 presets. Although this is no biggie, some guys MAY find this a problem
2) The use of a standard network type cable for the footcontroller is good, however, no midi capability to allow the use of a 'better' foot controller is limiting. Also the ability to switch channels via midi would be great for recording.
3) no advanced editing features. For example, I'd like to be able to use the marshall plexi model through say the Twin's 2x12 speaker model and so on. All the other modelling amps can do this in one way or another... a feature that SHOULD have been added.
4) can only use one 'pedal' model at a time. It would be nice to have a bit of compressor with the accoustic simulator, or maybe wha with the fuzz face etc.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm playing country at the time, however I play a wide variety at home and at jam nights, and the amp models do sound and act like the real thing. Period. There is enough there to suit almost any style you can think of. With a Tele, Strat, Les Paul, and my buddies' Rickenbacker, the guitar sound like they should thorugh the respective amps. Just like a tele doesnt soudn great through a real plexi, nor does it through the plexi model, however a Les Paul shines... a les paul through a real twin? ehhh it's ok, same as the modeled twin... now put a tele or strat in that model and WOW... And of course, my buddy uses one of these with his Rickenbacker, and you guessed it, the AC30 model there nad you think you flashed back to 1964 in Liverpool...

The noise level is very acceptable. The effects themselves are very clean, and the noise is equal to what each of the respective models produce. The noise reduction is there if you really want it, but it's real nice to keep it off if you prefer.

I cant' emphasize enough now accurate the amp models are, the twin model acts and sounds like a twin and so on. The only think keeping it from getting a 10 is the fact you can't edit which speaker cabinet simulation you use with which amp simulation.

Here's the deal. I've been playing for 25 years, and have owned and played all the 'real deal' of what this amp models. I was playing an original blackfaced fender, with all the classic effects clean, and a 50w plexi (not reissue), and traded in the bf fender for this amp a little over a month ago, and have used it at a few gigs and practices and have NEVER looked back yet. I know tone. and this amp has it. I'm leaving my name on this review as anonymous as not to kill business for myself-- I build, repair and restore classic tube amps for a living. Enough said.

Reliability: N/A
I haven't had a problem with it yet, and only had it a month, so I can't really say, however I will say this.
Since it is solid state and has no power tubes to deal with etc, I do NOT gig with a backup. I always carried a backup when I lugged around the Fender and Marshall. I do keep a spare 12ax7 just in case, but I doubt I will need that-- I've worked on amps that are 40 years old with the original 12ax7's in the phase inverter/power amp section like this vox does... so as I said, I can't comment how well it's going to hold up years from now, but i"M more confident with ti than with ANY all tube amp.

Customer Support: 5
Their support from dealing with Korg USA in the past on other amps/effects/tuners and other non-valvetronix related issues was not the best experience in the world. Mutiple emails with questions about the foot controller for this amp still are unanswered a month later (what IS that trimpot on the foot controller for anyways? and what is the longest/shrotest network cable you can use for the controller?). This is UNACCEPTABLE. Maybe I have different ideals since I r8un a small shop and treat each customer as gold that I expect more, but c'mon guys, what does it take to answer an email? Thank goodness there are enough techs out there who can deal with your tube gear, and the music stores that are your dealers have to deal with the support.

The only reason I'm giving a fiar rating on the support IS that the dealer I bought this from will give me excellent supprot. Korg on the other hand forget it. -- moral of the story is, if you get one, pick and choose your dealer carefully... if you have to pay a couple $$ more to ensure you have the support of the dealer please do so. The amp seems built well enough that you may never need it, but there are always that 1 in 10000 chance that you may need it with ANY gear.

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing for 25 years. I have a collection of all the classic amps, but for gigging situations, the 'real deals' may not be the most practical. Being able to carry a guitar in one hand, the amp in another, and be set up in a minute is well worth it. THe tone of this amp is indistinguishable to the real thing, and any small nuances you MAY notice being different, I really doubt you will notice in a live playing situation. Even with the few shortcomings of the footcontroller etc, I highly recommend this amp. If it were ever stolen, I would indeed get another one. I've tried all the modelling amps out there, and they all have their plusses and minuses (this one as well), however where the other modelling amps may shine in the foot controller, or editing options, they are lacking in the tone that the Valvetronix gives. I recommend checking one out!

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/26/2002 05:40

Price Paid: US $499.00 used

Features: 9
I'll make this review in comparison to the two Line 6 Flextones 1's I've had for the past five years and I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio. The tube power amp makes a huge difference in the sound quality. You can keep the power amp cranked to get that driven undistorted tube tone while using the variable power amp control, 1 watt, 15 watts, 30 watts or 60 watts to set your volume and it is an outstanding feature. One hand knob memory location LED makes it easy to see where your at. Vox amp models. I never knew a Vox AC30TB sounded so good. Thirty two memory channels instead of twelve. Three types of delay and three types of reverb. The short comming is the foot controller. I want my Flextone Floorboard back. The most annoying thing about the Foot Controller is when your switching banks you have to press and HOLD the foot switch and then select the bank and channel. Doing this holding thing in the middle of a song STINKS and seems like it takes forever. Very annoying. I have to set up my foot controller so that I never have to switch banks during a song. The wah pedal is way to sensitive and almost usless. Also you have to program it into your channel unlike the Floorboard where it's a stand alone and you can use it any old time you want to on any channel. The foot controller is the reason I didn't give it a ten. Modeling amps are the only way to go and I'll never buy a one trick conventional amplifier again.

Sound Quality: 10
Sounds fantastic. The tube power amp makes it. A big improvement to my Line 6 Flextone. Read my comments in Features above. I play rock and blues. Sixteen amplifiers to choose from. Just turn a knob. I bought this amp even though I had never played one. The writeups in guitar magazines and on Harmony Central sold me. I will probably always be modeling amp guy, thank God I'm not in bondage to the "tube amp" mind set. Even though this amp has tubes it's not the same. It's a good hybred.

Reliability: 10
I bought it used and have had no problems. I've had it for only about two months.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience here.

Overall Rating: 9
I'd give it a ten if it weren't for the funky foot controller. Outstanding tone quality. Sixteen amps in one. Looks good. I'm set.

Submitted by bigbenguitars at 12/17/2002 10:51

Price Paid: US $595

Features: 10
I bought trhat VOX brand new at the local GC and the salesperson did not want me to buy this amp. He really pushed me to look at some LINE6 stuff, a MESA or a FENDER. That was one good reason for me to buy it anyways. It got all the goodies one needs for jaming around with buddies, gigging with his band or playing alone in the lonely basement studio. It has 60 well tempered Watts of power pouring out of a single 12" Celestion speaker. The knobs for dialing in your sound and volume are located on the top of the unit, which I find more user friendly than the ones mounted on the front panel of other makes. This was one of my initial criterias besides the sound and versatility. Well, for my taste, the Amp just looks gorgeous. I like the classic blue/gold cloth. You all know the details and features from the web site or other reviews, so I wont bore you here again.

Sound Quality: 10
I play through that amp my Strat and my Washburn. Both guitars have its uniqueness in sound and pick-up and the amp lets me hear exactly this. In any setting the amp lets still the unique sound of the guitar ring through. I play this amp now for about 2 months and I can say I love the sound, the volume possibilities and the varieties of it. You will find very quickly your preferred settings, whether you like it clean, crunchy or with a lot of effects, this amp will please you ears. I use the amp also for recording and I can desingn with it wonderful sound pictures for which I would have needed thousands of dollars worth of equipment otherwise. I really want to recommend this amp for everyone who has the need for more than one sound. I you like to play cover songs or if you like to experiment with your own sounds - this is it. I tried other modifiable amps (like LINE 6, FENDER CYBERTWIN,aso) and none had such a natural tube like tone. All the other ones sounded a little tinny any computerized fake. It is my favorite so far and all my friend who came to check it out were as excited (except the guy who only can accept any amp if it says MARSHALL on the front because he need the image in lack of playing skills)

Reliability: 10
No issues yet

Customer Support: 10
no experience yet

Overall Rating: 10
If some would steal this amp from me, - I'd get the same one again unless I could get the 120W unit for the same price (won't happen, I know).
As I already said I campared with others and I am still convinced that this is currently in the price rang up to $ 1,200 the best modifying amp regarding sound quality and pric e value.
I did not get the foot switch, because I think its over priced, and I only have limited use for it. I'll see if I can pick one up on E-Bay later.

Submitted by Hans at 10/23/2002 14:59

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
Everything you need unless you're more concerned about programming than playing. Of course the footswitch sucks--if the amp wasn't as good as it is that might have been a deal breaker.

Sound Quality: 9
I've had this amp for at least 6 months now. Sitting next to it is a fender twin and a peavy ultra-tube (quite like a rectifier). I rarely touch them anymore. This amp sounds, feels and responds so well that I can't tell the difference. Really. Was going to get a univibe but no need now.

My PRS and Strat both sound completely unique, as do the various pickup combinations. Awesome distortions--thick, singing, crunchy, sandy, etc. Incredible cleans, sparkly, pushed, punchy, whatever you are looking for. There is only one sounds this amp wont get--that fat, hollow shredding rectifier death metal sound.\

The beauty is everything is so easy to dial in. I don't really use the presets, but just turn it on, pick an amp, adjust the eq, add a bt o' verb or compression--whatever I'm looking for and there it is. Incredible.

I used to use an ada tube-midi preamp, power amp, effect rack, wireless, blah blah blah. I would spend more time tweaking and screwing around than I would playing--even while jamming! That doesn't happen with thsi amp because you turn a few knobs and all of a sudden it sounds so inspiring that you HAVE to play!

Bonus, even on the one watt setting, as long as it's turned up all the way, it still sounds and feels like a cranked tube amp. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT WILL DO THAT.

Reliability: 5
I crank it up and you can smell electricity. But it's never given me a problem. The longest I'll usually play for is an hour or so.

I did return the first unit to GC because it started crackling funny. Tthis one doesn't do that, though there is sometimes a barely audible simily of the crackling. It doesn't bother me too much, but if you were REALLY picky about something not even you will usually notice, don't buy one. Might be more of a problme in a studio setting.

If I were giging, I'd give this amp a chance though it doesn't sound like it would cut it from other reviews I've read. I'd definitely bring backups. If you're going to jam from time to time, do the occasional gig, and crank it at home when your in the mood--there is definitely no comparision to this amp for even twice the price.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them, GC was awesome though.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing 15 years or so. Not a guitar-god, but I do alright and have owned lots of different tube amps. I tried the line 6 stuff and cyber twin. In fact, I was going to buy them all one at a time for a month from GC to give them a real try out and keep the best one. (GC said that was fine with them!) Tried a flextone--it sucked ass. Tried a POD--even through the power tube section of my twin it sucked ass. As soon as I plugged this VOX baby in at home and cranked it, I knew what I had. I give it a 10 for me, but if I were constantly gigging or doing studio work I might look elsewhere.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/17/2002 18:16

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: 2
This is an update from a review on did on this amp back on 6/26/02. Funny. I only had the amp for a few weeks longer and it stopped working properly. Of course, this was past the 90 day warranty from Guitar Center so it required a ship back to Korg/USA. Besides the reliability, which I won't rehash, the real letdown is Korg/USA has had this since 8/8/02 and it's still not repaired, replaced etc.

On a minor sidebar, I think digital modeling amps are going the way of computers. They're disposable and not meant to last for a long time. Worse, unlike computers, there are really no "technicians" to fix them. There are no standards for the modeling technology therefore everyone has to learn the thing new from the outset. This is where tube amps kick ass. Simple, known, and tons of local talent to fix them.

Back to Vox, or should I say Korg/USA. This has been the most painful product purchase I've ever had. I have been able to get zero feedback as to where my amp is in the queue and when they estimate it will be done. I've received the standard 6-8 weeks (which I'm past now) and the "we fix them as they come through" but when pressing for some sense of when they're going to be done, I get hemming and hawing or plain-old general incompetence. The only reason that I give a 2 is that one person is at least now trying to follow this and she has called me back. However, she can't even get response from her own internal people.

So, buyer beware. This amp sounds nice, but it is an overseas model and has extremely poor turnaround through it's US distributor for repair. Top that off with questionable service and you're better off buying Line6 or Fender for digital modeling, if that's your route.

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Matt Martin at 10/10/2002 15:21

Price Paid: US $699.00

Features: 8
No sense in covering specs. I dinged the rating because of no MIDI which seems like a significant omission nowadays.

Sound Quality: 5
This may or may not be a reflection on the amp, but I couldn't find a whole lot of usable sounds from the presets. BTST, I play with a more 'clean' tone and the amp appears to be oriented towards LOUD tones.

