Vox Pathfinder 15

Price Paid: $300 (AU)

Features: 8
i've had this for about years, and thought i'd pass on some knowledge before i get rid of it (upgrading to the VR-30R!).

the features are pretty much like those on all other 15W amps.

the built in tremolo is fairly standard, no complaints, but i haven't really used it that much. i feel its kinda of gimmicky, like they thought 'what can we add that will get the biggest return for the smallest outlay' and settled on a built in trem, but maybe some people really enjoy it. i don't know.

gotta say it is a pretty unit to look at. much better than most other little amps, unless you're the kind of guy that enjoys looking at cold, hard, bland objects. it has soul!

Sound Quality: 9
it has a very nice clean channel, getting some real nice tones. the sound is a bit bluesy and if you turn the gain up just a little you can get a really nice gruff tinge to the sound when you play a little harder.

the overdrive channel distorts very nicely. most other 15W amps i've tried sound kinda sharp or tinny, but the overdrive on the pathfinder is a lot fuller and warmer. you can get a really great rock-n-roll sound at loud-ish volumes.

i've been using this amp to play with my brother on drums, and although you can't get a clean sound at a volume needed to compete with a live drum kit, as long as your drummer isn't too heavy handed you can get a nice overdriven sound out of this amp that can almost hold it to the drums.

(i've been using an epiphone les paul 100)

Reliability: 8
the unit has a real solid feel to it, and has held up really well for me over its 2 years.

something inside rattles/buzzes a bit if you play low on the E or A string at high volumes on clean, but this can be reduced by tightening the screws on top and using the tone controls to take some bass off.

the knobs do have a tendency to work themselves free. 4 of the 7 knobs on mine a have come off at some stage, but they can be easily replaced (but are then still susceptible to fall off again). some superglue would probably fix this problem but i wasn't too keen to start glueing things to each other.

i'm still gonna give it an 8 though because the sound has never faltered in 2 years of moderate use, and it feels like it still has many more years of play in it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
at its price-point, the best 15W amp i've heard. i bought this amp without ever having played guitar before, on the recommendation of the store salesman who said it was definately worth paying a little bit extra, and not go for something right at the bottom end like a crate or something. at the time i thought this was probably cos he wanted as much cash as he could get off me, but it is actually pretty good advice. after playing this for a while and then some of my friends 10-15W practice amps, i would have to say after a few months with a cheaper amp i would've got fed up with the sound and had to upgrade.

its a great package, from the pretty exterior to the warm guts. i think they're fantastic value (even new like i got mine) given the tones and volume you can get from them. probably even better value if you can pick up one a couple of years old, cos by the look of mine they will run for yeeaars.

Submitted by Ashley at 08/08/2005 23:43

Price Paid: US $43 used

Features: 7
all the basic features have been noted in other reviews below. no need in rehashing the obvious. i give it a 7 because there's no mid control, no reverb (although for a little more dough you can get the 15R which does have reverb).

the boost (or fat) switch runs a little too hot for jumping to leads, unless you also back off with the guitar's volume knob. the tremolo is very good, and also has knobs for both speed and depth. that's handy and quite a feature for an amp at this price point.

the gain knob is a little tricky. you really have to fiddle with gain/volume knobs AND THE VOLUME KNOB ON YOUR GUITAR to dial in the right amount of feedback gain. i don't like too much gain on my sound, so i dial it back just enough to get that dirty, brown sugar sound. the trick is--and most amateur guitar players don't get this--is the real dialing in is done with your guitar knob. don't dime it all the way and you'll find the sweet spot with your amp's speaker.

plenty loud enough for solo practice and even jam sessions. i use it for solo practice and for recordings, which it is perfect for. absolutely perfect! not made for live settings in a club, but what 15 watt amp is? you can go direct out to a p.a., which i suppose would work just fine. never tried it.

Sound Quality: 8
i play a mexi strat with custom pickups and a g&l tribute strat with stock american pickups. all single coils. this vox amp kicks! i love it. exactly what i had hoped for when i bought it used on ebay from a pawn shop in texas. was going merely on harmony c reputation, and i'm not at all disappointed. the reviews here have been spot on.

the main key in any amp purchase is knowing what your needs are. what style of music do you play or what tone do you seek? and beyond that, what's the purpose of the amp: live gigs, concert halls, basement jams or home recording sessions? these are important questions you should answer first and foremost.

i can say with authority that for recording, this amp is top notch. with a low wattage, you can dial in some good gritty, blues tones or some raunchy keef richards/brian may sounds without blowing the doors off your house.

for a solid state amp, this vox has plenty of raw breakup (i.e., grit) and maintains that classic vox chime. sure a vox ac15 class a amp would kill the pathfinder 15, but we're talking the difference between $100 bucks and $1000 bucks. your call. i paid $43 on ebay for a used amp in perfect condition and i couldn't be happier. it's all in what you're looking for and what your expectations may be.

some of the complaints you'll see here (esp. the gain settings) are legit. after all, a $100 amp is going to have certain limitations, but all things considered i'd say this is one of the best buys i've ever come across. the benefits FAR FAR outweigh the few limitations. you can go from crystal clear cleans to billy gibbons dirtiness, often just by dialing up your guitar's volume knob. in my book, that's all you can ask for from an amp at this price point.

by the way, i'm a classic rock sort of dude. give me zz top, the allman bros., some ac/dc, ccr, howlin wolf and a shot of clapton and i'm fine. those are the tones i'm into. if you're a metallica guy, this ain't your amp. but what metalhead in his right mind is buying a vox amp to start with? he knows he's headed into marshall territory, and rightfully so.

i give the amp an 8 because it isn't going to compete with an ac15 (THE vox amp in my book), nor should it try. but for a solid stater that you'll find on ebay under $100, this is top dog far as i'm concerned. perfect? no. but pretty damn good for rock and roll/blues? yes. i just hesitate to give out perfect scores because perfection should be hard to reach.

vox is the great little amp company that kicked off the british invasion. it's crazy that they're now kind off an underdog in the amp making world these days. long live vox!

Reliability: N/A
can't comment here. haven't had the amp long enough. so far, so good.

Customer Support: N/A
again, no comment here.

Overall Rating: 8
also own the fender blues jr, one helluva sweet tube amp for recording.

if i could have added one feature to the pathfinder 15, it would've been reverb. obviously i could've bought the 15r and solved that problem, but the price on this one was too cheap to pass up. if i had it to do over again, maybe i'd buy the 15r, but at under $50 i could always just buy a reverb pedal with my leftover cash.

Submitted by stonesy at 08/06/2005 07:12

Price Paid: 1200 (SEK)

Features: 6
Already said.
Though I think the boostswitch is totally useless it boosts
too much so I have it in all the time. Had it had reverb and
a mid-control this amp would have been great.

Sound Quality: 9
Fender Stratocaster, vintage noiseless pu¿s.
Jackson RR with hioutput-pu.
use a boss od to get it into screaming sounds but what this
amp is great for is recording clean sounds.

Headroom is just perfect for homestudio.

Reliability: 10
Never broken down even though it once got all wet.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
This is one of the best amps there is in my world.
I couldn¿t live without it at home. Record a lot with it and sometimes I even sing through it. A must for me..

And good-looking too!!!

Submitted by Alex at 06/23/2005 15:08

Price Paid: US $79.00

Features: N/A
The amp was a recent return. Physically great shape. Has master Volume, Tremolo, Distortion, Gain. Solid State made in Korea, excepting the speaker which is the 8" Vox 'Bulldog'. No clean/dirty footswich included. I use as a practice amp at home. On clean it has more power than I need. More than a Peavey Rage. On dirty?? Sounds horrible. Interesting horrible!

Sound Quality: 7
I use an Eastwood 3 pickup humbucker pickups. My music style varies from blues to "alternative", to almost 'standards'. The amp hums more than I'd like. On clean it's the loudest clearest little practice amp, I've tried. I also use a Gibson SG copy. On distortion setting the guitars are the same. Generic. On 'clean' the Airline shines, the SG is happy!

Reliability: 9
I'd use this for small gigs with some tube warmer device. The amp is built as well as my former Peavey. Hard to destroy. The cheapest part is the on-off switch.

Customer Support: N/A
I know of no warranty. It's used.

Overall Rating: 7
I've already mentioned my gear. If it was stolen I'd play thru my Pignose and get a tube amp. I use a phaser, and distortion pedal. Cheap but nice little Dan Electros

Submitted by Randy at 04/20/2005 17:51

Price Paid: US $40 used

Features: 7
I have no idea what year this amp is. I found it used in a pawn shop for $40 and it seemed like a pretty good deal, even though it's a little beat up. However, before I went back and bought it, I checked the user reviews here at Harmony Central. According to what I read in over 100 reviews, it seems I had inadvertantly stumbled upon the holy grail of practice amps. I've never owned or been very familiar with Vox amps (other than hearing the Beatles, U2, or Queen).I have three other amps: Mesa Boogie Studio 22+, Fender Blues Jr. and a Marshall VS230, so this is obviously not my main amp. All I was looking for was an inexpensive little amp to leave at my friend's house where we play on the weekends, doing jam rock, blues-funk, and psychedelic Grateful Dead-type stuff. I didn't need a lot of fancy features, and this amp doesn't offer them. It's pretty basic. But for my needs, it fit's the bill. One of the few "features" it has is a tremelo, which is pretty good. The modest eq works well for adjusting between the different guitars I use.

Sound Quality: 9
I have a number of guitars I've tried it with: Fender Strat w/ Lace Sensors, 72 Telecaster Custom w/ humbuckers, Les Paul, PRS Santana/SE, and Fernandes Sustainer Guitar w/ Roland synth pickup & GR33. All the guitars have non-stock pickups (Seymour Duncan, etc.) So far, I think it sounds best with the Strat. When I first plugged into the Pathfinder, I was amazed at how good it sounded for a small solid state amp. I used to have a Fender 15watt practice amp that sounded horrible. This thing absolutely blows it away - or any other amp this size, for that matter.

I should emphasize that I'm only using clean settings on it. I don't have anything good to say about the distortion, at least for my taste. I know I'll never use it, except maybe for crunch chords, but not for leads. I have a lot of effects I use, but for these weekend jams, I try to keep it simple and use a DigiTech RP10 multi-fx which I've had for years and has an awesome distortion setting that I've spent a lot of time tweaking. I like a sweet soaring Santana/ David Gilmour kind of lead sound, and I definitely couldn't find it in this amp. But with the amp set up for clean sounds, my fx pedal provides all I need. For taking it to the next level, my secret weapon is a Mesa Boogie V-Twin tube pre-amp. When I put that in front of the amp, it blew me away. Of course, the V-Twin tends to make any amp sound more like a Boogie, but the combination of it with this amp was incredible - very lush and tube-like.

But even by itself, this amp sounds great. The guys I jam with were totally impressed. Like I said, this particular Pathfinder was a little worn and not the quietest. If I had to really crank it, it would be noisier than I would want. But we generally play at moderate volume, so it's not a problem. However, this is not a commentary on the amp in general, just on this one, since I've never seen or heard another one. But for clean sounds at average volume, this thing sounds fantastic - crystal clear with great note articulation and a sound that is much fuller and richer than what you'd expect from an 8" speaker. The rating I'm giving it is based on my needs and taking account what it is and not comparing it to a boutique tube amp. If I bought it expecting to use it's distortion, I'd be disappointed. But from what I've read, some people find that it works for them. However, when I kick on the distortion from my pedal board, the sound that comes out of this amp is amazingly good.

Reliability: N/A
I haven't had it long enough to give an opinion on this.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 8
I'm in my 50's and have been playing for over 30 years and have had a lot of equipment. At this point, for me, small amps are the way to go.I've spent enough time breaking my back and destroying my hearing with 100watt Marshalls, Fender Twins, Ampeg VT 22's, etc. Especially when you can get such great tone from a little thing like this. If it were lost or stolen, I might try to find another, but I also might look around a bit and check out a few others. But like other reviewers here, I can't say I've found a better sounding 15 watt practice amp (for $40 no less). I haven't tried driving a cabinet with it yet, but from what I've read here in other reviews, it should be a pleasant surprise. In the short time I've had it, I have to say, I'm very impressed and highly recommend it for practice, jams, or small gigs. Vox rocks!

Submitted by Michael Diamond at 03/29/2005 14:39

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 10
Bought brand new in 01 or 02. $119 bucks I bought it b/c it has tremolo. This is a great amp for the money. I plugged it into a Sunn 4x12 cabinet and it rocks!

Sound Quality: 10
My set-up is sometimes: 62 Jazzmaster or 65 Mustang or 69 SG or Sargent Electric Sitar or Casio DG-20>Pod 2.0>Ibanez UE-300>E-H Micro-Synth>Dunlop GCB-95>Digi-Tech Whammy II, the dry line from the Whammy goes into an Ibanez FL-9>Digi-Tech PDS 2000>'82 Peavey Studio Pro(made in Miss. and probably breathed on by Hartley Peavey himself!) The wet signal of the Whammy goes into a DOD FX75 flanger>DOD FX25 Filter>Dod 808 analog Delay>Pathfinder hooked to Sunn 4x12. I really get a massive blend of sounds using this set-up. People listen to our live recordings and think it's 2 guitars!

Reliability: 10
Never had a problem unless I plug in the wrong jack on the top.

Customer Support: N/A
Never needed it so far.

Overall Rating: 10
This is a great little amp especially when using the big cabinet.

Submitted by P-Soup Boy at 12/29/2004 18:55

Price Paid: US $55.00 used

Features: 10
Manufacturing date is a little vague. The tolex is in pretty good shape and dust on the control panel indicates it sat around not being used prior to ending up in the pawn shop I bought it from. For a guy of 51 whose been playing for 37 years and whose back, ears, and patience is shot this amp was the best $50 I ever spent. No channel switching, it has a line out, which is perfect for my studio, and a headphone jack that I never use...if I'm up playing the rest of the neighborhood can be up enjoying it. The only thing missing is a spring reverb, but my stereo chorus does the trick for give the amp a little more aural space. This amp is perfect for where I am at with my electric guitar playing at this point...to tired and old to drag around a stack, 2-12 combo, tube or solid state, and I love the sound.

Sound Quality: 10
I have a 91 Chandler Strat knock off with EMG selects that is my main axe. I also put my Guild Starfire IV and '60 Gretsch Anniversary through it. In the treble setting you'd have thought it was British instead of Korean. They've captured the sound perfectly...which is saying a lot because I can remember when Voxs were considered junk and sat around pawnshops collecting dust. Nobody wanted to sound like the Beatles after they broke up...but a lot of players forgot the intrinsic sound was the amplifier...and this one's got the sound. I love the gain knob!!!

Reliability: 10
I've had this amp for two days...but have been looking at and for a good Vox at a reasonable price for a few years. It looks like some kid must have bought a Marshall and neglected this amp...like I said I got it almost as new.

Customer Support: N/A
Sorry, folks no comment. Buy it in a pawn shop... you snooze you lose.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing nearly 40 years. Other amps: Crate G40CXL Stereo, Fender Sidekick 65 Reverb Solid State, Trace Acoustic 50R Acoustic Amp, Peavey Basic 112 Bass Amp.

Submitted by Doc Richards at 11/04/2004 16:47

Price Paid: US $80

Features: 9
single channel solid state w/ 1x8" speaker. built in tremolo, boost switch (nice), and line out/headphones/ext.speaker jacks. it could use good reverb, seeing as the 15r models don't have such hot 'verb anyway. but i can't complain.

Sound Quality: 10
i use a fender cyclone, mostly. for such a small , cheap amp the thing sounds awesome. it buzzes a little when you turn it up really loud, but i can't expect much from that miniscule-magnet speaker. i might replace it with a carvin. i used this amp to record some songs with my band, just because i didn't like the sounds i was getting out of my ultimate chorus and my musicman was under the weather. i plugged it into a peavey 5150 cab (which is just HUGE) and not only did the thing have no trouble getting a pretty good volume, it sounded *spectacular*. if you have a chance, use that extension speaker jack and run another cab. you'll be floored by how capable of an amp this is. i'd have never believed it either. as for the amp by itself, i never use the tremolo, and i don't have the footswitch. the boost switch is a great feature, but i'd like to have the footswitch to use it to it's fullest. all in all, its got a great big tone i'm impressed with. check out www.kitairwave.com to hear this thing in action.

Reliability: 9
i haven't beat it up too much, but it's been there for me since i got it two years ago. the fact that everything still works is a testament to the quality of the amp, seeing as most korean-built electronics i've owned gave up the ghost within a couple of years.

Customer Support: N/A
i don't even know how long the warranty is. i've never seen need to use it and hope i never do.

Overall Rating: 10
for the money, this thing is un-fuggin real. like i said, i recorded with this thing. no other amp in the price range (or within 50-75 more)has these features. if it got lost or stolen, i'd buy two more. don't get me wrong, it doesn't humble a bogner or anything, but if you're looking for a practice amp with good tone that you can gig or record with in a pinch (or by choice!) this is the one.

Submitted by Lex at 04/28/2004 09:01

Price Paid: US $44.95 used

Features: 8
The features are just enough to get by on, not too little, nor too much. I have to say that I do really like the tremelo on this little sucker. Has a treble and a bass knob for equalization, no mid. The only thing I wish it had was reverb, otherwise everything is great.

Sound Quality: 10
My jaw hit the floor when I played this for the first time. I'm used to playing a older 2x12 120w crate that doesn't have much as far as tone, so maybe this little amps sounds a lot better to me. I have two epiphone les pauls, a black beauty 3 and a goth. I just got this amp today and have only had a chance to mess around with it a little. Sounds good for blues and older british rock, the tone is amazing. I didn't experience any noise on the distortion setting, even if it did it probably couldn't compare to the way my crate buzzes. I did have to turn the gain way down on the clean setting for it to be completely clean, but that's fine because it just means I can get a nice light dirty sound if I want to.

Reliability: N/A
Can't say, only had it for about 7 hours now without much of a chance to play it. Seems sturdy enough.

Customer Support: N/A
Couldn't tell ya.

Overall Rating: 10
I've only been playing maybe 2 1/2 years, I got my crate 2x12 about a year ago, and currently am 100% dissatisfied with it. I happened upon this little vox by accident at my pawn shop, the price tag is what jumped out at me, and then I noticed it was a vox and bought it without even playing it. I figured even if it didn't work, for 45.00 bucks it would be fun to just to take it apart and mess with it. An ass kickin' little amp, great tone, yada yada yada, I love it!

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/26/2004 22:10

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
Lo tengo desde hace un par de años.
Decir si es "versátil" o no es un asunto difícil. Es un amplificador de sonidos rotundos y personales. No tiene la ambiguedad de un Marshall o (peor aún) Peavey o Crate. Ahora bien, es un sonido "rotundo" que puede usarse sin problemas para tocar pop, blues, rock clásico o punk old skool. No es para metal (salvo que quieran hacer algo extraño) ya que si bien puede entregar una buena cantidad de distorsión, esta es demasiado compleja y con muchos harmónicos. Si se le conecta un wah, no va a sonar muy "funk"... mas bien piensen en los Electric Prunes...
Tiene tremolo (rarísimo en amplis de este precio). No me importa que no tenga reverb (eso es para un Fender, no un Vox).
15 wattios reales... creo que puede servir para tocar con una banda sin problemas (aún no he intentado esto, tengo amplis mas grandes). Desde luego que un poco mas de potencia no le vendría mal. Y un parlante de 10" o 12" sería mas que interesante, pero la verdad es que aprendí a querer a este "blue" de 8". No me pregunten por que.
Es de estado sólido. Impresionante lo que se puede hacer hoy en día sin necesidad de válvula alguna.

Sound Quality: 10
Lo he usado primordialmente con una Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Un conocido tenía uno que usaba con una Strat y también he probado dicha combinación. Con los Humbuckers de la Les Paul tiende a ser un poco mas "Beatle", pero me inclino ligeramente por usar este amplificador con single coils.
Sobre el sonido... que quieren que les diga: 100% Vox!!!! es un Vox de verdad, real, no una falsificación. Se obtienen tonos muy similares a los de un AC30 con menos volumen, lógicamente. Si escucharon discos como "Nuggets" saben al sonido que me refiero... es un sonido que a primera oida es bestial, primario, inculto, áspero... pero transcurrido cierto tiempo comienza a entregar una multitud de sutilezas y a exibir una complejidad inusitada.
Los Vox no son amplificadores para cualquiera. Alguien dijo que una Telecaster (quiero probar al Pathfinder con una!) demandaba un estilo específico a la hora de tocar. Creo que lo mismo puede decirse sin reserva de este Vox: algunos riffs y técnicas que en mi Fender Super 112 suenan maravillosos pueden no impresionar a nadie o sonar directamente mal en el Pathfinder. Y a la inversa... a veces uno toca alguna cosa muy sencilla y queda pasmado por la riqueza harmónica que este amplificador despliega, que le hace a uno descubrir aspectos nuevos en su propia música. Realmente inspirador, pero como dije... no es un amplificador que querrá el muchacho que graba música para avisos publicitarios y que tiene que ir del Country a la Salsa y luego a la Polka y al Hard Rock. Es un amplificador para artistas y creadores con mucha personalidad. Es un sonido con MUCHA presencia, se abre paso en medio de cualquier tormenta.
Como antes dije... es de estado sólido y no hace extrañar a las válvulas en ningún momento. Entre un (digamos) Crate valvular y este Vox transistorizado me quedaría con este último sin pensarlo dos veces. Y he escuchado Marshalls valvulares que poseen mayor volúmen, rango dinámico y versatilidad que mi Pathfinder, pero que carecen de la enorme PERSONALIDAD (vuelvo a reiterar la palabra) que tiene este pequeño y maravilloso amplificador.

Reliability: N/A
No tan buena construcción. El ampli vibraba, por lo que tuve que sacarle tornillos de la parte posterior y aflojar un poco la tapa trasera. Después de esto ningún problema. El ampli tiene un aspecto magnífico, pero deberían haber usado materiales de calidad un poco mejor.

Customer Support: N/A
Vivo en Argentina, nunca contacté al service y la garantía ya expiró. Además el negocio donde lo compré quebró hace un año.

Overall Rating: N/A
Toco la guitarra desde hace 10 años y el piano casi 20 años. Si me lo robaran creo que me compraría otro. Recomiendo a cualquiera que le guste el sonido Vox que se lo compre ya, porque es una verdadera ganga. Si quieren algo menos jugado o mas ambiguo, hay otros amplis en el mercado. Solo para el músico de pelos en pecho.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/07/2004 06:50

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 9
I bought my Pathfinder about four years ago, just to have a little lightweight amp to use for random jams, etc. The features have been covered thoroughly by other reviewers. I've been playing for 37 years, and been in several bands, used about every configuration of stuff you can think of, most of which was heavy and bulky. This little amp is a blessing! At age 50, I've recently joined a local club band (small venues) that needed to replace their guitarist, and I'm actually using the Pathfinder at these gigs. It's serving me quite well. I'm running it from the external speaker jack into an old homemade cabinet containing a 12-inch Utah speaker; I elevate the cabinet to about waist height (I put it on top of the Tupperware tub that I keep my cords and accessories in!), and it sounds really good.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a Fender Strat, unmodified, made in 1972. I run first thru a Digitech RP-50 processor to beef up the signal a bit, and then into the Vox. I usually set both the gain and the volume knobs to "high noon", and I'm getting sufficient volume to mix well with the keyboard player, the bass player, and the drummer. I've played many times without the processor hooked up, though, and the Vox still sounds great all by itself. I haven't yet mic'd up the cabinet into the main p.a. or utilized the line-out, but in a little larger venue I'm betting that I could do that and still be in good shape. Bottom line-- I'm getting enough gig volume without stressing out the amp. When you play softly, it responds softly; when you utilize a more vigoruous attack, it seems to respond by producing a more throaty texture. Thus, on many tunes, if I have a solo, I won't even need to step on the processor or increase the volume to do the solo, but rather I can just increase my attack a bit, and the solo projects just fine. Really sounds good to me. And the guys in the band can't believe I'm just using this little thing, and getting by on it quite nicely!

Reliability: 10
So far, it has been 100% reliable. As with any equipment, you must take care of it, and it will usually take care of you!

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 9
I'm considering getting myself the Reverb model, perhaps for the peace of mind that comes from having a backup if such was ever necessary. I'm in love with this pint-sized amp! Although an extension speaker is probably a good idea, I want to stress that a guy can use the Pathfinder at gigs with great success-- at least the small-medium club/night spot gigs. It's so lightweight, and that's a welcome relief for us older guys!

Submitted by Bill Sheehan at 03/22/2004 10:28

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
This amp was bought in 2000 or 2001 as a package deal with a new Danelectro DC. The features are as described in previous reviews. I have not tried the Pathfinder through an external speaker, and I have never used any pedal with it. My review is based solely on the performance of the amp itself, used with the Danelectro DC, a Japanese "Pearl" Les Paul copy made in the seventies, and a recent Mexican Startocaster.

If there is a weakness in the Pathfinder's "features", I would have to say it is the absence of reverb, but more so the low quality of the headphone and line out. Otherwise, everything seems to work very well.

Sound Quality: 10
While I cannot say I have tried the Pathfinder out side by side with many other amps, I can say that this is an excellent sounding amp.

First of all, this amp has certain warmth of tone that I have never heard in another small, solid state amp. Perhaps some would liken it to "tube" tone, but I hesitate to go that far. (This is only because I do not have that much experience with tube amps.) This warmth is present no matter what guitar is played through it, with humbuckers or with single coils. This amp is work very well for country, blues, classic rock and pop, but perhaps not so well for other kinds of music.

It is odd, but each guitar I have heard played through this amp seems more "like itself". In other words, the Pathfinder tends to bring out the best in a variety of different types of guitar.

I have never played this amp with full volume and full gain for more than a few seconds at a time. At this extreme level, the distortion does not sound very good, BUT this amp DOES have a consiostently good overdriven tone.

