Vox Pathfinder 15R

Price Paid: US $90.00 used

Features: 10
Have no idea what year mine was made in. Very versatile amp for any kind of music in my opinion. Don't need to go over all the details, everyone has already mentioned them. I agree with several of the reviewers. This is the best practice amp money can buy.

Sound Quality: 10
I am using an SX Vintage 57 Strat Copy, SX Vintage 62 Strat Copy (both as good as the real thing by the way), a Washburn X-21 and a Lumanog Rockstar Telecaster Copy which ain't bad either. I have my moods. Mostly I play kind of southern rock or blues, but have country and metal moods and this amp does it all. No noise at all. I do use sometimes a ZOOM 606 pedal through it as well as the footswitch you can get with it. I use the ZOOM mainly for chorus, jet or wah, and since I like the VOX distortion and tremelo, I use the footswitch you can get for it for that. Clean channel is clean, turn up the gain and you get a nice crunch. Distortion can be brutal through the ZOOM 606 if you want it that way, but I prefer the 60's style distortion, not heavy metal- except when the mood strikes me.

Reliability: 10
Had it for two years. Bought it used. It is still kickin ass.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing since the 60's. Have this amp, several guitars I mentioned above as well as a few acoustics, a Marshall MG15RCD, a Samick SS10 and a Marshall AVT50. This is the best amp of all them. I compared it with every amp of the size and price range. This one makes them all sound like shit.

Submitted by jim at 09/11/2004 21:53

Price Paid: US $199 with free cable and picks

Features: 10
This has been said. Boost, gain, volume, trem, reverb, bass, treble. Very simple, very versitile however. Want all mids like solo Clapton? Turn the treble and bass down. Want a scooped metal rhythm sound? Has that too. I use this for band jamming (it can take the drums).

Sound Quality: 9
I use a Epiphone Les Paul Junior Special (cheap, but awesome) and sometimes and anderson strat copy. I typically crank the bass and put the treble at 2/3 to 3/4. At about half volume and with the gain cranked, you get that AC-30 ROAR!!! This gets exceptional cleans as well (think "stairway to heaven"). I really think it sound best full volume, but then again, doesn't every worthwhile amp?

Reliability: 10
I would use this anywhere, any day, most gigs short of an arena (which i would break out an AC-30). I'm a Vox man, and this is no exception to their newfound quality, which is so much better than the 60s "fire hazards".

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with em, but met the guys at the 2003 summer NAMM show. They seemed to know what they're doing.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing for about 3 years. I own an SWR workingman's 15 bass amp (nice for bass) and a Fender Precision as well. I only use high quality gear, but I'm on a very tight budget. On every gig I've had for guitar, I use this amp. I know I could borrow my friends JCM800, but I use this one for clubs and sch. It's that good. If someone stole this, they would die a long, slow, painful death. get one....

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/11/2004 17:10

Price Paid: US $129.00

Features: 10
No sense in going through all that. It's been said 30 something times already. I totally agree with the last reviewer. This is the best practice amp I have ever heard. If you play classic or hard rock you don't need a mid eq control anyway. I usually keep both treble and bass maxed out. Just an adjustment for different tones. Actually a lot easier to deal with. Nothing sounds better than this amp and it will drive a cabinet quite well. Actually enough power in a 15 watter to gig with. This amp is fuckin awesome and it is LOUD and doesn't lose tone integrity with the volume.

Sound Quality: 10
I use strats and teles, all single coils. I don't use any effects, just the generic VOX footswitch that controls boost and tremelo. Suits my style of music just fine which is mostly classic rock or hard rock (not metal). If you are looking for a heavy metal amp, this would probably work if you had the right pedals. Best for 60's and 70's rock though. Not noisy at all, very good variety in sound, everything from country, to Queen's Brian May to Dire Straits, Hendrix and Zeppelin. Good blues amp too. Great for stones stuff. Clean channel will not distort at high volumes, it will crunch though - a cool crunch. The distortion is very good, though I would not call it brutal. Think Jimmy Page, Jimmy Hendrix, Cream type distortion.

Reliability: 10
Built like a fuckin tank.