I also didn't like the reverbs and the delay was so-so. I ran a Line6 Echo Pro through the effects loop and liked the sounds much better.

Also, someone else mentioned that the amp wasn't loud. I have to disagree. This amp is LOUD for a 60 watter. I played it mostly on 15 watts (and sometimes on 1 watt). However, I'm just using it in my home studio.

Reliability: 8
I bought the amp new but it looked used. The back of the amp had a TON of (what looked like) wood dust in it. I'm assuming it was from the factory. Very poor presentation.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I REALLY wanted to love this amp. I got sucked in by the Promotional CD (which is VERY good). But, I was very disappointed with the sound. BTST, I also have a Fender CyberTwin. I think the CT is a better amp (of course it COSTS twice as much, has twin speakers, etc.) so maybe the comparison is invalid. I ended up returning the amp and exchanging it for a Roland VG-88.

The Vox AC emulations were particularly disappointing. Jangly? No way.
I often wondered whether the amp was a dud. Maybe I should have returned it for another one.

The effects pedal emulations were also disappointing. I did like the simplicity of the amp. It is easy to operate.

I've owned many modelling amps in the past couple of years (Line6 Flextone, Roland VGA-7, Rocktron Replitone, Fender Cybertwin, Line6 ProPod, Johnson J-station, Roland VG-8ex). When I was shopping around for my last one, I wanted a Vox but they were just coming out and were hard to locate. After much research, I opted for the Cybertwin, a decision which I am still pleased with. I thought the Vox would have been a nice complement to the CT. It really did sound a lot better with a decent delay (or a reverb) in the effects loop and I hesitated to return it so don't be put off my my criticisms. I don't want to be overly harsh on the amp, because for someone, the amp will probably be absolutely perfect.

Me? I've been playing guitar for over 35 years. I mostly do improvisational stuff now using a looping device for background tracks. Rocky, ambient, jazzy, et al.

Submitted by Butch at 09/24/2002 20:07

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
The other reviews covered all the features, so I won't go into a complete list. It's a 2002 model, 1 Celestion 12 inch speaker, 60 watts. There is a selector switch to vary the output, with 1, 15, 30, and 60 watt options. Line out jack has a level control. Headphone out, effects loop. Features stompboxes, a "virtual preamp" section with modulation, delay, and reverb, a preamp section with many amp models, 3 band eq, gain and volume controls. Power section has master volume and prescence. All knobs are programmable except for master volume. Noise reduction is also present. Typical vox AC-30 type look cosmetically speaking. What makes this different from other "modeling" amps is the lack of "menus," which make editing presets a hassle. Here, everything is easy, with vintage-style knobs, and simple push-buttons. There are 2 inputs, high and low, with varying sensitivity. There is an option for an extention cabinet, although Vox isn't going to release a 1x12 cabinet, any 8 ohm cabinet can work. One tube is present in the preamp section.

I use this amp in my home studio, for playing and recording, as well as in my live band. I do wish that I had bought the more powerful 2x12 AD120, because I do have to push the amp to keep up in terms of volume. However, once I get an extention cab that should help some. But the tone coming from this amp more than makes up for this, and hey, 60 watts isn't really enough for a live band...but miking the amp can solve that in a club situation!

Sound Quality: 10
My main guitars I use with this amp are a gretsch electromatic, a fender standard strat, and an ovation celebrity. I also use a few pedals occasionally with the amp, but I just picked up the optional VC-4 pedal board, so now I may stop using outboard effects. I play alternative rock, as influenced by the bands of the early '90s, as well as '80s new wave. This amp serves my style perfectly, because of the unbelievable sonic variety it offers. I waited 3 months before writing this review, so I could review it fairly.

There are so many different sounds you can achieve with this, it's hard to really even describe it. Onboard noise reduction helps the hiss on the high-gain amp models.

In its price range, and especially when compared to similar modeling amps, nothing else comes close in terms of sounds. This amp just seems to "breathe," and I've never particularly been a "tube" person, but this amp is the perfect balance of tube warmth and digital processing.

Reliability: 9
I must say, after reading reviews of this amp on this site, I was worried. I did notice that many of the people who had reliability issues bought their amps via mail order. I got mine from Guitar Center, and I made sure they got me a brand new one - I was there when they opened the box. And after a few months of daily use, I haven't had any problems. I'm still very careful, but as time is passing, I'm becoming more confident.

Customer Support: 9
I don't know about Vox's official customer service, but, (And this is a tip for others who need help), if you go to http://www.voxtalks.com, and go to the message board, Mitch Colby, one of the developers of this amp regularly visits. He personally addressed any questions I had about my new purchase. And honestly, when's the last time you talked to one of the designers of your last piece of gear? It's nice to know he's there.

Overall Rating: 10
I think I've already covered everything...but in conclusion, I've got to say I love this amp. Just got the VC-4 footpedal and now the possibilities have been expanded even more. I do wish the pedal was a bit larger, since the switches are too close together, but it's still very useable.

Don't believe the hype! This is a GREAT amplifier! I've never spent this much on a single piece of gear before, but I'm glad I did.

Submitted by Joey at 09/13/2002 06:00

Price Paid: US $600.00

Features: 10
This amp is a new 2002 model year. It's a modeling amp based off a real changing circut (class A or A/B and feedback loop) with a 12AX7.
It has all the bells and whistels of a modern amp i.e. Headphone Jack, Variable Out, Effects Loop (no mix knob). The models are great! Although I think there are too many Vox models, they all have a nice charecter to them. You won't run out of amp voices! All 16 have a reason to exsist. And to make them more versital you have a 'Stomp Box' section which has three distortions and other tone tools. After the pre-amp section there is a modulation section with chrous, flanger, phaser and a rotating speaker effect. This is followed by a echo/delay section with three delay types (the multi-tap is great!) and finally a reverb section with three flavors as well. The model does have an optional foot controler. I opted not to purchase it hoping for an improved one to come out. I'm more of a knob tweaker and that is where this amp excels. Everything is pretty interactive on the fly.

Sound Quality: 9
I play Tele's, which can be subtle at times. The amp, depending on the mode selected, is pretty transparent. In the '70 UK settings I can nail an early Stones sound. I play a heavy rythem sound and go into syrupy experimental sounds ala Radiohead and U2. I typically need a nice cutting brit-pop sound for the band I play in. In the context of a drummer and a bass player pushing 300 Tube watts in a completly dead, the Valvetronix is NOT LOUD ENOUGH. But in a softer vocals, soft drummer and acouticly live setting the 60 solid state watts will keep up. This amp is not as loud as an AC30. Because I love the sounds and the integration of this amp, I am looking into ways of slaving it to another amp and cabinant to push more air. With the varivle line out this should be fairly easy. I just have to find a power amp that will carry over the color of the amp models without killing my tone.

As far as the sounds themselves; the Vox AC30 is great, especially when coupled with the Treble Boost. The AC30TB model never stays completely clean, so it's more for crunch. The AC15 is very, um, round. My favorite model next to the AC30 would be the UK Blues (Marshal Bluesbreaker KT88 equipped). The Fender Twin sound is a little off, but you can dial it in. Tweed Bassman fans should be satisfied with the setting on this amp, although I would opt for the UK Blues setting for sheer balls. The '70s UK Marshal sound is also one I use alot more than I would have thought. I actually like it clean to a little crunchy. Again, great early Stones sound with a Tele bridge pickup. The compressed jangle of the Vox is what I was after with this amp. I am pleasantly satisfied with it too. I rarley venture twoards the higher gain models. The Mesa Boogie setting (Califonia) is great for that Soundgarden crunch. I like the bight and presence of the '90s UK setting. Korg did a great job mimicing the dynamics of these amps. Nearly all of the effects are usable/good to very good. I like the Tubescreamer model and the auto wah, which has a sensitivity control. The Echo is an important effect for me. The delay section on the amp has a tap button to cue up the right delay time. Although it never can be pushed into infinant feedback, it can be mixed to a syrupy mush. The multi-tap and analog (decaying) modes are soft and musical, althoug they do sound a bit imitation. Regardless, even a tone snob will at least consider these delay sounds acceptable. All in all, the Valvetronix is the best all-in-one tone pallette I have experienced. I think it can be tweaked a bit, but should be perfect for a studio amp for those trying to nail multiple pop sounds. For live aplication, you may have to consider slaving it to get more volume. I don't think the larger 120 2x12 is the answer to that either. Also, if you do intend to use it for recording, consider a speaker swap. There are some mid-highs a missing, and I really don't think it's the amp, and it's certainly not the Tele! I am gonna go for a Jensen C12, I'll report the findings.

Reliability: N/A
So far it's been completly fine. The build is not the most impressive quality about it, although cosmeticly it looks awsome. I'm not sure it could take careless road abuse. I would use a travel case like you would with any vintage amp. It's not a Boogie or a Matchless, but it's not a Silvertone either!

Customer Support: N/A
Have not needed it yet. The Websites are great though.

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing the Valvetronix for nearly six months now. As my band comes together, the more I realize that it does not have the firepower in volume that I will need. But the sounds are there! Classic pop sounds abound, and people notice it! I tried a lot of Line 6 stuff and various AC30 knock offs as well as some of the more pregressive stuff. I really liked The VHT Pitbull, and it came darn close in amp tone versitilty, maybe even excelling in new sounds. But when prince entered the equation, there was no equal. If something happened to mine, I would consider the VHT or the Valvetronix 120. The Line 6 stuff is not even close until (maybe) you get into the Vetta, which is too many bone$ if you ask me! I do hope Vox considers making a head version, maybe a 300 watt (not that much in solid state terms!) version too. In the end, when you measure this in tone, you would get a 10. The amp does need some improvments to make it a truley pro amp. But I create music, and this is a great tool to do it with.

Submitted by Micaiah at 09/12/2002 15:52

Price Paid: US $699 +tax

Features: 10
2002 AD60VT. More than versatile for my needs.I play mainly Blues & Jazz & rootsy type rock at moderate volume levels.I don't use the effects loop; headphone jack is ok, but I'm not comfortable w/ headphones for more than 15 min. So far ,I've only used the amp at living room levels; definitely not a full test for an amp, but still it tells a lot.

Sound Quality: 10
Sounds very good (at living room levels), but I've heard; like a tube amp more of it's "character" comes out at louder volumes. I use a custom style Strat w/ Seymour Duncan Classic Stack pick-ups (great- very versatile pick-ups). Of the available amps in the AD60VT I only use the Tweed 1X12,Tweed 4X10,AC30TB and the Boutiqe Clean. Only 4 out of the 16! But 4 sounds are all I need and it's already 3 more than any tube amp I own, cuz even a two channel amp (clean & dist.) is still only one sound to me! If I add distortion to the 4 sounds of my Valvetronics that would make 8! On a scale of 1 thru 10 (1 is clean, 10 is distorted), then I would say that all of my sounds are 1 thru 3 and MAYBE 4 sometimes. I always want all of my notes to be heard, even on fairly complex chords so maybe this info isn't applicable to a lot of you distorto-wankers out there. Different Strokes... Although my thoughts immediately turned to up-grading the speaker & 1 tube; after researching this and REALLY listening with an open mind, I came to the conclusion that the stock speaker sounds fine(and will even improve some as it wears in) ditto w/ the tube. Too many times we gear-heads are always thinking the grass is greener on the other side! Leave the speaker & tube alone- get the sounds you really like (ONLY the ones you really like, cuz the ones you're luke warm with are just a waste of time)-AND PLAY!! If possible- go strait from your guitar DIRECTLY into the amps input. WHAT BEAUTIFUL UN-CLUTTERED TONE! I was using a Boss CS2 and a Boss Blues-Driver in front of the amp but finally put them aside. Ahhh, simplicity. A slight lack of headroom from this amp, but thats not unlike a tube amp! Also with a hard picking attack with a bright SLIGHTLY distorted tone there still is that split second of white noise that seems a little worse on all solid state stuff compared to tube stuff. Hey, nothing is perfect. One very important note- Does it sound exactly like the amps its emulating? NO. Do I care?- NO. Why?? Because I dont give a rats ass if I can sound exactly like some sound that exists somewhere else! All I want is something that SOUNDS GREAT. And if it has a slightly original sound then thats even better to me!!! Right? Right! Lastly, have all those tube-purists (can most of them really play?, or do they just "talk shop") take a blindfold test, then lets see where the AD60VT stands!

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: 1
I emailed them 3 times from they're own website and so far they have TOTALLY ignored me! I feel bad that they made a profit from me and I'll feel free to bad- mouth them whenever possibly can. My basic theory applies: the larger the company (corporation) the worse the customer support!