This brings up the next point. The "boost" is a bit strong (and not adjustable) which probably makes it a little less useful for switching during performance. But this "boost" has its own tone characteristics, and thus may be used to produce some interesting sounds. Do not make the mistake that I did, which was to assume that the boost simply amounted to an increase in gain. Instead, it adds a different sort of distorted effect, even when the gain is very low. I suggest you use it as the equivalent of a mild distortion pedal running into the amp, and then use the gain control to add a richer overdrive effect. For example, with my Les Paul copy I get a very nice Urge Overkill sound with the bridge pickup turned to about 3 or 4, running into the Pathfinder with the "boost" on, the gain set at 4-5, and volume set for taste. At these levels, you can really distinguish the separate contribution made by "boost" and gain to the overall sound.

The treble and bass knobs work pretty well. I do not suggest running a single coil bridge pickup through the Pathfinder with the treble set on 10!

Reliability: 8
I have never gigged with this amp, but I have also never had a single problem with its quality.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
If this were stolen, I would probably replace it with the Pathfinder 15R. But I am not sure, since there is something appealing about the "basic-ness" of this amp.

Let me put it this way: my Pathfinder is good enough that I have not envied anyone else's tone. It always sounds great.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/12/2003 09:17

Price Paid: US $80

Features: 8
This is a Vox Pathfinder 1x8 15 watt combo practice amp. I play power pop and spacey/ambient music (lots of delay and reverb). The amplifier has one channel controlled by the volume and the gain settings, and a gain boost which increases the "fatness" of the overdrive. It has a speaker out, a line out, a headphone out and a jack for attaching a footpedal to control the tremelo and gain boost. It has everything I want in an $80 amp (reverb would have been nice, but it costs $60 more). Two tone controls which are fairly effective. I use this amp in my house and I plan on using it for home/demo recording. It is solid state.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Guild Semi-Hollow Body with two humbuckers, I use each pickup setting about equally. For the type of music I play, this amp is amazing, especially considering its price. Good, full, bassy sound (rare in a practice amp). I like bands like Seam, Versus, Mogwai, who rely more on overdrive than metal-like distortion. If you are playing metal, industrial or hardcore, I do not recommend this amp, as getting a good tone out of it would be nearly impossible. For pop, rock, alt-country, this amp is great. The amp has a little surface noise to it, most of which can be taken care of with some good cables (the Pathfinder is pretty sensitive to signal interference from bad cables). The amp has a fairly straight ahead tone, and although it is solid state, it has somewhat of a tube feel to it. The clean channel goes into a smooth overdrive if turned up loud.

Reliability: 10
Great so far - it's too small to play shows with, but I think it will do well as a practice/recording amp.

Customer Support: N/A
Hadn't had to deal with customer support.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for about 13 years. I've owned marshalls, fenders, sovtecs, crates, carvins, kustoms...this is one of my favorite amps I've owned. I would buy it again if stolen. I love how straight forward the amp is, and I love how good the tones are. I wish the overdrive was a little more versatile, but I can live with that, maybe I'll get a pedal. I have pretty much nothing but good things to say about this amp.

Submitted by wright at 11/02/2003 18:28

Price Paid: US $80.00

Features: 8
The Vox Pathfinder has a gain, master volume, boost, treble, bass, tremolo speed and depth. It is a 15 W solid state amp with an 8" bulldog speaker. It looks beautiful! The fabric and classic features are incorporated into this bargain amp.

Sound Quality: 10
I bought this amp because it was on sale cheap at MF (a weekly special at 46% off MSRP); and I have a Vox micro-amp (9-volt) which had a suprisingly good sound. I wanted to see how their entry level practice amps sounded. I thought this amp would be good for tranporting for jamming with buds, giving lessons, etc. So how was this amp? I am very pleasantly surprised. It DOES have the warm Vox quality and the tremolo (volume pulse) is very pleasing. I have to have reverb, which this amp doesn't have, but I have a BOSS RV-3 pedal which supplies excellent reverb sounds, so no problem. Even without reverb, this amp sounds good. And it only needs a touch of reverb because of its tremolo. I wanted to write this review because I am surprised how good this amp sounds for only 15W of solid state power and an 8" speaker. I have several other amps, including a Roland JC-120, Fender Twin Reverb, etc, but I will compare it to my Fender Pro Junior, which is an all-tube 15W with a 10" speaker. If I could only keep one of the two practice amps, it would be the Fender since it has a bit more of a rounder tone, BUT the Vox is actually a little louder and has a significantly broader pallet of harmonic overtones when you are using full gain and boost. In that category, it beats the Fender Pro Junior. However, in some setttings of overdrive, the tone can sound a bit brittle. But the harder you push it, the better it sounds. The tremolo is also a true joy. It can be set from very subtle to profound vintage vibe. It is far better than I expected when I placed the order. I switched from my Vox back to the Fender Pro Junior last night, and I was surprised that it wasn't as loud. The Fender sells for around $275, so the Vox is a great value in comparison. They are different, but the comparison was surprising.

Reliability: N/A
Too soon to tell. I've only had it for a few weeks, but I have driven it with the pedal to the metal with no signs of smoke.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing (home hobbyist) for over 20 years. In addition to the above amps, I own a Fender super 112, a Marshall VS80, and a Marshall ASR80. If it were lost or stolen, I might not buy another Pathfinder, but I would definitely buy another VOX. This has wetted my apetite even more for the VOX tone. It may turn me from a Fender man to a Vox fan. If you're looking for an inexpensive amp, but don't have a reverb pedal or processor, step up to the Pathfinder 15R. I've heard from a long-time music store owner that the Valvtronics Vox is about the best sounding modeling amp out there, now I'm curious to explore more of their line of amps.

Submitted by Steve at 10/27/2003 17:39

Price Paid: US $110

Features: 9
it has all the features i need (volume and bass/treble) since i use a boss GT-5 for all effects. the tremolo sounds nice though

Sound Quality: 10
sounds wonderful and warm. i heard it in the store and was like, wow, i'd like to record that sound

Reliability: N/A
not sure, but i've had it almost two years with no problems

Customer Support: N/A
haven't dealt with

Overall Rating: 9
i love that it's small and light. my only wish is that it were loud enough for rehearsal. i actually use this as my stage amp (97% of you think that's a joke, but i usually play 300-700 seat venues, and good sound engineers love it when you don't carry a half stack). one of my favorite guitarists uses the amp and 6" speaker in his old silvertone case on stage and it sounds awesome. the only problem is if the monitors or sound engineer stink. then you could use more wattage.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/20/2003 01:12

Price Paid: 950 (FIM) used

Features: 9
Don't know when it's been built. I play classic rock, sometimes metal. I´use amp simulator through this(?!?!?) and it hears good to me. It has two channels with a boost switch, one from clean to dirty, and other channel with savage distortion. There is a Bass and Treble knob also, with Volume, Gain, and Tremolo, which I don't use never. Does not have effect loop. Headphone jack is good feature but not used too often. I play this all around our house, and it has enough power to make guys mad. This solid-state amp is amazingly loud to be a 15W.

Sound Quality: 6
I have a Gibson SG copy and it has two humbuckers.Like said I play rock, and this amp suits it well. What I've noticed it isn't noisy at all. I haven't got a certain sound for any band, I have just found sounds that hear good to me. Haven't tested that does sound distort in high volumes. Distortion hears good, but quite fuzzy in full throttle. If I play hard rock, I put a distortion pedal in between amp and guitar. I think the built-in distortion is too fuzzy to me. I never play with its original sounds - I always use some other gear in conjunction with it. I just don't play IT, I play THROUGH it. 6 because its sounds aren't my favourite ones.

Reliability: 9
I think I could depend on it, I couldn't gig with a backup since lack of money. It has some marks of punishment in the vinyl cloth. It has fallen a few times but still works, I think this thing is built to last.

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

Overall Rating: 6
I've been playing for three years now and have had two guitars and one amp before. I have a great Schaller Wha/Fuzz unit, self-built tube distortion, Century Distortion and Behringer V-Amp2, which has been my gear of choice.

If it were stolen, I would forget this thing and save for Marshall. I think that this amp is not right choice for me. I bought it because it was cheap enough. I love its loudness, and I dislike the lack of reverb, but an amp in this price range can't be equipped with everything.

Like said I never play with its original features but I always use additional effects in it(Behringer Vamp2, Century Dist., Tube-Breaker, Schaller Wha/Fuzz).

If you play Beatles or the like, I would recommend this amp. If you're to hard rock, don't buy this, if you do, get your hands around some stomp box distortions.

The things I like in this amp is its loudness and how lasting it is.

Submitted by Sane at 10/05/2003 08:41

Price Paid: EU (109) used

Features: 9
I bought it used over ebay, it was about one year old, so I think,
its made 2002. Features as described already. A quite good Tremolo,
whcih can be regulated in depth and tempo.

Sound Quality: 9
Sounds wonderful bassy/foxxy, when played clean, with my fender Strat, & also with my 4 further strat copies. I like the tremolo very much. The speaker is too weak for the power, the amp can deliver. But I-ll not chage the speaker, because I really just practise with the pathfinder. Its loud enough for my needs. I would even use it for
gigs in smaller rooms.

Reliability: 9
well built.

Customer Support: 8
never needet.

Overall Rating: 10
Its one of the best sounding practise amps I know. I sold my pathfinder 15 recently, because I got a new ZOOM 30, and thought,
this am could replace my little pathfinder 15, but this was
an error. Zooms Tremolo is not as versatile as the pathfinder tremolo,
now I bought me a new pathfinder 15. I love this amp.

Submitted by wiedenmann at 09/08/2003 04:07

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 7
I'm not sure what year it was made, but it was fresh out of a box, so pretty new. Single channel solid state amp with a itty bitty 8 inch speaker (but sounds bigger). The normal knobs; gain, volume, treble, bass plus it has two knobs for tremolo; speed and depth. Also has line out, speaker cab out (8 ohm), headphone in and a footswitch in (which it doesn't come with). 15 watts, hmmmmmm, I bet it's weak? But not bad at all! More than enough for practicing, recording, jamming with friends and maybe just enough for a small band! I live in an apartment so I haven't really tested how loud it can get. But with both gain and volume up to about 1/3, it sounds big! And looks just gorgeous!

Sound Quality: 9
I use a Essex Les Paul copy (fabulous guitar for $200 btw) all stock. I love the sound! I get an amazing chime from it with my p/u selector in the middle, and a nice snarl at the bridge! The boost is nice, kinda fuzzy, but sounds very British. You'll probably get a better sound with a nice stomp box running through clean. It's perfect for me, especially the clean tones. I haven't even ran pedals through it yet.....I haven't needed to! I guess you can say I play poppy sort of rock. But I like metal also, but this is definately not for that, I didn't expect it to be. On the other side I can do some Tool covers np (thanks to my LP of course), just no Pantera or whatever. If you dig Radiohead or Oasis kinda sound, get this amp! Metal heads sorry, it's too weak. Oh I almost forgot.....I love the tremolo!

Reliability: 7
I can't really say, since I've only had it for 3 days. So far so good. But I know Vox and they are usually built like tanks! I feel I can depend on it, but only time will tell. But it does appear to be well made, very solid! And I would totally play a small gig with it if such an amp would suffice. I'll reasonble and give it a 7 for now.

Customer Support: 8
I have never dealt with Vox. But I really like the staff at Spotlight Music here in Fort Collins Colorado. 1 year warranty (hopefully it's all I need).

Overall Rating: 9
I really dig this amp! Only 100 bones too! I'm very happy with it too say the least! I've been playing for about 9 years now. I've tried everything Marshalls, Fenders, Mesas, Hiwatts you name it, and I'm just as happy with this little guy! It really sounds like an AC30 shrunk down and made cheaper. I did't really compare it to much, cuz I was hooked right from the start! I would definately buy another if I lost it or had it stolen. It needs nothing else, perfect for me the way it is! Go get one now!!!!!!

Submitted by Kody Slusher at 08/14/2003 18:33

Price Paid: US $89.00 - trade in used

Features: 8
I'm not the first to review this, so I won't go through all the features. I like the tremolo (I traded in my Pathfinder 10 toward this one just for the tremolo). Mine did not come with a footswitch, but I bought one real cheap on eBay and used it with this combo and it worked well for switching on and off the drive and the tremolo.

Beware using it at full volume for long periods of time as it really wears out the speaker. As a previous reviewer said, it could use a bigger speaker.

Overall, effective as a practice amp and a recording amp

Sound Quality: 8
I used a modified strat with high output Seymour Duncan pickups in it. The guitar was run into a host of effects including a Big Muff, DOD Harmonic Enhancer, Vox Wah, etc.

For awhile, I used it to practice with my band when we were just starting out. (I used it as a master amp to a Dean Markley K20 amp.) As we got more comfortable--and therefore louder--I constantly had the volume all the way up and frequently encountered a VERY NASTY overdriven speaker sound. Not good. Needless to say, I moved on rather quickly to a bigger (tube) amp.

After that, it sat around for low-volume recording and monitoring for different guitar and effect-building projects until I sold it 'cause I needed the money.

Reliability: 10
Gig? right.

It's not bad if you don't abuse it...after all, it's a practice/recording amp. Plus, it's a Vox, so it's definitely reliable for practice/recording......not gigging.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 9
Overall, this is a great recording/practice amp. Don't use it for high volumes for long periods of time unless you want to blow out the speaker.

Since I bought a '77 Fender Princeton (which is a tube amp with basically the same features), I needed to get rid of the Vox (so make up the debt!). I'd love to see a tube version of the Pathfinder.

Submitted by j.n.r. at 08/11/2003 07:07

Price Paid: US $100 and change

Features: 7
Tremelo, more like a Class A 15 watts. Line out, Headphone out, Speaker Out. Decent amp for a 140 bucks, I'll probably trade it for a guitar research tube combo though. It could use a 1x12, the speaker is really stressed.

Sound Quality: 7
I'm using a variety of strats and super strats. It's a nice amp, gets the vox sound pretty good, but it's a tad darker. The distortion is really bad with the boost switch on or off, but I don't like class A overdrive that much unless it's a matchless or an Ac-30 with Vintage 30's. I say the clean is pretty comparable to a Crate Vintage Club series 1x12

Reliability: N/A
never had a problem with it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with a problem

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing for about 3 years now, but I play a wide variety of music and am technically adept to tackle steve vai's stuff. If it were stolen, I'd probably look for a used Fender hotrod, but this is a great practice amp. I reccomend it to anyone who comes in the store looking for a practice amp or are buying an electric guitar for their kids. I wish it was 1x12 though, and it is about $20 over priced. My first practice amp, a Peavey Rage 15 watt cost me $80.

Submitted by David Hill at 07/27/2003 12:22

Price Paid: US $74.00 used

Features: 7
The features have been covered elsewhere. Simple controls. I wish it had an effects loop, but for the price I can't complain. I wish it had reverb but I bought it off Ebay and I can make up for that with effects. I do like the boost feature. It really brings out the mid range and I really get a bluesy sound playing an Epiphone Sheraton through it. I do like the vintage sound of the tremelo.

Sound Quality: 10
I am playing an Epiphone Sheraton II, a Fender American Strat with Texas Specials, a Fender Prodigy with Lace sensors and a Fender Tex Mex fat Tele through it. All the guitars sound good through it, but I think the Epiphone sounds the best. It can be as bright and clean as you want or as gritty as you want.

Reliability: N/A
Only had it a week, but not much to go wrong with it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
Good practice amp for the bucks.

Submitted by Harry Sechrest at 07/04/2003 19:08

Price Paid: UK£79 (UK Punds)

Features: 8
A 15watt 1X8" solid-state combo. Made in FarEast for Vox. Simple control layout, with retro chicken head knobs. Gain, Volume, Treble,
Bass, Tremelo speed, Tremelo depth & a Mid boost push switch. Signal-out jack,Headphone jack, Ext.speaker jack.

Sound Quality: 9
Great little amp. for what it costs. I paid £UK79, which is around
$US130 at present. It's very loud for a 15w practise amp and has some
of the true vox 'grit' in it. I use it mainly with Strats,Teles & an
Epi' Les Paul and it delivers the goods, especially with the mid boost engaged. Play with the controls to get your ideal tone. Not for Metal.

Reliability: 8
It's really not powerfull enough for gigging, other than a home barbeque party. I rarely tune the volume over half way up in my home.
After 6 months of continuous home use its still working fine.

Customer Support: N/A
Not yet needed.

Overall Rating: 8
Been playing 40 years. Own Marshall, Fender & Hartke amps. I had a little 15w Fender Bronco tweed solid-state practise amp for the past 4years, but it kept farting out on the low notes if you pushed the volume past half way. Crap speaker I expect? This little Vox is half the price and blows the Fender's socks off.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/26/2003 00:51

Price Paid: US $92

Features: 8
I was looking for a small bedroom amp last week on ebay and used these reviews as a reference. I bought a Vox Pathfinder 15 without reverb at an ebay auction for $92 with shipping included. I think it was a demo model, in like new condition. I play mostly classic rock.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a Fender Squire Tele. I was wondering if I made the right decision to buy this. I was going to ask the seller if they had a return policy - just in case I didn't like it - but I do like it a lot. This amp has got guts for a small amp and the tone is nice. Seems to really bring out the Fender sound.
Some of the other reviews of this amp made me wonder how legit they may be but I'm not sorry I bought this amp and as far as I'm concerned, the reviews are legit.

It suits my style well. I like the clean sound. The tremolo is nice.
I'm not a pro at amps, but the distortion reminded me of fuzztones we used to use back in the late 60s - the Hendrix / Blue Cheer type sound.

I also like it's size a lot. It takes up just a small little space in my bedroom. A lot of sound comes out of this small amp. Like the others have said - for what it is, it's great. It may not sound as good as a Vox AC30, but for a small amp it's super.

Reliability: 10
I've only had it for a week but it's built like a Mack truck and I bet it will be very dependable. It's very tough looking, solid and good looking too.

Customer Support: N/A
I never dealth with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I just got back into playing after 30 years away from it. If it were stolen I would get another.
I didn't hear other amps but I'm satisfied with this.
It's small, rugged, and sounds great. I think it's really a very good amp for the money. I want to get another guitar - with humbuckers to see how it'll sound in it. I bet it'll sound nice.

Submitted by Jess at 06/20/2003 06:28

Price Paid: US $125

Features: 9
I got this amp in July 02'. I love the sound of it with some gain, but it doesn't sounds as great with the gain cranked way up. I can use it for practice but its not powerful enough for gigs. I got the Pathfinder 15R, but the reverb isn't that great and I hardly use the tremolo that comes standard on the Pathfinders. Overall it is a great amp.

Sound Quality: 9
It sounds nice when I play my Firenza JX's single coils through it. I can get a fair amount of tones from it and I especially like to turn up the gain and control the overdrive w/ my guitar's volume control.

Reliability: N/A
It's held up in the year since I got it, but that's nto saying much. I'm not able to really rate this.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 9
It is a great amp for the money and I was especially lucky to run into while searching for my first amp since I didn't know anything about guitars etc. Sorry I wasn't able to give a whole lot of comments on it.

Submitted by Vince at 05/18/2003 15:59

Price Paid: 65 (CDN) used

Features: 8
This is a 2001 model bought in a pawn shop. The owner couldn't sell it because of the loud buzzing when turned above 5. However, having read the reviews here I had a pretty good idea that the buzz could be cured...

The features have all been listed ad nauseam already. I don't use the boost button as I find it makes the sound too harsh. The 15 watts are definitely loud enough to annoy the neighbors and the dog. I haven't yet gigged with it or plugged it into a cab. Not sure if I'd take this to a gig or rely on my unbreakable Roland JC-60.

Sound Quality: 7
I'm using a Tele Plus with red and blue Lace sensors. I have tried the amp direct and also thru a Boss OD-3 and an old DOD FX-60 Chorus. I like the sound in both these setups, though I have trouble getting a smooth distorted sound without using the OD-3. I have no idea if this amp sounds like a bigger Vox ' cause I've never played one.

As regards the buzzing, I have done the following things to the amp:
(Warning: I have no idea what these mods might do to the amp's value. They would certainly void the warranty on a new amp!)
- disassemble the amp
- caulk all the non-removable panel seams with clear latex caulk ( I used DAP Ultra)
- run (thin) beads of caulk in the areas where the various removable panels meet and LET CURE before reassembly so you can get the panels off again later
- support the ends of the main circuit board on blocks of high-density self-adhesive foam
- Also apply a strip of self-adhesive foam to the bottom of the metal box holding all the cicuitry ( to keep it from resonating)
-replace the wimpy little pieces of rubber that the circuit box meets up with under the top lip of the amp with a full-length piece of open-cell foam weatherstripping.
I was also getting a buzz from the nameplate on the back of the amp until I removed it and put a little caulk behind it too.

The amp now does not buzz at all at any volume. I thought I still had a rattle at one point but it turned out to be the ductwork in my practice room ceiling!

Reliability: 7
Seems reliable now that I've cured the buzz, but I still expect the screws holding the back panels on to keep working loose. I may end up running bolts all the way thru the panels instead.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with the company and I do all my own mods and repairs.

Overall Rating: 8
This is the first amp I've bought since 1979 when I got my Roland JC-60. I bought it to use for practice since the Jazz Chorus doesn't like really low volume settings. I also thought it looked cool and couldn't pass it up at the price. If I hadn't been able to cure the buzzing I'd be disappointed but now I have a cool little practice amp for half the price of my last effects pedal. I wouldn't buy one of these new since I didn't really need another amp, but I'm having some fun with it.

Submitted by Cameron Martin at 04/10/2003 08:50

Price Paid: 100 (GBP)

Features: 8
I have the limited edition XRE: this is a better version than most of the reviews on this page. I only play Bluesy type stuff, so the tremolo speed/depth and reverb are all great features for the price. I use the thing at home, so it has enough power to make the neighbours complain: I couldn't use much more here. It doesn't have a load of modelling and effects on it: but isn't that what my digital pedals are for? Do I want an amp for £300 more that is only as good as this + a £60 effects pedal?

Sound Quality: 10
This amp is like swimming in cream. Not everyone will like that, but if that's the sound you want, no one competes at this price

I've never really been interested in making thin metallic sounds. I play an Epiphone Dot, so the resonance of the guitar is brought out well in this amp

Reliability: N/A
N/A

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I'm self taught, and have been plonking about for 12 yrs. I own 5 guitars and 3 amps, and would definitely replace this if it were stolen. I love its appearance (very dignified and classic). I can't find fault with it. I spent an afternoon in a shop trying several amps under £300, and NOTHING was this good (sorry Fender)

Submitted by Chunky Mike C at 01/26/2003 10:14

Price Paid: US $75

Features: 9
this amp was made in 2001. i play alot of older blues and a little bit of rock and it is a great practice amp for these. the headphone jack is nice.it has an overdrive switch which is also nice on a practice amp. i use it mostly when im just jamming or practicing, so its powerful enough for that.but ovbiously not close to powerful enough for gigs. the only problem is when you turn the gain up at higher levels it doesnt sound that good, but i usually play it clean so thats no big deal to me.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a left handed american strat usually with this amp and it suits my style of music fairly well(blues). i would definately not suggest a "metal head" to buy this amp because it wouldnt suit that style at all.when on overdrive and on higher volume levels there is a muffled buzz in the backround but when you play it stops, i dunno its just anoying but no big deal.

Reliability: 10
ive had this amp for a short while, about 3 months and havnt had any problems with it. but it seems like it could take a pretty good beating.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 9
great jam and practice amp, nice for blues and other music that can be played at a lower gain level. but once you turn that gain up really high, it doesnt sound nearly as good. but overall a really nice practice amp.

Submitted by Danny at 12/22/2002 16:49

Price Paid: US $125

Features: N/A
FEATURES: 10
see other reviews.
to find
1. headphone jack
2. line output
3. external speacker out
AND
4. footswitch (not included, controls boost and tremolo)
on a 150 dollar practice amp is really awesome!!
you don’t really need to buy the pathfinder 15 r with reverb. i tried it and the reverb sounds shit.

Sound Quality: N/A
SOUND QUALITY: 10
always buy an amp based on what you wanna play with it! i was looking for a practice amp that could give me the “british sound” (oasis, the verve, beatles, who...), warm overdrive from mild to wild. and this amp is 110% perfect for that style! with gain 1/3 up you get the perfect sound for open chords. gain on 2/3 let’s you get wild! add more bass and there you go with nasty riffing. best thing: you can easily play with the gain knob way up and control the overdrive with your guitar volume knob: very good for varying the sound playing live. and you always (repeat after me: ALWAYS!!) get that warm, round, little bassy overdrive. you even get some nice feedback with which you can fool around. oh, how I love that howling!! with the optional footswitch you can attakkk the boost and scream out loud your leads, perfect!
I don’t use much the clean sound but it’s good, too. don’t need the tremolo either (which is a bonus on a 15 watt practice amp), anyway, it sounds good for clean arpeggios.

Reliability: N/A
RELIABILITY: 9
when playing with a drummer you have to turn it up loud to be heard, but that’s no problem for this baby (volume wise and reliability wise), it just gets a bit hot...
It’s well built and shouldn’t fall apart while playing. no pete townshend encore, please.

Customer Support: N/A
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: N/A
I live in italy and it was already hard to find vox amps at stores, so I’m a bit afraid for customer service...

Overall Rating: N/A
OVERAL RATING: 9
this amp is not much versatile because it is a vox and a should sound like a vox. no metalhead will look for a vox for shure, so there’s no need to pack in a lot of distorsion, or other features. but this practice amp excells in for what it is made for: clean and overdrive sounds at a practice watt level! the best amp in its price-category, but if you have a bit of money left, go for the cambridge 15: it has one tube in it that makes a difference! i give the pathfinder 9, because I discovered, soon after buying the pathfinder, the cambridge and I traded the two. conclusions: pathfinder 15 = perfect = best price / cambridge 15 = sensational = costs a little more.

Submitted by othmar at 09/13/2002 06:29

Price Paid: US $85 used

Features: 8
Circa '99 Korean Pathfinder, the original SS remake without reverb. Features well laid out in the reviews below. Somewhat tiny looking, but nice green tolex covering, pleasing design. I bought mine used, supposedly mint, so take that into account in my review. Good features for such an inexpensive amp.

Sound Quality: 4
The distortion sounds lousy and is unusuable. The clean side is nothing to get excited about, below average headroom. My other amps are BF Vibrolux and a 212 Rivera, so I'm spoiled. My Rickenbacker sounded OK through the clean circuit, but not so I wanted to play it. I dumped the amp. It may be I'm just unimpressed by that Bulldog speaker.