Customer Support: 10
Never dealt with VOX but have been dealing with musicians friend for many years and they always stand behind their stuff.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing 40 years, have to much gear to list and no one wants to read that shit anyway cause they don't care. I'd get another one if I lost it. They would have a problem getting past my two rotweillers to steal the mother fucker. Like the other guy said, you can forget Fender, Crate, Marshall, Peavey and all the other amps in this price range. This one blows them all away.

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/01/2004 17:18

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 10
Folks, you can stop looking. This is the amp you want. I had a Marshall MG15RCD, which was a damn good little amp, but there were just some sounds I couldn't get out of it, so I traded it on this VOX Pathfinder 15R. What an excellent trade. It costs a little less than the Marshall MG15RCD so I lost about 10 bucks on the deal, but this fucking thing should cost $100 more than the Marshall. They way I feel, I made out like a fat rat. The amp was probably made in 2003, and I know it was made in China because it has the same figures on the back that are on my set of chop sticks. It is an extremely versatile amp, whether you like country or hard rock and if you get one of those ZOOM 505II pedals, it will give you some awesome metal too. Personally, I like it with the footswitch I ordered with it, which is the VF S-2 Dual Footswitch. Basically all it does is give you the boost, or overdrive or the treble. This is a two channel amp, and I'll go over the top panel, the chicken beak knobs are cool as hell too. Top panel has the input jack, gain control knob, push button boost control, Master Volume Control, Treble, Bass, Tremelo speed, tremelo depth, reverb and power. Some people bitch about it not having a mid control, but you don't fuckin need one. It is simpler to get your sound with just a treble and bass control than with the 3 band eq. Believe me, this amp is plenty versatile with just two tone controls. Kind of the telecaster of amps. Simple but versatile. The rear panel has a headphone jack, extension speaker jack and yes bro, this thing will drive a 4 10 inch speaker cab, quite nicely. It may be rated at only 15 watts but this mother fucker is LOUD. Also has a line out jack for recording and of course the footswitch jack, which the footswitch you can buy for this is a sweet mo fo. It does not have the CD input, but I never met anyone who really uses that. Most awesome practice amp and small gig amp on the circuit.

Sound Quality: 10
I have three electric guitars and two electric acoustic guitars I use through this amp. My three electric guitars are a Fender Thinline Telecaster that has no F Hole, made in Japan in the early 80's, and has a humbucker at the bridge and a texas special strat style pickup at the neck. Cool fuckin guitar. My other Telecaster is a Fender Standard Telecaster, made in Mexico that I have put the Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups on. My final electric guitar is GREAT!!! It is an SX SST57 Vintage Strat copy and if you are thinking about laughing now, I suggest you don't, because everyone out there will tell you that this fucking SX strat sounds more like a strat than a Fender and they are correct. The electric acoustics are cheap, a Fernandez and a Rockstar, both very nice acoustic electrics, much better than the Takamine acoustic electrics that I used to buy and get warped necks on all the time at half the price. I use them with the ZOOM 505II pedal which has an awesome acoustic effect. For the rest, I just use the VOX VF S-2 Dual Footswitch because I love the distortion on this amp and the tremelo. Reverb is great too....not too heavy, just what you need. When I solo gig, I play mostly acoustic rock, folk, electric folk, blues and a bunch of old stones and beatles stuff and this is perfect for it. With my band, we do balls to the wall, no nonsense rock and roll like AC/DC and Jackyl. It does great Queen stuff too. If I want to do the Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Creed or anything heavy like that, or if I need a LOT of reverb, then I use the ZOOM 505II, but most of the time the VOX footswitch will do, which I encourage getting because it really complements the amp. It is not noisy at all. Speaker is awesome, the amp can go from pristine clean and I do mean clean, glassy clean, to hard brutal distortion. The clean channel on mine does not distort at high volumes and unlike many practice amp, the clean channel on this amp is also fucking loud. In your house, about level 3 is all you can get without you neighbors (I live next to a cemetary) showing up. Distortion is brutal, but if you are really looking for that heavy metal or thrash metal sound, get the ZOOM Pedal and it will get you there. The amazing thing about this amp is how fucking LOUD it is and how it maintains sound integrity even at the high volumes, which you just don't see in practice amps of this size. Forget Marshall, Fender, Crate, Peavey, Ibanez, Behringer or any other 15 watt amp for practice....get this one and you will be glad you did. Sounds like a tube amp and if you like that Brian May/Queen sound, turn up the gain all the way and the treble all the way and you got it. One guy said the boost was too loud. Well, hate to be a smart ass but boost means "boost". It is supposed to get loud with the boost on it. Much louder.