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing 30 years.I've played fenders, Rivera, Peavey, Trace Elliott...with the right tweakage and the proper time for the speaker to break in I believe AD60VT amp can sound as good as my tube amps (for clean & slightly dist. sounds) PLUS the versatility makes this amp an incredible amp for Blues and/or Jazz. Again: do the blindfold test. For my purposes, this amp is for me. It's still a little new and I need some rehearsal and gig volume to feel comfortable to give it a 10 in this category.

Submitted by Kurt at 08/29/2002 16:29

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
See Below.

Sound Quality: 1
OK, here goes. Folks, here's the real poop on this amp. Live.......it absolutely, unquestionably.........SUCKS! I picked one of these up, fully intending to use it for recording/home use. But, like any new peice of gear, I was dying to see just how well it would serve me in the band. I play lead/ryhthm in a "roots/alt" band. We are a gigging, good sounding well-rehearsed band, with many years of collective tone-seeking experience under our belts. It's a two guitar band. The lead singer primarily plays relatively cleanish (T. Petty type tone) rhythm through an AC15, and I handle the dirt and lead through a Fender Deluxe Reverb, driven with some carefully chosen stomp-boxes. I brought the Vox AD60 in after dialing some tones at home. I was primarily utilizing the AC30 patch, and the Fender Twin 2x12 patch. It wasn't really "wowing" me at home, but the worst was yet to come. All I can say is, this thing completely fell on its face in a low volume rehearsal!! At rehersal volumes (we are not that loud either)running the master at about 1/2, thin sounding, fizzy garbage was what eminated out of the amp. No punch, no bottom, horrible mids, and a very harsh tone over-all. It could not hold a candle to the Deluxe in responsiveness, presence,......awww shit......nothing! It was a joke!! It never "entered" the mix.....at all!
The band looked at me with a" sorry dude, that thing blows.....can ya please plug back in your real amp" look on their faces. But, bein the good bunch of guys they are, they just let me give it a proper trial. I really gave it a whirl too. Did some tweaking on the fly.......no help. The amp bassically when pushed just a bit, creates this tinny sounding, fizz regardless of what amp it is tring to "emulate". I tell ya, I think Korg greased a few palms to get this thing the reviews it has gotten, because beleive me folks, it AINT what it is reported to be. Maybe at bedroom volumes, but that's about it. And who made the choices on the amps? There are at least 4 that are useless, or redundant. I had to use a Flextone II at an out of state gig last year, and let me tell you, it really sounded better than this Vox. It wasn't great, but it was somewhat beleivable in a live mix, and it was the 60 watt 1x12, so it's a fair comparison. This thing, I wouldn't DREAM of using it, even a back-up to my tube amps. Folks, this is a fancy "toy". I'm sorry. Maybe the 100 watt 2x12 would fair better, but I gotta tell ya, I doubt it. I saw the writing on the wall w/ this 1x12. The amp not only lacked head-room, it lacked TONE. I am NOT anti-digital/modeling.....whatever. Not at all. I am however, anti-bullshit hype. This amp is WAY over-rated. (Oh, and the speaker did suck as well, probably adding to the amps inherent weaknesses) Buy one, and plug it in with tube-amp playin band.....you'll see.

Reliability: N/A
seemed like a cheaply made amp, but I am not sure. Did'nt like the glued together particle board cab at all.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 4
I'll give it a 4. It could be usefull for recording, but for a lot less, you could get a POD, and I think it would work as well if not better. Again, this is just not what it is reported to be. I have to beleive that the folks who bought this, are either A) non-working players, who play at home, or B) feeling that they need to justify there own "mistake" in buying this toy. I think there will soon be a TON of these floating around......slightly used!! Mine went packing two days afetr its arrival. YUCK.

Submitted by B. Harris at 08/16/2002 06:05

Price Paid: US $600

Features: 9
The features of this amp, I believe are amazing. 16 different amp models, from sparkling clean to hot-rodded and everything imbetween. Theres just about everything you could ask for, I just wish that the Wah pedal could be used coupled with another "pedal" effect, other than that, you can couple the Wah with Chorus with Tape Echo Delay and then finish it off with some tight spring reverb. Nice.

Sound Quality: 8
I play this through my American Stratocaster and my old Ibanez RG series. I'm a big fan of what this amp does. It accurately recreates all of the amp sounds it has, with the exception of the UK 70's, i believe its a bit low on drive, but hey, I never plugged into a Marshall 1959. The effects sound a bit cheesy on the modulation part, but, the tremolo and chorus sound just fine. The tape echo, sounds a bit fake, but I'm pretty sure it'd take a couple of listen-throughs on tape to really hear it jump out at you. I like it in this configuration. I can switch from ska, to hair metal, to country. (And, in my music, I often do.)

Reliability: 10
Hasn't done anything gay yet. I wouldn't recommend putting a high decibel boost into the input though, after all, it IS digital.

Customer Support: 9
Um.... They sold me the amp, thats cool. I think they built it so you wouldn't have to send it back in. I sure hope so, because I don't think I would ever wanna crack this thing open.

Overall Rating: 10
Sounds BEAUTIFUL.

Submitted by dave at 08/12/2002 01:43

Price Paid: US $635

Features: 9
2002 Vox Valvetronix. 1 x 60 watts speaker modeling amplifier. More than enough power at 60 watts rated for small gigs and home use
Solid State with a 12AX7 circuit

Sound Quality: 9
I play classic rock, and luv southern rock, or "southern Blues" thru my Les Paul with SD Antiquities. Great Sound. The "fenderesque" settings are wonderful clean, and the acoustic, although not a home run is at least a triple. If you spend the time learning how to program the beast, you dont need a pedalboard, tuner, and maybe just a wah. The wah setting, other than auto wah, is pretty useless EXCEPT to cut tone for classic southern rock.

Reliability: N/A
I dont know. Have it a month, no problem, but SAM ASH was great about it. Korg/vox is giving a five year warrenty and using a mastercard helps, BUT, my biggest fear upon purchase was the reliability issue. Still no judgement on that yet.

Customer Support: N/A
5 year warrenty, and had a great salesperson, Chris at the Brooklyn New York Sam Ash. My son must have spend two hours fiddling with amps until he felt that the VOX gave him his sound. And isnt that what it is all about??

Overall Rating: 8
I have played for twenty years and my son for four. He is better than me [scarry] but he has all of dads good equipment to use. Sold a marshall 4210 on ebay to finance this purchase [hated the marshall], and feel that it will cover all of the bases. Would a decent pedalboard at a fair price have been better, YES. Would I like to see better reliability from VOX and Korg, yes, but have not had a problem yet. Funny, have a twenty year old vox wah that cannot be hurt,and yet read review on this amp and was VERY concerned. The sounds are great. Are they perfect??? do they nail every amp model. Absolutley NOT. BUT: spend time to learn how to work the amp, spend time programing in YOUR tone and you have a great amp. Any working musician will tell you that even on a twenty song gig, you do not use more than three or four different sound. If you program those four into your amp prior to a gig, and do it right, and spend the time to do it right, then you have a winner.
Compared it to the cybertwin [too costly, to big], the line 6's [horrible repair record and the salesperson begged me not to buy it] the Marshall avt[ marshall sound was great,as it should have been, but the rest stunk], and felt that value was with the vox.

If stolen, I will have insurance. Will I buy another one, I will tell you in three months.
What would be nice if VOX had a website for presets for sound for this amp, would be a nice touch.

Submitted by Jeff Krantz at 08/10/2002 12:19

Price Paid: US $570

Features: 7
Same features as listed below. If you are reading this, you know what it can, and cannot do. If not, see the numerous descriptions below. They do a fine job at laying out the detials. I'll skip to the important stuff......the sounds this thing makes.

Sound Quality: 7
Well. I have been a die hard tube-amp user for about 27 years now. Consider myself to be quite the tone-smith. I play rock/alt. country, and mainly use Telecasters. I bought this amp merely based on the hype it's received, and one player recommendation. Am I dissapointed? Well, not entirely, but I have found fault with this amp, and I aint just talking about the somewhat cheesy build quality.
BTW, I should mention, that for a short stint I had a Flextone II, which in hindsight, was not as bad of an amp as I thought it was.
The Vox right off, regardless of the amp and EQ, has what ALL of these "modelers" have........a very weird upper midrange that is virtually impossible to fatten up. It took me all of three minutes with this amp to determine that the stock speaker (bassically a cheaply made, inferior sounding Celestion) was greatly adding to the "frappy/sizzly" sounding mids. Since I had an 8ohm Vintage 30, as well as a Jensen C12N, (great speaker for the $$) and swapping a speaker on this takes all of two minutes (NO chasis dissasembly required), I started swapping away! I began w/ the V30. Better, but not great. Still a bit harsh on the mids. Bummer. Now the Jensen........MUCH improved. I find this funny. Funny that an amp that mostly replicates "British" amps (most of which I have owned first hand), does not seem to "get along" sonically with "British-voiced" speakers. The Celestions just addded to the amps inherent "pinched" sound. The Jensen, (a mere $40 speaker), sounds much fuller, more open, more defined lows, and has a slightly relaxed mid-range that lets the AC15/30 settings breathe a bit more. Vox/Korg really didn't do their homework on this speaker. I'm sorry. They slapped what they thought every kid out there would want to see in this amp, and it doesn't do the amp justice. The amp tones? Well, simply put.....some really shine, some really BLOW! The AC15/30 settings, are convincing, and I was able to dial some nice tones. The Tweed 1x12 is cool as well. I was VERY dissapointed in the Fender 2x12 (Twin) setting. YUCK! The Marshall settings are useable. Not surprising that the Brit settings excel. However, there is another quirky thing about this amp. (well, there are many actually) The amp settings that are "intended" to be "clean" settings, ie: the Fender 2x12(Twin), and "boutique clean" DO NOT take a drive tone at all. They get harsh and ugly real fast. Hey, I have gotten a Black-Face twin to scream with a Tubescreamer as well as a Rat, so what gives?? It's as if, they modeled a clean amp, and the parameters will not accept over-drive, and what you end up with is being FORCED into using these settings clean.......period! That sucks. My fav setting on the Flextone was the Black-face Deluxe Reverb, as filthy as I could get it. No such luck here folks. If you like that snarly Fender grit, the only flavor here is the Tweed, and it rocks, but it aint Black-Face tone. The amp is plenty loud in my book, and I love the variable power settings. VERY cool. Over-all, it's a nice sounding amp, although it does require some careful tweeks. And, if I hadn't had the Jensen to swap in, I really would have been bummed. IMO, the speaker is that shitty. It's on par with the speakers they use in all their "budget" peices. Crappola. I agree with several reveiwers who feel that this amp kinda misses the mark, merely because of Korg's cost-cutting measures, not because of tones available. It's useable for sure. Will it replace my tube amps at my gigs??........I would be surprised if it did. Will it serve as a great around the house/recording tool.....yes, for sure.

Reliability: 8
Well, mine was shipped twice, the box was pretty beat-up, and had a hole in it, the cab had a good dent in it, and still, it works perfectly fine. Every screw in the amp was loose when I got it, I mean REAL loose! I tightened them all down. The amp is a bit cheesy, but to be honest, it aint all that bad, just different. Yes, it's particle board, but the cab's dimensions help alleviate the materials. It's more the size of an original AC15, which is cool. I have a re-issue, and the cab is too small, resulting in a boxy, kinda flat tone. (and that's birch ply) I have no rattles, and no "sloppy" build issues to report. It's not a tank, but I see no worse costruction here than the Line 6 stuff, and frankly, it looks better.
I wasn't expecting a Hi-Watt, or Matchless construction for $570!! So, I am not dissapointed.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know. Hope I never do.

Overall Rating: 7
I did not buy the pedal. Won't need it. I have a mere 4 settings that I use, and a very good lead boost, that Thank goodness, the amp takes very well. I am a set-it, and play, kind of guy anyway. Just ride the volume on my Tele, and that's it. Would I recommend this amp to a friend? Probably not. I am NOT sorry I bought it, because for what I bought it for.....it will do fine. However, once again, the "modeling" thing falls a bit short for me. I still get more satisfaction, as a "gigging" musician, in plugging into my tube amps and just letting them rip. This is a cool amp, but it could have been cooler. Useable Black-Face tones would have been nice, the Non-Top-Boosted AC15/30 seettings are rather lack-luster, and could have been replaced, and the speaker........well, I have gone on about that already.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/06/2002 06:05

Price Paid: US $670 no tax

Features: 10
They've all been listed before so there's no reason to recap.