Reliability: 5
The thing buzzed like crazy if you turned the volume up. I don't care that it's inexpensive, amp cabinets shouldn't buzz. I can't imagine what it would have sounded like in a few years. This reason alone is something you should serious consider before selecting the amp unless you're never going to crank it beyond half volume.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
As suggested above, I've got pro equipment aquired over 30 years playing and think I'm a fairly knowledgeable when it comes to guitars and amps. I picked this amp up purely on a whim thinking it looks pretty cool and I can just "keep it by the easy chair". Sounded lifeless with Strats, LPs and average with a Rick. Nice idea, but cheap cabinet and the Bulldog make it unuseable for me. Keep looking.

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/08/2002 17:56

Price Paid: US $100 used

Features: 8
Features are Gain, Boost, Tremlo, then on the back they have line out, headphone, and ext speaker jacks which is nice. The tremlo is worthless it sound weird, Ive never heard anybody play with one.

I play Beatles and Classic Rock, and the Strokes sound good through this.

There are 2 channels Clean/distort. I wish I would have gotten the reverb though. THe only bad thing about it is there is no reverb, and there are no numbers on the controls. I have to guess that Im at about 5 when I could be at 8.

One more thing, it says 15watts in the manual and on the back it says 45watts I dont get it. Email me if somebody Could explain this to me.

Sound Quality: 8
Im using a Epiphone Casino through it and It feeds back so so bad. But its not the amps fault the Casino is a Hollowbody.

This is really what I wanted in a practice amp. I didnt like Fender's or Marshall's practice amps and I really liked the sound out of this one. Great Distortion.

Ive only had the amp a few days, and it is my first amp, so I can get only 4 noticably different sounds out of it but im sure Ill learn more. The clean channael is clean at all levels but I dont like the clean sound, i like at least a little distortion. The distortion sounds way to heavy at the highest setting but thats only my personal opinion.

Reliability: 9
I bought it used but it seems in very good shape. I would rely on it because its the only one I have. It seems quite reliable

Customer Support: N/A
None. I got it used with no warrenty :(

Overall Rating: 9
Ive been playin for like 2 years, I have a Samick acoustic I stated out on and a Epiphone Casino. Before this amp I was playin through a cheap Karaoke machine which was terrible compared to this.

If it were lost or stolen I would look around again and mabey get one with a reverb. I was going to get a Marshall MG-30 or MG-50 amp but they felt so cheap and this sounds so much better.

Plus its a VOX, allthough its the cheapest VOX I could afford it still sounds enough like the Beatles for my taste.

Submitted by Vince at 08/24/2002 11:48

Price Paid: US $79.00

Features: 8
Vox Pathfinder 10-watt(solid state). 6 1/2" speaker, 2-band EQ(bass & treb), gain, volume, and overdrive/clean channels, and headphone/line out jack.
With those controls, one can dial up very nice, warm clean tones, and quite saturated overdrive tones. I use this amp at home, and at church, and it is quite loud enough to carry its own. I give it an 8 because it would have been nice if Vox had put reverb in with it.

Sound Quality: 9
I have a PRS Santana SE(gen1) with stock pickups(for now), half-blocked tremolo, and graphite saddles. I run my set-up like so: PRS->volume pedal->Boss SD-1->Johnson J-Station->Vox Pathfinder. I keep the vox set like this: volume, 3-5; treb, 5-10; bass, 3-7; gain, 10. I leave it on the clean channel. The SD-1 I have set up like this: level, 5; tone, 5-7; drive, 3-5. I use the Johnson J-Station for reverb, delay, and tremolo(or a different effect, but tremolo mostly); the amp and cab modeling is off.
Reverb adds much depth to the tone of this amp. The overdrive channel was too shrill for me(typical of ss amps), so that's why I use the SD-1. Using the SD-1 and the Johnson's reverb yeilds a very nice, warm overdrive. The clean tone of the Pathfinder is excellent, very warm, but not muddy(unless you force it to be). The Pathfinder will do what you make it do, if you set it badly, it will sound bad. If you set it well, it will sound good. Tone is a subjective thing, and to my taste, this amp has great clean, even without reverb. And with the SD-1, it has great overdrive. You can make the clean channel become slightly overdriven when you turn the volume all the way up, and the gain all the way up. Not very, though, just a hint of overdrive. The SD-1 is a great pedal to use to get a nice, warm overdrive out of this amp. I want to try the BD-2 Blues Driver with it as well, I think that would sound very nice. Some would consider this amp to be merely a practice amp, but I think it can preform much more than that single task. I give it a 9 because nothing is perfect, and as pleased as I am with the tone of the Pathfinder, I am still searching for the elusive 'perfect tone'.

Reliability: 9
It has always worked for me when I pulg it in. I use it on Wednessday nights at my church as my main amp. I give it a 9 because nothing is perfect. However, I do not see it breaking down in the future. If you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you.

Customer Support: N/A
I have never had to deal with Vox, which is a credit to them. Therefore, I cannot say how good their customer service is.

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for a few years now, and I've been around people with a good ear for tone. As superficial as it is, I like the styling of the Pathfinder. Most of the other amps in its caliber were ugly-looking black boxes; the Vox has class. The one thing I wish it had is reverb. The reverb from my J-Station adds so much depth to the tone. It would have been nice if Vox had incorporated that into the Pathfinder 10, instead of having it only on the 15. I compared the pathfinder to the Fender Princeton 65, and the Pathfinder won out completely. The clean tone is much warmer. The overdrive can get a bit buzzy, but the Princeton's distortion was comprised completely of buzz. I give it a 9 only because, nothing is perfect.

Submitted by Ryan at 07/31/2002 22:26

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 9
Just to be sure, this is the standard Pathfinder with the 8" speaker and NOT the Pathfinder 10 with 6" speaker. It's simple and a no-brainer to operate. Considering the intended functionality, it's pretty complete.

Sound Quality: 8
Lemme preface this part of the review by stating that I bought this amp to play as clean as possible at low, bedroom volumes and NOT for gigging (for which it will NOT work). I don't want THIS amp for any significant distortion, or FX for that matter. I feed this amp single coil Strats and Teles and you need to keep in mind that bumhuckers will push this li'l amp over the edge faster and easier. No offboard FX used. The onboard tremolo is quite nice and has a good feel like my '63 Deluxe had - it's worth my usage. There are some sonic buzzes at a few specific low note frequencies but nothing to get uptight about. I took it all apart and tightened up the offending rattlers.

The "loud" button delivers great volume with tons of distorto noises and is just NOT pleasing to my ears, as is any gain overuse of this amp. The loudest clean headroom I could achieve, without MOS-FET hiss, was with the gain at 11 o'clock and the volume at noon (bass and treble also set at noon) - I find this a very pleasing toned setting and quite appropriate for bedroom or small living room playing. It'll work for guitar jams at very low and sane levels. It's not sparkily Fender-clean and there is some ever so subtle harmonic distorto happening, but it's fairly transparent clean and it really sounds ... pleasing.

The little Vox Blue speaker is nicely articulate with no farting or execessive shrillness but I'll be swapping it out for a Weber C8Q just to see if I can pick up any more usual clean headroom and to round off the low notes just a hair. There is enuf height and width to easily accomodate a 10" speaker BUT the baffle depth to the chassis is only 3.75" (which would require shimming the chassis further back a good 3/4" in order to fit in a 10" speaker). With this type of amp - and its intended use - there is no reason to retro a larger speaker, IMO. In fact, the Vox stock speaker is just fine all by itself.

Keeping in mind what THIS amp should be capable of, I gave it a high mark for the good, quiet tone it delivers at low volumes. If you required or expected more clean volume from this (or any) 15 watt solid state amp, you were fooling yourself.

Reliability: N/A
Who knows?

Customer Support: N/A
Beats me.

Overall Rating: 9
Guitarist since '55 - gigged for 10+ years - assemble my own Strat and Tele clones w/Bill Lawrence noiseless pickups to feed old Fender tube amps - playing fingerstyle blues, jazz, modern surf and ragtime - understanding the limits of a "practice" amp such as this, this one's quite good and at the top of the heap considering the price. Recommended for what it is (a bedroom/recording amp) and what it's not (a gigging/hard jamming amp).

Submitted by stratNtele at 03/29/2002 11:02

Price Paid: Dm

Features: 10
This little "one" is from 2001,its a single channel with boostswitch,and the best of all,the classic Vox Look.This Amp is back to the Basics,and that is the reason for bying it.It has nice Chickenhead-knobs,Vintage Controlplate and the classic "Ac-30"lookalike with the golden Vox Logo.And it very,very,loud for 15 Watts.I use it for Homerecording.

Sound Quality: 10
I use my Homemade Guitar (Neck and Body from an old 1970 Framus Strat),3 Burns Trisonic Pickups,rewired and potted,On/off-Phasechange for every Pickup.(21 different Combinations).Yes..Right...My style is Rock,Blues and of course..Brian May.(Talent not include!!!lol).Now to the Pathfinder.This Amp is Amazing for an Practise-Amp.I make Music since 20 Years,but this is the best Amp u can get for youre Home or little Gigs in Clubs.Yes,its no ac-30,but with an Tube-Preamp u can get nice results.The 8,Speaker looks good,but it is to small for this Amp.My Setup is a Tubepreamp,Boss Chorus,2 Bell-Delays ,an Eventide 4000 Harmonizer,and for Garage or Homeuse,even the 4 Pathfinders.What can i say??Sounds very close to Brians Sound.Very close!!!.

Reliability: 8
I would not use them on big gigs.But in Clubs or little Venues,with Mics in front and behind them,u can do so! why not.

Customer Support: 8
Dont know now.I have no need!!!

Overall Rating: 10
A very good,easy,and loud Practise Amp,with a great "Vox"-touch.
Very British

Submitted by Maxhim at 03/11/2002 19:35

Price Paid: US $109

Features: 10
Pretty darn good for a $100 amp. About the only thing it doesn't have is an effects loop. But channel switching, tremelo, headphones/line out, extention speaker jack....all pretty impressive for a $100 practice amp.

Sound Quality: 8
The clean channel is the only thing worth using. The distortion channel is just too much. I tried several amps in this price range at the store, and they all had that real buzzy sound to them. I was about to leave when I saw the Pathfinder. Thinking "oh well, might as well give it a try, I've heard everything else". Boy was I surprised. I could tell within 3 seconds that this didn't have the buzzy sound of the others. It's even voiced to sound like a vox. Now it doesn't sound quite like an AC30, but it's trying. The clean channel is very dynamic, especially with single coil pickups. Great ability to play softly and get a clean sound, then without adjusting anything, play hard and it distorts. (you'll have to find the right settings for your guitar) Two problems: First, when pushed for a lead sound, it really starts to sound like a solid state amp. Shrilling and tinty....no tubes to overload. (but remember...it's a $100 amp!) Second, the 6.5" speaker could have been a little better. With 15 watts, you should be able to scrape by with a gig. The speaker just can't handle it. There is a point on the amp where if you turn the master voume up further, the amp doesn't get louder, the speaker can't handle it. I know this is supposed to be a practice amp. But 15 watts can be loud and I'd like to use it on some gigs (& I have!) but the speaker magnet was hot after a performance and I was afraid I would blow it at further gigs, so I don't use it anymore. I wish there was a good 10 inch speaker in it. You'd be able to use it for small gigs. Don't get me wrong, those other pieces of shit in the music store couldn't have even handled a gig in the first place! I just turn my pathfinder in towards me, on a road case or something, or down in front, angled up like a monitor...toss a mic on it, and I was ready to go. I've even had it on the back of the PA stack, turned in towards me. But just not quite loud enough because of the small speaker. This amp sounds best with single coil pickups.

Reliability: 9
Pounded on it with live gigs for only about 10 shows or so, but stopped using it for gigs. (see speaker above)

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to use it

Overall Rating: 10
For what it's supposed to be...a practice amp...this thing is great. Especially for $100 or so. Beats everything else in it's category. (and I tried them all in the music store!) If it was stolen (and I wanted another practice amp) I would purchase this again instantly. My regular live gig amp is a 100 watt Carvin tube combo from 1984, and it weighs about 80lbs. The Pathfinder weighs in at 17lbs....GREAT when you're moving gear. I've considered seeing if I could toss a 10 inch speaker in it, but I've gone back to using my regular live rig.

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/28/2002 11:23

Price Paid: 160 €

Features: 8
This little amp,released in late '99,is a very surprise for me.
It's a very versatile amp.PF have a nice tremolo on-board,volume,gain bass,treble,tremolo depth and speed control,a switch for boost,a foot-switch input and a headphones out.
He don't have a foot-switch pedal.I suppose that the pedal drive boost and tremolo but i not ever tried it.
PF don't need a FX-loop i think,'cause it sounds great as is.
Also,i think that:the speaker is too small and the ampli cannot deploy plenty his power....but for my house is great.
I use it to practice,but i've used in gig and i can say:try a good microphone in rear.....
I've tried many amps,and now my gig is composed by a Marshall Tsl 100+1960,an Marshall Valvestate 65R (the old,not avt2000,that sucks!),
a Marshall Acoustic Soloist 100,a Vox AC 30 (bulldog speaker,not Celestion...eheh!),adn this little lovely Pathfinder.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a Fender Stratocaster with lace-sensor as the great Ritchie and i love to play Deep Purple and Blues.
PF is not so noisy,but i've modified a little the electric circuits to silence it and i've glued the chassi to reduce vibrations,'cause this ampli is too light for is power.
Now i'm going to mount a sort of Faraday pit to cut interference,and a polymeric ring around the speaker to help him to give more power.
With these modifies,it sounds very nice.
The clean channel is liquid until 25-30% of gain,but i use 60-70% for crunch.
Distortion is the best i have heard in a little amp,when i play with it,i think to old Deep Purple sound (In Rock).Note:Blackmore used Vox AC30 in this album and relative tour.....not Marshall.
I tell again little and angry.....maybe too little.

Reliability: 9
Yes you can depend on it,and you can use on gig with a good amplification and a microphone.
Is a very friend....and solid,as the Vox tradition Would.
Note:PF have a very good pre-amp section with a mosfet that give him the amazing like-tubes sound and a reissue blue Bulldog speaker.

Very nice!

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I think that i buy another,but is not simple to find.
If you find one in a corner of a music-shop.....buy them!!
I've find him in a mass of valve amps,but casually

Submitted by Asher at 02/23/2002 07:38

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
Solid-State, 15 watts of power, Gain/Volume/Bass/Treble/Tremelo Speed/Tremelo Depth and a switch for Overdrive. pretty straight forward.

I use 2 of these amps at school, and they are well suited for stage band music.

Sound Quality: 6
I use this for a warm Jazzy tone. Into the amp is an Ibanez Les Paul Custom which sounds great. The overdrive is horrible and muddy as hell.

The school has two, so I am considering A/Bing them for stage band performances so I can have a slight overdrive and a chording tone.

My own amp is a Mesa Boogie Quad Preamp into a Mesa 295 power amp into a Marshall 1960A. The Pathfinder doesn't come close, of course, but I can still play with the pathfinder confortably and not worry about sounding bad.

Most of the tone comes from the Les Paul.

Reliability: N/A
I'm not the only person who uses this amplifier

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7
This is a great amp for a beginner. It's not all that versative, but it doesn't fart like most smaller amps. This amp will also help develop a decent taste in tone.

Submitted by MiKeJ at 02/20/2002 01:13

Price Paid: US $150

Features: 7
I think this amp was made in 99 or 2000. It has a nice tone if crank down the gain and crank up the volume. It has a great vintage tone. It's pretty versatile, but the distortion sucks, and that is what you can expect from a 15 watt ss amp. I wish it had reverb. It has tremolo which I never use. I use this amp as a practice amp.

Sound Quality: 7
I'm using a not-modified strat. It can get sommewhat near to Hendrix tones. This amp sux ass when you crank the gain, awful distortion.
I've never really cranked the volume more than like 25%.

Reliability: 9
I would NOT use this amp on a gig. Why? because it crackles. This amp is quite stable. It has never broken down.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7
I want a new amp. Gonna get a Marshall half-stack soon MHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA. I never really compared the amp to anything else, I just bought it!

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/19/2002 09:24

Price Paid: US $125 wtax

Features: 9
this anglo-korean 15 watt solid state combo has gain,boost,volume,treble,bass,trem speed and depth.it also has two footswichable efects.

Sound Quality: 10
this amp combo has awesome sounds for a solid state amp.it has clean sounds that can blow your @!$#ing mind out.the distortion is also good butt i don't use it as mutch.

Reliability: 10
ths amp is dependable

Customer Support: N/A
it has a 1 year warranty i think,but don't quote me on it

Overall Rating: 10
i love it

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/19/2002 05:36

Price Paid: US $99.99

Features: 9
Questions about features? See above.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a epiphone corina, that's tweaked out with a dimarzio super norton in the bridge. This is perfect for the afficianadoes of the power chord. The gain on this little amp is amazing. I have practiced with a full band with this little number. This is the sound i hear in my head, ive used it to preamp my marshall TSL 100, amazing!! For the longest time i believed that this little amp had tubes in it. I was really shocked to find that it didn't.

Reliability: 9
Yes there is rattling, but that comes from the handle design, i fixed it by unscrewing the handle and putting rubber feet in between the metal and the body of the amp. Other than that this amp holds up nicely.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I tried all kinds of other practice amps. I would buy this amp again, in fact i want to get another one to run them stereo.

Submitted by Atom at 02/02/2002 23:43

Price Paid: US $110.00

Features: 10
This is a great little practice amp.
Really easy to operate, easy to tweak.

Sound Quality: 10
Great Rock n Roll sounding, infact, it tweaked just right, my Takamine Acoustic sounds excellent.
Again, for a small amp, this is great.

Reliability: 10
This little amp reminds me of my Honda 3-Wheelers. Never break down, but I suppose if you opened up on the gain and treble, the speaker would eventually go.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
28 years playing. Mesa Boogie Rectoverb, VOX AC-15, wasn't really happy with that sound. Fender Twin, a nice amp, but noisy. Crate VC5212, that amp worked well with Carl Martin Compressor. Own Rick 330 and 325, PRS, a couple Acoustics Takamine, Yamaha, Peavy P-Bass.
This is a great little amp, you can't ask for more for something like this

Submitted by Ron at 01/25/2002 22:55

Price Paid: US $99

Features: 8
This is a 15 watt, transister amp, made in Korea in 2001. It features Tremolo which is rather nice, and has output jacks for both external speaker, and headphones. The headphone feature cuts out the main speaker which is rather nice when satisfying those late night urges to play. It also has a gain channel which I find to be somewhat weak, but more tube-like than some of the other fake sounding transisters I've heard. Both the gain channel and tremolo are foot switchable, but no foot switch is provided. Reverb would be nice, but considering that I only paid $99 brand new, the amp features a lot for the money.

Sound Quality: 10
I use this amp for home practice. I play classic rock & blues, and usually plug in with a Boss DD3. I play a Strat, SG, Starfire and
t-400 through it, and they all sound great. The clean channel is very warm, sweet and tube-like. The most amazing thing I find is how quiet this amp is. Even with my single coils, there is no hum. There are also no extranious unwanted noises, buzzes or pops.

Reliability: 9
So far, the amp has not let me down. I'm not certain it has enough guts to take it on a gig, but that's not what it is intended for.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for about 8 years, and this is my first transister amp. I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and since I bought this little Vox, I have not used the HRD. I love this little Vox amp! It does everything I expected it to do, and in such a neat little package. I highly recommend it as a bedroom or practice amp.

Submitted by Brewnote at 01/21/2002 18:01

Price Paid: 300 (Oz)

Features: 8
Good overdrive, can be muddy. Footswitch should be included. Tremolo good but needs reverb.

Sound Quality: 9
Can sound very tube like, classic vox sounds. COuld have a bit more gain but that was not its is designed for. Can fill up a room for its compact size.

Reliability: 10
Good so far. No crackling... Would depend on it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 9
Bonza!

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/01/2001 23:51

Price Paid: US $99.00

Features: 7
this is a solid state amp, with basic controls and two knobs for tremelo, also a boost knob for some distortion. you can hook a footswitch, which is extra. it's gotta head phone jack.

Sound Quality: 10
this is a great clean tone amp. as close as you can get to the original for the money. i couldn't believe it sounded as good as it did. i record with it, and use it as a writing amp for sure. i can write on this amp, and if move to louder amp, the sound i wrote is still there. the tremelo is moderately nice and some decent reverb would have been nice. to me the distortion is worthless, and it sounds pretty weak, but i don't think you should depend on any practice amp for yr distortion, use a pedal.

Reliability: 10
works so far. i have no complaints. it sits in one place pretty much, so no tour danger yet.

Customer Support: N/A
no experience with support.

Overall Rating: 9
i love this amp. i use a fender princton tube amp with tremelo and reverb as well which cost me $350, and this one keeps up very nicely. i use the vox for nice clean tracks with no effects and get the best sound. i don't mess with the knobs. the speaker could be upgraded, and i might do that sometime, but so far it's ok and moderate levels. again, i would have gotten the cambridge with reverb, if it had been out then, but if you don't use reverb this is the cleans practice amp you can get for the money.

Submitted by sonny at 11/01/2001 22:45

Price Paid: 115 (euro)

Features: 8
Before i tried it i heard some stories about the Pathfinder being a good practice amp capable of creating AC-30 like sounds. Not the real thing , but U2 using some of these little amps in the studio on their last album must be a good reference. I doesn't have a reverb or anything, and i don't use the overdrive much, but it's all that it has to be for that price.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a lot of U2, radiohead and just about anything else with this sweet little amp. Rickenbacker into Boss Sd-1 intoTc elec-G major into Vox Pathfinder. I like to use my Fender amp for the clean stuff (it's not very loud without any od). But for the overdrive i use this amp. and it works out pretty well. I'm surprised at how loud it can b when cranked up.

Reliability: 9
It hasn't had any problems yet. Andit seems pretty dependable to me. I would defenitely replace it when something would happen. for hat kinda money... i think this amp is the best in it's price-range.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I would defenitely replace it when something would happen. for hat kinda money... i think this amp is the best in it's price-range.
don't think you're buying an AC-30 or AC-15. But hey what can you say .....for like a 120 bucks this is the best...

Submitted by Frank van Wijngaarden at 09/25/2001 10:54

Price Paid: US $79

Features: 9
Everybody has listed all the features so there's probably no reason for me to. I bought this amp to power my talkbox. I used it as my practice amp at a rehearsal one day. This thing has oh my jesus power for just being 15 watts. It's what it was designed for. I read a review here where a guy said the sound isn't good enough for his ears and is a piece of shit. Get a life! Didn't you try it out first? If it was so bad why'd you buy it? It's a practice amp for jesus' sake. I only paid $79 for mine and because I can use it as my guitar amp at rehearsal and for my talkbox makes it well worth the money. I just used it for the first time 8/29 on stage and my talkbox sounded great. It was the only amp it's size to have an extention speaker out, in fact when I demo'd one the salesman hooked it up to a Boogie 4X12 cab and it blew me away.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Musicman Sillouhette and A/B it to my Carvin rig and to the Vox. If you're using it as a straight amp the overdrive is pretty good until you start cranking the gain and then it becomes pretty electronic but putting the gain and volume halfway together creates a very tubelike sound, something I didn't expect from an 8 inch speaker. Yeah, I know it could use reverb but for 79 bucks who cares. Just run your stomp boxes or processor right into the input, bring up the gain and crank. I use a Zoom GFX-8 and it turns this thing into a beast when cranked.

Reliability: 10
So far so good, no problems.

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
If this thing is used for what it is, a practice amp, you should enjoy the sounds you can get but if you're looking for Marshall tone from an 8 inch speaker buy a Marshall. This thing does a great job for what it's designed to do and if you can get more out of it then it's worth the $120 most places get for them. It simply has more features than any other amp I tried or looked at and it does a great job powering my talkbox without it blowing off my head in the process. If it were stolen I'd find the guy and power my talkbox with a Marshall, shove the talkbox tube up his ass and pop his eyes out with a power chord. Then with the money I lift from his wallet (probably from selling my amp), I'd go and buy another one.

Submitted by Brian at 09/01/2001 14:53

Price Paid: US $120

Features: 8
2000 Vox Pathfinder, 15watts solid state, 8" speaker. features volume, gain, boost switch, bass/treble, tremolo speed/depth, headphone jack, ext speaker jack. This is a badass little amp! At my favorite guitar store, these things couldnt stay in stock. Even the guys who worked there were buying them. Severely underrated at 15watts, as this guy is loud! It sure as hell doesnt sound like an 8" speaker, and half the time doesnt sound solid state! Great vox overdrive tones. Dont mistake this for merely a bedroom amp.....I know people who gig with these :D. The pathfinder is an amazing amp for the money, and can smoke other amps that cost 3x, 4x, 5x the price. I give the features an 8 because it's a bare bones amp, but badass from what you get from that.

Sound Quality: 10
I play mainly a Gibson Les Paul Standard, as well as several Fender Strats and a Tele. I play rock, and this amp can rock. Great dirty bluesy vox overdrives and very sweet tones. It can be loud and clean, or you can put some balls into it. I roll the volume about halfway up, gain at maybe 40%, and use my volume controls on the guitar to work the overdrive. At that, you've got a LOUD, classy overdriven, hot ass amp! GREAT TONES! This isnt a metal amp (thank god) so no pantera through this guy. A great practice amp, bedroom amp, small gigs amp. I havent tried running it to an external cabinet, but i wouldnt be afraid to do so! I'm not playing Shea Stadium anytime soon... I wouldnt be afraid to get this little guy in basements and bars. I love this amp more than my 100w marshall combo. cannot praise it enough! Everyone should buy one..or two:D

Reliability: 9
It is solid state, and a sturdy little guy. I think i would depend on it. It's my main amp anyhow as the bigass marshall collects dust. I havent had any problems with it, and Vox carries a great reputation, so i am not worried. Maybe i'll blow it out someday, then i'll just buy another! I think its an amp you can count on.