Reliability: 10
Tough mother fucker. Dropped it several times and I have done gigs without a backup by miking it or using it connected to a cab. It has never broken down. It is solid state so there is nothing to break but sounds like a fuckin tube amp - for real. I will say that I normally use a Marshall AVT50 for gigs but have found myself using this one instead.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing about 30 years and the only gear I own, I've mentioned above so I don't want to be redundant. Hell yes, I would get another one if it were stolen or lost. Love everything about it. Compared it to all the other 15 watters, they are shit compared to this.

Submitted by Homer at 08/27/2004 14:53

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 10
I was shopping around for a good, but inexpensive solid state practice amp. I own a duel rectifier head and 4x12 cab, but it's much too loud for my apartment and obviously better left in a rehearsal or gig situation. I tried this amp against several others in it's price range, it killed em. The features are unreal or the money, the reverb and tremelo, to me are extra perks, they sound great, and I would have paid the same price just for the amp and the gain sound. It came down to a Fender Frontman 15r and this amp. It wasn't even an issue after I heard the Vox. I'm so glad I spent the extra 20-40 bucks and got this amp that I'll be able to use for a ton of diff applications for a long time. Also, the headphone jack is a great little addition. An external speaker jack!!! awesome. A line out. Footswitchable. This amp should cost more, but I'm glad it didn't.

Sound Quality: 10
I've read a few reviews saying that the boost is a bit much. It is a little loud, but still it works well and is a nice feature. It doesn't seem noisy to me at all and I'm playing through strats and teles. Doin mostly clean stuff and like a classic vintage gain sound. Similar to ac/dc, old aerosmith, but the gain can get to a foo fighters-esque type of beefyness. It's a pleasure to play and I think it can handle a variety of styles. I put it to work in many diff styles which I play. It can even get that nice tubey jazz tone, or the shimmering beatles clean.

Reliability: 8
Havent had it long enough to see, but I did get an extra insurance plan for like 20 bucks. Who knows, it's a practice amp so the hardware could go down the line. For 20 bucks I got the piece of mind of not having to repair it and spend much more if a small thing goes. I'm not sure I would gig with this. I like it more as a comfy practice/recording amp. I wouldnt wanna bring it out onto that turf. I think I'd want more headroom in order to feel comfortable, 15 watts is pushing it to use at a rock gig. This would far well in small church gigs, gigs where your running it line would be cool if maybe you use an external speaker. I tend to like massive amps for the live situation.

Customer Support: 9
Never dealt. They seem to have a good sense of humor judging by their manuel. It's really informal, but informative. Talks to you like a player, instead of a number. Makes you feel like your in with a smaller tight knit comuunity

Overall Rating: 10
I'm so glad I plugged into this before I got the Frontman. If your a good player you can dial up a decent usable tone on any practice amp, but this honestly sounds more like a tube combo you'd record with or use live. I wanna mess with it through my 4x12 for fun and see what it's really capable of. I knew buying it that I'd wanna play it alot, where as I wasnt so sure that I'd really enjoy playing the Frontman after rocking out through a mesa and fender tube amps. This is the perfect practice setup, I'm gonna recommend it to any of my students who are looking for a great sounding low-cost amp that suits a house or apt perfectly. Great stuff vox.