Sound Quality: 9
I love the tones. I do mostly hard disk recording at my house and the amp is perfect for this type of work load. It has a several really useful and convincing models. It's my only amp and does everything I need it to do. I have noticed some rolling bassiness that is a bit irritating, but it could be the way I am dialing the tone.
I use a GnL strat with standard pickups. I play mostly modern rock type stuff.

The best thing about this amp is the tones.

Reliability: N/A
I've had the thing for about a week, and everything is fine so far.

The little "Valvetronix" logo fell off 10 minutes after I took it out of the box. I hope that's not a sign of things to come. I was probably going to take it off anyway just to confuse people in the audience. You know to make them wonder how the hell I was getting all the tones. :)

Also, I didn't even buy one of those cheap-ass foot pedals. I'm hoping they'll upgrade in the near future. In the mean time I dial the tones in an old-school fashion. MEMORY and speed.

Customer Support: N/A
No need to call them yet.

Overall Rating: 9
So far I am really pleased with this amp. I could never really afford all the amps I need to use for recording. So this is a perfect match for me.

Submitted by tye at 08/05/2002 15:56

Price Paid: US $679

Features: 7
2002 model bought at a local dealer. The individual features have already been detailed in other reviews. I play covers doing material from the 70's on up and the Vox easily handles all the Rock, Pop, Metal, and Blues I'd ever do. The effects sound quality ranges from okay to very good; Chorus – OK, Delay - very good. Pedal parameter settings are compromised and not optimal, e.g., you may want to tweak the tone of an overdrive pedal but can't. Patches can only be set manually; strongly suggest you make a written record of your favorites. The presets on the amp demonstrate what kinds of sounds you can get but I didn't find them that useful for the music I do.

Having better real time control of the effects, banks, and channels would be my first wish for an improvement. The reviews of the floor pedal are brutal; you can download the manual and make up your own mind. Being able to run multiple pedals at once, or even if the compressor was in it's own section would my next change.

Sound Quality: 9
The convincing sound and feel of the Vox is the number one reason to buy it. I mean, I'm a tube guy and it's just not right that a hybrid amp can sag, sing, sustain, sparkle, and growl like this for what it costs.

Great quality and variety of amp choices. I don’t know if they nail the originals because I haven’t owned most of them but they sound convincing. Perfect for a cover guitarist and offers more useful effects than I would ever carry around with me. It’s loud enough for me although I understand sonic tastes vary. If I need something louder than this, with an extension cab, then I’m probably playing in the wrong band. I think you can dial in punishing distortion. I haven't pushed the clean settings to test the headroom. It doesn’t disguise the identity of your guitar. A Tele sounds like a Tele, a 355 like a 355.

The higain models are noisy, and the manual tells you they will be. On board noise reduction offers some help. I get intermittent crackling using higain models; not while playing, but when not playing. The output level of the Fender models is weak. The sound quality is good but the output is noticeably weaker.

The Boutique clean, UK Blues, US higain, and Vox models are my favorites, but I like them all. The delay section is really thick and rich in my opinion. The Chorus lacks depth and the Rotary sounds like an impostor. The individual pedals range from OK, Acoustic, to very good, UniVibe.

I have to give this a 9 for the tube amp sound and feel across all the models and effects that I think are above average like the Delay and UniVibe.

I use Fender, G&L, and Gibson guitars with stock pickups and Fender and MusicMan amps.

Reliability: N/A
No problems yet. The worst thing I've noticed is sloppy caulking inside the speaker enclosure. I've used this for bedroom and basement practice and at small gigs. I haven't pushed it yet. My gut reaction is that if I would start using it full out I'd be sure to have a backup rig with me. I base this on the model being fairly new, that pesty crackling I get on the higain models, and the other reviews.

I'm not going to offer a rating until I have pushed the amp at longer and louder gigs.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't needed to use customer support yet. Funny though, the manual is full of spelling and grammar errors. I hope that's not a sign of overall neglect and attention to detail.

I can't offer a rating until I use them.

Overall Rating: 8
I've played for 30 years with Fender and Gibson guitars going through Fender and MusicMan amps. I've owned the Vox for 5 months. As a cover guitarist I've always had to spend a lot of energy getting the tones of all the different bands and styles of music we did. I hope this amp will make that job easier, be more convincing for the listener, and cut down on the amount of gear I have to lug around.

I understand why some reviewers dislike the floor pedal. But if I
compare the Vox set up to my vintage rig the Vox is still more versatile. As one reviewer offers, bring along a couple of your favorite pedals to fill in the gaps. Even though there are some design decisions I would have made differently, the amp is straight forward to operate, light, and easy to move.

I originally purchased this for bedroom and full band basement practice and jams but I’m considering making it my main rig (by including a 2X12 extension cab). It sounds amazing, feels good and can cover the four decades of rock music in all the various styles I play.

Maybe a Vetta or Zen Terra would be more flexible and full featured but I wasn’t willing to spend that kind of money. The Vox is fun to play and if they can ensure the quality and improve it's functionality it'll be around for a long time.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/04/2002 09:06

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 5
I have just spent about three hours in the glass cubicle at my local guitar center. And did not buy valvetronix combo..I wanted to write this as a concern to all those considering. I have played Johnson, line 6, POD, etc. I am very familiar with modeling amps..What is disturbing is this is so close!!!! It hits sounds closer than other modelers most importantly in how the feeling of tube compression is felt when your playing (I think that is very important for expressive playing) It has more of a Johnson JM-60 panel but works way better...The models are great, the effects are cleaner, the phaser only phases your guitar not the not a bunch of hum and noise!!! It does hit a AC-30 sound and also has an AC-15 which is better. The boutique clean is just great!!! PRoblem is the foot pedal mode!!!!! NOT GOOD see below...

Sound Quality: 5
Sounds are good if I wanted to play every thing in the world this could do it..Problem again in foot pedal mode see below

Reliability: 1
Here we go!!! I tried five different ones in the store and all five did the same thing.. I have read other reviews and I may know where this crackle is!!! It is in the foot pedal mode..when you are using this mode..It sends crackle noises through the amp...bad bad do I want to record with it?? no Do I want to play live with it? no It is to bad..I would have bought one.. But I record alot in various studios and these people are on the clock..nothing pisses them off more than losing a track to some disturbing unwanted noise..VOX take out the foot pedal feature and I will buy one..Or fix it!!! I don't think I would need it anyway...

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know did not buy it..those of you with 90 day warranties act fast...

Overall Rating: N/A
Crackle noises unnacceptable at any price period..we as musicains need to stop throwing our money away at untested technology..STop spending advertising money and research you &*(&(*)ing products!!!! This goes out to all manufacturers..

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/20/2002 09:54

Price Paid: US $650

Features: 8
Only owned for 5 days, but this thing's pretty amazing. I probably would have given it a higher rating, but the footpedal is horrible. The amp advertises 32 presets, yet the footpedal only allows you to access 16 of them at any one time. Plus, the function of going from bank 1 to bank 2 is lame. YOu have to hold down one button for > 1 second before you can switch. Just how much trouble could it have been to set this thing up with midi?

Other than that, this thing sounds quite amazing. I love the fact that I can hit my open low E string and not be buried in a mess of distorted garbage.

I probably would have liked the 2x12 more, but it was quite heavy.

Sound Quality: 10
Using an old Steinberger GL-3. The amp sounds great with this. I was completely freaked-out by the "Unplugged" setting. I've never been able to dial an amp in with a sound that comes this close to an acoustic guitar.

This is far better than my previous rig of a power-amp, ADA preamp, digital reverb, and marshall cabinet.

Reliability: N/A
Too Soon To Tell.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
Been playing for 32 years. I'd be totally interested in hearing about how other players have tweaked this amp with their own settings. It's still very new to me, so I haven't done much more than use the factory installed presets.

Submitted by Paul Keller at 07/18/2002 11:35

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 10
you all know the features from the other reviews. I bought mine new from guitar center. The amp is extremely versatile and can accompany a plethora of tastes. I used the amp in my studio which I believe it works best given its variety of sounds. The amp is fairly loud, probably would need the 2-12" for playing gigs though as I'll explain later, this amp should not leave the confines of your house (unless your'e returning it to guitar center!!) I used the plexi amp the most as well as the botique clean which I believe may be a dumble.

Sound Quality: 9
I was highly impressed by the sounds this amp produces, especially the plexi, ac-30 and botique clean. I can nail the zep tone as well as the crowes and SRV with the botique sound. The trmelo is decent. The chorus I did not prefer (though most i dont). The octave is very typical (sounds good). The univibe is your run-of-the-mill univibe. The tube distortion is pretty good and actually i found that it sound a bit nicer than my fulltone fulldrive 2 run through the amp. Both my fulltone pedal sound great no matter where you put them except in front of this amp (who knows why?). I will say this amp sounds very tube (I even replaced the 12ax7. It crushes line 6 and fender cyber twin. Amp is a very neat concept, one that i would suggest you read the manual to really appreciate what it can do

Reliability: 2
VERY VERY VERY dissapointed. I went through three of these amps before I gave up on them. I used mine only in a studio, and received all three from guitar center. The first, I left on for several hours and it crapped out when I returned to play it (no sound from the high input, could have been my fault but I've never had this problem with other standard tube amps) The second was crumbling in sound from the minute I turned it on. The third seemed like it was going to make it and then I high a c-note (not that loud either), and it crumbled. I am absultely through with these amps. Despite that they sound good, they are made like crap. VOX and Korg should know better cause I've used stuff from both companies that has been fairly high quality and dependable.

Customer Support: N/A
I will say that I have had to use korg's tech support in the past and they've been nothing but helpful. I have no experience with regard to this vox product.

Overall Rating: 4
The sounds I give a 9 but the reliabilty brings the amps rating down cause you have to worry so much about it failing that it truly is not worth the hassle. I've been playing for about 16 years. I myself play blues rock (black crowes type stuff). I use a clapton strat, es-335, 1987 jap strat and a les paul deluxe 1977. I use fulltone guitar effects including the fulldrive 2 and the '69 pedal. As stated, I'm done with this amp and eventually settled for the fender vibrolux (nice rock-n-roll amp). The tremolo on the fender is 100x better but the reverb on the vox is fantastic and very flexible. All in all, I think I can honestly say that you should really think twice before purchasing this product. VOX needs a good Q&A inspection because despite the nice tone (truly), the reliabilty makes it worthless.

Submitted by blake at 07/12/2002 07:34

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
Just a quick note: regarding the bassiness mentioned in the previous review, and with which I agree (and so did Guitar Player mag) - there's been comments on other user boards about changing the power amp tube(s). Those who've done it seem to agree the factory-supplied 12AX7 is the worst. I guess it's not easy to get to but since I have some leftover tubes here from my old Fenders I'll give it a shot soon.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by QE IV at 06/26/2002 17:29

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 8
The amp design and layout is excellent in my opinion. This amp was clearly targeted at those who wanted to get a lot of tones but were not interested in the complications of MIDI or spending countless hours trying to coax a good tone through computer editing. The nice thing as well is that it has an effects loop, headphone jack, and line out so it has covered the main bases for added versatility.

The foot pedal would be fine except for two things. It does look like a little toy and is somewhat cheesy. Two, it is way too expensive for what it is. Other than that, I actually prefer the simpler pedal design it offers. I also use an actual wah if I need that sound because I've yet to see any of these modeling amps have pedals on their footboards that had really good feel.

Power is a bit of an issue. It's tough to get clean tones that cut through unless you jump the volume and master volume, which adds a some grit. That's OK for me, but it may be an issue for some others.

Sound Quality: 8
I play a Les Paul Classic with SD Antiquity pickups. I also play a 2002 Am Std Strat with stock pickups (I'm waiting on my Bill Lawrence pu's). I play mostly a combination of classic rock, blues, pop rock, and some punk stuff. The amp helps me get a wide variety of useable tones.

I have owned tube amps in the past, most recently the Reverend Hellhound. I've also used a Johnson Millenium 150 which was a pioneering digital modeling amp. I think this amp really excels at the in-between British distortions and British sounds. They are very punchy and have a lot of character. The American models are OK, but they don't sound as good as the US setting did on my Hellhound. The high-gain distortions are very serviceable. As I mentioned before, the cleans have to be slightly gritty to punch through in a small jam band situation. Most of the effects work just fine. If you're an effects freak, then I think you may find the the quality lacking a little. For me, it works just fine as I don't use them much anyway. The modulations can be a little noisy and don't have a great range before they sound like crap.

As others have noted, the amp can get noisy with higher gain settings or fully boosted EQ. It's not too bad, but it is noticeable.