Customer Support: N/A
Vox has great reputation as being dependable, but i've never dealt with the company personally.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for about eight years. My other amp is a Marshall 100w combo with 2x12" speakers. I like this amp more. Playing a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat, Tele, a strat copy, guild acoustic, seagull 12 string, and two japanese electrics from the 60s. I love the tone and simplicity of this amp, and the fact that it kicks the asses of more expensive amps. I actually intended to buy a cambridge, but the store was out of cambridge 15s, so a pathfinder it was. I LOVE THIS AMP. If it were stolen, i would replace it immediately. sometime in the future, i'll get an AC30...but thatll be after all the college loans are gone... oh my. For $120, its the best amp ever made. Shame for buying anything else within that range.

Submitted by pat at 08/17/2001 07:20

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
Review of the new all solid state 15 watt amp. This amp was viewed and played at mars music along with its one tube brother the Cambridge. First off the amp is classicly styled like an older amp which I like. Only 120 dollars? WOW what a buy! looks more expensive and 15 watt amps can fool you because they can be loud. It has a tremelo feature but thats the Brits for ya,... what it really needs is a reverb instead as most American players would prefer.

Sound Quality: 8
I read all the reviews of this amp. First of all I'm impressed with its loudness and good quality of sound. Transistor amps are fine and they make beautiful tones like this amp....but sorry fellas I don't hear any tube tones coming from this baby like I do the Cambridge model. I have a 12 year old all solid state 15 watt Dean markley amp that compares nicely to this one but my Dean Markley amp was more expensive than this one and that was 12 years ago. My Dean Marley amp has a better distortion than the pathfinder and I think the pathfinder might be a bit louder. Both are good amps and the only difference is in tone but I never though of my Dean Markley as having a tube tone even though it does have a vintage speaker that came stock

Reliability: N/A
I did'nt buy the Vox so I won't comment

Customer Support: N/A
no comment

Overall Rating: 8
I don't mean to burst anybodys bubble but I hear no tube tones coming from this solid state rig. Compare it side by side to the one tube cambridge model and you can hear the difference the one tube makes in the Cambridge model. The pathfinder is an outstanding value and has a great sound for a 15 watt practice amp. It's definatly worth looking at if you need a portable unit or on a limited budget. Its just to similar to my Dean markley K-20 15 watt practice amp so I can not justify buying one no matter how glowing all the reviews are for this model.

Submitted by Bruce at 07/30/2001 20:21

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
This Pathfinder is a 2001, and blows me away. I play 60-80's classic rock and top 40 country, also gospel and originals. I purchased this amp due to a neck- spine operation. I have had every kind of amp, just about made(used to own a music business). Hey this thing is no Blackface Deluxe or bluesbreaker, but you know if you want an honest sound for not much money this is the baby. I play a Tele and a Danoblaster thru this and am amazed at the quality, this amp will be used to record with and as a back-up rig (line out). It is not supposed to be anything other than a very good sounding more than powerful for it's size beaut. I was searching for something with a line out, there is not much under $300. worth looking at unless you buy used. I was suprised to see the speaker out and can't wait to check that out. I think i'm gonna look at vox as an alternative a little more closely because of this amp.

Sound Quality: 8
This Amp does singles coils real well, hums need a tab of tweeking. Very little noise, much quieter than some of my tube amps. If you looking for 80's 90's distortion, scooped mids, buy a marshall, if want classic, almost unforgiving honesty of sound stop here. I did notice if you can run the gain and volume close to each other that you can get a real tubey to gritty sound just using the volume on your guitar. Don't care for the distortion, i use an rp100 with extensive programing for that. This amp is deceptively loud, but won't compete with stage volume. I do believe you could line it out to a good pa and accomplish a huge sound. Good Luck

Reliability: N/A
Don't know, when i sold them none came back! So I hope I have the same luck!

Customer Support: N/A
don't know

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for 37 years. If someone stole it I would replace it, might even go to the cambridge 30 twin. I love the even string response, no stirng is mushy as with some small amps. The Marshalls I have owned often had a hard time with the tele low E. This is no prob.The one thing I wish it had and I would have paid more for it is reverb, but even with out it I love it!

Submitted by Mark H. Sanborn at 07/20/2001 11:29

Price Paid: US $107.00

Features: 9
This is a new 2001 model, bought as a scratch and dent item off of Musicians Friend. Works fine, looks sharp not sure why it was in their scratch and dent department other than a possible returned item. It has a single channel, 15 watts and one 8 inch speaker. Controls are gain, gain boost, volume, treble, bass, tremolo speed and depth. Other features include a headphone jack, external speaker jack and a footswitch jack that controls the gain boost and tremolo. Oh yeah she is solid state. Pretty much all the standard no frills stuff, with the exception of the Vox standard tremolo(yeah). Absolutely what I wanted and needed for a bedroom amp. It is more than loud enough for my intended use actually there is more power than what I will ever use.

Sound Quality: 10
I have several guitars, but this amp will be in my bedroom where I only keep one or two guitars. Those being a Gibson L6-S and a Fender hardtail strat(Hate them damn standard tremolos!!!). I play mostly rock and punk. I sometimes dip into the extreme and play blues. The gain control is great for a wide variation of sounds and the treble and bass controls are very responsive and offer a lot of different color and tone to the sound. It doesn't get super or ultra grind though but it does get pretty heavy. As I mentioned this is a solid state amp unlike its clone sibbling hybrid the Cambridge and its famous traditional big brother the AC/30, so don't expect it to sound like either of these(if you are a Vox nut) but it does sound good overall and if you consider the price tag($119.00 new) it sounds great.

Reliability: 10
Thus far it has been very reliable. When it first arrived I played it for a couple of days at moderate volume. Then I gave it the turbo test, cranked her wide open. No cab distortion like I've read in other reviews. Played through it clean cranked also, again it held up nicely, speaker seems to handle it well. It most likely will never experience a gig. If I were a beginner I'd probably try it. It would most likely need miked for that situation.

Customer Support: 3
I requested some Vox information via their actually web site a couple of months ago. Still haven't heard a thing out of them. Don't know what is up with that. Oh well they still make great amps.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing for 16 years now. I own primarily Gibson guitars(Les Pauls and Sg's only Please!!!) a couple of Fenders, Rics and some other nonamers. My other amps are Voxes and Gibsons. Some are valve, some are solid state and some are hybrids. Now I have this new Vox to add to my collection. I would be disappointed if I woke up and didn't see my Pathfinder sitting on top of my dresser in the morning then I would go out and buy another one to replace it. It isn't the greatest amp but it is far from being the worst. It is excellent for the price. Looks great and very durable. I looked at Marshalls and Fenders before I bought this one and I feel I made a good choice. I'm not a tone, valve or effects nut. Everything I own I can get different sounds out of. I would not keep them if I couldn't because my mood changes so much. I have found with most amps in general you can get good sounds out of them if you tweak them a little. Except the modeling amps they make you think your gonna get some killer tones out of them which you do but then you can't tweak them to give them your own personality.(except for the Cyber Twin by Fender) In my opinion go out and buy the amps you want and let them sound like you. Taylor you amp and your sound around yourself not someone else or by the number of tubes it has. But if you're looking for a versatile, compact, loud and great looking bedroom amplifier check out these Pathfinders cause they are just the thing.

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/15/2001 04:10

Price Paid: US $200.

Features: 10
Mine is a 65 thomas with a gold 4 ohm Bulldog. the Bulldog is JMI on the label. It uses one el84 two ecc83s and a gz rectifier.It has the coolest shimmering vibrato and the smoothest distortion when cranked. It was designed by that Denny guy who did the ac30 they flew him over when they made the distribution and Production deal.

Sound Quality: 10
I have used it with gibson humbuckers, fender single coils and a Ricky 381 with humbuckers. It sound fab with everything I have tried I used it with a 67 vibrochamp and came up with true groovy sounds. The vibrato's were slapping each other silly until I regained my composure. I recorded a couple tracks with it and wanted to keep rerecordeing because it sounded so good!

Reliability: 10
I bought it from a local shop that usually does not make a habit of having good deals in this case I bought it over a Superchamp I was eyeing and am glad I did. To further puch my motivation it had been recently gone over by the same gut who rebuilt a few other amps for me.It will last another 35 years without a doubt.

Customer Support: N/A
I am sure if I need customer support it will be somewhere.

Overall Rating: 10
This is the only nonfender I own. It goes so well with my ricky that I am totally shocked. I love this amp it sounds different from my fenders in a very complemetary way. I would buy another if I could find one.

Submitted by bob cox at 04/11/2001 11:36

Price Paid: 200DM

Features: 3
This is a follow-up to my intial review of the Pathfinder wherein I compared it with the Danelectro Nifty-Fifty. I would like to amend my comments in a downward fashion on the Pathfinder. Compared to a REAL amp (say, a Fender Deluxe Reverb) the Pathfinder is pathetic. As a simple practice amp, you can find far better alternatives at similiar prices. Yes, it does look good, but that is about it. As a practice amp, it is unacceptable to my ears. I now own another low wattage amp which sounds phenominally better compared to this pile of dung. Check out a tube Univox UB-45 (about a $100) or if you have the money, an ADA Rocket A-10. You will be far more pleased with the sound, IMHO.

Sound Quality: 3
Sounds like a solid state amp, which isn't surprising since it's a solid state amp. It's tin sounding and very harsh when it's feeble boost is engaged. The gain switch is more a harshness control. The 'break-up' is just shrill and tonally without life. Very limited. It's flat and unresponsive and sounds plain BAD at times. It is very hard, maybe impossible, to find any decent sound. The only way it sounds good is through about $200 worth of pedals. Great! There is very little tonal variety at all. As it turns out, in my intial review, it was actually my pedals I was reviewing. I have tried for a month now to get something resembling a real tone from this box, but alas, I am left with the fact that the Pathfinder is a stone dead box. Toneless, bereft of life...this is a dead parrot of an amp. I would rather have my old Crate back over the Pathfinder.

Reliability: 3
When played at louder volumes, it buzzes/rattles loudly. It cannot be played loudly with this noise. It is not a subtle problem at all. Apparently, as another reviewer here has noted, the screws were not tightened properly at the factory during assembly, so I will have to disassemble it and retighten everything. Great. I would NEVER gig with this piece of junk.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know anything about this.

Overall Rating: 3
I am very disappointed with this amp. I cannot recommend it to anyone who's ever played through a decent tube or a fine solid state amp. A beginner might tolerate it, since ignorance is bliss. However, a player will be very disappointed by the Pathfinder's limitedness and harshness no matter what style of music played. Yes, it LOOKS like a Vox, and we all would love to get that Vox sound, but you won't find it in this amp AT ALL. Save your money and/or look to buy an old 60's tube amp. IMHO, this is am unacceptable piece of equipment to play music with. It is more functional as a piece of furniture or a cigarette holder...maybe a dart board?

Submitted by JC at 04/03/2001 09:18

Price Paid: US $118 ea

Features: 8
2000 model (have 2) Nice warm blues sound I use them along with a Crate GX40+D and two Peavey 1X12 cabs.
An effects loop would be nice, they should include the footswitch.

Sound Quality: 10
I play the following: 69 Paul Standard. 79 Dean Baby V. 87 Hohner G2T. 99 LP 12string. 2000 Dean Chafin Boca. 2001 ESP MH100. Good crunch "tubish" sound that blends nicely with the Crate. Best advice I can give is to set both tone controls in the middle and leave them there. Clean is very good, distortion is a bit warm and has a definate VOX sound. Again it adds something to the Crate that I couldn't get playing with the GX's controls.
I DON'T use these just as practice amps. They are quite loud enough for bar gigs.

Reliability: N/A
so far no problems

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
been playing since mid '60s. I've collected a few guitars along the way and set them up myself.
I compared these to a Crate GXF15 - What were they thinking ? An Ibanez Toneblaster25r - tooo solid state sounding, and a small Washburn - too bright at all settings.
I wish it had a 10" speaker and 5 more watts.
If lost/stolen I would replace them.
One more thing, the VOX name and style is unmistakable and Korean workmanship has vastly improved in the last 6 years. LISTEN to this thing, especially if you like Blues or Blues-based Rock (Who, Zep, Jeff Beck, Guess Who, etc....)

Submitted by SteVe at 03/07/2001 20:34

Price Paid: tested in the store

Features: 3
First and foremost, I just want to make it clear that I don't own a Vox Pathfinder. I just tried one at the store because I was looking for a decent low wattage practice amp.

FEATURES
========
- Made In Korea
- solid state
- 8" Speaker
- One input with gain, volume, bass, treble, tremolo speed, tremolo depth controls, and a boost button
- footswitch jack
- footswitch for boost
- 'classic' Vox look

PROS
====
- Very inexpensive for a "Vox"
- Very loud for a 15W solid state amp
- Tremolo is good enough, but not the best you can get
- Relatively noiseless even at high gain settings

CONS
====
- Limited features; limited controls
- No reverb
- Doesn't suit all types of music, especially metal and hard rock

Sound Quality: 5
I haven't tried my own guitar and effects setup with this amp since I mentioned earlier I tried it in the store. However, to test the integrity of this amp, I chose a Fender American Traditional Telecaster and plugged it straight to the amp.

PROS
====
- Clean tone is sparklingly clean, but very solid state sounding.
- Tremolo is decent; not bad at all.

CONS
====
- Lacks bottom end probably because of the small 8" speaker; in effect, when the bass is set high it gets very muddy.
- Distortion is very harsh; doesn't really sound like a cranked up
retro AC-30. In other words, there is little to no warmth. I haven't tried a distortion pedal through it but I presume it is still going to sound edgy because of the solid state clean sound.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
Been playing for a decade now, and I offically declare myself a TONE FREAK! I do recordings and post production so tone is my biggest concern, especially for recording guitar tracks, being that I am a guitar player myself. I am not really a Vox tone worshipper so to speak because my sound leans towards the tubey Fender and Mesa Boogie clean sound, and obviously they are a bit 'dirtier' than Voxes and solid state amps. However, I am very much familiar with the clean sound of Voxes especially the AC-30s, when I listen to recordings of Queen, Beatles, Kinks, and all those retro Brit bands. The Pathfinder attempts to capture the sound of these bands (the sound of the Brit Invasion), but unfortunately, it doesn't come close. I can't believe people posted glaring reviews for this amp. IT IS BNOT GOOD. If you want a decent practice amp at this amp's price I would recommend a Fender Bullet Reverb instead.

Submitted by SKUNK at 03/02/2001 10:11

Price Paid: 900 (FIM)

Features: 9
I bought this little friend for my first amp two years ago. I play Fender Stratocaster California-model with Pathfinder. Folk/country/rock- music are music. I bought this because of outlook, pricing and mostly BECAUSE ITS V O X. It was crystalclear for me that Strat+VOX is my sound. And it have been. I play mostly keyboards, but in gig I play guitar 20-30%. My maininstrument is vocal and if I could choice, guitar would be all time in my hands in gig. I use this amp in home for practicing, in training with band and in gig. In future I will buy Fender Deluxe Reverb or VOX AC30 for gigging and then I can and I want use Pathfinder practicing in home.

Sound Quality: 9
Sound is allmost perfect for my taste, I would like have little more warm and loud. I use Shure SM57 for micing it in gig and Pathfinder is as monitor. Very good but not 100% what I want. I like lot tremolo and midrange is clear. Bass is punchy, but sometimes 8" is too small.

Reliability: 10
No problem, works like toilet in train.

Customer Support: N/A
no comments

Overall Rating: 9
Strato--> Zoom GFX 707 --> Pathfinder is my set now. I will through this multieffect so long as possible when I have money enough to buy all following Boss- pedals: compressor, acustic simulator, chorus, eq, overdrive and tuner. Pathfinder is very good and value-to-price is best I know. Original VOX- sound is heardible and outlook is also authentic. If you looking for good amp for practicing, this is one good. For gigging I would choose some "bigger".

Submitted by TT- Finland at 02/13/2001 02:12

Price Paid: 220 (DM)

Features: 8
Solid state, 15Watts, tremelo, distortion boost switch, bass/treble controls, a gain switch, 8" Vox speaker, headphone jack, one channel...essentially a PRACTICE amp. Keep in mind that this is a Korg/Vox, Korean made PRACTICE amp, and NOT a '62 AC-30. A lightweight, durable, modestly featured PRACTICE amp. I am reviewing this Vox amp as a practice amp, and comparing it against the Danelectro Nifty 50, for whom I swapped this amp with. That said, this Vox amp has more useable features than the Nifty-50, a finer asthetic appearance and generally a more versitle, pleasing tone. Relative to other practice amps I've encountered, I find this Vox's features to be in the high area. The tremelo makes it better featured than the Danelectro, especially for blues. The gain switch is a nice feature too. No reverb, but few of these practice amps have decent reverb anyway. If that's what you need, get a pedal! Relative to other PRACTICE amps, I'd give it an 8, since it has no reverb and a second channel would have been nice...The Danelectro Nifty 50 I'd give a 6.

Sound Quality: 8
As a PRACTICE amp, this sounds rather good. Frankly, a lot better than I'd expected! It's got an element of that solid state shrill you get when you push it to higher distortion levels. However, the gain pot/switch and boost switchs allow for a wide range of settings to accommodate a lot of tonal tastes. Thus, you can dial in a rather nice Voxy blues break-up that sounds pretty good. I was surprised at how good I was able to get it to sound. It substantially exceeded the Nifty 50 in this regard. I found the Danelectro to be thin, tinny, not terribly versatile and utterly useless when distorted: It tended to get nasty, harsh, trebly and toneless as the distorted increased. The Nifty 50's best tone came when run clean with my expensive pedals distorting it. I would say that the Vox Pathfinder is a much better sounding amp than the Danelectro Nifty 50. Again, the Vox is not a vintage tube amp, so remember that it's just a ss, 15watt practice amp. In the clean mode, it can get a little brittle and thin for my tastes. Fortunately, you have the capability to dial in different tones easily. The tremelo is a mixed bag. Generally, I found it to be a wonderful feature that helps distinguish it from other PRACTICE amps; it greatly assists in creating a fuller tone and an overt blues sound. The tremelo can get a little messy with any large amount of distortion, rendering it somewhat unusable at that point. The speaker in the Vox is better than the Nifty 50's. I'd give the Danelectro a rating of only 6, as it's distortion is just horribly useless and the Vox Pathfinder gets a PRACTICE AMP rating of around 8.

Reliability: N/A
This is the EU model, 240 volts. It's missing two features the US Vox has: An effects jack and an external jack (I believe that's right?). It's new so I have no idea how reliable it will be..so far, it hasn't broke..but what's to break, it's solid state...

Customer Support: N/A
I bought it off a German retailer,a guy named Otto, in Munich, and he didn't speak English...hey, what are you gonna do? So I doubt that there is any warranty to the store...Vox/Korg?...Frankly, I haven't a clue what their policy is about merchandise. Cost about $110...

Overall Rating: 8
I own a Fender 73 SFDR (BLKFCD)that I use at home. I love it; adore it; cherish it...Best amp I've ever owned, and I'm a firm believer in vintage Fender stuff. I picked up this amp cause I still wanted to play, tho I'm away in Europe for 8 months. The Vox looked great (you gotta admit, Vox's have that look!), got rather good reviews (I believe the reviews tend to get way way inflated on this board, frankly...sometimes I wonder if folks either don't have a clue about decent tone or are just too committed to an item they now own..."I own this Crate and it sound AWESOME! Just like a Matchless, dude!" What is THAT?). The Pathfinder has a competent tremelo and a nice gain switch that allows for some tone variability. It is very good for a portable, solid state, practice amp costing little more than a $100. It can produce a variety of tones with a high degree of competence. I would recommend it over the Danelectro Nifty 50, a not bad at all practice amp that is somewhat limited by the quality and variety of sounds it can produce. I'd give the Nifty 50 an overall rating of 6-7 and the Vox an 8+, as a PRACTICE amp. Again, this is NOT a 62 AC-30. If it was lost or stolen, and I needed a practice amp, I would definetly buy it again.

Submitted by JJC at 01/20/2001 06:43

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
Folks, this is essentially an update and a small info sheet for you Vox Pathfinder owners like me. I found out a good way to get rid of that cabinet rattle many of you have been mentioning. Remember, this like many other amps (from Crate to Fender and Marshall)are assembly-line built, and built quickly to shove out the door to sell. Sometimes the bolts and screws that hold it together may not be completely tightened, and that will cause rattling. Here's my solution:

I took apart the amp. First I UNPLUGGED IT!! and waited a while for the amp to stop buzzing (a minute). I took off the back panels, pulled out the chassis--FYI, this amazing amp looks like it was built from over-the-counter parts from Radio Shack!!! Incredible, no trickery, just good design and simple construction--and tightened down the front baffle plate screws and speaker screws. I tightened them CAREFULLY--remember, this is particle board, so if you start to feel some real tightness, the next step might be smashed wood, so know the wood's limits--then I went backwards. I put the chassis back on, making sure the bolts were good and tight. Then I put the back panels back on. Sure enough, the rattling is gone. The only noise you hear is the grunt of the speaker pumping because this amp is so DAMN LOUD!!! If you feel good about unscrewing amps (unplug it first, of course, or ZZZZAAAPPPP to the great gig in the sky!!) and doing a little light work, this does the job. Once again, this amp gets a 10. And you should hear it through a Farfisa!! I say, buy many of these, stack 'em up, and you'll be the next bedroom Ted Nugent!!

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Santos Menendez at 01/17/2001 19:11

Price Paid: US $95.00

Features: 10
Brand new, 2000 model. I bought it as a Christmas present for myself. I usually play a Mexican 60's Reissue Strat through a 1968 Fender Deluxe Reverb, but I wanted something light, easy to lug around, and different-sounding. More jangly, Kinks, Beatles, early Who-sounding. I liked amp from the moment I saw the box it came in. first of all, excellent packaging-the box has a full-color, full-size image of the amp printed all over it. Beautiful. Then I unpacked it. WOW!! I had this big stupid smile on my face. What a cool looking little amp!! Then I plugged in, turned on, and turned up. My jaw dropped to the floor. OH MY GOD, WHAT A TONE!!! Mind you, this is a little practice amp, 15 watts. One channel, gain switch, headphone jack, line recording out and external speaker jack. Perfect practice amp features. This might very well be one of the best amps I have ever owned. I couldn't believe my ears, it sounds incredibly like a tube amp. Nice wide tone, great bass and treble response. Absolutely incredible deal for the price. Does it sound like an AC-30? No, but so what? It sounds like a Vox amp, and a really great one at that. No reverb, which is usually nice, but I don't miss it on this amp (get a pedal!), and the tremelo is a little shallow, but once again, so what? GET A DAMN PEDAL!! The small Dan Electro pedals named after food are awesome, especially the tremelo one, and for what you pay for this amp, you're still ahead of the game. The gain is really nice and spiky, very late 60's buzzy sounding. Think "No Time" by the Guess Who, really a high watermark for heavy, buzzy overdrive.

I'm a jammer nowadays. I used to be in a few bands, and needed (or thought I needed) the Deluxe for smooth tone and good overdrive. I've owned three Deluxes in my time (so far) and the little Pathfinder can stand up and hold its little head high, it deserves respect and gives you a smile every time. The Vox couldn't have come at a better time for me; I injured my back recently and I'm still on the mend; the light little Vox is sure easier to haul around than the larger and MUCH HEAVIER Deluxe. I have been doing a good deal of solo playing and recording (I've had many gigs in living rooms, basements, and TV rooms throughout Bergen County-watch for me, I'll be a legend in the bedroom-gigging circuit some day, yuk yuk) and I really feel this amp does the job, no ifs and or buts. I just can't believe that modern technology has allowed us to get this amazing tube sound with a fully solid state amp. I switched from solid state to tube amps because I couldn't stand the cold tone, my but times sure have changed!! This is an extremely versatile amp, does a great job in all musical situations I find myself in, gets kudos from everyone who sees and hears it, and jumps in and tackles every musical job I can give it (soon it'll be driving the sound of my 1967 Vox Jaguar organ--oh boy, what a treat!!) This amp is worthy of the Vox name, and truly is deserving of the gold "VOX" nameplate it wears proudly on its front.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm using the amp with a '60s reissue Fender Strat, Mexican-made, but a really fine example of one, incredibly well put-together (flawless in construction and in tone). Stock pickups, so you get single-coil hum-you play a Strat, you get used to it, so there. My styles are varied, from 50's and 60's Rock N Roll and R&B, to reggae, heavy 70's ROCK!!! and New Wave. In other words, Animals to Zappa, everything in between. It really suits everything. You'd be amazed at how Fender-like I get this thing to sound. Like I said, I'm flabbergasted. This thing blows away all other practice amps, including the Super Champ (I've owned one for a long time, no balls, crappy gain, confusing controls), Pro Juniors, small Marshalls, etc. The price alone kills the competition dead like Raid on ants.

The amp is suprisingly not noisy, regardless of what others may have written about it. The cabinet does rattle, but here's my take on that. You essentially have an amp that is way too loud for its cabinet. The 8" Bulldog speaker (YES, IT'S BLUE, SOUNDS GREAT, LOOKS COOL!!) is excellent for lower volume (remember, this is a PRACTICE AMP, and it's built small to practice and record with), and the tone is amazingly large and warm for an amp this size. But remember, this is a VERY LOUD amplifier, and could be way too loud for its cabinet, so you can use an extension cabinet for it as well. The sound is clean all the way up, and does distort at real high volumes. It gives a nice buzzy overdrive and a real crunch as well, so it runs the gamut for good overall guitar work. The clean channel is sterling, the distortion at high volume is meaty, and the distortion is not choppy at all. Like I said, it echoes the late 60's extreme fuzztone I love so much. It's not a warm distortion, but hell, Vox ain't Fender!! Vox amps' sound is described as "a blizzard of nails" and this one has it to the tee.

Reliability: 10
Reliability? IT'S SOLID STATE!!! You could hit it repeatedly with a baseball bat (don't you dare, damn it) and it'll probably still play. it's built out of sturdy particle board (it's heavier than you'd expect it to be), and is built REAL WELL, better that a $100 amp should ever be. The build quality is outstanding for an amp in this price range. I haven't had it for an extremely long time, but I definitely would use it on gigs without a backup. Hell, for the price, I could buy three and always have a backup or two.

