Vox Pathfinder 15

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