Reliability: 5
Here is where I have some concern. At first, I was issues a bum foot pedal that had a little broken plastic piece on one of the pedals. Cheap!!! I have also had times where the amp powers up but doesn't produce sound (it just happened in a rehearsal this past weekend). All of a sudden, after turning it off and on, it works. I haven't been able to narrow it down as to what the cause is yet.

The amp is constructed of mid-range material at best. It is definitely not produced with the same material quality that you see from the boutique amp makers. I don't beat up my amps, but for those who don't want to worry and gig a lot, this may eventually be an issue for them.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience with them since buying the product. I did call one time to VOX/Korg USA last year, when the amp was supposed to come out, and asked them what the delay was and when it was coming out. I was treated to one of the finer customer service calls ever. NOT!!! If this girl was any indication of the overall quality of customer service, I am very afraid if this thing breaks down.

Overall Rating: 7
I really want to like this amp. Sometimes I find myself really digging it and other times I wish I had something else. I had come from having the whole pedals/tube amp setup prior to this amp. And prior to that, I had a Johnson digital modeling amp. In retrospect, the Johnson was OK but it wasn't as convincing as the Valvetronix. It was also more complicated and took more time to find sounds. The Reverend Hellhound with pedals was a great tone, but I found hauling the pedal board to be a pain in the ass. I also found that setup to be restricting to someone who home records and plays in a basement jam/cover band and likes a variety of tones.

The VOX is close in many respects and the price tag is good as well. The sounds, especially the Brit ones, sound very alive and dynamic. It is really cool to quickly dial some of them up. I think what still nags me is just the reliability/quality issue. I'd happily pay $200-$300 more for this same amp with a more professional build quality and component quality. Until that time, I give the amp just a marginal recommendation.

Submitted by Matt Martin at 06/26/2002 08:11

Price Paid: US $650.00

Features: 10
I just bought mine today and what sold me is the many, real user features. It is a 2002 model.

Sound Quality: 5
I've been noodling with various guitars from my Strat amd Tele to my EMG and SD humbucker rock guitars and even my Carvin. Two issues come up. 1) The footswitch is way too expensive at like $250. 2) No matter what I do, the sounds are way too dark and bass heavy. It is hard to get a real Marshall sound even with the bass on "0".

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned every amp on the planet. The Mesa's were great but very limited on low volumes, Marshalls have the same issue, Line 6 just miss the boat (though I feel the POD's are the best for direct recording).

Submitted by Bill L. at 06/18/2002 23:41

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
I want to add that I'm going to try a mod to the foot controller myself....by tapping into the up-down bank switches on the chassis, if possible, and bringing out additional wires....then I'll hope there's room to add two more regular-style footswitches to the foot panel....I haven't opened anything up yet but it's certainly worth a try. Vox, you're inviting people to reverse-engineer your amps by turning out such rinky-dink accesories.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Queen E IV at 06/18/2002 12:25

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 7
You know the features by now… I have to agree with the last review, the foot controller is really a joke. Not only does the thing look like a toy, the foot switches are way too small. Its very poorly designed to say the least. I bought the AD60VT w/the controller and ended up returning the controller to get my damn money back! It is not worth $175. Maybe $70 at the most. This is my only complaint. Oh and I bought this at GC by the way. Make sure you get one new in the box and not the ones they keep on the floor. I actually had to buy the “floor model” and well it had lots of probs when I got it home (I was so pissed) and I returned it and had to wait two weeks for a brand new one to come in. I guess these are GC’s #1 seller?

Sound Quality: 10
I honestly feel this DMA sounds the best out of all of the others on the market. I love the amp settings. I use to own a Carr 6V slant and had to sell it for financial reasons and well how do I put this. This little VOX does a real real good job at coming !close! to sounding like a “real” tube amp. Yeah yeah, it doesn’t sound like a tube amp but hey, considering that I used a Carr for 2 years and then went to this thing its saying something for the Valvetronix. I wish I could get my Carr back but – a condo to live in is more important.

Reliability: 7
I feel this DMA is gonna be tough. I am not in a band at this time (just moved) but I am jamming with a jazz band in my area. I think it can withstand abuse. The only thing that worries me is that sometimes I hear a “crumble” in the tone. I have talked to other Valvetronix users and they confirm the same “crumble” sound on certain clean settings. This might be a fault of VOX. So I’m hoping there is nothing wrong with the Valvetronixs. Its very hard to hear but if you listen for it you’ll hear it. We shall see what happens. The warranty is only 90 days which is not good.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Overall this is an incredible DMA for the money. It does its job good. It comes real close to “tube” sounding amps and this is pretty amazing to my ears. I tried out the Line 6 Flextone II’s and they just sound so flat and dry its not even funny. Valvetronix sounds a lot better than the Flextones, totally serious. I tried out the VETTA for kicks and I honestly have to say – the Valvetronix still has a more realistic tube sound. Go out to the store and just A/B them for yourself. My complaints are the warranty is too short and the foot controller needs to be redesigned. If I start to play out I’ll need that foot controller but I’m hoping by then VOX will have a revamped controller available. Check out one of these babies, you’ll be impressed I assure you!

Submitted by CaliManJim at 06/17/2002 10:11

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 5
I just got this amp last week, used, for a price I couldn't refuse. This one I got sounds better than the one I tried at GC. I pretty much agree with most of the favorable reviews here; I just wanted to piss & moan about his ridiculous excuse for a "foot controller". They must've assigned the design for this to somebody's kid brother and gave him 15 minutes to come up with it. IF ONLY it had two more switches - up-down for bank select, and the ability to select all banks, not just 4. I'd much rather use something like the POD's controller, which isn't perfect either but at least it's very usable. What a waste of $150 or more. The "expression pedal" is a bad joke as well but at least it doesn't cripple half the amp. I sincerely hope Vox has the sense to come up with a real pedal, soon, and give a good amount of trade-in credit for the old ones (like, that'll really happen, man). Oh, BTW, the switches don't work for crap either. If it wasn't for this I'd give a 9 for features because I really like the amp's layout and menu-less OS. And then there's the no-MIDI business....how about some kinda cartridge, or ram card, at least, for patch storage, huh?

Sound Quality: 8
Sounds are pretty good, sure. Needs 2 less Vox models and instead a black Deluxe and another Mesa Boogie, or maybe a Sound City if they wanna stay British.

Reliability: N/A
One can only hope.....

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
That's all I have for now.

Submitted by Queen Elizabeth IV at 06/12/2002 23:02

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 10
I just bought this amp a few days ago. This one was made 2002. This amp is very versatile for all styles of music. I play in a cover band that does top 40 (Creed, Matchbox20, Incubus, Hoobastank, etc...) and it does it all for my band. There are two channels (high/low) and I have the foot controller to help me between patches. 21 types of effects and all of them sound awesome. I have used this amp at one show so far. I had the sound guy mike up my Vox so I didn't have to turn it up full volume for the show. It has enough power for my band but why push it when you don't have to right?

Sound Quality: 10
I currently am using a Gibson Les paul custom. My only guitar. The amp so far sounds great. I have read other reviews and I disagree with the negative reviews. The amp does a good job! From the distortion to the cleans, it sounds good. I use the UK Modern amp style with the compression on full for some insane distortion! And the Black 2x12 with some chorus/delay/reverb makes for some awesome cleans. The single celestion 12" speaker makes the tones just shine. This amp sounds good, bar none, that is it, it sounds good.

Reliability: N/A
Reading other HC reviews made me worry about the reliability of the amp. Well its got a warranty and well I talked to a few people that own the VOX and they told me there is nothing wrong with it. It is a new model so there could be bugs but none have surfaced as of today. So....who knows. The amp itself "seems" sturdy.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for 12 years. I previously owned a Marshall combo but traded it in for the VOX. If it were stolen I would be real upset. I would buy this amp again. There are a lot of other "digital" combos out there but I feel the VOX beats them all out. Line 6 is a huge company that is mainly a digital combo mfg. They have the same kind of layout (with amp types, effects, etc...) but I think VOX takes the cake. I love it and hopfully it will do well for me in the future. I am thinking about buying an extention cab for this amp to get an even more versatile sound.

Submitted by Garry at 05/19/2002 13:41

Price Paid: US $690 out the door.

Features: 10
read some other reviews, no need to go over it again. Love this thing no matter what people say!

Sound Quality: 10
I use a PRS Custom 22 with this baby. I don't know why people say its junk, sounds like crap, etc... because I've had this for 28 days so far and I'm in love with this little amp! It has a ton of tone, ton. If you want mesa boogie, tube tone, etc... just save your money and buy one! Stop complaining about the VOX not being able to recreate it, etc... because it can not!!!! Sometimes I think people don't think before they buy. I'm not a tube man, I've been a digi head for years. Using rack gear, etc... Anyway this amp is extreamly versatile! You can get tons of different distorted tones (i have no idea what a blackface is nor do i care) and lots of awesome cleans. If you play in a heavy metal band DO NOT BUY THIS. It won't do it for you. This is more for people that play in soft rock, jazz, fusion, alterno, etc... This amp is awesome and it gets my job done well.

Reliability: 8
I've had it for 28 days and used it at two gigs so far. Nothing. I even dropped it by accident down two stairs (SO MAD!!!) and nothing. I was scared but nothing happened. I have two more days to return this babe and I'M NOT going to. The speakers are fine, they punch out some good tones. I even asked Guitar Center to pull records about the returns on the VOX Valvetronix. Only one return in the past 12 months. I told them about this site and we went online to read it (right at the store). The manager said he has never heard any notices from other GC's about probs with the VOX. So.... take these reviews with a grain of salt.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
I honestly feel this is a great combo. Its got a one 12" speaker that rocks. use common sense, don't push it with a heavy distortion. Its only one speaker! Plus if you play in a death metal band and the such, don't buy this amp. If you do you're not gonna get what you want. I play in a jazz fusion band and have been playing for 15 years so far. This combo is by far the best thing out there. Before this I had the Line 6 Flextone II combo. I had it for 2 weeks and exchanged it for the VOX. THE BEST move I made. The Line 6 is too thin sounding. I have to admit the VOX is a bit confusing to use at first but for the money, you get a lot of tone! Remember, if you want tube buy a tube. Overall a great combo. It does a lot for such a little thing. I'm not returning this baby. Also do a little research, you can ask about the reliability issue with the stores by asking how many returns they receive in a 12 month period, they keep tabs trust me. While talking to another store they explained the VOX is doing extreamly well in sales. Its beating out Line 6 at this time. Better buy VOX stock ;)

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/19/2002 06:33

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
Seems to have every usable effect possible. The pedal board looks and feels like a toy.

Sound Quality: 8
The best sounding modeling amp out.

Reliability: 6
From experience. I don't rightly know. I've heard some horror stories though. I've demo'd the amp several times. I didn't buy it because I was afraid of it. One in the store broke. This would be my main amp if Vox/Korg would go back to the drawing board- also make a descent pedal for it. I don't care if the amp costed $2000. Maybe they should make a PRO VERSION. I do like the idea of a 1x12.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7

Submitted by Matt at 05/10/2002 10:43

Price Paid: US $679

Features: N/A
OK, so I just wrote the previous review (the one below this one) yesterday, and here's my revised edition. Same features, same rating.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: 2
I'm through with these. My second one in less than a month, and it died yesterday. I thought I blew the speaker (like the first one), so I went out and bought a Celestion Vintage 30, but after putting that in I realized it wasn't the speaker that went. Replaced the tube, but no difference. Something inside of this amp just goes, so buyer beware. Don't push this thing too hard.

Customer Support: N/A
American Musical Supply took this one back, too, so they are awesome in my mind. As for Vox, beware of the crap they are sending out of Korea these days. It shouldn't be allowed to carry the Vox label.

Overall Rating: 3
Get it only if you plan on playing it in your bedroom, once or twice a week, for an hour or so. Otherwise, keep moving on. I really did want to like this amp too...

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/22/2002 14:14

Price Paid: US $809 (with pedal board)

Features: 10
2002 Model, with the pedal board, 16 amps models, effects out the wazoo (more than i'll ever use) 2 channels, line out, variable wattage (sweet feature)

I play in an original band that does everything from folk, to blues, to funk, to heavy metal and everything else in between. I needed an amp that was as versatile as the styles of music that we write. We also do a lot of extended jamming and this gives me some great sonic options to play with (although I'm really not a big fan of effects anyway)

The pedal board is great. I've heard a lot of griping on here about it, and was really nervous about getting it, but it's intuitive and really easy to use. It's got 8 banks with 4 channels per bank. My only gripe there is that you can't switch from banks 1-4 to 5-8 on the pedal board (you have to go to the amp to do it, seems stupid to me...) There's a lot of extraneous stuff that i won't use, my feeling is that if you want distortion create a channel on the amp that's an overdriven amp rather than using a stomp box to do it. And that's what this amp really excells at. I've got the first bank set up as an acoustic simulation set up on channel one, (the acoustic simulator creates a nice sound, but with my g&l strat it doesn't really sound like an acoustic) i've got a slightly driven black face 2x12 for the second channel, an overdriven tweed 4x 10 on the third channel and then an overdriven classic british blues sound on the 4th. I can switch between them all on the fly so I can really get some great sounds and a lot of versatility.

