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