Submitted by Jon at 08/04/2004 23:33

Price Paid: US $119.00

Features: 9
This review is intended to supplement my earlier review, in which I gave very high marks to the Pathfinder in the context in which I'd been using it-- in conjunction with an old Utah 12" speaker cabinet, strictly un-mic'd, not lined-out to the p.a.-- just standing on its own in small club venues. In that context it had served me extremely well. But this past weekend I had a chance to try it out in the context of an outdoor gig. On the outdoor stage, I used the Pathfinder and the 12" Utah cabinet just as I would in the "club" venues, with the controls set exactly the same as the indoor gigs (Gain: ten o'clock; Volume: high noon; bass, treble and reverb: all high noon). The sound guy, who was about twenty yards out in front of us with his big sound board under a little tent, simply mic'd my Utah cabinet with a Shure SM-57, and the result was that the great sound coming out of the old beat-up Utah cabinet was suddenly booming out of the big P.A. speakers. I really think it was better to do it this way than to use the "Line Out" jack straight in to the p.a. board, because the mic is picking up the specific tone produced by the peculiar and apparently compatible combination of amp and speaker cab. A buddy of mine, who is honest about these things, said it sounded "spectacular." So I think I've satisfied myself that this little Vox (at least when it's pushin' a separate cabinet with a bit larger speaker) will get the job done for you either indoors or outdoors. It's inexpensive; it's lightweight; I totally love mine!

Sound Quality: 10
See above.

Reliability: 10
So far so good!

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Just to clarify, the band I'm using the Pathfinder with has guitar (that's me), bass, drums, keyboards, and female lead vocal with occasional backups by the keyboard guy and me. The Vox holds its own quite well amidst all this sonic activity!

Submitted by Bill Sheehan at 08/04/2004 13:10

Price Paid: US $110

Features: 9
This is a brand spankin' new 2003 or 2004 Vox Pathfinder15R. A beauty with 15 watts...make that 15 VOX watts, pumped through one 8 inch rich Bulldog speaker. Features include Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass, Tremelo Speed, Tremelo Depth, Reverb, Boost and power controls. Personally, I love all the features on this Vox, they suit my needs perfectly. Some complain about how there is no MidRange control but I don't miss it one bit on this amp...I never really used a lot of Mids anyway. One the back panel you have jacks for headphones (for silent practice), Ext Speaker Out, Line Output and Foot Switch. I have read rave reviews about hooking this Vox to a nice cabinet, however, I feel that it works wonders all by itself. If you are playing gigs, just hook this amp straight into the sound board using the Line Output jack and you should be golden. In some ways, I would like to see this beauty bumped up a notch, possibly to a 30watt with a 12 inch speaker, however, why mess with perfection, eh? I bought this amp because I sold my Fender Princeton 65 about a year ago and now, I needed another amp. Since I play a vast range of music, I needed something to suit every style because I don't think any musician likes to be held to just one style. Since I didn't want to spend the big bucks on a big tube amp I needed to get a solidstate amp, however, I really desired that warm tube tone. When I went to look at the amp, the salesman introduced me to the Epiphone Galaxy10 tube amp. I enjoyed that one, however, once I plugged in the Vox Pathfinder15R, I immediately forgot about the Galaxy. No comparision. I'll give this little Vox a 9 just because there has been voiced opinion about it having no mid control.

Sound Quality: 10
First off, here is my set up: Washburn WI64 > Crybaby Wah > DOD Distortion > Danelectro PB&J Delay > Snarling Dogs Varitone (get one of these, they are great) > Vox Pathfinder15R. The Vox Pathfinder15R has the habit of taking every note I play, coating it with rich golden goodness and then feeding it back to my happily awaiting ears. I was never a big tone head, however, once you hear great tone, you will know it and desire it. Since I love to play everything from clean, crisp slow jams to rockin' overdriven mayhem, I needed an amp that could handle all that. This does it. Sit the gain down low, Volume up, Treble and Bass maxed and you have the makings of crystal clear sharp golden tones that would make any country lovin' tone freak go nutty. Crank up the Gain, pop on the Boost and BWAAAMMO! Rock city! Best part is that the amp still holds the beautiful rich tone no matter how high I set the Gain. Gotta love that. I have cranked this amp about as loud as it will go and I have yet to have problems. I heard some rattling at high volumes but then realized it was items on my desk buzzing about due to the loudness of the amp. It's only 15 Watts folks but you won't believe how loud this thing gets. Another great thing about this amp is that the volume actually works at really low levels. I have had 2 Fender amps and even at one it was really loud and you could never really get a quiet sound out of them for in home quiet jams. Thank you Vox.