Sound Quality: 9
The sound is beautiful. It's plenty loud enough for me (although I'm of the thought that the guitar doesn't have to be so loud that it drowns everything else out, unlike so many other lead players out there :-) It gets a little noisy depending on how you use the presence and the compression pedal, but the noise is really easy to eliminate with some playing around with the settings. The amounts of different sounds that i can get out of this thing is incredible. I can play a rockabilly song, then a metal song, then a folk song, then a straight up blues tune and not have to do anything other than click a pedal.

I'm using a g&l Legacy special (strat) with mostly the bridge hot rail pickup. One of the really nice things about this amp is that it lets the sound of the guitar come through, a lot of the other modeling amps that i tried, changed the sound of the guitar so much that it really didn't matter what you were playing. This amp really lets you create your own sound, and lets your playing style come through. I've got a really percussive style (think chili peppers / SRV) and all of the small notes that i hit that can so easily get lost, really come through. Also, there isn't anything digital sounding about this thing. It's great, i tried the cyberdeluxe, and a couple of the line6's and i really didn't like the sound. Plus this thing costs a hell of a lot less... The one thing that I'm kind of bummed about is that the leslie symulator on here isn't as good as my old H&K tube rotosphere. It's nice (and since the H&K got stolen I'll be using it) but it's not as good a simulation. Other effects are cool, but I won't be using them that much, (octave, and a couple of others...)

Reliability: N/A
so far so good. I've had it for a week and have been playing the hell out of it.

Customer Support: N/A
don't know, like i said i haven't had an issue with it yet, i've had experience with korg's service and it blows. haven't dealt with VOX but if I go by their website i'm going to bet that it blows (the website is so outdated it's disqusting).

Overall Rating: 10
Overall I love it. I've read a lot on here about people having problems, or not liking the pedal board, but I've really enjoyed it so far. It's a great amp that is as versatile as I need. I've been playing for 16+ years and this is the best amp that I've worked with. It can do everything i need without me having to lug around a full cabinet and without having to carry 18 different pedals. The only pedal that i'll be carrying is my vox wah, the expression pedal on the pedal board is best used as a volume control.

Submitted by Joshua Lampe at 04/22/2002 10:34

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 5
Great amp sounds, great effects. Well thought out user interface on the amp. A reasonable amount of memory (but more would be nice). But the amp is crippled due to a poorly implemented foot controller and no MIDI.

Sound Quality: 8
I usually play Fender type sounds...mostly clean but with a little grit at the top end. This amp has lots of settings that do this very well. I'd never played a Vox amp but the Vox models sound fabulous. It covers a lot of ground and does just about all of it well. Could be louder, and volume levels vary wildly across presets.

Reliability: 4
If the proprietary foot pedal breaks down you are out of luck. So you'd have to buy two of them...which is ridiculous since it is a lousy unit to start with.

Customer Support: N/A
Dunno.

Overall Rating: 5
This amp is very high on the frustration factor: It does so much right but royally botches the foot control/computer interface. Fine for bedroom use, but if you are going to play out you need to be able to back up and restore your patches reliably (e.g. MIDI) and have a flexible, usable foot controller. The expression pedal on this thing is a joke. I was ready to buy one of these after playing it for a couple of hours but the store didn't have the foot controller in stock so I waited. When it finally showed up I was flaberghasted...a toy. No space between the buttons and a barely functional expression pedal. What were they thinking? So I ended up buying a Fender Cyber-Deluxe, which has a full, well thought out MIDI implementation (and lots of other cool stuff too!). It sounds different from the Vox and I vaguely preferred the Vox sounds, but I can fully access the Fender's capabilities with a floor unit and back up my settings to computer.

I really wanted to love this amp. But what good is having all these great sounds if you can't get at them when you are playing out? Everybody has their own likes/dislikes about how to set up a floor system, so why buy a product that forces you to use a crappy floor board? I don't like the Fender floor board much either (although it is worlds better than the Vox board), but since the Cyber-Deluxe has an excellent MIDI implementation I can use my Digitech PMC-10 MIDI controller and tweak any and every parameter I want just using my feet. Want to set up a pedal to turn up the gain knob and simultaneously ease back on the volume? No problem! Can't do that with the Vox. With the Fender I'm limited by my imagination, not by a foot controller which was clearly an afterthought.

I've been playing nearly 30 years. My main amp is a Tech 21 Trademark 60 (wonderful amp), but I wanted to buy an amp with integrated effects so I didn't have to carry a bag of patch cords to every gig and spend 20 minutes wiring everything up. I hope Vox learns its lesson and if Valvetronix Mk II has a usuable MIDI implementation I'll certainly take a look.

Submitted by Jonathan Whitcomb at 04/22/2002 06:34

Price Paid: US $679

Features: 10
Well, this is what the amp was designed for. The 16 amp models are what drew me in, and they are very versatile. You have lots of variations on stompboxes and modulation, with three types of delays and reverbs thrown in also. Another great feature...the wattage selector, allowing you to play at 1, 15, 30, or 60 watts. I haven't used the line out but I've heard that it is clean.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a Les Paul, with a Vox wah, Rotovibe, Vox overdrive, and Vintage Rat in my effects chain. I wasn't too interested in the effects on the amp, preferring to have everything on the floor. I did want an amp that would provide a good baseline sounds, something for me to work with, and this one does. The Vox models are all great, as are the Fender models. I like the modern Marshall, but the 80's Marshall doesn't do anything for me. Unlike some other postings, I don't get a whole lot of hiss or added noise on mine. So, in my opinion, here is my thoughts on the amp. I play in a U2-like rock band, and needed something versatile. This, the amp does well. I have played with small Orange and Fender tube combos, and I currently also use a Fender Blues Deville, and I can say that the Vox emulates a tube sound fairly well. Not exactly, but then again, it's not exactly a full on tube amp. The one major problem with the sound I've had so far is that for 60 watts, it just doesn't have a whole lot of headroom. I can't keep an amp model clean at full volume, but since I am almost always playing with at least a little bit of overdrive, this usually isn't a major problem.

Reliability: 5
OK, here's my gripe. I had one for three days, played it loud once for about two hours, and the speaker blew. These are supposedly sturdy Celestions, but it cracked up all to hell in no time. I got it replaced immediately from American Musical Supply, and the new one seems to be more stable, but I'm still nervous that it will go on me during a gig.

Customer Support: 7
The warranty should be longer, but the customer support I received from American Musical Supply has been very good. This amp needs a good warranty.

Overall Rating: 8
Overall, it does the job well and the price is good. You get a lot of choice, which I like, and it comes close to nailing a classic ac30 or twin sound. I wouldn't drop it, or tour with it, but I do think that it is well suited as an economic recording amp. My biggest complaint is that it's not loud enough, so I solve that by playing another amp with it. It is a fun amp though, and you can spend hours setting up different settings.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/21/2002 06:02

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
Great amp models. Nice pedal type effects and really good loop effects and mods. Power amp can be set to 1,15,30,or 60 watts giving very good fully driven amp tones at even one watt output. Amp can be tweaked very easily from panel. Tube in final output stage gives a very real tube amp sound. Full, warm, and anything else you want.

Sound Quality: 10
I am using this amp with a Tele Standard modified with a 57 PAF plus on the neck and a Dimarzio Chopper T, which sounds like a P90 when not split on the neck. Also with a Charvel Strat with full pickups, and with a stock Tele Nashville. From the humbuckers to the single coils this amp gives you the sound of the guitar and is very receptive to picking pressures.
I can pick any of the amp models with any of the guitars I use and find something I love. My favorites are the Vox AC30TB and the Marshall BluesBreaker, though all of the amps sound really nice.
I find myself playing this amp without the effects most of the time because the fact is that the amp is very full and warm sounding just using the models alone.
I can not believe I can get the incredible variety of full tones this amp has to offer. It is the finest and by far the most versatile amp I have ever owned. That plus the ability to run at one watt with the amp fully driven while my daughters sleep two rooms down the hall.
Vox, Korg, and ToneWorks did this thing just right. Also, it has noise cancelling built in so if you are running the gain really high you can remove any noise.
Sound is the best I have ever had in 35 years of playing.
The line outs are the best I have ever used in any amp. I can run it straight into my Mackie 1402 and not lose a thing.

Reliability: 10
Only had it for two weeks, no problems. It does appear to be well built though.

Customer Support: 10
Warrantee is one year, which I do not find bothersome. By way of the Valvetronix site I think support will be great.

Overall Rating: 10
This is an amp that will be the number one amp in my studio, which is where I primarily compose and record. Very useful, very versatile. I am doing everything from hard core country to slamming rock and metal with it and can find no weaknesses.
If anything happened to it I would have another one tomorrow. The AC30TB Vox alone and the ability to really ring it at 15 or 30 watts in addition to the one watt is something wonderful.
I tried a Fender Cyber Deluxe for a few days first, as well as a Blues Junior. Each went back to Guitar Center after a few days. The CD just didn't have any tube sound to it at all while the Vox has the full milky tube sound I wanted. Especially with the p90 and pAF plus pickups.

Submitted by Dreamsharer at 04/13/2002 12:46

Price Paid: US $619.00

Features: 8
One channel hybrid modelling amp 16 amp models, effects, verb, delay
chorus and the like. also it has 10 stomp box models....

Sound Quality: 10
I use a american deluxe fat strat and a Nashville tele, the amp sounds very tubey...I had a fender cyber deluxe but took it back it sounded way to sterile...I also have Fender Hot Rod Deluxe,,,I play mostly christain worship/contemporary...ie skillet,small town poets ect...this amp does it all I checked out marshalls, crates,line 6 but initially chose the fender cyber deluxe...then I found a Valvetronix and knew I should of bought the vox...I kept the fender for about three weeks and tried to like it but in the end did'nt....the Vox amp models sound wonderful, I can easily get the tom petty type of rich overdrive with the vox...The cleans are great and the various marshall models sing the vox are great to...the only slight issue is ther is a little hum, on some of the models, probably the transfomer, but its only noticable if I'm in the house and it real quite...I've gigged three times with it Once out side and it easily has enough volume for the stage, I mike it into the P.A. I like the power settings of 1,15,30,60 watts, for my outside gig I had it on 30 watts with the master at about 2/3...... I want some thing that I could use without using stomp boxes and for me this is the amp... I bought the foot controller for 130.00, its great except for the lame pedal...I also bought the Vox volume pedal it's on back order though...

Reliability: N/A
to new to tell seems pretty well built I plan on taking care of it

Customer Support: 9
By email I've had all my questions answered...

Overall Rating: 10
If you want an amp that has a tube feel and sound with a variety of sounds this is it, for a 600.00 amp, I'm very satisfied...nothing is perfect but I think I've finally found an amp that i'm very happy with

Submitted by John at 04/07/2002 21:56

Price Paid: US $699 + 179

Features: 7
I give it a 9 for what’s on offer, but I’m docking 2 points for the midi and pedal limitations.See overall rating. See Overall rating for the whole speil.

Sound Quality: 9
10 for the sound – deduct 1 for noise – too noisy with master volume beyond 1 o’clock – and it needs to be close to max to breathe properly especially on the clean models. The Class A models are fantastic - best I’ve tried (well, I haven’t tried Zenterra), all the others seem excellent as well, but class A is where its at for me. Actual AC 15 or 30 are too loud for the apartment (and yes, I am too old).I play world music / jazz I guess you could call it.Ibanez AF120 or a Strat. The effects are very good, too: all of them. The Sovtek 12AX7 seems fine, I tried an old Telefunken, and a Ruby Tube and didn’t notice a huge difference, so the valve reactor seems to be the way to go for tube feel.

Reliability: N/A
Don’t drop it.. I saw one of VT120s at Guitar Center that someone dropped and the bottom split in half. The electronics should hold up fine if the power supply is properly isolated… mine wasn’t.

Construction – The overall construction and assembly is very well done, electronics and knobs and pots robust, good handle, but the cabinet wood is sub par, fabric and corners are just adequate. Amps at half this price use better cab materials. The power supply/ isolation and headroom were not up to the job on the one I bought. The transformer hum even with gain, master and volume turned off, though not as bad as my refrigerator, was a nuisance, and worse than my other amps tube and solid state. In this price range - how about a toroid transformer, considering the high gain staging on some of the models and the need for isolation from line noise, RF and hum.