I don't think this amp will break down for some time to come (I hope--never say never with anything, especially with anything made by human beings) and since I don't neglect my stuff, I think it'll give me that same great tone for years to come. Of course, I'm going to get a footswitch and amp cover for it as well--accessories always complete the package--and keep it from getting banged around by heavy-handed friends and jamming partners, so that'll help too.

Customer Support: 10
I haven't dealt with Korg yet (the makers of modern-day Vox products), but I don't need to do that yet. However, they do have a really good website that lists their products and includes online customer support, so let's see how they are. I've dealt with other guitar and amp manufactures (Fender, in particular) and they left me a little cold, but they're the big guns (but their solid-state amps suck, and they cost too much in comparison to Vox), so they do as they please. However, North Coast Music is a very big VOX dealer and parts/service supplier to the US, and they have been excellent with all of my VOX needs, so I give them kudos (look them up at www.voxshowroom.com, on the North Coast Music link). Therefore I can get great service when I require it.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing guitar for about 10-12 years now. I'm a big rhythm player, I have no real desire to be a eye-popping lead player. I play the old style; all meat, no filler, more Bo Diddley and Buddy Holly than Van Halen and grunge. I'm a big Steve Cropper/ Stax-Volt fan, and I have been playing a legion of Fenders, both Strats and Teles, over the years. I've got the '68 Deluxe, a Farfisa Compact Duo and a Vox Jaguar as well as the '60s Reissue Strat. By the way, that guitar in itself is possibly another of the greatest buys in our lifetime. I got mine very barely used as a trade with a friend, and the guitar is absolutely flawless in finish, construction, and in tone. It rivals the American reissues in all respects, for half the price.

Anyway, if the VOX Pathfinder ever got lost, I'd cry, break open my piggy bank and buy two more. If it got stolen, I'd hunt the crook down, hit him in the head repeatedly with the amp, then I'd run home, plug it in, plug my Strat in, and play Beatles and Monkees riffs until my fingers bled. AND THE AMP WOULD STILL PLAY BECAUSE IT'S SOLID STATE!!! Seriously, though, I really love the sound and the vibe of the amp. Where else can you find so much good sound and great looks for a c-note? Even the cheapest tube Fenders are over $200, and this amp beats them at their own game! I wish the tremolo were a little more robust, but like I said, GET A PEDAL!! and get over it. Besides, I can get some cool effects with tremelo and feedback (oh, I forgot the warm feedback this amp generates--nice touch). I would definitely buy it again, and I'd even like to try the Cambridge models, with the hybrid (one 12AX7 tube in pre-amp) layout. I compared many different small amps from Fender, Marshall (also under the Korg banner!!) and Dan Electro, but even though the others push their great tube tone, this one really has it. It's really hard for me to tell the difference with this amp, and that is truly wonderful. I really also like the execution of form and function on this amp--you feel like you really have a useable amp here, not some crappy toy with lousy sound effects tacked on. And it's got the VOX VIBE! "Vox--It's What's Happening!!" No bull, just a little ball of fire you can wedge behind your front seat and get to your gig without a hernia. If it had reverb, maybe it would be perfect, maybe not--hey, the AC30 has no reverb (some versions did) and look at its reputation. I own a Nanoverb reverb unit--that's my reverb, as well as some other cool effects. Maybe some bright person will start modifying these amps, and offer reverb kits, larger speaker conversions, and tremelo upgrades. This amp is definitely one that people would love to modify. I may even try it myself, with some help from the pros I know, and you never know, it could catch on. A hot-rod Lincoln for the price of a Yugo, my friends, that's what this amp is, the King of the Practice Amps. Notice there's a crown over the VOX logo on the instruction manual? Hmmm...

Submitted by Santos at 01/03/2001 19:15

Price Paid: 179.50 (cdn)

Features: 8
This is a 15 watt solid-state amp with an 8 inch heavy duty speaker. The top panel has gain,volume ,boost button,bass,treble and tremelo.The rear panel has headphone,ext. speaker and line output. What would I change on the features? A 10 inch speaker,no tremelo,get rid of the cheap boost and have tubes for the pre-amp. (IMHO)

Sound Quality: 8
My guitar is the Epiphone Les Paul junior single p90 pick-up all made in Korea.(i'm a musician,not a antique collector,can"t afford a Gibson).Since I am 51 years old my teen years were in the British invasion era and all that came after.I also like punk which was the reincarnation of 60's mod.This amp fills both of these eras perfectly! The pathfinder has more than enough distortion and volume. Most of my dial twiddling was to back things down as half mast on all the dials is too much! I use a boss gt-3 pedal and this gives me all the sounds I can ever use. I think of amplifiers as the the canvas upon which sound is painted.

Reliability: 7
Interesting!! The Pathfinder I bought was the showroom demo as the last one from the storeroom has a broken cabinet right out of the box!It probably took a big hit on the way from Korea. I've gigged with a lot worse in my day,old Kay's,silvertone,univox and nameless accordian amps so nothing scares me.

Customer Support: 8
Never dealt with Vox but Steve's music is a great place.

Overall Rating: 9
Been playing since 1963,have a hi-watt 50.During the punk years I played bass and have a Rick 4001s.I'm old enough to have seen Vox fall in and out and back in favor.There was a time in the 70's a Vox amp was an item of high camp and riddicule. Now the are seen everywhere.As Tommy Tedesco once said "some people hear with their eyes. Bottom line...price,this price range is limited.I also suspect the companies are trying to wet your intrest in a bigger amp later on,so these apms won't totaly fill all your needs.

Submitted by Rich dix at 01/02/2001 17:12

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 7
It's a 15 watt, solid state, one channel amp with a gain boost and tremolo. no reverb. it's got an extension speaker jack (disengages internal speaker) a headphone jack and line out (for PA's, power amps, etc.) It looks cool!! made in 1999 I think. it sits in my bedroom as a practice amp AND for god's sake people, it DOES NOT sound like an ac30 or ac15 (but it looks like one, hee hee) I do not use the trem or gain boost. It versatile enough for me, which is sitting in my bedroom as a practice amp:)

Sound Quality: 7
Amp sounds decent clean. Like most Solid state amps, it breaks up rather harshly. You can get a good sound out of this amp, but you have to play with the knobs a bunch. THere is a huge volume change when you hit the gain boost, which makes me use a pedal as to not get the people in my apt. complex russled up. This amp can be quite load if you plug it into a 4X12 cab and crank the gain and master volume. The tremolo is fairly weak, I'm not inspired by the trem at all. I don't use it. The clean sounds are decent and actually inspireing at times with my G&L ASAT,but it does not sound like an AC30 for the love of God!!! (what's up with the other reviewers saying it does??) I would have no problem taking this to the studio for certain parts. I don't miss the reverb. And it looks so cool!!

Reliability: 10
It sits in my house, has not given me any problems

Customer Support: N/A
Don't want to know

Overall Rating: 8
It's a inexpensive, cheaply made practice amp and should be used as such. decent clean sounds, and the distortion is good provided you can overlook the huge increase in volume. It's a good value, would get it again if stolen. It's better than most other amps in it's price range for organic type sounds IMO. IT LOOKS SO COOL!!

Submitted by Flug at 12/19/2000 22:23

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
Okay this amp is very good for me. Our house is really modern and they cheat a bit and we have walls the density of cardboard. My parents dont like me blasting loadsa noise out so its the right volume for practiceing and I can crank it up if I'm playing with friends. It has overdrive and tremelo which are pretty good.

Sound Quality: 9
I like the sound it makes in clean it brings out the tones really well in my guitar. The overdrive/gain is quite good I dont want really strong distortion and so this fine, I have recently sold my distortion because this is fine. Tremlo is something I never used but now I like to put it on quiet riffs. The sound of it I think is really good.

Reliability: 10
Its very relieable, I blew the op amp in my last amp because of feed back but this amp takes it nicely. I haven't had a problem with it yet.

Customer Support: 8
No Idea I got it as a birthday present, but it must be good if my parents could get hold of something this good, I cant help noticeing they get swindled out of money when it comes to musical equipment.

Overall Rating: 9
I love it, its the amp made for me.

Submitted by Dan at 12/16/2000 02:04

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 7
Its a 199 i got last year , it was brand new. I like this amp cause of its small size . It is pretty loud but i need something louder. Its best for the bedroom.

Sound Quality: 6
When i use this i play my fender strat. I only have 1 thing to say, Don't play this amp with any other electronics on around you(tv....etc...) All i get is noisy feedback. Otherwise it sounds pretty good for a 100 dollar map.

Reliability: 6
I have really never had a serious problem , just some minor problems , like knobs falling off and suff like that. no big deal.(they were mostly my fault.)

Customer Support: N/A
I never used them.

Overall Rating: 7
Its a pretty good amp to get for someone who is just learning or mostly going to use it to practice but, otherwise, its not powerful enough. I would probably recommend it to a beginner.

Submitted by Bob at 12/15/2000 19:10

Price Paid: US $100.99

Features: 8
Ok, here's the deal, I'm grading this for what this amp is, a Practice Amp. Less than 20 watts, 8" blue bulldog speaker, Solid State, with Overdrive and Tremelo. Controls are for Bass, Treble, Gain, Volume and Tremelo Speed and Depth. This thing is a nice little amp.

Sound Quality: 9
The sounds you can get out of this are clean and a vintage hi gain. I play a Les Paul Special with P-90's and have never had a problem with the Distortion or Clean Channels. I play more of a jazzy emo with some punk thrown in. This amp will rock your room, the little guy can get loud. I use it to four track guitar parts when I develop them and it does great with the Direct Line out right into the recorder. I can't believe what this amp can do. I can use it with my JCM 900 plugged into the port on Stereo mode with one side Vox and one side Marshall, if you add just enough Tremelo, ooh boy, SATURATION! I even have used this amp while my JCM was In the shop and didn't miss a beat at practice. If you have problems with this amp, check your cords and use your tone and volume knobs on your guitar. What a steal for the price. The two sounds are kind of limiting, but what the hell, look how small and loud this gets! This is not a Twin or Boogie or Marshall, it is a 15 watt Vox, but it still rocks your socks, with a sound all it's own.

Reliability: 10
NO problems yet. IT'S SOLID STATE!

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for about a year and a half, but I know what I want sound I'm looking for, for what I play. This is a practice amp, and a very nice one at that. Good Tone at a good price, that you can keep in the corner of your bedroom. If I lost it, I'd get another one, it's so worth it.

Submitted by coleman at 11/30/2000 19:21

Price Paid: US $129

Features: 8
The features of this amp are pretty well covered. Gain, volume, treble, and bass controls. It has tremolo also. It has a headphone out, and can also be hooked up to an extension cabinet.

Sound Quality: 1
I must not be hearing what everyone else is hearing, because this amp sounds horrible. I have an AC30, and wanted a little amp that could give me the same kind of vibe, just a way lower volumes. The pathfinder let me down severely, especially in the area of clean tone. The pathfinder really doesn't have a good clean tone at all, and forget trying to run any pedals ahead of this thing. You get a bunch of solid state fuzziness in everything. This amp has absolutely NO headroom for any kind of clean tone. This amp is supposed to be cranked up, period. It does sorta 'breakup' if you dial the gain back, but it's not the right kind. It's solid state fuzzy breakup that sounds horrible. I played both my Strat and my Ric 330 into this thing, and was very dissapointed.

Reliability: N/A
Don't know, because it is brand new, and I'm taking it back to the store for a refund.

Customer Support: N/A
No comment

Overall Rating: 1
I've been playing for about 3 years now. I've had an AC30, AC15 and a Roland Blues Cube 30, and I wish now that I still had that Blues Cube to practice with. I'll be looking for a new practice amp, because this just doesn't cut it. I borrowed a Park G10, that is a cheapy he bought in a pawn shop, and it blew the pathfinder away in terms of warmth and it didn't have that horrible fizz that the Pathfinder has. If you like fizzy, wannabe "tubelike" hyperdistortion, the Pathfinder might be your amp. I guess it's just not for me.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/02/2000 14:19

Price Paid: US $105.00

Features: 8
New amp, apparently made within the last few months. Features have been covered previously, but this small solid state combo amp is rated at 15 watts RMS, has an internal 8" speaker, tremolo effect (rate and depth controls), bass and treble controls, gain control, master volume control, foot-switchable overdrive (with optional footswitch which costs a third of the price of the amp), line out, speaker out, and headphone out. Using the speaker out kills the internal speaker, and this is an excellent feature. Is 15 watts RMS enough power? That depends on how the amp is used. For it's intended purpose, which is for it to be a highly portable rehersal amp, also suitable for studio work, then that's plenty of power. Vox have not cheated on the rating, which is 15 watts RMS, not 15 watts "peak power." There is no reverb, but you would never use an internal reverb effect in a studio application anyway. This amp has enough features for me. There are always outboard effects if you want more variety.

Sound Quality: 8
This is where things can get a little confusing. It has been said previously that this amp sounds like many other high-priced amps. Well, this amp is not a Vox AC-30 for a mere $100.00. I would rather not say that it sounds like an AC-30, or a Fender, or a Marshall, or an anything. It has a sound of its own. If I have to say what it sounds like to me, then I would say that it has some tonal characteristics of both the old Vox solid state amps and the current Vox tube amps. A limiting factor of this amp is the internal speaker. The tone produced by the speaker is very good, but it can easily be overloaded. This is especially true with too much bass. If you want to crank it up, connect the amp to another speaker enclosure, as other reviewers of the amp have recommended. I use a stock Fender American Standard Strat most of the time, and that's what I used to evaluate this amp. I really like this amp with my Strat. I don't own a Les Paul or PRS with large humbuckers, so I can't make that comparison. One last comment...If the amp's "boost" (distortion/overdrive) effect is engaged, I can use the volume control of my guitar to back-off the distortion to a nearly clean sound or to crank it back up to a full-blown overdrive. This cannot always be accomplished with tube or solid state overdrives.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
The bottom line: IMHO, this is the best amp out there for its stated purpose. The optional overdrive/tremolo remote pedal is overpriced. It has great tone and plenty of features for the modest cost. It's not just a 15 watt noise maker, like most of the small practice amps. It's a legitimate amp for a pro or a beginner. Final note: the problem with my review and all reviews here at Harmony Central is that there are no reference guitars or reference amps used to compare against the products being reviewed here. Use my review as a guide, and go play your favorite guitar through this amp and decide for yourself.

Submitted by David Warren at 08/08/2000 13:30

Price Paid: US $75 used

Features: 8
small 20 watt solid state combo, 8 inch speaker, trem and distortion.

Sound Quality: 10
WOW, what a cool little practice amp, great distortion and the trem is great for that surf sound, and this thing is loud for a 8 inch combo, place it in a corner if you can to help the bass and it will amase you, no it's not a marshall, or a mesa, or a boogie, or even a vox 30, but for it's size and price it is THE best bedroom amp you can find!!

Reliability: 10
Solid state!!! Good company!! enough said....lol

Customer Support: N/A
never had to use them

Overall Rating: 10
bought this from a guy who used for recording one song and then sold it, and even had the optional footswitch, which I think vox should includ with the amp, Like i said, as a small take anywhere practice amp you cannot find anything better, and I have tried just about all of them.

Submitted by sommersby at 07/28/2000 06:49

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: 10
This amp does have too much bass but that is why you have a control
knob for bass. I made the mistake in thinking I could make the amp
sound even better with a replacement speaker (Jensen-reissue)but after
playing it a couple of weeks I decided to put the Bulldog back in.
The Bulldog is made for this amp. The Jensen is a better speaker
but the Bulldog is made for this amp. Certain things about the sound
of the Jensen (the treble was too harsh)cleared up with the Bulldog.
Maybe another speaker would be better (Weber?) but remember this is
only a small practice amp---not a giging amp or a stack.
But it has the best simulated tube tone I have heard for an amp this
size---ever.

Anyone need a 35 watt Jensen 8 ohm C8R?---make you a deal you can't refuse.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10

Submitted by Gary at 07/15/2000 13:56

Price Paid: US $109

Features: 5
has headphones and all that crap but the tremolo feature is very nice

Sound Quality: 3
i don't really like this amp because the bass on this thing is too damn loud if you like that thudding bass noise gets this but i don't like it

Reliability: 10
have had for about 5 months and thing still sounds the same

Customer Support: N/A
i don't know

Overall Rating: 8
get if you like a real deep bass sound but it's perfect if you want something cheap and reliable and pretty loud

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/09/2000 14:37

Price Paid: US $94.95

Features: 8
Purchased new from ZZounds. A reasonably sized, versatile practice amp, looks like a baby AC-30 (sounds kind of like a baby AC-30). Nicely set-up panel (classic VOX look - complete with "chicken head" knobs,etc.) And the tone controls do something! Still, as others have said, a reverb would be nice (guess it's time to look at a stompbox). Footswitchable boost and tremelo (built my own footswitch in about half an hour with Radio Shack parts, for under $10 - lacks the flair of the factory switch, but $25 cheaper!).

Sound Quality: 9
Playing a box-stock Yamaha Pacifica 112 (HSS strat copy). I play mostly blues (Steve Cropper Memphis-style, good ol' shuffle stuff, not much lead, mostly comp), once in a while a little bit of Pearl Jam, old Rod Stewart (the pre-disco, Maggie May years), Mary Chapin-Carpenter, and, if the mood hits me, some Lit. This little black box does it all for me. I know it's solid-state, but with some judicious knob twisting, you almost want to look in the back to see where they hid the tubes. Classic Brit sound. On the downside, the boost switch significantly kicks the volume up (one of the few idiosyncracies of this amp), and the boosted distortion sounds like a honked-off mosquito (but then again, that may be the pickup/player combination, as well). It runs clean, it gives me that "gritty", slightly-overdriven sound when I lean into it - hey, I'm happy with the sound!

Reliability: 9
Only had it a month, but it's solid-state, so it should hang in there. Heat and vibration are the twin banes of all electronics, so I watch the placement of all my gear. I baby my toys, anyway, so I figure to have this amp for a good long while. Down-side: no corner protectors, so the Tolex can get rubbed pretty quickly. I went and ordered some repro Vox corners (single-pins) to put on it. An attempt to protect the amp, while staying true to type. Would I gig with it? Well, if I did gig, I'd have to close mic it or use the line-out to the PA. But since my current tour has me booked into the finest utility rooms, basements, garages, and back-yards of southeast Portland, it's more than adequate and reliable for my needs.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Just returned to playing after a longggggggg (24 year) break. Have an old acoustic (passed on from my Dad), but succumbed to the siren song of electrification. The Pacifica and the Pathfinder have been a solid, reasonably priced intro to electric playing for me. If this amp was stolen, I'd hunt the thief down like a dog, stomp 'em, grab my amp, go home, and play it for a couple of hours to welcome it back. I checked out a lot of practice amps before I bought this one - Dano's, Fender's, Marshall's, Crate's, Gorilla's, Pignose's, etc. In terms of sound, for my ears, the Pathfinder stood head and shoulders above the rest. I know this was a gushing review, but trust me, I'm a critical,cynical, hard-hearted consumer, more prone to saying bad things about a product than good. The Vox Pathfinder just hits the right spots for me. Check it out, it may work for you (your mileage may vary).

Submitted by Carl at 07/05/2000 14:53

Price Paid: 1800 (SEK)

Features: 9
Korean made 1999 VOX amp, supposedly the Celestion 8" speaker is made in England. One cool feature that really makes no tonal differnce is that the speaker is painted blue just like the real thing. The rest of the features have been covered pretty well by other reviews. I'll give it a 9 only for the lack of reverbs.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm mainly using the pathfinder with a 72 telecaster thinline and I really fall in love with this baby more and more every day. Regardless of the price this little thing sounds really awesome. The clean sound is never really clean but I like that, perhaps not ideal for sweet soul or likewise, but I happen to love the sound of a decent amps clean channel breaking up. The distorted channel is super, though at high high gain and high volume it kind of loses its caracter.

But if you start comparing to other amps in its price range, nothing will ever come close. My only complaint is this, it seems that the actual box (it is just a box)is not that sturdy.. when cranking it up a bit the darn thing starts to rattle... Placing your finger on the controlboard makes it stop but I prefer playing with both my hands, so this is kind of problem. I also wish the tremolo had a little more juice in it.

Reliability: 10
It seems rather dependable. I've tossed it around, carried it in the rain(!) and played it til it was too hot to touch and its still hangin in there. I've used it with a Marshall 4*10 cabinet then I don't have to worry about the rattling.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for seven years and I've owned tons of gear including various guitars, amp and studio-equipment this one is a keeper. I seem to be playing this amp a lot more than my other ones that cost ten times as much. It has a really charming vox sound that I just love. I bought so I wouldn't break my back on the way to rehearsals and I really had no intention of using it for "serious" playing, but now it's practically the only thing I use, when I need a little extra power all I do is hook it up to an external speaker. I would pay alot more for this one once having played it so I have to give it a 10.

Submitted by Mike at 07/05/2000 05:49

Price Paid: US $100.00 used

Features: 8
1968 4 "tubes" (1) 6BQ5 power (1) 6V4 rectifier (2)12AV7
Made in America by Thomas Organ
Basic Class A, Low power amp with vibrato
8in speaker , Made for the house
one channel w/ 2 inputs high & low levels

Sound Quality: 9
Played w/ Fender Strat 62 reissue 1983 stock
Great harmonics ,Bright and clean. Can get dirty at aprox 8 on the vol
Great old tube sound, dosen't sound like an 8 in spk.
I guess I would also like it in a larger size. Sometimes you like to shake the windows.

Reliability: 10
just picked it up.Had to remove the soild state rectifier and replace the tube 6V4. Also found it had the wrong output tube installed . 8BQ5 yuck. Wrong filiment voltage. Replaced with 6BQ5.Its been around now for 32 years. You would have to call it reliable.

Customer Support: 10
Did the repairs myself. A couple of tubes and 2 resistors to put it back to its original sound. ' I did order a service manual for $6.00 from the company that supplies Thomas, Conn ,etc. No problem
I have found only one listing on the net for this amp. 2 listing for the solid state model by Thomas Organ. I think they were only made in 1968 and 69

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing off and on now for over 30 years. For its size it amazing. No frills. The other amp that I use is a 1957 Magnatone 260.

Submitted by jmal at 06/06/2000 15:22

Price Paid: US $94.00

Features: 9
Bought it from Music 123.com

I believe the amp was made in 1999. Dual channel - clean and overdrive - these are footswitchable. For how I play and where - bedroom - this amp is perfect. It has volume, gain, bass, treble and a nice feature that isn't found on many practice amps - tremola. It has plenty of power for what I need, although I haven't tried the headphone out or the ext. speaker yet. It also has a line out jack. Reverb would be nice, but its absence doesn't really affect this amp's functionability.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a Dean Avalanche - strat clone with 2 single pickups and a humbucker @ the bridge. This amp oozes tone from every pore. The tone controls ACTUALLY affect the tone - esp compared to some of the other practice amps I looked at. Very quiet even with the gain @ high levels. This little gem can go from a quiet squeaky clean Fender sound to a fully saturated tube like sound with huffing and puffing. The clean channel remains clean up to the amp being dimed out and even then you can keep it clean by backing off of the guitar's volume just a little. The distortion is warm, without muddy overtones. This amp won't do metal very well, but everything else it can handle.

Reliability: 10
The amp is new, so I have no opinion...it is solid state, so it should be reliable. You could only use this amp for a small gig...unless you could mic the amp. I would use it without a backup.

Customer Support: 8
No experience with the company. The web site isn't laid out very well.
one year warranty.
-1 for the warranty
-1 for the web site

Overall Rating: 10
This is my first eletric rig. I have recently taken the guitar back up after a 25 year dry spell. This is a very versatile amp that has much more potential than any other similar sized amps that I played. If it were stolen I would definitely buy it again. I compared it to several Crate amps - they all sucked; 2-3 Fender amps - the ones in the same price range sucked...and the ones that sounded as good as the Vox were 4-5 times as expensive; and lastly Marshall - they were closer to the sound that I wanted, but the distortion was too muddy and the tone just wasn't there.
Needs corner protectors...the tolex will peel after a while.

Overall, I give this amp a 10....I know...nothing is perfect, but for the price and considering the features and the all important TONE, this is the best practice amp that you could get for the money. I know that there are some of you out there that will recommend spending 300-500 dollars on a practice amp...for a beginner, I don't think that's very practical. This little amp will do everything that you need it to do at bedroom volumes without breaking your budget.

Submitted by Mark at 06/04/2000 08:06

Price Paid: US $110

Features: 9
Purchased in 2000. Solid state, 15 watts, 1 * 8" speaker. One channel. Headphone output. Line output for extension speaker. Footswitch-able boost. No reverb.

I play a mid-90s Tele, in a variety of styles (60-70s rock, blues, 50s country, standards) and it delivers a nice tone without fuss in a small, inexpensive package. Tone is comparable to my mid-60s tube Vox Cambridge (17 watts, 1 * 10" speaker) and is surprisingly full for an 8" speaker. Haven't used it onstage yet but for home practice and low-volume jams it's very flexible. A great value.

Sound Quality: 9
Mid-90s Telecaster, single coils, no mods. Medium gauge strings (10 -56).

Tone controls on amp are responsive. Tremelo is nice. Boost is a bit harsh to my ears, but normal setting provides an elastic tone which can be controlled at the guitar (i.e. wide open volume/tone vs. volume backed-down). Distortion potential is similar to small tube amps of the Deluxe/Cambridge type -- warm without losing the clarity of the notes in chords. Haven't tried the amp with an extension cabinet. Demo'd the amp with a Gibson SG and an archtop and found that I could get a decent tone with those guitar types, too.

Reliability: N/A
No problems to report. Too soon to tell.

Customer Support: N/A
No problems to report. Too soon to tell.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing about 20 years. I own a mid-60s tube Vox Cambridge which I used for many years gigging and recording (until it died; it awaits repair) and a mid-90s Fender 4*10 Deville, which I use as a boat anchor. I prefer amp distortion to pedals, and I like to stay friendly with the neighbors, so a smaller amp is a necessity for practice. Sound people at clubs seem to prefer the smaller amps, too. I don't know if I'd rely on this amp for gigging (that's where the Deville comes in handy) but for home use and demo stuff it's a great value. No hesitation recommending it.

