Vox AD60VT Valvetronix 112 Combo

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