Customer Support: 8
Manuals and info online is meritorious. Korg has been good about software support and upgrades in the past

Overall Rating: 7
What a modeling amp should be: 1- MDF or plywood – not this flimsy type of particle board – (Of course AC 30s are made out of this now too) 2- MIDI control. 3 At least semi -professional pedal capability. While the basic layout and configuration is great, it would have been better to have two stages of stompbox effects ( and given Korg’s expertise in pedal boards, you’ve got to scratch your head as to why not?) or at least the wah and compressor as a separate stage, the work around is you use your favorite pedal in the front of the amp, and select from the others on offer. It has been several years since the advent of quality digital modeling. What I don’t understand is how a company like Korg which makes great MIDI synths and DA recorders can have failed to implement MIDI access in a modeling amp. The POD & Flextone have been out for a while, Hughes & Kettner,Roland’s VG series, and now the V-Amp, DG Stomp, and they all are MIDI saavy. Korg makes a great pedal AX100G pedal (which I own) which costs less and is so much better thought out than the controller for the Valvetronix. Or what about Line 6 floorboard or Behringer’s MIDI pedal: These are very good. Or bail on the whole deal and let us do it ourselves via MIDI access. How hard can it be to do it right the first time? Think of what it costs to have just another product that can’t put it all together. It seems to me that introducing a new product is a unique opportunity to garner market share, and seriously compromising a product for maybe $20.00 worth of materials and greedily overpricing a sub par pedal is foolhardy. I recognize that its difficult to anticipate everything in a new product, but the new part of the valvetronix is great. But the way guitarists use pedals and hook them up hasn’t changed all that much, its the old stuff that Vox / Korg dropped the ball on. Half an inch of travel on the pedal and a profile that won’t stay flat on the floor – you can’t use this pedal live if you’re active, and there’s no alternative. Woof. Instead of having a runaway bestseller, you’ve got a product that probably won’t move because it isn’t quite right.. Its like selling a car without a trunk, jack and spare - or doors that won’t open without some proprietary gizmo instead of a key. You lose respect all around by short changing a product so you have to buy a clumsy accessory to use it. DO IT RIGHT. Charge a few more beans, but don’t cripple the product. It isn’t quite rugged or flexible enough for stage, and if people don’t see it on stage, amateurs aren’t going to have confidence in it either. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I suspect responsibility for these compromising features lies squarely near the top of the corporate food chain, some committee who don’t have a clue about the fundamentals of utility a performer needs or the common sense to ask, because I can’t think of anyone I know that wouldn’t identify most of these shortcomings within half an hour of plugging in. I understand trying to cut costs. But there’s a point at which the $20 you save on materials on a $699 + $179 product makes the difference whether its going to sell or not. And if you can’t sell it you aren’t going to pocket the extra $20 in profits. Its just that’s its so close to perfection, and it seems to me foolishness that its not. Line 6 gear seems as good as they could make it given the technology available when it was designed. Why not this? I’m not just ragging on this product. Roland does it with customer service and support, most companies do it with it power supplies and preset patches. As musicians, we have to find a way to make stuff work, but I decided to return it. Its not worth $879 + tax or shipping with all the compromises involved. Frankly, I can get an adequate Class A vibe with a POD or Vamp 2 into a full range amp, so…as much as I love the sounds, I’ll get by with what I’ve got until Valvetronix 2, but by then there may be a Flextone 3 or Behringer may have turned the V Am

Submitted by JazzCelt at 04/03/2002 13:10

Price Paid: US $600.00

Features: 9
Alas if only the readers were to go to the VOX website they would see that this Amp has but ONE (1) 12AX7 tube in the power amp section as opposed to TWO (2) in the preamp, or anywhere else. I give it a 9 due to one feature that is unique...you can change the power output of this amp between 1,15,30, or 60 watts...very cool!

Sound Quality: 9
I played it thru my PRS custom 24. Very happy with everything I heard and everything I didn't hear (as in no excess hiss or hum). The amp does lack a bit in volume but other than that I have no complaints...a very steady little amp.

Reliability: N/A
Too new to rate.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience in this dept so I can't say one way or the other

Overall Rating: 9
A very portable amp with an intuitive, user friendly design, lots of features and solid sound but lets be real...you can't get the sound of a 1500 dollar classic tube amp out of this one no matter how much you tweak it! But if you're looking for a great looking, solid sounding affordable little amp for practice, small venues, or even some recording then this one is for you.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/15/2002 21:33

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
I don't have this amp, but I've read an aweful lot about it. Someday, when the powers that be give me money, then shall I be blessed with one. My reason for submitting a review is to correct many of the reviews for this amp. The Vox Valvetronix (both the 60 and 120) have 2 12ax7 tubes in the POWER AMP, not the pre-amp. This, and only this, is what gives this thing its tubey vibe and distinguishes this thing from any other tube wannabe digital amp out there.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/09/2002 07:40

Price Paid: US $699

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: 2
I guess when there's smoke there's fire!! I first did a review of this amp on 12/24/01 and raved about the sound, that still stands, but I also had a problem with the tuner. Since then the amp has completely crapped out on me with volume swells and crackling at all levels. I took it back to Guitar Center where the salesman tested it out and determined that it must be defective. It's being sent to VOX under warranty, and hopefully will be resolved within the next few weeks.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by steve tyson at 03/06/2002 05:56

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
Brand new 60-watt Valvetronix amp. Hybrid digital modeling/12AX7 tube pre-amp. On board modeling-pedal-modulation-reverb settings. 1 12-inch Celestion speaker. Adjustable wattage 1-15-30-60 watt settings. Effects loop input. Foot controller input. Headphone input. Ext 8-ohm speaker output. Controls extremely logically laid out and intuitive to use. About 45 pounds.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using this with a Guild Starfire V and PRS Custom 22 Soapbar. I mostly play clean early rock and a bit of jazz. This is an excellent amp for these types of music. This amp can also make some more heavy, psychedelic, and grungy noises. The amp can be overdriver pretty easily. The amp models are great - I was originally looking to get the early Brit AC-30 sounds from this amp, and that is exactly what I was able to achieve. I was also looking to replace current amp/effects setup with something a little less digital sounding. The VOX separates itself from the others, in my opinion, in that its effects and models sound a little less digital. I don't know if it is the 12AX7 pre-amp circuit, but this just sounded a little warmer.

Reliability: N/A
These seem very solidly built, but I haven't had it long enough, nor have I really beaten on it heavily enough to make a call on this.

Customer Support: N/A
I have not dealt with Vox/Korg for customer support. Their web page is very helpful though.

Overall Rating: 9
This was exactly what I was looking for. I was going to check out the Fender Cyber-Twin, but from what I'd heard about it, and the exorbitant price, I decided to give the Vox a closer look. I'm also a big fan of the Vox sound and many of the early British invasion groups that used them. This amp successfully models at least 4 Vox models (2 AC-30 models, and 2 AC-15 models) and some later British stacks, as well as 3 Fender models (called "Tweed" and "Black") and Boutique amps. I replaced my Fender Deluxe 90 and a Yamaha DG Stomp Box with this amp. The Fender was an extremely good amp, although not very versatile (good reverb but "drive" and "more drive" channels useless to me), and the Yamaha effects box was good, but the controls are counter-intuitive and the sound a bit too digital. The Vox is an excellent "one stop shopping" amp which replaces both of them.

The bigger brother of this amp, the 120-watt 2x12 model AD120VT also sounded very good, but size and price were a consideration - 120 watts was more than I needed, as was the 60 pounds. This was about the same size and about 10 pounds heavier than the Fender it replaced.

The foot controller pedal for it, the VC-4, costs about 180 bucks. Although not a bad pedal - tough construction - and necessary to utilize the VOX Wah-Wah effect (although there's also an "Auto-Wah" effect) - I decided not to get it. However, if you were gigging this amp, you'd probably want the pedal to avoid having to keep tweaking effects by pressing the controls on the amp itself. Note that you can only access 16 of the 32 effects stored in memory through the pedal at a given time. If I was gigging regularly or really dug the whole "Wah-Wah" scene, I'd get the pedal, but right now I wouldn't get two hundred bucks of use out of it.

Guitars I play are the Guild Starfire V semi-solid and the PRS Custom 22 Soapbar, and unplugged (sometimes) I play Gibson J-160E and J-100 XTRA acoustics.

Submitted by Lance at 02/22/2002 10:35

Price Paid: US $700

Features: 10
This amp has everything at my fingertips. Its 16 amp models all sound like the real thing. The automatic distortion on the rectifier is not needed. The modulation effects allow me to get the coolest and weirdest sounds I've ever got out of an amp. The delay on the amp is amazing. The reverb isn't as good as Fender Combos' reverb, but its good enough. The pedals are a little hard to control if you don't have a footswitch. The 4 channels allow you to save the presets so you don't lose them. I gig with it and it does fine. Don't try to do a big gig with it because it's not loud enough. I play from hard rock to psychedelic rock to blues and this amp is perfect for me.

Sound Quality: 10
I use an Ibanez RG120 and Gibson SG's and the tone I get out of it is great. Its not that noisy, unless you use a bunch of distortion and fuzz pedals and goo right up to the amp. It can give you a rean really fat tone to a really sharp tone, it depends on what settings you put on. The amp sounds very clean when it is on the clean channel (except on the Rectifier, Boutique OD, UK 80's, and UK 90's). It doesn't get that much distortion on the clean channels at high volumes. The distortion is more blues oriented.

Reliability: 8
This is a pretty reliable amp, it hasn't broken down on me yet. I've heard that some guy's tuner broke down on the amp. This amp has never failed me.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for about five years and I have an Ibanez RG120, Two Gibson SG standards, an Epiphone SG, and a Danelectro DC59. If stolen or lost, I'd definitely buy it again.

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/02/2002 17:42

Price Paid: US $590

Features: 8
NEW - COOL modeling amp. I didn't buy a Line 6 or a Fender or any of the others 'cause I was waiting for this one to come out. This is the 60 watt version. Has 120 Watt sister model, but the difference in the real amount of sound output between the 2X12 120 watt and the 1X12 60 watt doesn't come close to double. I got this 'cause it's easy to haul.

Cosmetically this is GREAT if you love the Vox look. It's a 1X12 AC-30 with a fantastic blue grill cloth. Very nicely done. 120 Watt version IS the image AC-30 in Blue. Looks very well built.

Controls are to the rear, and on the top (ala the AC-30). The labels read toward the FRONT, so you don't have to read upside down. Keep this amp low to the ground for diddleing, however... And you will be diddleing a ton.

This weights 43ish lbs; 2X12 is 59ish - too close to the AC-30 weight for me. This 60 watt model is just right to lug around (if you so desire).

Tons of features...read all about them at the Vox official web sight. Too many to list here. They are all pretty cool. Most are so good that you get goosebumps!!! Some however really suck:

1.) Vox Wah effect is useless IMHO. The foot controller (which is an extra added attraction you must purchase to use the Vox Wah) is BAD for real time wah-wah use. I REALLY though VOX would have gotten this right. The effect itself is OK, but the real time controller is way limited. Completely changes sweep over the course of about 1/10th of the throw of the pedal...and it's all at the pedal's open end, which is the hardest end to control. Works more like the Thomas MRB via pumping footswitch than any of the coveted Vox Clyde's. Very dissapointed in this feature. I wanted this one to be great. This is the worst part of the amp for my money.

2.) NO volume at ALL on the clean end of the amp models. And the Boutique Clean model is SOOOO quiet. No headroom on the master volume for this amp simulation. Some truth to this on the 2X12 Black amp simulation as well. AC-30 is hard to clean up with any volume. I did A/B this in the store with the 120 watt vs. the 60 watt models. I got similar results. Won't cut by a loud drummer (are there any other kinds? lol). This is the second worst feature of the amp for me.

BUT in defense - the Line Out feature sounds VERY COOL through the PA sytem. It is nice. Plus, it also has it's very own level control. So, where there is a will...

If you gig with this and change patches a bunch, or manually change simulations from a clean amp to a fully saturated amp, you'll have to mess a BUNCH with the Master Volume each time. Foot controller helps this. Added volume pedal (not yet out, coming in March) should also help in easing this. But for a amp that is so digital...one would think the overall volumes of the amp simulations could be similar - be they clean or dirty. These are not.