Submitted by Andy J at 05/30/2000 12:31

Price Paid: $179 (Canadian)

Features: 9
This is a current VOX modeled after it's big brother the AC30(I think). Well, it's a 15w Solid State, but I could swear it sounds like tubes at times. It's a practice amp with tremolo and an 8" Blue Dog speaker, nice touch. It is a LOUD 15 watter more than I expexted from this little pup and the Trebble, Bass, Trem Speed and Depth controls are very responsive. I use this amp mainly for recording and some late night jamming and it is simply fantastic for this purpose. My main rig consists of a Mesa Trem o Verb with a 4x12 Mesa cab, this monster is reserved for live use only. I have ,however, hooked up the Vox to my mesa cab ,just for fun, and was amazed at the richness of sound that was produced. I gave this catagory a 9 , it's now the most versitile amp, but what can you expect, it is a practice amp after all. It has all the features that reside in any proctice amp except for reverb but the trem is a nice thing.

Sound Quality: 10
I currently use a fender strat modified with D Hotrails and a Gibson les Paul with this amp. Let me tell you the fender sounds great but the Gibson brings this little bugger to life! It has gorgeous smooth,tube like tone, faithfully re-creating that awsome VOX sound we all love. I has everything I need and most importantly it sounds great at any volume. Even when it's maxed it's not muddy at all. I'll take this one to the grave with me.

Reliability: N/A
Seems sturdy, but I've only had it for a short while so it's hard to rate it.

Customer Support: N/A
No Experience with them yet.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing guitar for about 15 years now and have owned tons of gear , but this unit is classic VOX tone for next to nothing, money wise. I was this close to dropping $2000 on an AC30, the pathfinder gives you the AC30TB tone at bedroom volumes. It is truly a great value and an amazing little amp. If it were lost or stolen I would easily buy another one. Just pick one up, take it home, plug into it and feel the vibe! I've paid more for stomp boxes that don't do what there supposed to, unlike the pathfinder, pure VOX tone all the way. This is an Excellant, Excellant Amp!

Submitted by Gerry Lowden at 05/11/2000 21:45

Price Paid: US $109/300 used

Features: 10
I bought the Vox brand new from MARS music center. Sound great with my Rickenbacker 330/srting, I use the 360 acoustic with my Hofner beatle bass. Sounds GREAT! You can check that stuff out about the 360 on my brothers amp review.

Sound Quality: 10
The sound of the VOX is wonderful for being so little. It is only 15 watts but it is very clean and krisp. The 360 is Great for all of the old beatle song we play. I also have a set of 1968 set of black oyster oearl ludwig ringo drums. I have them tuned just like Ringo's, nice and tight!

Reliability: 10
I can depend on the vox but, not so sure about the 360. The jack in the back of it has problems. We need to fix it one of these days.

Customer Support: N/A
I have know idea. Nice amps though.

Overall Rating: 10
my over all ratings for the amps are 10. Very nice amps if you want that BEATLES tone. All of my instruments (Hofner, Rickenbacker 330/12, Rickenbacker 4001S, Black oyster pearl ringo drums) they are all 10's as well!

Submitted by Jon at 04/26/2000 11:07

Price Paid: $245.00 canadian - about $160.00 U.S (Canadian)

Features: N/A
Manufactured in 1999. 15 watts into Blue Bulldog 8' Speaker. Normal and boost channels with volume and gain. Tremelo with speed and depth.
External line-out, headphone and extension cabinet out. Footswitch out for tremelo and boost channel.

Sound Quality: 10
This is an amazing amp for any type of vintage 60's british rock and 50's,60's,70's blues based rock -plays like a much bigger amp than it's rated 15 watts !. This amp is not designed for all-out metal distortion -but it is fantastic at reproducing those toneful Hendrix Marshall combo blues tunes (Wind Cries Mary etc) or any 60's clean to moderately overdriven rock (Who, Byrds,Stones etc). I use this with my semi-modified Squier Strat,Danelectro DC-59 and Danelectro Chorus pedal to get an amazing variety of distinct sounds. Like I said this amp requires a distortion pedal to get into any hyper metal,shred metal,death metal etc - but being older -that's not really my thing anyway. With the boost switch engaged and gain anywhere between 10 and 2 o'clock this amp can create a LOT of great tube amp sounds.It is equally effective with the boost not engaged and the gain maxed out. I tried a lot of amps before buying this one (Marshall Valvestate, Line 6, Fender Princeton Chorus,Peavey S.State etc.) The Marshall produced better all-out distortion and volume but (I may be crazy) the Vox had nicer vintage rock tone and actually emulated the vintage Marshall tube sound better. The line 6 is an awesome amp and produces a huge variety of amp sounds and effects but I still preferred the basic blues rock tone of this little amp (and a lot cheaper!). I had seen this amp numereous times while I was looking at other "real" amps and only tried this amp after reading this column - boy was I glad! As soon as I heard this amp I loved the clean full-bodied Vox tones. The Blue bulldog speaker puts out an amazing amount of tone and volume for an amp this size without sound quality breaking up. This amp has limits - it is very loud for it's size but can practically shake itself out of the cabinet. I'm going run it through my friend's Marshall 4x12 for a laugh - but realistically it is designed mostly for home/ garage band gigging and would need to be close-miked to work onstage in a club. At full out boost and gain with volume way up it is possible to tell this is a solid state amp but it isn't designed to compete with a Marshall stack. The tremelo is useful in a tasteful way but not excessive. Reverb would have been great but would be impossible at this price. I've ordered a Danelectro reverb pedal to take care of this as reverb is required for a lot of great tunes. I'm seriously considering getting a second Pathfinder and run them both to the stereo chorus out on the chorus pedal -but I need to check this out further. I am technically a drummer but I know a great sound when I hear it and this amp has it! I have a Fender Squier 15 watt amp and the tone sucks compared to this (except for all-out toneless hyper distortion!)

Reliability: 9
I am primarily a recreational musician but would feel comfortable using this as my ony amp in a small intimate venue-it requires the above mentioned changes to use as in a larger club. I have had no service concerns as I've only had it 3 months - I have used it fairly hard and it has done great. because it makes enough volume to shake the cabinet- I wouldn't try running it full out every night.

Customer Support: 9
No service issues yet and no forseeable problems at this time. It's a great amp for vintage tube sounds without the hassle.

Overall Rating: 10
played guitar recreationally x 25 years - semi-pro drummer.
other guitar equipment;
Danelectro DC-59
Fender Squier Strat
Danelectro Chorus

Submitted by Terry Orr at 03/21/2000 20:22

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 9
Bought it last year for a small practice amp to play in my home, but, what do you know, I have two now and I'm selling my Fender Princeton 112. I love the fact it has one channel and no effects loop. Headphone jack, line out, speaker cab out. No reverb, don't need it anyway. I use one for practice, two for gigging, and in both cases there's plenty of power. The bass and treble controls actually make a difference in the tone when adjusted (as someone else pointed out), which is fabulous compared to a lot of amps I've tried. The tremolo works, but it isn't heavy enough considering the rest of the features on the amp, but it'll do.

Sound Quality: 10
Amazing sound. I've been trying out amps since I bought the first Pathfinder I have, and nothing has come close to the tone I get, not even the Cambridge. Like I said, I have two now. I have an effects board I put together (delay, fuzz, wah, phaser, TubeWorks pedal) but it weighs more than the amp and I have been leaving it at home. Don't miss the pedals because the amp and a guitar is all I need. Interestingly, the two amps don't sound exactly similar, or behave similarly, perhaps because one is 7 months older than the other. It really doesn't matter because each, again, sound great.

Reliability: 9
So far, so good. Not a problem with either. They're so simple and cheap that if one did break down, replacing it would not be much of an issue. Two at a gig means if one broke down, the other is there, plugged in and rocking, which means the audience won't notice a difference or notice an amp has broken down (if one did). I plan on getting two more for the Brian May multiple Vox set-up, which furthers reduces the chances that even I would notice if one broke down during a gig. Cheap and simple, that's the key.

Customer Support: N/A
What? Who? Uhmm...

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for a 10 years. Played through a lot of amps. Can't stand Fender amps anymore. Marshalls are okay. I have a Lab 5 as well, which is great, but can you say "density?" I own an Gibson LP Special (p-90, and a freaky Seymour Duncan p-90/100 type pickup), a Gibson Marauder (see review), an Ovation acoustic/electric, plan on getting a Tele or a Strat real soon. This is a great amp. It has the sound and it's small, cheap, and simple. Perfect for the musician on a budget who wants to stack up amps behind him/her. You don't need a massive head and cabinet for gigs anymore because most places have house systems that you can plug into or mic-through. Why lug around the heavy stuff? Wait until you get famous and hire a roadie to do that!

Submitted by Toorglick at 03/15/2000 11:02

Price Paid: 99 (Pounds)

Features: 7
1999 8' bulldog. mines a GB version without the line out and some other feachers, just the one input and stuff, its all above here neway

Sound Quality: 9
i'm playing with a fender reissue '74 tele and i love it, single coils great distortion sounds. I've only bin paying for a little while but i love the warm rich tones and from such a cheap and small amp its great. I play rock stuff mainly and its just perfect

Reliability: 7
somebody mentioned corner supports or guards. I have to take mine into school twice a week for lessons and the vynl is coming away, yup definitely needs them, apart from that it still works

Customer Support: 9
never dealt with them. The website www.voxshowroom.com leaves a bit to be desired though...

Overall Rating: 10
i also run into it a zoom 3000s mulit effects box and a maxx metal rocker. nebody wanna try a great sound with a metal pedal, turn the gain up on the pathfinder to full with the boost, and on the pedal set the level to full the bass eq to 10 o'clock the treble eq to 4 o'clock and the distortion to nothing. The pedal does create some distortion and the eq really lifts the trebble for solos or riffs its great. gotta give it top marks though

Submitted by Mat at 03/08/2000 11:24

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 8
1999 Vox pathfinder. 15 watts. 1X12 speaker. No channel switching or effects loops. But, I bought this as a practice amp that I could easily carry to my friends house and this is perfect. Its cool that it has tremelo. Its not as intense as the Smiths' "How Soon is Now" song, which is why you have tremelo in the first place, but its not bad. You can do light Credence Clearwater Revival stuff with it.
The tone knobs REALLY affect the sound, which is cool.

Sound Quality: 7
This little booger is loud! But, I hated the distortion. I cant use it for blues, cause its too harsh no matter what I do. I cant use it for Metal, cause it just too honkin'. If you like playing Creams "Sunshine of your Love" or the lead guitar line in "American Woman", then you'll love this amp. But thats ALL you'll ever do with it. That said, the Treble and Bass really effect the sound, which is great cause you can get lots of different sounds on the clean setting that way. I use a Marshall BluesBreaker II for my distortion and now it sounds awsome. The "Boost" button on the amp does just that.

Reliability: N/A
Too small for a gig. Although, part of me wants to buy about 4 of them and stack them up like Brian May from Queen. Then, hook'em up with a stero chorus box and be GOD for a day. You could probably do a gig then.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to call them

Overall Rating: 8
Been playing for 22 years. I have a Peavey Classic chorus, but it weighs a ton and I needed an amp I could carry to my friends so we could jam and this fits the bill perfectly. You'll have to buy a distortion box if you want good sounding distortion. My criteria there is that I have to be able to play an E chord and hear each note. You cant do that on this amp. But I'd buy it again if it was stolen cause its so cheap and versitile.

Submitted by Jon Brown at 02/20/2000 11:23

Price Paid: 295 (NLG)

Features: 8
Gain, Volume, Bass, Treble and...... Tremelo Depth and Speed. Isn't that nice for such a small price to pay ? This amp has a 8" Bulldog speaker and the power is 15 watt (transistor). First saw this amp in at a shop in the Hague. It was love at first sight. I also needed an extra small amp, but I didn't buy it at that moment. At the time I would buy it, quess what, sold out !!! It took a lot of phonecalls, but finally I got my Vox.

Sound Quality: 9
Very good sounds for such a small amp. Didn't miss anything. The tremelo is also nice. Didn't really miss the reverb. I only like reverb when it is first class quality and you can't expect that from an amp this size and price. I use this Vox during rehearsels. It's loud enough for that. I don't use it at gigs, then I only use tubeamps like Fender Hot Rod, Mesa DC3 or a Marshall JTM30. I think a take the Vox on holiday this summer. Oh yes, a real guitar junkie can't miss his guitar for two whole weeks. I don't.

Reliability: 7
Seems solid enough for what I'm using it for. Mmmh.. don't really know.

Customer Support: N/A
Sorry I can't tell. Never dealt with them. I only have it for a month now.

Overall Rating: 8
I always have owned a small transistorized amp. Like Peavy, Fender, Marshall, Samick etc. Never liked any of them really. I only played them when no other of my amps was available. Now I've noticed I also play this Vox, even when another amp is available. Doesn't that say enough. I think... I'll soon buy the AC15 tube amp from Vox. Is'nt that a nice idea ?

Submitted by Nick H. at 01/28/2000 14:26

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 9
Alright,everyone pretty much knows by know..it has controls for tremolo speed and depth, bass and treble, gain, volume, and a gain boost switch.Along with the usual line out,headphone jack,and an 8" Vox speaker.The tremolo isn't the best out there, but it does add a a really nice depth to your playing.I miss reverb,but it's no real biggy.

Sound Quality: 10
Okay,you can get some wonderfully crisp and yet warm clean sounds out of it.Twiddle with the knobs a bit,and out comes this beautiful jangly overdrive.When I first played thsi amp,I couldn't believe how "tube-y" it sounds.There is a lack in low end response with the 8",but running through my marshall 4x10 solved that.Awesome!Using this with a Danelectro Dan-echo gave up some awesome rockabilly sounds.The gain boost switch is a nice feature,in that you can,to a certain extent,set two levels of overdrive.I must say,I'm very interested to hear their new Cambridge 30 Twin Reverb,which has a bit more gigging power.

Reliability: 9
As far as using it on a gig,as long as it was miked i don't see why not.It's a solid amp and I would have no need for a backup.Besides,if i wind up playing any shows with it I'll use it in conjunction with other amps.The only real problem I can forsee is that the covering proabbly couldn't stand up to too much abuse.

Customer Support: N/A
No idea,haven't dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
Okay,down to the nitty gritty-I like it.A lot.My current setup is either a Jazzmaster or Strat,through a Crybaby wah,DOD octoplus,DOD vibrothang,Ibanez chorus,Marshall chorus,small stone,Dan-echo,Vox distortion booster,Boss OD/distortion,Fuzzface,and hopefully soon a boss or dunlop tremolo pedal.All that into a Fender Bandmaster and a Marshall 4x10 cab.I really want to get an extension cab for the Vox and use a Morley A/B switch to run them together.In all,I'm very pleased.It makes a fine knockaround practice amp,and I'm sure it will do some neat things live.Absolutely worth every penny!!I Hope Vox keeps the affordable coolness coming.

Submitted by JP at 01/11/2000 20:07

Price Paid: US $101 used

Features: 8
I think it was built in 1999. Fits my style perfectly. My music has a lot of U2 influence, also 3EB and Soda Stereo. This amp is basically a mini solid-state AC30! One channel. Jacks for headphones, external speakers and line out for direct recording. I only wish it had reverb, but it does have tremolo, and a very nice one. I use it for practice and recording on my PC. 15W of power is more than enough for me. Very cool amp, and looks great.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm using a Hamer strat copy and a Dano 56-U2. As I said before, it suits my style perfectly. Even with treble at max, it sounds very warm. Distortion is so smooth and crunchy at the same time! The gain boost switch is great. One thing: this thing can be L-O-U-D !!! My father couldn't believe it is rated at only 15 W.

I like the way it colors the sound...it's kind of a "whistly", metallic sound...I don't know how to describe it...listen to U2 and you'll know what I mean. Sound is fully controllable, though. Very flexible. Bass and Treble controls do make a big difference throughout their range.

To summarize...beautiful sounds...great, great amp!!!

Reliability: 9
It's solid state, so I don't think it'll catch fire like AC30s... :) Is built very sturdy and materials are of top-notch quality. Only thing that might wear over time are the corners, because the whole thing is covered in a nicely textured black vinyl. A 9 because of this.

Customer Support: N/A
Beats me.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for a bit more than a year. I also own:

- Danelectro 56-U2
- Hamer Slammer DA3
- Digitech RP10 upgraded to RP12
- Vox AC-1 Mini Combo

I love this thing...it is just perfect for me. Great sound, great looks, the right size, not too heavy...what else could I say?! I was between this and the DanelectroNifty Fifty, and even though I know the Dano is a gerat lil' amp too, the additional features of the Pathfinder, like tremolo and the output jacks (and the Vox sound) made me decide for it. I only wish it had reverb...but I can make that with the RP10.

Anything else? Well, buy this amp while you can!!! You WILL NOT regret it.

Submitted by Jose Kercado at 12/29/1999 17:02

Price Paid: US $109

Features: 10
This is a recently purchased, Korean made 15 watt Vox with an 8" Vox Bulldog speaker. It has a single channel, a gain control that overdoes overdrive a bit for my taste, treble and bass controls, the US market version with a line out, speaker out, and headphone out. It has tremelo speed and depth controls, which I find to be well done, tastefully adding to the shimmer. Could stand reverb.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm using this amp for now to practice with my Rickenbacker 330, high output single coils. There is noise, due to the single coils, but it's not objectionable when positioned correctly. The distortion sounds fake like a cheap distortion pedal, but that has as much to do with my guitar and style as anything else. With the volume at two o'clock and the gain at 10 o'clock, with the tremelo set 3/4 depth and speed, it gives me exactly the sound I had hoped it would. It's proximity to a class A tube amp sound is better than any transistor amp I've ever played or heard. I don't think anyone has come as close to tube with transistors as Vox has recently. Through the 8", the bass isn't as low as it is through a cabinet, which it drives just fine. The Rickenbacker/Vox combination has the most useful and distinctive midrange of any other. The highs are piercingly loud yet not as bright as a Fender, and the lows are warm, not nearly as a Gibson. I owned a Vox tube amp during the sixties, 1965-1970. I know the sound well, and this amp has it. It took me less than five minutes to dial in the Rickenbacker/Vox combination I was looking for. My metal experienced son said that he's never heard a purer '60s sound than this combo, and that it's as fresh in a lot of current music as it was then. I only know that now I really have to put the polish on and get my chops up. I have the sound I want.

Reliability: N/A
This is a transistor amp by a company I have a lot of gigging experience with their products. If they think the Korean factory is good enough for their name, I have every reason to believe it will be a no brainer. My previous tube Vox withstood five years of three to five night a week gigging without the first breakdown. Nothing else came close.

Customer Support: N/A
I have no idea. Korg/Marshall/Vox sounds like a good bet, though.

Overall Rating: 10
I've played since 1964. I have an unabashed British Invasion style, no matter what I play. Other gear and other styles and 35+ years of playing, and I still approach the guitar in that manner, before overdrive was anything but the result of trying to get loud enough and chorus and effects were the shimmer of a Vox and the snarl of whatever it had played through it. This Pathfinder on a clean setting is on the verge of class A breakup and takes mearly a pickstroke to overdrive, just like a good class A should. Outstanding clean punch. I don't like the fuzz sound of the amp. I intend to try out some effects, but not to bury the basic Vox/Rickenbacker combo. I've compared it to Fenders, the closest decent amp, and although I like the Fenders, the Vox is voiced uniquely in my direction. I really don't expect too many people to be reading either Vox or Rickenbacker reviews, even guys my age. It isn't just nostalgia to me, it's the song I hear tomorrow that I have yet to learn, it's just going to sound a certain way cause that's what my ears hear. I can understand how people fall in love with Marshalls, 5150's, Fenders. But my first amp was a Vox, sounded like a Vox, and this little kick ass of a practice amp hit the nail square on the head, no bullshit. If that sound means anything to you, you ought to have one if just to play in the bedroom. I don't intend for this to be my last Vox due to it's relative lack of power, but with a line out and mikes as good as they are today, who knows what I'll use it for. Replace it? With another Vox, this model included, in a heartbeat. Damn good job, once again, and my thanks to Jennings and crew, once again.

Submitted by Bill at 12/23/1999 22:25

Price Paid: US $89.99

Features: 9
This amp is not your average practice amp!! It's only 15 watts, but it's twice as powerful as any other 15 watt amp I've ever heard!! I'm in a band with a few beginning instrumentalists all with 15 watt amps, and my Pathfinder blows them away every time!! They're constantly begging me to turn down the volume! The sound quality is good and there's not extra noise. It's got distortion and tremolo, which is surprisingly high quality. It's got a lot of empty space in the back, which is handy for carrying pedals and cords.

Sound Quality: 10
The clean sounds are good and the overdrive is sweet, but when the distortion is all the way up, there isn't that real metal sound that I like. So I use it with a Zoom 2100 FX pedal (read my review of that) and an Ibanez Superstrat RG170. But as I said before, it blows away everything else in its class!!

Reliability: 10
Never had a problem with it. Don't think I will. This thing is built solid!!

Customer Support: N/A
No experience

Overall Rating: 10
I love this amp!! It is the best I could have gotten for my price range and use!!

Submitted by JAF at 12/22/1999 19:29

Price Paid: US $99.00

Features: 8
New portable 15 watt, two channel practice/recording amp with onboard tremelo. It has bass, treble, gain, volume and tremelo controls, as well as a line-out jack for running to another power amp or PA, and a headphone jack so your spouse won't club you for disturbing her beauty sleep.

I am a home player who does hard disk recordings for my own pleasure. I sometimes mic this amp but usually run the line out straight to my MIDI console and into my PowerMac. I use ProTools recording software.

For the price range, the tremelo cicuitry is quite a surprise.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a mahogany/alder Yamaha AES-800 guitar with two Seymour Duncan DLX-90 humbucking soapbar pickups: a very versatile guitar that looks goofy but sounds fab. I also own an old silver face Fender Twin Reverb and a mid '80s Marshall JCM-800 combo.

I play mostly instrumentals which incorporate rock and new age stylings. I wanted a small, portable amplifier that I could mic in my closet, in the bathroom, or anywhere where I could get natural reverb. The Vox fits the bill nicely, and it looks cool. The clean sounds are absolutely steller. I was amazed I could get this amount of harmonic richness out of a solid state amp. The 8 inch speaker doesn't put out much low end thump, so run both a line out to my MIDI interface and mic the speaker with an old Shure SM-57. Then I just add some low end beef with ProTools' EQ and mix the two signals to taste.

The Vox's dimed out distortion sounds are a bit too fuzzy for my taste, but the light overdrive sounds (with the boost engaged and the gain set at around 10:00) sounds very rich and Voxey. For distortion I prefer to run my trusty old MXR Distortion pedal in front of the amp.

My only initial complaint with the Patfinder was that it does rattle profusely when played at high volumes with the boost engaged. However, this can be reduced by stuffing 4" thick foam rubber padding inside the cabinet, around the speaker. You can pick up foam rubber padding at any hardware store for low bucks. Not only did this help reduce the buzzing but it seemed to help squelch some of the transient noises, and actually increased the volume output.

Reliability: 9
No trouble so far.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
For the price you can't beat it. I love the Pathfinder's crystalline clean tones, and the overdrive/boost is useful as long as you use it with discretion. The tremelo is cool and along with the decadent Vox accoutrements, adds a neat vintage mojo that is rearely seen in amps these days. I tried it out against some Fender and Danelectro solid state amps and the Pathfinder smoked them all. Now if Vox can just find away to squelch the cabinet rattle, I'd give this amp a 10.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/14/1999 09:12

Price Paid: US $250 used

Features: 10
Solid state players, eat your heart out! this mid 60"s pathfinder is all tube 1 el84. this thing screams! for a low watt amp .I realize this amp was made in U.S. by thomas organ, but made to the british specs. 2 channels, who needs reverb! I also believe its pretty rare not many tube models out there, also have the orig. chrome stand!

Sound Quality: 9
I play through 74" strat & 70"s gibson L6 , also a orig. 56" musicmaster, but the humbucks in the L6 make this puppy sing , just the right overdrive & sound level for me

Reliability: 8
never gigged with it but I supose you could w/ a shure 57 mic. has not broken down yet, still running the orig. tubes in it have great britain written on them

Customer Support: 6
whats that I"m on my own here

Overall Rating: 8
been playing around 20 years, my other gear includes marshall 100 watt jmp super lead 74" w/checkerboard 4-12 rola cest. cab, 68" fender princton reverb, all orig. ,melody amp w/6" spk.,marshall valvestate stereo 40 watt/2-12 combo

Submitted by J.T. at 12/13/1999 22:39

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 8
The Pathfinder has enough features for a basic practice amp: distortion, volume, treble, bass. It even has tremolo, though it is not useful that often. It is a very simple, straightforward amp, but it a good way. The amp is "only" 15 watts, but it can drive a 4x12 speaker cabinet (according to the Vox spec sheet). The volume is just right for jamming in your garage.

Sound Quality: 9
The Pathfinder sounds great. It is only a solid-state practice amp, but it is a terrific sound for the money! It's not noisy or hissy. The distortion is surprisingly warm and gritty, not cold and shreddy like cheap metal distortion pedals. I used to own a very shreddy amp that couldn't do any clean tones. I bought the Pathfinder because I was looking to experiment with some warmer clean tones.

Reliability: 8
This amp is solid-state and feels very solid. I do not expect any problems from it.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven't used the customer support yet, so I don't know.

Overall Rating: 9
I've owned other practice amps and the Vox Pathfinder is definitely my favorite. This amp is an amazing deal. It has the best tone of any amp I've owned and, amazingly, it was the cheapest! I'm so embarrassed for buying and using those other practice amps over the years! :-)

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/13/1999 13:37

Price Paid: US $105

Features: 7
I bought this amp three months ago so I imagine it's brand new. It is a 15 watt solid-state two channel combo with an 8 inch "Bulldog" style speaker, line out, headphone out and an onboard vibrato circuit.
I use the amp at church and bought it to replace my good old Fender Blues Deluxe which was way to big and loud for church use. This amp is the prefect size, and it is very light and portable. The Pathfinder is plenty powerful enough for my needs because I never turn it up loud onstage. I mic it with a Shure SM57, so that way the church's soundman can mix it to taste with the other stage instruments. In fact, I face the Pathfinder towards me next to my stage monitor so I can make quick adjustments to it and and hear myself better. I guess it would be cool if it had reverb, but even the old Vox AC-30s did not have reverb. That doesn't dissapoint me since I use a floor effect pedal and can just add reverb in.