Reliability: 10
This is a very sturdy amp with all the famous classic Vox features (grill cloth, chicken head knobs etc). It doesn't look like it but it is much more solid then I expected. Screws are all tight, grill cover snuggly fit and buttons nicely fitted. Haven't had a problem with it.

Customer Support: 6
Never dealt with Vox but I have heard they are great.

Overall Rating: 10
Gotta give this amp a big fat 10! Best part is that it is so damn inexpensive for what you get. This is definately one of the great hidden treasures in music right now! I absolutely love it! If it was stolen I would buy another one and hope that the stolen one would turn up just so I would have two of them. Like I said before, I was never a big tone head person, however, this amp will quickly make you apprectiate and understand how amazing great tone is. It would be sweet to see Vox pump another 15 watts into this model and add another speaker...just a thought for fun.

Submitted by J at 08/04/2004 09:47

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
2004 Vox Pathfinder 15R with Reverb, Tremelo and Boost. The amp is very versatile for my style of music. I play classic rock & roll, blues and jazz. If you buy this amp, buy the footswitch. It's worth the investment. I use this amp for playing around in the den, jamming with friends and travel. It's light weight and has just the features I need. No pedals needed with this one. It has plenty of power with it's 8" speaker and 15 watts for what I wanted it for.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm playing a 96 Deluxe Strat Plus, a 2003 Tele, a 50's reissue strat, a 2004 Les Paul Studio and a DeArmond M77T through it. All guitars sound good, but I think the 50's reissue Strat and the DeArmond really shine with this amp. The pre-gain does tend to get a little noisy when turned up with single coils like the Strat and DeArmond. With careful adjustment this baby is clean as a whistle or as gritty as you would want. It is VERY LOUD for it's power rating and speaker size. The speaker is really a strong point.

Reliability: 9
Not much to go wrong with it. Being solid state, short of running over it with a truck, it should be any trouble.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing since 1962, and owned a Vox Super Beatle at one time. I like this amp for it's simplicity. I've tried several amps with the digital bells and whistles and gone back to the basics. I also own a 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and a Kustom KAA65TH Acoustic amp. The only thing I wish it had is a little better control over the jump in volume when using the boost switch. I think this little amp is a bargain.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/31/2004 23:12

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
2004 model. Bought at Zzounds where they shipped it for free, even though it was the only item I bought. The features are described below. I bought it to play at one specific pub gig where the performing quarters are too cramped for a full-sized amp and I can't hear my guitar without one. Basically I use it as a guitar monitor, and I send the direct line-out to the mixing board where the sound guy adjusts the volume for the audience. The line-out is a great feature.

Some people wish there was a midrange control. I usually use just a touch of midrange , and I think if there were such a control here, I would have it set for the sound that is already coming out of this amp. The lack of a midrange knob doesn't bother me.

I do however wish there were a level control for the Boost switch. More on that later.

Sound Quality: 10
I use this amp with Ric 6 and 12 strings, a Casino, a Strat, and yes, a Martin acoustic. I use mostly clean sounds.

The 8" speaker is really impressive, but let it break in for a few hours. With the tone set at 2 or 3 o'clock you get a spectacular clean rock & roll electric-guitar tone.

As good as the 8" speaker is, hooking this amp up to a 12" speaker cab is just incredible. I use a Celestion G12H80 speaker. The bass control is more useful with the cab. I find the bass knob doesn't do much with the 8" speaker, which is understandable.

Both the reverb and tremelo are a little on the weak side, but good enough that I use them at gigs and don't bother with foot pedals for these effects.

The volume boost switch is a disappointment to me. The problem is that there is too much boost. When you have your guitar volume set for rhythym and then want to play a lead, hitting this switch will blow your ears out. It's too loud. I wish there was a way to fine-tune the setting, but it appears to be all or nothing. The only use I have for this switch is to treat it as a separate channel of the amp to be used with songs requiring distortion. But you really can't change back and forth during a song--the volumes are just too incompatible. I therefore use an external pedal for volume boost. Too bad, but it doesn't detract from my overall satisfaction with the sound produced by this amp.