Foot controller seems well built. Switches feel like quality. Unit is expensive...list is $200. I paid $150...asking price started at $179. I think you need this for live applications for sure. You can use the foot unit to switch presets (any one of 16 at a time without touching the amp - amp itself has 8 banks of 4 but controller can only access 4 banks of 4 at a time), or use it like 4 stomp boxes in manual mode. Stomp on/off an effect, a modulation, a delay, and a reverb. Can't do two 'effects' at once. Must select the setting you want on the amp, then stomp it On/Off. Works nice. Can get to the tuner too, from here. Tuner works very nicely - and silently if you want! Has expression pedel built in (can be volume...user switchable), and a place to add an outboard volume pedal (Vox's available in March). This does more stuff too...

My advice is for you to download the user manuals for the amp and the foot controller before you try the amp. Vox web sight has them up for free downloads. This will help you understand the controls and the feature before you go to test drive.

BEST FEAT

Sound Quality: 10
Very responsive...very total tube like. The amp simulations are way close... Awesome in most respects. Closest I've tried from any manufacturer. I'm using a Les Paul, a 360 Ric, and a Epi 335 with the amp right now. They all sound very cool in there own way. Amp reacts differently with each - as hoped for.

Amp does not sound digital. Very analog.

The sounds from this amp do blow me away. Love the Uni-Vibe, all the delays, reverbs, and effects. Very versatile... made just for that Chameleon in all of us.

You can clean up some of the simulations (somewhat) by rolling off the guitar volume...just like you'd hope for. Play it all here, from country to punk. This amp can do it. May not be loud, but the sound quality is there.

Noise gate is excellent. Amp is super quite.

Reliability: N/A
I'd gig with this without a backup. I've not had trouble with any of my Korg era Vox products (AC-30, AC-15, Pathfinder, etc...). Been giging with my Korg AC-30 for 3 years without a problem. Hope I get the same from this.

I don't know if I'll gig with it however. It may be best suited for recording.

Customer Support: N/A
Warranty is only 1 year...should be longer based upon the price point of this puppy. This ought to be a three year item IMHO. No experience with Vox service.

Overall Rating: 8
I'm a Vox lover...so I want to love this too. Lack of headroom on all clean settings is quite troubleing, and was hoping for much better wah-wah control. I don't want to use external effects. That's the point behing this amp! However.... if these are the only two bad spots, the tons of good spots may out weight 'em. Too soon to tell though. As much as I love it, I need to be able to use it out. Time will tell. So I give it an 8. Great beat. I sure can dance to it.

Submitted by Rich at 01/25/2002 09:45

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
1x12 Vox Speaker, vintage grill cloth (classic Vox styling), A ridiculous amount of modeling effects and amp types, 2 12AX7's, Hi-Lo output jacks, the list goes on. Has everything you would want at your fingertips.

Sound Quality: 10
Holy shit, thats all I gotta say. I'm not a big gig player, so I dont need gobs of volume. This amp has so many tonal possibilities, its just awesome. I've always been hesitant about these multieffects amps, and never really tried one. When I heard Vox came out with one though, I knew it would definately be a good product. I plugged in a stock Fender Mexican the other day and bam, I had what I've been looking for. Put this thing on "Black" for amps, "Tube Overdrive" for pedals and you feel like your face to face with SRV. Nails it. Put it on a UK amp setting with Fuzz and you feel like your trippin' with Clapton. The rotary speaker simulation is so sweet too, just think the bridge solo on "Badge". And I'd buy this amp just for those settings...I play an 86 Les Paul Custom w/ a JB in teh neck (yes in the neck) and a '59 in the bridge. I'm gettin this amp to the house in a week and oh man, I can't wait, this is gonna be good.

Reliability: N/A
Isn't at the house, but I have a very good feeling that this amp will hold up very well. Vox is good stuff, no way around it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
This thing is dope. Might not be for everyone, as it isnt all all tube amp, but if you have a good ear for tone and like versatility, then get your ass out to a music shop fast so you can get one of these babies before their out. I guarantee these will be out of stock soon. What an amp.

Submitted by Mike Handis at 01/13/2002 13:52

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
Loaded with features. See the other reviews for the low-down.

Sound Quality: 7
Well, I really wanted to like these new amps from Vox. My main problem with them is that they are woefully underpowered. I tried both the 60 and the 120 watt models and I'm beginning to understand why bass players use 200+ watt amps. Sixty solid-state watts doesn't even come close to the volume level of, say, an AC30 or a 50 watt Marshall or even a little Fender Deluxe Reverb.

Here was my main problem with this amp: you set the master volume all the way up, set the volume all the way up, then start with the gain knob on zero and work your way up. It starts out with hardly any volume at all with the gain on 1 or 2 or even 3. I mean, you can hardly hear the thing. Then you get some decent sound at 4 and 5 (halfway up) but past this point, which is really wear it needs to be if this amp is gonna cut through a loud drummer and bass player, it is beginning to distort on many of the amp settings. What this comes down to is you really can't get a clean AC30 tone at decent volumes. You've really gotta wind up that gain knob to get any kind of decent volume out of the amp and by then it's an overdriven AC30 tone -- which is a nice tone but what if I want clean? Same can be said of pretty much all the amp models save for the Twin and the Dumble Clean.

And yes I had the amp cranked up to its full wattage (it can be cranked down to 1 watt for bedroom playing) and this was a brand-new fresh out of the box amp. The 120 watter is only slightly louder than the 60 watter and I think that's just cuz of the extra speaker.

The tones do sound terrific but the lack of volume and especially feel is this amp's downfall. I mean, set this amp alongside an AC30 with the volume set on "3" or a Plexi with the volume set on "2" and you'd have to crank the Vox all the way up to even compete and it would still totally lack the punch and feel of the tube amps.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
This amp would make a fine recording amp or home amp as its tones do sound really nice but for the money I want something I can gig with and this would not cut it.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/25/2001 21:21

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
Lot's of features. Didn't like the fact that there is not tone control for the pedal models. They are either on or off. If your tubescreamer is too bright, too bad.

Sound Quality: 7
Use single coil and humbucker equipped guitars. Lot's of versatillity but didn't nail any tones to write home about for me. A/B'd it with a reissue Fender Super Reverb (used to have a blacface one that got away) and after struggling to get a tone that satisfied me from the vox, the Super was an immediate, Ahhhhhh!

Reliability: N/A
Seemed okay. The grill cloth was not tightly stretched and was flopping around. Construction seemed a little cheezy overall, but not unuseable.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
I've been playing for over 30 years and still gig semi professionally about 6-8 times per month. Not a bad all-in-one amp but after all the hype, and really wanting to like this amp, it didn't trip my trigger enough to want to buy it. Sorry.

Submitted by Kenny Perciavalle at 12/25/2001 08:22

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
I've had this amp for four days and I also am totally blown away. I've approached it as a set of amps first, then adding a set of modulation and reverb effects, and finally a bunch of pedals. This allowed me to concentrate on the real substance before throwing on the trimmings.

16 amp models, 10 pedals, 5 modulation effects and three reverb types - it doesn't get much better in a package this small. While it doesn't have the versatility of a separate effects loop box like the G-Force, the user friendliness makes it much more usable. This thing is an on-the-spot real-time tweaker's delight. And the tuner works great.

Sound Quality: 10
I use an Anderson Drop Top and an Anderson Hollow Cobra, and have owned a Boogie Mark IV (great amp) then a Fender Prosonic (for a change) in the past 10 years.

I ignored the factory pre-sets (sorry, Vox :-) and concentrated on the individual amp models, no effects, on manual mode. I now have ten basic amp patches that blow my mind, from an incredible sparkling Blackface 2x12 to a dirty Tweed 4x10 to a Beatle-blazing AC-30 to both crunchy and cranked Marshalls to over-the-top Boogies. These amps are lively, responsive and sound great with single coils and humbuckers.

While I haven't played all of these original amplifiers, they sound like the real thing as far as I can tell, and they sure sound good to me. It is so uncanny to stomp a switch and experience such an incredible personality change - makes channel switching appear totally ho-hum.

I got a great Rotary/Leslie sound like in Blind Faith, a beautiful Chorus and great sounding reverb effects. The Vox Wah-Wah also sounds real good, and there's no noise where you don't expect it. Above that, the noise reduction is very effective and unobtrusive.

The modulation speed could go a tad slower and the wah-wah pedal response is a mite too quick for my taste, but I'm looking real hard for what's not to like, and not finding much.

Reliability: N/A
Can't tell yet, but with only one measly pre-amp type tube, and the fact that it feels well constructed, it should be good. The switches and pots have a good feel to them.

Customer Support: N/A
Have yet to find out, hopefully will never need to.

Overall Rating: 10
I'm an old music-loving (all kinds) amateur, and definitely better at getting tone than delivering chops. Over the years I've had a Strat, Rickembacker and Les Paul for guitars, and for amps a Vox Royal Guardsman, then a Marshall 50-watt head (I built my own cabinets). I then quit for many years. I've been back for ten years now with the stuff mentioned above. I just put away my Prosonic, G-Force and Motion Sound. I have no use for them except as back-up and extras for guests :). This thing still gives me the creeps (in a great way, of course). It blows away anything I've ever used. Is it perfect? Nothing is. Then I look at the price and scratch my head. All, of course, IMVHO. Your mileage may vary.

Submitted by DJ at 12/24/2001 20:34

Price Paid: US $699

Features: 10
I bought this amp last weekend as I was wandering through Guitar Center in Hallandale Bch , Fl. I've read a lot about this amp and had anticipated buying it on it's availabiltiy date which was supposed to be mid Jan., but to my surprise they had a 1x12 and a 2x12 sitting right on the floor. I plugged in and an immediate smile came to my face, tone all over the place. This is is DEFINITELY NOT A TOY, 60 watts, but feels greater.(probably because of the tube in the pre-amp. Does everything a modeling amp should without costing an arm and a leg.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a customized strat with a seymour duncan humbucker in the neck a lace sensor in the middle and a hot rail at the the bridge. This amp sounds AMAZING with my guitar, I play in an original band (TY-FU) and our style is radio/ pop rock, whatever you wnat to call it and this amp defintitely compliments it well. I used it for a gig on Saturday night at a club that holds about 350 people and without a cabinet extension, I was told that my guitar sounded fat. I primarily used the boutique clean, UK High gain, and recto settings and each one performed as well as the next.

Reliability: 9
I've only had it a week, and everything is cool so far. During the set the other night the tuner on the amp wouldn't register the low e string but after truning it off and on everything was fine.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with the company

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 12 years and have owned quite a few amps and until last year had a Line 6 Flextone 2x12, I ended up selling it because It had way too many problems. This amp I have a strong feeling will kept for a long while and if it were stolen I would buy another. I will probably get a Vox extension cabinet to match, but I couldn't be happier with it. Buy it now!!!

Submitted by steve tyson at 12/24/2001 08:01

Price Paid: US $699.00

Features: 10
I just got this amp delivered yesterday, took it band practice, and was COMPLETLEY blown away! I have a vintage Fender Vibrolux Reverb, and a Fender Blues Deluxe, and after hearing this amp I can't see (or hear) myself using anything else. Even though this is a digital modeling amp with a tube power amp, the sounds are so on the money, it was creepy. The AC30TB tones are awesome. The tweed sounds are awesome, and the blackface 2X12 sounds are at least as good, or better than my vintage Fender. There are Marshall sounds too, but I really never played one to know if these are on the money, but they're really nice! I couldn't ask for more from an amp as far as features go. It has every effect you could need. I could describe every effect on this rig, but this would end up being a three page review. As far as power goes, it's 60 watts through a 12" Celestion. My ears were ringing rather nicley after a three hour workout. All in all, this amp will give you every tone you'd possibly want, and then some.

Sound Quality: 10
I play in a 60's garage/punk band. We love vintage gear, and vintage guitars. I was always a Fender freak, but really liked the sound and look of Vox amps. I mainly use Danelectros(a U2 and a Longhorn) , but I also have a Fender Jazzmaster, A DeArmond M-75, an old Harmony two pickup thing that looks like a Jazzmaster(with DeArmond pickups), and a Strat. All of these guitars souns great through this amp. nuff said.

Reliability: 10
I've had it one day. I pushed it for three hous. So far, so good.

Customer Support: N/A
I don't know yet. No problems so far.

Overall Rating: 10
The absolute BEST value out there! Blows away anything in it's class or price range. Forget the Vetta(too digital & expensive), the Cyber Twin(looks like a computer), and all the other wannabe's. THIS IS THE REAL THING! I've been playing for over 20 years, and I have finally found it. The amp I will never get rid of. Believe me, I've had almost all of them. The other great thing about this amp, is the layout of the controls. There are no screens, big dials, or menus. There's just nice user friendly sections for effects and distortions, vibrato/phase etc., delay, and reverbs.

Submitted by Dan at 12/22/2001 16:11