Sound Quality: 9
I run a home-built strat with Lindy Fralin pickups through a Boss GT-3 effects processor. The Pathfinder is probably the best solid state amp I've ever heard. Tom Petty and Edge tones are here in abundance. I dig the U2 and Cocteau Twins ambient sounds, and this little amp does the Brit thing very well. It does a convincing impersonation of that "blizzard of nails" overdrive sound that made Vox AC-30s so cool for rock. It is a very honest overdrive that's not too spiky or harsh. The aggressive Marshall kind of distortion sound grates on most people's ears and is a no-no in church, but the Vox type overdrive is very palatable for most people. The clean settings are superb, with a glassy clarity that you normally don't find in this size of amp. I like the way it absorbs the effects I run through it without losing its own sonic signature. Of course it cannot duplicate an AC-30's sparkling high end and sweet midrange, but the blokes at Vox did a great job of giving the Pathfinder alot of that vibe. I haven't detected alot of noise or hiss, although it rattles a bit when you crank the volume up. The cabinet seems well built, but in the near future I may reinforce the inner corners with aluminum angle-irons for extra vibration damping. I was also surpirised at how loud this amp is. It will deafen you if you practice in a small room with it. The vibrato is cool, and when I add a little digital reverb I can get some trippy surf sounds.

Reliability: N/A
It is a solid state amp. What can you say? As long as you don't drop it off the table onto a concrete floor it should last for years. I haven't had any problems with it so far.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
Talking gear bores me. I'd rather talk cars. I have a couple of low rent acoustics, my Fender Blues Deluxe and my home made strat. My Boss GT-3 is the only effects pedal I own. As for the Pathfinder: this is a fine, fine amp. In fact, for this price I may buy another one so I can split my effects signal to them for a juicier stereo spread. This is a perfect amp for recording because of its stellar clean sounds and crispy overdrive that is not too harsh or overstated. I'm not going to go out and sell my Fender, but for the price you really cannot beat the Pathfinder.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/12/1999 20:07

Price Paid: US $109.00 with shipping

Features: 8
Brand new 1999 Vox Pathfinder guitar amplifier, designed for practice and recording. To get down to the basics, 1 x 8" speaker with 15 watts power. The controls are Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass, Tremolo Speed, Tremolo Depth, and there's a gain boost switch between the gain and volume knobs. One Input and Footswitch Jack on the top of the combo, and Headphone, Extension Speaker and Line Out Jacks on the back (the latter three jacks are on the American versions only.) The speaker is a Vox-lisenced Korean made (same as the rest of the amp) "Blue Bulldog", based somewhat on vintage Vox speakers. I use everything the amp offers. Some people say would like Reverb, but very few Vox amps had it anyway, so why mess with greatness? I've used the amp here at home a number of times since I got it, and it's more than enough power for practice... I think for what it's used for, it's more than versatile, compared to a number of Practice amps. This is the reason for the score of 8. Better tonal control would be nice (the two knobs effect the other, it's nice but I miss having a midrange control.) All in all, one of the best 15 watt solid-state amps money can buy.

Sound Quality: 10
I use this amp with my 2 electric guitars, a Rickenbacker 360 and an Epiphone Flying V. Sounds great with both, the Humbuckers and the Rickenbacker single-coils. I think this is the first practice amp to tonally fit my needs just right, the only thing to come close was a Vintage Kay Solid State from 1963 (which is simply for decoration now.) I play a mix of classic rock, punk and modern rock, R.E.M., The Jam, U2 and The Who among other bands are my inspirations... The sounds are very clear, nice and even, quite warm, even for my choice settings, with the bass down low and the treble up all the way. You can get alot out of the amp, the overdriven tones sound almost tubelike, like an amp forced all the way up; the tremolo with the clean, warm tones, can hit on some wicked psychedellic tones; the clean can capture a Beatles-like or an R.E.M. like sound; I'm sure with limited coaxing you can squeeze some Brian May tones out too. If you're worried about humming, it's limited, if you've got a cheap cord and like to walk around the room as you play, it'll get noticable, but it's limited, it's very quiet in that aspect. When you compare the clean channel to the distorted, you'll see, you need the gain control all the way up or at least 3/4 of the way there for it to get overdriven tones, the clean stays very clean for awhile, which is what I like, few practice amps can do that. The distorted tones, are more like an overdrive to a full-on distortion... They rock, you can get an almost Black Sabbath tone with humbuckers, low volume, and full gain, without the Gain Boost used. As for that Gain Boost, it sounds cool to have the volume boost it offers, I don't use it much to reach distorted tone, I like fiddling with knobs. I'd use the Vox footswitch when I get one for this amp, but I'd need to see what kinds of setting I could use to get from clean to overdriven with the switch. For a practice amp, this one can't be beat in this price range. Hence, the 10.

Reliability: N/A
I can see this amp as very dependable. The way I take care of my gear, and the construction of it, I don't see it getting messed up. I don't plan on gigging with it. I read about the Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb Twin coming out in January. I'd see gigging with that. But not this, unless there's no drummer and everyone else is using Fender Frontman-or similar amps... This could blow one of them away. I think I'll have this for awhile, until I can afford a couple AC-15's I might consider doing away with this, but I'd probably give it to someone then, or this can be the guitar amp I keep in the bedroom or something. It's too early for me to voice how reliable it can be.

Customer Support: N/A
There's a 1 year warranty on all Korg/Vox products, except for footswitches, tubes, speakers which have 90 day warranties. I doubt I'll have any trouble.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 4 years, I've owned loads of gear. When I like something, I keep it, if not, it goes. I'd definately get another, and I plan to get more Vox gear in General. I've owned tons of similar size amps, nothing compares. I don't see any way I could make it better. This is the best practice size combo money can buy.

Submitted by Joseph Drew at 11/23/1999 19:07

Price Paid: US $90 from zzounds.

Features: 9
Features include a built-in trem, gain boost (must be their "overdrive" excuse), gain, volume, and footswitch activation. Pretty basic setup, doesn't have a midrange adjustment, but that isn't too bad. It's a practice amp. Doesn't need that much.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a yamaha pac112, and I play basically rhythm. As with most amps, this doesn't distort that well with full chords on max. But with palm muting and gain at 12:00 with boost, it sounds pretty darn sweet. Nice crunch, if you release palm mute, there's a nice sustaining tone coming from it. I'm no tone expert, so I can just say it's darn good, though not exactly metal zone ish distortion. But it's better than some of the ibanez pedals I've heard.

The clean tones are superb. My guitar's single coils sound great on it, and my bucker gives a nice quack when I need it. There's no emphasis on bass here, since everything just sounds GOOD.

The trem isn't exactly as fast or as deep as I'd like, but I don't use it much anyway.

However, there's a slight rattling whenever I crank it up past regular level clean gain. That's a slight problem...thought it was my guitar at first, but it seems to be something in the amp. But that should be fixable.

Reliability: 9
It's a nice amp, I've used it in church, sounds great, that rattling's kinda annoying, but nobody notices much...and I play mostly clean anyway, so it isn't that apparent.

Customer Support: N/A
Vox is British. I'm out of warranty range, so it won't help anyway.

Overall Rating: 10
It's a great practice amp. A little on the big side, but still manageable. Compared it with my friend's squier amp...the squier gives a pretty good metal sound...if I can tell what metal sounds like...with its V shape bass-mid-treble eq, but all in all, I love this amp. I'll try to fix the rattling myself.

Submitted by Anonymous at 11/13/1999 02:01

Price Paid: US $102

Features: 9
It's a brand new '99. Controls are simple....Input, Gain, Boost, Volume, Treble, Bass, Tremelo Speed, Tremelo Depth, Foot Switch Input, Power switch, Headphone Jack, 8 ohm extension jack, line out jack.
1 eight inch speaker. 15 W, Solid State.

Sound Quality: 10
Using it with Les Pauls, Strats, Danelectros, Telecasters, Duo Sonics, and an acoustic. Works for that REM sound, if that's what you're looking for. Very nice tone. I play punk and ska mainly, but I can use this amp to provide some interesting countertones to my Marshall. The tremelo is a great feature, especially considering the price of this thing.

Reliability: 8
I haven't gigged with it yet, but I will this summer. Hasn't broken down yet, don't see that it will. Seems very durable.

Customer Support: N/A
Not applicable

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing six years, and this is the best "practice" amp I've ever come across. I should have paid $118 for it, but the cashier couldn't read the guys handwriting, and I got it for $102. If stolen, I'd track the thief down and kill them. Would definitely buy again, in fact I might and hook them together, with varying tremelo settings on each one. Might create a cool effect.

Submitted by Ryan at 10/30/1999 15:17

Price Paid: US $99

Features: 10
Well...cheez, it's been covered enough here so I think I'll just add that the chicken head control knobs are very large and very sturdy feeling compared to the small, cheaply molded, puney knobs as on the Laney amps that cost three times more than this hot lil' babe. It's a treat to have a great sounding tremolo on a little amp like this for the money, but I guess in a perfect world, it would have reverb, alas, it would then cost double. The dual foot-switch to control the tremolo and boost is not included -- I paid $29 for it (by the way, if you don't want to shell out the bucks, all you need to build one is a stereo 1/4" plug, 2 switches, 3wire cable, and a project box; I blew the cash just because I wanted the Vox logo).

Sound Quality: 10
I'm playing an Epi Les Paul with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck at the bridge and a Seth Lover at the neck. I don't think I can add much more to all the great things that have been said -- it's just really fantastic, this thing has a pretty authentic vintage vibe and I personally find the tremelo on this to be perfectly voiced with the depth and speed ranges just right. I can't figure out why people have written that the tremelo speed doesn't go quite fast enough, I mean, what are they trying to do? Make their guitars sound like a machine-gun? Cheez! Anyway, I don't know how they did it, but they got transistors (FET's no doubt) to sound like a tube voiced Vox.

Many have written that the boost feature is way too loud -- I think it's just right; I perform with this amp twice a week and with the rest of the band blairing, this boost is hot enough to let your sound stand out in front for a solo -- just right (I can see that if you weren't playing with a band, this boost would be overkill).

Okay, push me and I'll tell you that the gain when really cranked is a bit on the mushy side lacking those middy harmonics from a tube and the clarity of some high end sparkle. But the gain sounds better when used for blues and mild overdrive. The way to get good distortion
is not to crank the gain so much, but to engage the boost mode.

I always thought I had a good grip on understanding the fundamentals of the properties of electricity in music applications, but now I must admit I'm really stumpped and am not so sure I understand how things really work now. I took this amp over to my friends house and we connected the external cabinet output to his 4x12 1960A 300 watt Marshall cabinet, and figuring that since there were now 4 big 12" speakers rated at 75 watts a piece, it wouldn't be very loud because there was too much load absorbing material there for the Vox's 15 watts, but much to our surprise, it got louder!!! He had it cranked playing through this 4x12 cabinet, and after a few minutes, I had just had to leave the room -- I couldn't take it anymore -- I went downstairs and plopped on the sofa trying to figure all this out and listened to him rattle the floor and walls in the room above me. He finally emereged from the room with his ears ringing.

Reliability: 6
Seems reliable enough, but I will use this space to comment on construction. I know they wanted this thing to look vintage, but the lack of corner guards has really taken its toil on this thing, already the seams at the corner are dangling threads and the vinyl is lifting up.

The worst thing I can say about this amp is that the input and output jacks don't grab the plug very tightly -- the plug slips in and out too easily and you can wiggle them inside the jack enough to cause it to crackle. So far, there hasn't been a problem with it cutting out or crackling as long as you don't wiggle it with your hand. I pulled the back panel off to bend the metal contact prong on the output jacks to make them tighter and to my suprise, the jacks are the cheap plastic box type that are soldered diriectly to the circuit board -- so now we know how they're able to sell this great sounding amp for $99. That's okay, this winter I'll remove these cheap jacks and mount real ones to the frame and solder the wires to the circuit board.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Overall, I have to give this hot lil' babe a 10, because how long have you been waiting for something that sounds so good to come along at an extremely affordable price! Why can't American companies produce something like this? (too damn greedy!) And I realize Vox took this one out of the UK for production to keep the cost down, but at least they took it to Korea instead of a sweatshop in China -- and right now, the Korean's are producing much more quality stuff than China.

Okay, let me close by saying that this thing sounds so good, I am using it to shape my tone in a band I perform with twice a week -- it is my stage monitor and I use the 'Line Out' jack to feed the p.a. system. My whole tone is shaped by this little amp and its just incredible. I used to use a Tech21 SansAmp GT-2 amp & cabinet simulator and the sound was never really authentic and too thin and buzzy at the mixing board. So for $40 less than the GT-2, I not only got great tone shaping capabilites to send to the board, I also got a great stage monitor, and a tremelo effect. I take my hat off to the good ole Vox boys in the UK who designed this thing to sound sssooooo
good and kept it sssoooo affordable -- cheers maties and thanks! This pint's for you!

Submitted by jimmy at 10/28/1999 07:55

Price Paid: $150 (Canadian)

Features: 8
Your average practice amp, right? NO WAY! This thing is all that and more. 15W, 8" Blue Bulldog Speaker, Boost control, tremolo, footswitch jack, line, speaker, and headphone out. The trem is a nice feature for an amp of this price. I wont say that this is the most versatile amp (like a lot of Vox amps!) butit does what it does WELL; plays that Voxy sound to a tee!

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using a Rickenbacker 330/12, Eric Clapton Strat, and Epiphone LP Custom. With the Rick, can you say 'Hard Days Night'??? I'm really into The Edge at the moment, and with the Strat hooked up to a DOD 280 Compressor and a SDD-3000 delay, there you have U2! For my style and taste, this amp it great!

Reliability: N/A
I'd have to say that this one would probably last a while, being SS and all. I'd trust it to gig with (mic'd up, of course!..it just wouldn't be loud enough!) without a backup. Just bout the amp a while ago so I can't really comment on reliability, though. Seems sturdy, though.

Customer Support: N/A
Can't say. Haven't had any problems yet!

Overall Rating: 9
Just a supurb product all round. If you want the AC30 tone (and who doesn't?), but you are, ahem, without money, this little beast will do wonderfully. Reverb would have been nice, but I can add that, along with chorus and anything else, later. A 10" Bulldog (like the AC15) would have been nice. Classic style, classic tone (it really freaked the music store guys out. I A/Bed it with an AC15; AC15 was louder, but the tone was, to my ear, very similar.). Oh, this this is LOUD for a practice amp, especially with the boost on. (If you're looking for the AC30 sound, keep the boost ON!!!)

Submitted by Mike at 10/27/1999 13:33

Price Paid: US $110

Features: 9
This is a really nice solid state amp. Features include input jack, gain, master volume, treble, bass, tremelo speed, tremelo depth, boost/tremelo footswitch jack. The rear panel features headphone jack for private practice, external speaker output (you can run your favorite 4x12 cab with no problem)this feature woks best with an 8 ohm cab, but you can use 16 ohms. NOTHING LESS THAN 8OHMS! And lastly a line out jack which can be used for connection to external recording or PA equipment. I might mention that this amp is most commonly refered to as a practice amp, but with the line out jack it is also nice for a live performance (which I have done).

Sound Quality: 9
I gave this a high rating but this is a matter of opinion. The guitar I have is fitted with Gibson pickups. The only effect I use is a Zoom 505 multi-effects pedal. Without the boost I ge a really clean sound even When it's cranked to 10, but when I turn it way up it hisses alot(what amp doesn't).I play blues and rock and it suits my style well.

Reliability: 8
This is a pretty dependable amp if you don't push it to hard to long. Like I said before this is not a metal guitarist' amp. Never neded repairs. At $110 you could easily buy another as a backup incase something does go wrong.

Customer Support: N/A
Never delt with 'em

Overall Rating: 9
If this were stolen or lost I don't know if I would replace it or not. I probably would. The value for the money is pretty good considering all I payed for it was $110 bucks.

Submitted by Sean at 10/23/1999 19:07

Price Paid: £99 (STERLING)

Features: 7
REVERB WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE BUT GAIN AND TREMELO SETTINGS ARE EASY TO USE WITH VARIABLE RESULTS. HEADPHONE OUT PROVIDES GREAT SOUND TO DECENT HEADPHONES. OPTIONAL FOOT SWITCH IMPROVES CONTROL OF TREMELO AND MORE IMPORTANTLY GAIN BOOST SWITCH.

Sound Quality: 6
BRUTAL FUZZY DISTORTION IN A NUMBER OF WAYS BUT SOFTER 'CALIFORNIAN' STYLE DISTORTION IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN. CLEAN SOUNDS ARE GOOD. hOWEVER SPEAKER 'FLAPS' AT HIGH VOLUMES.

Reliability: 9
NO PROBLEMS TO DATE...

Customer Support: N/A
1 YEAR WARRENTY, I HAVE NOT HAD REASON TO CONTACT VOX

Overall Rating: 8
BEST PRACTICE AMP I'VE HEARD FOR THIS PRICE. GREAT TONE (MOSTLY) AND VERY USABLE TREMELO.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/19/1999 11:00

Price Paid: 80 (Pounds Sterling)

Features: 8
Well the amp manual says 1998 in it. It has single channel with gain, volume, bass, treble, tremelo (speed and depth), and a boost switch for gain. It also has a headphone socket and footswitch socket (for tremelo and boost). The Vox web site (www.voxshowroom.com) says that it has a line out and ext. speaker out also, but mine doesn't. I noticed other peoples reviews on here say that theirs has - does anyone know anything about this?? Please email if so.

Sound Quality: 10
I play an Epiphone Les Paul, USA strat (haven't tried it yet) and I'm VERY VERY impressed. It sounds to unreal, far better than any of the valve amps I've tried (Crate VC2112R, buggered up Fender silverface Champ). I have also tried numerous s/state amps and they aren't even worth mentioning for a comparison. I really don't know what Vox have done to get this sound, but it proves that the future is very bright for modern technology and we don't have to use 40 year old electronics!!! The amp is really a blues/rock amp, this isn't for the metal boys, it emulates just about any of the classic sounds you can think up. The bass and treble controls seem to make the EQ very versatile, and if you really want that bit more gain the boost is there (very good controlled feedback - full of harmonics)!! The clean sound has got all that glassy feel that you get from valves and pretty of room for volume.

Reliability: 9
Well I've not had long, but it seems really well built streets ahead of the equivalent Marshalls, Peavey, Crates etc. I don't expect it to break down. One of the things that always seems to be a let down on other practice amps seems to be the pots which are usually cheapo bits of junk, but the Vox has really smooth 'chicken head' things - great!!!

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't had any problems touchwood, but I might try and find out about the missing sockets mentioned above.

Overall Rating: 10
Well I would rate this thing as 'the best thing since sliced bread'. If you are like me, and have been looking for ages for something that will provide those classic sounds of the '60s and '70s without all the volume and hassle of valves, then this is the thing for you!!! If I lost it or it got stolen I would probably cry, and hope like hell that they were still being made, cause I don't think there is an alternative!!!! My brother tried it out and now he is trying to raise the cash ASAP to get one, cause he's only got a Crate S/state thing that used to be mine, and he loves this. He tried a Korg AX1G multi F/X with it and it worked great with the room/hall sims etc. But the distortions/gain etc are far better on the Vox.

Submitted by Howard at 09/30/1999 11:59

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 5
I think this area has been covered enough. It's a practice amp, okay? I give it a five because, hey, it's just a practice amp.

Sound Quality: 10
I am using a Peavey Predator Plus, S-S-H through this amp. I am a blues/rock and closet metal player. I also use a Line 6 Pod through it sometimes. Like so many reviewers before, this amp is amazing. I a/b'd it against a slew of other amps, including some small tube amps and had to go with the Vox. People in the music store I tried it at were amazed that all that great sound was coming out of that little Vox! With the Pod it is awesome!

Reliability: 9
I have had it for several months now. Just recently I got a buzz-rattle at certain frequencies so I decided to void the warranty and take it apart to find the dreaded sound. I found the culprit and eliminated the rattle. Tone heaven. Don't foresee any problems arising. It's very simple.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with them. If I had paid alot more my would have been after them about the rattle but it was a no brainer.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for about 23 years and have had many amps and guitars. I have played out occasionally and play acoustic in a praise worship group. Would I buy it again? In a heartbeat. I wish I had had this amp long ago, but then I used to think amps had to give you a hernia to be good. I pretty much chose this amp because of all the glowing reviews. I had to see for myself. It was all true. Try one. For under $120?! For beginners or old timers, for a small amp, this is a must see!

Submitted by PaulR at 09/10/1999 15:44

Price Paid: US $109+tax

Features: 9
Solid state with good looks. This amp has volume, gain, treble, bass, gain switch and most of all tremelo. Other perks include a headphone jack, line out, and ext. speaker (It supposely kicks ass when hooked up to a speaker cabinet). More than enough power for a practice amp. A lot for a little amp!

Sound Quality: 10
I use Fender strats, a Jimmie Vaughan Strat with overwound tex mex pickups, and a Standard Strat with stock pickups. Noiseless, it can go from crispy clean to mean and dirty by the turn of the gain knob and switch. I keep the switch on bright and it gives a clean but sparkle sound. The best thing to do is to invest in a reverb unit. I have a Boss RV-3. Along with the RV-3, The vox can sound like hendrix, garcia, to duane eddy. I play evrything from the Dead to U2 and it has far surpassed my expectations.

Reliability: 9
I have had no problems but I wish it was build in the UK or USA. That would assure me more of its construction.

Customer Support: N/A
I had no reason to.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for 10 years. I have two Fender strats, a Stage112se for gigging(that just blew). I use a Fuzz Face, blues driver, ds-1, for my effects I use a MXR Phase 90(my baby, the best peddle ever) and Boss delay DD-3 and the RV-3 for more lush reverb. I also use a super chorus from time to time. Yes I would but it again. I compared it to the nifty fifty. There was no compitition, the vox blew it away with better sound quality and features. The fact that I have the RV-3 for reverb helps alot, but reverb can be more of a pain in the ass when built in. I have had a lot of problems with built in reverb. It makes the amp more delicate. I wish I could get a gig size version of this, solid state and all. It sounds like a tube amp, I have recordings I made to prove it. You wouldn't know the difference, trust me. Tube amps are like Jaguars, there pretty, expensive, and popular, but they need a lot of maintenance....and they are so F$%^#$& heavy to lug around. I would like to hear it hooked up to a cabinet, maybe I could gig with it. Buy this amp. It's worth every penny.

Submitted by Cliff at 08/31/1999 09:07

Price Paid: US $89

Features: 8
Fairly straightforward little 15 watt solid-state amp with volume, gain, gain boost switch, bass, treble, and tremelo. It has three lines out — headphone, speaker cab, and line out - and has a footswitch in. For 15 watts the thing is able to rattle my windows. It has amazing power. Enough for a small gig even. Only think that would make it a ten in my book is reverb. Really well set up.

Sound Quality: 9
Sounds amazing. I've owned a handful of amps, tube and otherwise, and this little guy holds its own. Sounds as good as my tube Music Man 410/65. I've always loved that Vox sound, and while this isn't quite like an AC30 it has many of the same qualities. Really crystal clear and clean sounding. I play a solid-body Rickenbacker and play cowpunk, ie hipster country, and it has enough high end and treble to give me what I need and can really sound full too. Great feedback. You're only going to get a couple of sounds but they're great. The tremelo isn't bad, but could have a bit more depth.

Reliability: N/A
Haven't had it long but it seems well made.

Customer Support: N/A
Have yet to deal with the company.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing about nine years and come from the punk/indie background. People like Uncle Tupelo and Billy Bragg introduced me to the folk and country world and the music I play is a freak combination of punk and folk with a large helping of noise thrown in. This amp fits in nicely. I bought it because I was tired of humping my Music Man, which weighs about 500 pounds, to gigs and rehearsals. I wanted something light and portable with a line out for recording purposes. I also have also like the Vox sound, which is why I went with this rather than the Nifty-Fifty I was also considering. (I'll probably get that too). I use a Rat Brat to get the fuzz and harmonics, etc - it gets trebly and requires a lot of adjusting - and I use a Danelectro Convertible for a trashy acoustic tone. When I want to really test my neighbor's patience I plug the line out of the Vox into the input of my Peavey KB/A, which has practically no tone of its own but is very very loud and it works amazingly well. I would highly recommend this little amp to anyone. For the money it's amazing.

Submitted by powell boyer at 08/25/1999 10:50

Price Paid: US $109

Features: N/A
Gain, Volume, Boost, Treble, Bass, Vibrato depth and speed, 15 watts, 8 inch vox/celestion bulldog and the "Vox is what's happening" look

Sound Quality: N/A
I am using a Fender Strat Ultra. Very clean, noiseless amp. loud as hell, With the gain near off and the volume up full with boost on, it has a very deep, rich, sparkly sound. nice tonal variation with the treble/bass. when adjusted for crunch or overdrive, the amp kicks it. It is great for practice and would like it have it drive a 2-12 cab

Reliability: N/A
I have never had a a problem and if it craps it is only $100 to get another one

Customer Support: N/A
well there is no website for the VOX company

Overall Rating: N/A
It is just great. Much better than all the other small practice amps. GREAT SOUND, and LOUD as all get out

Submitted by bobster at 08/10/1999 13:06

Price Paid: US $90

Features: 8
It was trem. that is a great feture for a amp of this price, it also has a boost that really makes the amp howl. the gain also controls the overdrive and pre vol. so its kinda i fun nob to play with. I wish the amp had seperate control for these, but it still works well like it is. i play blues and rock (i.e. tom petty type) so it works good for me.

Sound Quality: 10
I am running a '84 standard strat with a special edition crybaby pedal, this fits what i play. if you are looking for heavy ditortion this ain't your amp. the amp is solid state but plays just like a tube amp. i belive it was made to sound like the AC15 and AC30 amps and it does, u know that classic VOX sound.

Reliability: N/A
I've only had it for a month and i haven't had a problem yet, i don't expect one either. it is a solid state amp, they are all almost bombproof.