I find this amp to be pretty loud. We are a vocal duo with two guitars, no bassist, and we use an Alesis drum machine rather than a live drummer, so the amp doesn't have to compete with a lot of other noise. I don't know if it could fill the room all by itself even at our small pub gigs (it might), but I think it would with an external cab, and of course it will when fed to the PA.

The breakup occurs at different points depending on your pickups, but there is more than enough headroom here, especially if you are sending the signal to your PA. I am finding that I leave the gain switch at about the 10 o'clock position, and the volume switch and my guitar knobs accordingly.

I do get some buzzing from the line-out when using it in my basement which has solid-state light dimmers in the circuit.

Also--this amp took some work to get all the rattles out. It would buzz pretty loud when I hit the first four or five frets on the A string with the volume cranked fairly high. I had to tighten the screws, and this meant getting an offset screwdriver and feeling my way around to tighten the screws up inside the amp cab. Also, I had to use some duct tape to tighen some of the innards to the back of the cab to stop them from buzzing. I used black duct-tape, so it is not obvious. All buzzing is now stopped at all volumes (that I have been able to play without causing serious ear injury).

Reliability: 9
Too early to tell. However--this amp was shipped UPS and in my opinion was very poorly packed. The amp box was put into a cardboard shipping box with one strip of bubble paper on one side, and no packing material anywhere else. Amazingly, after the several-truck journey from New Jersey to Boston, the amp worked perfectly. So I am giving it high marks in this category.

In addition, no tubes to worry about. I will use this as my main amp in small gigs, and as a backup at larger ones.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience.

Overall Rating: 9
I own three other amps: Marshall AVT50, Laney LC30 MKII, Fender Champion 30. This amp is lightweight, sounds great, and has the line-out and speaker-out features. I'm going to use it as my main amp at small gigs for a while. I would definitely replace it if stolen. It's the same price as a pedal. For what you get here, it's a terrific bargain. It's not a ten because of the volume-boost issue, and because I had to tighten things up to eliminate buzzing. It's a "10" for its price however.

Submitted by Steve at 07/22/2004 09:28

Price Paid: US $119

Features: 9
The others have covered the features. Lots for the price. Very cute. I used to own a Vox Royal Guardsman. Should have a 10" speaker (see below.)

Sound Quality: 8
Everyone who owns this amp should immediately try removing the bottom panel in the back. It will greatly improve the frequency balance. As shipped, the upper bass is too "congested". The 8” speaker is actually quite good and this amp is loud but it would be much better with a 10" speaker. The 15 watts are plentiful.

Not bad for a Trasistor amp. Quite good cleans through to good overdrive. Useful tone controls. Tremelo is 7, reverb is maybe a 5 (but better than none ;)

I traded an Epiphone Galaxy 10 in to get the VOX. I really wanted to like the Epiphone, but I didn't - the clean was not very good and there was no bass. (Maybe it was defective (?) I tried lots of different tubes - not much different.) Also the cabinet sounded boxie, as others have noted. Designers don't seem to spend enough effort on tuning the cabinet/speaker. It can make a huge difference in the sound. In fact, changing the speaker can often make a mediocre amp into a very good one.

Reliability: 8
Looks well built. It's a transistor amp.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know.

Overall Rating: 9
Been playing for 40 years. I have lots of amps and guitars. The Vox is staying in my collection. I would also highly recommend the Kustom Tube 12 practice amp (~$80 – 100) with a 12au7 tube. Great clean and distortion, very useful tone controls. Makes a good preamp (see below).

Also have a new Fender Vibrolux Custom Reverb (again I put 12au7’s or 12ay7’s in the preamp section which really help tame the hiss and give more clean fat headroom. Sounds to me more like a small Twin.)

My gigging amp is a Tech21 Trademark 60 – The tubers usually stay home in the studio.

My favorite amp at the moment is a Frankenstein using the Kustom Tube 12 as a preamp going into a 6v6 class A power amp from an old console stereo that I picked up by the side of the road. I am still looking for the ideal speaker, but best so far is a Peavey Blue Marvel 4 ohm (believe it). To me, this sounds better than most of the boutique amps I have tried.

Submitted by Bruce Hutcheon at 06/23/2004 07:52