Overall Rating: 9
It plays really well, it a very LOUD 15 watts. i plan to gig with it its that good. The sound is great if u want blues or a nice oredrive tube tone at a discount price. this amp should cost $500 more just because of its sound, but like i said if u wanna play hard rock or metal this ain't your amp. i wish it had reverb and better overdrive control, but i'm still grinnin' about this amp!

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/06/1999 08:48

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
Great 15 watt 8" speaker amp. Classic VOX styling in a small solid state practice amp with one input, gain, volume, gain boost switch, treble, bass, tremelo speed, and tremelo depth. It has the basic features you would expect from an amp of this class with one added bonus, a built in tremelo. It is really cool and is a great addition to this amp. Perfect if used subtley and even better if used not so subtley. It is almost like the fender vibrochamp for those who remember.

Sound Quality: 8
This amp gets some great sounds out of it. It can go from very clean and smooth to bluesy to lots of overdrive. If you want an amp of this size and are not looking for tons and tons and tons of distortion, but more of a blues and rock sound then go with this amp. It blows all of the others away. If you want heavy metal than go with the Marshall VS15. for any other style of music the vox is the way to go.

Reliability: 9
Considering it is just a practice amp I don't need it to be terribly reliable. But it is built quite solidly and doesn't look like it's going to break down any time soon.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with the company but the warranty is only 90 days.

Overall Rating: 10
This is the best practice amp I've ever played. It gets really loud if need be and you don't have to wait for tubes to warm up or anything else if you just want to pull off a few licks. You should definately look into this amp. I got the perfect shine on you crazy diamond sound from it and my PRS McCarty RW the other day. Until then only my line 6 could do that. And that was actually on the Vox AC30 amp setting. WORTH THE $120!!!

Submitted by Reza at 07/18/1999 11:57

Price Paid: US $89

Features: 10
This amp provides a great sound at lower volumes (for us apartment dwellers) as well as great loudness- good sound either clean or distorted. No reverb, but the tremelo is very nice. Crimson and Clover!

Sound Quality: 10
Using a Washburn BT-4, this can give a very nice bluesy sound, full and expressive. It's not noisy at all, and seems to offer a good variety, with a nice gain switch and a boost for when you need to go to 11.

Reliability: N/A
Just got it a few days ago, so not sure on this. It seems very solid and well-built, though.

Customer Support: N/A
haven't dealt with anyone on this.

Overall Rating: 10
This amp is absolutely amazing. I've used two other small practice amps, and this blows them away, and is even inexpensive. It is slighly on the large side for this type of amp, but still very portable, and far above anything else I have tried in quality. If you are looking for a small amp, look no further. I mean it! Also, if you are starting out, this will give you great sound, which is especially important.

Submitted by Jonathan Reich at 07/18/1999 08:43

Price Paid: Canadian $199

Features: 5
It's a one channel practice amp, 15 watts, tremolo, line out, speaker out, and headphone. The controls are volume, gain, bass, treble, vibrato speed, depth and a boost button. The trem and boost are foot switchable.

Sound Quality: 9
Loud for a 15 watter, I hooked it up to a marshall 4x12 and it got louder. I used a standard strat through it with a big muff. It has a great clean, the overdrive is good to but i think the boost is a little over kill. The trem sounds really nice but could use a little more depth and speed. The tone controls are very responsive and whoever designed it knew there stuff because the tone contols interact, boosting each other like on a AC-30.

Overall Rating: 10
An amazing practice amp sounds lightyears better than it's competitors like the Peavey Rage 158 (awful amp... like all other Peavey amps). I love it

Submitted by Eddie Clark at 07/07/1999 19:16

Price Paid: US $110

Features: 8
This is a brand new (1999) practice amp. It's probably the best practice amp I've ever heard, and the best value, too. It has pretty much every feature one would need in this type of product. The basic rundown: solid-state, 15 watts, 1 8" speaker, single channel. It has 6 knobs: Volume, Gain, Bass, Treble, Tremelo Speed, and Tremelo Depth. In addition there's a Boost switch and a footswitch jack to control the Tremelo and BoostThere are also three jacks in the back: Line Out, Speaker Out, and Headphone Out. The footswitch option is amazing for an amp of this price/size.
With 15 watts of power it's definitely loud enough for practice, quiet band rehearsing, and home recording.

Sound Quality: 8
I play (mainly) rock and roll, and I don't normally have a need for super ditorted guitar sounds (if I need that I use a RAT pedal). Given this parameter the Pathfinder is a near perfect amp. I'm used to vintage Fender tube amps, and this solid state amp sounds as close to a tube amp as I've ever heard. Other manufacturers could take a lesson from Vox, and put QUALITY speakers in their amps, because it really makes a difference. Even for a practice amp the sound is very full, and with clean or moderately distorted settings it's got a sound good enough to record. With heavy distortion it sounds like crap, really thin and buzzy (like running through a fuzzbox and straight into a board or PA). Two main complaints with the sound: 1) the Tremelo doesn't have much range as far as depth, and 2) when you hit the boost switch the amp gets *much* louder, so much so that I wonder how useful this feature would be in any type of "live" setting. Put these quibbles aside, this is by far the best sounding practice amp I've ever heard, and it's of a quality the it could be priced double what it is and still be a good value.

Reliability: N/A
It's a solid state amp, so it's probably pretty reliable. The production quality isn't so great, but what do you want for a hundred bucks? Given what I'll use it for (practice and home recording) it will probably last several decades. Since I bought it yesterday I guess we'll see...

Overall Rating: 9
I've played guitar for 25 years, and this is the first non-Fender amp I've ever bought. For guitars I play a Strat and a Musicmaster (more Fenders). If for some reason this amp were lost or stolen I'd definitely buy another one. It's perfect for home use, and probably even loud enough for coffee-house style gigs. Before I bought it I tried similar amps (both SS and tube) by Marshall, Laney, Fender, and Peavey, and while my first choice would be a '60's era Fender Champ, this amp will do quite nicely. For a practice amp I had been using a friends Peavey Audition 20, which I can now give back to him.

Submitted by Jim at 06/06/1999 09:07

Price Paid: US $98.00

Features: 10
If you're seeking a low cost practice or rehersal type amp, run, don't walk and get a Pathfinder! This is the best small amp I've ever played that's newly manufactured and it's a steal at the low price. Has volume, gain, treble, bass, and tremelo controls. The boost switch circuit is ok, especially if you want overdriven sounds and can't be bothered to plug in a distortion or fuzz unit. The tremelo is pretty good as well.

Sound Quality: 10
The tone that comes out of this solid-state amp is superb, at low and medium volumes, very tube-like, and reminds me of the original Vox sounds. I used to own an AC-50 and an AC-100, both running through original 4-12 Super Beatle cabinets so I know wherefore I speak. Now if only I hadn't sold that old stuff many moons ago. Oh well, the Pathfinder brings back that Vox tone (unbelievable), and the quality of the amp itself, both cosmetically and in tone convinces me to keep this amp and not sell it. It's very quiet as well, both in the headphone output and from the direct out. I plan on using it for recording direct to PC. Where the amp's sound really excells is the lightly distorted to clean bell-like tones it produces. You have to hear it to be convinced but it doesn't sound cheap or metallic but warm and tube-like. This is a great amp, something I can't say for many of the other small amps I've played recently. The fit and finish is top-knotch, the controls are smooth, and by using the treble and bass knobs, a wide range of vintage tones can be achieved. I just love this amp - you probably will too if you get one. For under $100 it's just amazing!!! The 8" spkr has a very good tone, and the headphone output tone is ok but obviously not as good as playing through the spkr but definitely usable and quiet enough for recording. When you connect the line out, it doesn't mute the spkr output but if you insert a plug into the headphone output at the same time it does, so you can use the line out if you want without having the spkr on, also good for recording without bothering anyone. Believe it or not, this is going to be my main source of tone for home recording - it's that good. I haven't had a chance to hook it up to a 4-12 cabinet yet but the other reviews say the same type of good comments. I still can't believe they sell it for under $100 in this day and age. I think it's worth at least $250 if not more. This is the amp to get if you crave the Vox sound and can't afford the big bucks for a reissue AC-30 or one of the old originals. Plus this updated model has the line out, headphone out, and extension cabinet out controls and is very, very quiet even when playing through a Strat single coil pickup. Get one now!

Reliability: 8
I would suspect good reliability if the amp is taken care of. Solid state circuitry, no high power so less chance of blowing up (other than perhaps the spkr). Korg is the U.S. supplier for this Vox.

Customer Support: 10
I payed $98 including shipping from AMS who matched zzounds.com advertised of $89.95 but AMS had it in stock and zzounds didn't.

Overall Rating: 10
Get this amp!!! Get this amp!!! Especially if you want Vox tone at a drop dead price. For distortion mud freaks, get something else. I have a Boss MG-10 mini practice amp with ultra gain and 2 5" spkrs that is going to gather dust until I sell it. Interested? Email me. The Vox has now taken over in my house.......

Submitted by Peter A. Silberg at 05/11/1999 06:59

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
ALL ratings are relative; this is an inexpensive practice amp, and that's the standard by which I measure it.
15w, 1 8" speaker, Volume, gain, Boost, Treble, Bass, Tremolo Depth, Tremo Speed; Headphone jack, Line Out Jack, Ext. Speaker Jack.
Footswitch for Boost and Tremolo is sold separately, but should be included. Reverb would be nice, as would a 10" speaker.

Sound Quality: 9
Probably the best-sounding amp in its class. Pretty loud for a 15w solid-state amp with only an 8" speaker. GREAT bass response for such a small speaker. Clean tones are nice, but the mildly overdriven tones are where this amp shines. Higher gain sounds are thin and buzzy (as is the tone through the headphone jack). At high volumes the amp buzzes and sounds like it's about to explode (and not in a good way, like a dimed blackface Fender Champ). Tremolo is nice sounded, but doesn't have the range of depth and speed that the AC15 and AC30 have. Overall, a decent palette of clean to overdriven tones, more than adequate for songwriting or practicing, unless you need some bone-crushing distortion. Not a tube amp, but a great-sounding solid state practice amp. Sounds good enough and loud enough to use on small coffee house gigs.

Reliability: 7
While beautiful, the construction seems a bit flimsy, especially the particle board cab. But, for just over $100, it seems adequate. Build quality and reliability on my AC15 have been excellent, so I expect the Pathfinder to last a while, too.

Customer Support: 9
Customer support with Korg USA (Vox/Marshall) has been excellent the two times I've called them about my AC15. One of their main guys (Mitch Colby?) posts regularly to the Vox Showroom bulletin board, and the company seems very open to feedback and seems to truly care about its customers, which is refreshing these days.

Overall Rating: 9
It's a good fit in over all Vox line, though a small tube practice amp (along the lines of the AC4) would have been preferable for me, though that amp would have to be more expensive than the Pathfinder. Compared to similar offerings by Danelectro (the Nifty Fifty: dreamy looks but lackluster tones), Fender (all crap), Marshall (mostly crap), and others (Ibanez, Crate, etc.), the Pathfinder has no equal. If you're looking for a low-power, great-looking, decent sounding amp for songwriting or practicing at home (even some recording), you should seriously consider the Pathfinder.

Submitted by Steven Jarvis at 04/25/1999 18:46

Price Paid: US $100

Features: 8
A great little practice amp. Only one channel, solid state, 15 watts, and an 8 inch speaker. Has tremelo, which is kinda neat for an amp in this price range. Also has a boost switch, which actually causes the little amp to get quite loud. On the back there is a speaker out, line out, and headphone out. The gain knob and boost switch allow you to dial in a variety of sounds. If you want high-gain distortion don't get this amp, though a distortion pedal yeilded some pretty good results. Overall, I would say this amp is a steel and is a great buy for the money, plus, it looks pretty keen with its diamond pattern grill cloth and vintage Vox styling.

Sound Quality: 10
I use it with cheap strat copys mostly, and it sounds fine. It gets quite loud for a 15 watt amp, you may even be able to get by with it at band rehearsal. I gave it a ten realizing that it is only a cheap practice amp; but for a cheap practice amp, it does a stellar job.

Reliability: 10
Seems pretty solid to me. No problems in the 2 months I've owned it.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them, I guess its a good sign.

Overall Rating: 10
For 100 bucks, you can't go wrong. I was really impressed with this amp. Its a nice change from the other small amps out their. Quiet enough so you don't bug the neighbors, and almost loud enough to cut through the mix at band practice. I almost considered buying another one and driving them both at the same time, that would definitely make it through rehearsal. This amp would be great for a beginner and is versitile enough to grow with the player.

Submitted by Andy Kroner at 04/23/1999 12:35

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 7
15 Watt solid state, volume , gain, boost, treble, bass, tremelo spped and depth, line-out, ext. speaker, and headphones. Everything except reverb, which is fine because it keeps the cost down. 8" Bulldog blue speaker, cheapo plastic imitation tolex, and particle board construction. Looks like a small AC30.

Sound Quality: 9
Amazing sounds. I bought this as a practice amp so I didn't have to replace my tubes as often in my Top Hat. I am a tube guy, but wanted S.S. for home use. This thing has a great clean sound and a great slightly overdriven sound. I think the Bulldog speaker helps alot to achieve the sound. To test this out I connected the Vox to my Top Hat cabinet with it's Celestian Greenback and although it did sound good, I actually preferred the stock speaker cab, particle board and all. I also didn't like the sound through my cheap headphones. My band miked this thing at practice one night and the other guitar player kept stealing it, he wants to use the Vox over his '73 Marshall stack (what a maroon).
The heavy gain sounds in the Vox, I don't care for, but I use pedals anyways for that. Plus the tremelo sounds very cool, I think it's fast enough, it passes the hurl test (OSHA recommends that listening to tremelo for too long will make you want to hurl).
Now don't get me wrong, the Top Hat Club Royale wipes the floor with this amp, but it costs 10X more. For the money, the Pathfinder is an awesome deal.

Reliability: 5
Don't know, made in Korea, particle board, cheezy circuit boards, not really hurricane survivable, it should make it through Y2K though.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know.

Overall Rating: 9
Bitchin value for the money, and tremelo is icing on the cake. Great sounds can come from solid state stuff. I might put a 10" Weber speaker in someday (there's plenty of room). I'd definatly buy it again for a bedroom amp, and I might even record with it just to get a different sound.

Submitted by Chris at 03/19/1999 11:54

Price Paid: US $99

Features: 8
I was lucky enough to land one of this year's crop. Fifteen watts of power (sounds bigger and fuller than other 15W setups I've heard, though), one input. Two-knob EQ (bass/treble), two-knob vintage tremolo (depth and speed), volume plus gain, and a boost button for when you feel like "going up to eleven," as Nigel says. Headphone jack and line out.
Impressive little package. I feel it has all the features it needs, certainly everything I'm looking for. I've heard others say that reverb would have been nice (and yes, truly it would have), but without it the Pathfinder still holds its own nicely.
I'm giving it an eight here -- has everything it really needs. If I want effects, I plug in a pedal...

Sound Quality: 9
Right now, I'm using the amp primarily with my Les Paul Standard, and the tone is better than beautiful. I'm amazed. After growing up on studio gear I could never personally afford, I thought I was doomed to forever hate my amplifiers. This amp changed my mind.
The tone is warm and expressive, and really brings out the sweetness of my LP. I've never heard sound this good coming from a solid state before. The tone adjusts smoothly (I like the 'feel' of this EQ -- it 'feels' analog, can't describe how) from syrupy to shimmery when clean, even at extremes on the EQ, my midrange fit nicely.
It's built-in distortion is the nicest I've heard in a solid-state amp. It cranks nicely from subtle to ballsy, and with gain all the way up and boost kicked in, it growls and howls with the best of 'em. Set both EQ knobs at 50% for a nice Seventies sound (a la Black Sabbath). Or crank 'em both for that demonic more-scooped-than-scooped sound. Mild (very mild) hiss kicks in around 75% treble EQ when distorted heavily, but it's not very noticable.
It's subtler distortions are really nice too. You can keep gain down around that 'just starting to overdrive' point for a sharper Seventies almost-clean sound, or distort it then crank down volume and flatline the EQ for a more synthetic effect. A very subtle 'natural' reverb is simulated as well -- listen VERY closely to hear it.
I haven't played much with external effects, though I notice it did color my Boss Metal Zone a bit -- like looking at it through honey-amber sunglasses. I gather it's meant mostly for its own effects range, and subtle, non-dominating external effects.
If you have 'your sound' built, this may not be the right amp for you. It'll put a good deal of color into the mix, and it's my opinion that you'd do better looking for a 'transparent' solid-state like a Peavey keyboard amp if you just want faithful delivery of the sound you've architected. However, the sound the Pathfinder delivers is gorgeous, and if you don't mind letting in flavor your sound (the way the vintages always did), you're gonna love this one.

Reliability: 8
Haven't owned it long, so I can't say. It's solid-state -- seems sturdy enough. The case is a little light (plywood), but then, it's only a 15W amp -- for the jobs a 15W can do, it's sturdy enough.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for about eleven years, and have never been happy with the amps I used before -- Peaveys, Crates, a Gorilla and a cheap no-name whose maker escapes me. I was spoiled on that sunny, colored vintage sound, and found the solid-states of today to be too digital-sounding, and the more affordable tube amps to be far too harsh and metal-y. This one, though, is a dream come true for me. I still can't believe it's not tube, or that I got it for $100.
If it were stolen, I would unquestionably buy another. Down to hunting the world for one, since I hear they're rare now. This is the home amp for me.

Submitted by Justin Carpenter at 03/16/1999 15:13

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
15W solid state with one input, one gain, one volume, one bass, ,tremolo speed and tremolo depth, footswitch jack, headphones, and external speaker. Classic VOX look and styling. The tremolo is worth the price, but I with the wish it was just a little faster.

Sound Quality: 9
Listening to The Who and Pete Townsend got me started playing in 1978 and find the Pathfinder to fit my style. I play a Gibson SG, and an American Strat and find the Pathfinder really brings out their tones very well. The sound even though is a SS amp has a nice British tube like sound, but feel that the stock speaker is a bit lacking so I will Probably change it out for a Celestion. The Pathfinder is an incredible amp for the money and will be using it as my main practice amp.

Reliability: 10
I have had the amp now for a few weeks and have not had any problems. The build quality is real solid. I'm still wondering how they kept the price so low. Also since it stays in my apartment I don't see it getting damaged, but I do have a cat that likes to chew through wire and scratch speaker grills, but my wife made a heavy cover for it, guess she figured it would save the cat.

Overall Rating: 10
Basically, If I found out that it was going to be discontinued, I would buy another one just in case. I can not say enough what a great amp this is for the money.

Submitted by Anonymous at 03/11/1999 11:17

Price Paid: US $120

Features: 9
This is a 15 watt, solid state combo amp with tremelo and crunch or boost. Has an 8" Vox Bulldog speaker and classic Vox amp styling. Basic controls are Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass Trem Speed and Trem Depth. Input and footswitch jack on top, and Headphone, Line out and external speaker jacks on back. It is an open back design.

Sound Quality: 10
I play thi amp with my 64 Gibson Melody Maker, a 98 Squier Strat and a 79 Fender Strat. All sound great on the cleaner settings, and give decent sustain and feedback on the higher boost settings. Give excellent distorted sounds with all the above axes without the need for a stomp box. Tremelo isn't as deep or well defined as some pedals I've used, but I knew this going into it so I was not disappointed

Reliability: 9
Can't see where there'll be any reliability issues with this amp, it seems very well built and rugged. I have used it at one gig, mic'ed and direct to the PA with good results.

Customer Support: 8
Haven't had any dealings with CS. Comes with 90 day warranty

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 22 years now, and have a few other amps. If this amp were lost or stolen I would run, not walk back to the store and get another one. I was told by my salesman (the manager of the Guitar Center I bought it at) that they are or have been discontinued, so if you're thinking about buying one hurry up! I would also advise buying the footswitch ($25 US) as it adds a world of convenience to the tremelo and boost features

Submitted by dave mangin at 02/23/1999 05:56

Price Paid: US $120 + tax

Features: 7
New solid state practice amp. 15W with one 8" speaker. Top panel: one input, gain (with push button boost), volume, treble, bass, tremelo speed, tremelo depth, footswitch jack for tremelo and boost (the footswitch was about $30 extra, so I didn't purchase it at this time). Back Panel: headphone, external speaker (manual says using this disconnects the internal speaker), line out. Very portable and looks great. Just what us poor VOX lovers have been looking for. No reverb. Overall, I think it has alot of features for an inexpensive practice amp.

Sound Quality: 6
I'm using the amp with a Rickenbacker 330 and a Hamer T-51 (Tele copy) for practice at home. Sonically, it brings an approximation of the VOX sound to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. I think it sounds best with the 330 on clean to barely distorted settings. It is capable of more heavily distorted sounds which I could see being good for certain blues styles. I tend to like the cleaner sounds better than the heavily distorted ones. Although it may be loud enough to practice with a band, it's probably not appropriate for most gigging situations. I'm basing my rating for use as a practice amp and for it's cleaner sounds.

Reliability: N/A
I don't expect for it to leave my house except for the occasional jam session. I don't intend to abuse it, so I expect it to last a very long time. It's probably as reliable as any other solid state practice amp.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience here. Unless it breaks in the first few months of use, I probably won't pursue customer support.

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing about 20 years. I'm not currently playing in a band, and I wanted a small, inexpensive amp to carry from room to room around the house for practicing. I also wanted the option of using headphones for when the kids are asleep. I am a fan of the Rickenbacker / VOX sound, and I'm pleased with my purchase.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/24/1999 13:55

Price Paid: US $119.99

Features: 9
This is a solid state with a simple layout. It has one input, and volume, gain, treble, bass, tremolo speed and tremolo depth controls. It doesn't really have channel switching, but does have a gain boost switch on the top, which is also footswitchable. The footswitch, which is not included, also controls switches the tremolo on/off, but without the footswitch you have to turn the tremolo depth all the way down to turn it off. I wish they had tacked on an extra 10 or 15 bucks and included the footswitch, but it's no big deal. The fact that it actually has tremolo is enough to get me jazzed. C'mon, when was the last time you saw an inexpensive brand-new practice amp that has tremolo? December 31, 1969? The amp is 15 watts, which is plenty of power for jamming in your bedroom or practicing. I don't think it would have enough power for gigs, although I've gigged with a Fender Pro Junior, which is also 15 watts, but tube amps are louder than solid state amps with equivalent RMS ratings. Actually, I'd gig with it with a mike in front of it, no problem.

Sound Quality: 9
I use it with various Epiphone, Kay and Harmony guitars, mostly hollowbody with single coil pickups. This amp fits in with my musical style quite nicely, which is rock 'n' roll of the bluesy/rockabilly/punky/garage-y variety. The clean sound is very nice, although obviously solid state, but it's sweet nonetheless. If you crank the gain up, you can get a bluesy clean/dirty sound that cleans up or gets slightly nasty depending on how you dig in. Very dynamic. I like that, it feels very tube-y. Most practice amps in this price range have two sounds, clean and death metal. Vox did a good job of capturing the sound of low-gain tube distortion. The higher distortion settings are plenty filthy for grungers and punkers, but the distortion never goes too far. I don't use the boost, it gets too distorted for my taste, and it makes my hollowbodies feed back too much. The low-to-medium gain settings are where you'll find the best tones. Speaking of distortion, I have a Vox Valve-Tone distortion pedal that I love, and the distortion of the Pathfinder sounds very similar. I'd bet anything that they used the same clipping circuit, with extra gain stages. At any rate, it sounds great. The tone is beefy with plenty of bass and treble. The bass and treble controls seem to be interactive like on the Vox AC-30, and have sizeable effects on the midrange. Quite easy to get good tones. The tremolo, although not spectacular, is very, very good. Hey, the amp is only $120, and I've spent almost that much on a Boss tremolo that wasn't nearly as musical as this amp's onboard tremolo. It doesn't go very fast, and it's not particularly deep-sounding, but it is still quite tasty. Turn the distortion up and you can get that "Born On The Bayou" sound no prob.

Reliability: 10
The amp seems pretty sturdy and dependable, and it's solid state, so problems should be minimal. I've used other VOX products and they all are hardy and well made.

Customer Support: N/A
It has a 90-day warranty, I believe. I haven't dealt with the company, but

Overall Rating: 10
This is the best deal in a solid state practice amp I've found. Excellent tone, great looks and terrific vibe at a very affordable price. Highly recommended.

Submitted by Rod at 01/14/1999 20:38

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 8
This is the new Vox solid-state practice/recording/small gig combo. It's intended to round out the line which has an extremely high end (AC15, AC30) and an extremely low-end (AC1). These amps started being made in summer 1998, and they're made in Korea. They are single-channel with gain and boost controls, and -- interesting for an inexpensive little amp -- tremelo, with speed and depth knobs. Also a headphone jack. The inputs and controls are top-mounted, and the cabinet, grille, etc design is very Vox-like. The boost and trem can be footswitched but I don't think a switch comes with the amp (I didn't buy the amp, yet). May or may not have a line out, I wasn't looking for that.

Sound Quality: 8
Sounded good. I played through them with a strat, a Les Paul, and a cheap Squier Tele (at the store). The clean is nice; the distortion is very classic-rock sounding (though you may have trouble coaxing Brian May out of this) and the tremelo is cool if you don't overdo it or like surf sounds. A versatile little amp with classic 60's sounds. Metal/thrash would require a pedal, other than that you should be covered. Can be quite loud for 15 watts, and the clean stays pretty clean most of the way up.

Reliability: N/A
No idea. I only played them in the stores for a total of about 20 minutes, and they stood up to that. One comment is that I tried several and ALL worked perfectly, which is unusual for cheap Korean practice amps. The cabinet is cheapish plywood.

Overall Rating: 8
The price isn't what I paid, since I didn't buy one. With a list of $149, the Pathfinders are selling anywhere from the list down to $109 or even $99 at the moment. I was impressed with the overall size (bigger than you think) and sound (better than you think) for the money. It also looks like a "real" Vox which is nice. For the moment I opted for a Marshall G10 Mk II instead, which is a 10 watt practice amp for about 79 bucks. The Marshall was smaller and did much better distortion -- better for me. I may yet get one of these if only for the tremelo.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/04/1999 06:55