Vox Pathfinder Mini-Stack

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
I'm not real sure what year the amp was made. I'm guessing in 2002, I got it in a trade deal.It is pretty versatile and really surprises me every time I turn her on. One channel with boost for gain (which is foot switchable), tremolo (also foot switchable) and a very decent reverb. Does not have an f/x loop so all f/x have to go through the input. It does take pedal's very well. I use this amp mainly at home to practice and to record but have used it at practice with the band to all our surprise, it was plenty loud enough. Awsome power for 15 watt's. I would say if you know what your doing with your gear, this amp would serve you well.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a black 96 strat w/ duncan vintage staggard also a custom tele with the newer CS noiseless pup's. It suit's my style great. I love the tone's of the 60's and 70's rock and blue's. I have also been working on some country here lately, And that's when I found out how much this amp really shine's. This is what I did, depress the boost button, crank the master volume to max, turn the gain knob down to about 9:00 to keep it as clean as possible with plenty of volume. Put a compressor and od in front and man the just sing's. Totally impressed me. Go from spankin like brad paisley to silky smooth lead's ala Carlos Santana. This is the best way I have found to use the amp for my need's. I have to say the 2x10 cab is awsome. lot's of umph and it's rated for 160 watt so no problem's blowin it with the head. I actually set the cab on it's side then put the head on and it make's a cool looking piggy back rig.

Reliability: 10
I believe she's pretty tuff. I am very carefull with my stuff but you never know?? Yea I would gig with it without a back up. Never had one problem with it. I have had lot's of gear come and go and I'm a firm believer in if you take care of it it will take care of you.

Customer Support: N/A
Never delt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playin for a little over twenty year's. Like I stated earlier I have the strat and the tele, I have a Marshall JCM900 4502 2x12 combo, Marshall 4x10 strait cab, small PA system for practice and small gig's, a computer based studio Cuebase and Cool edit pro software, twelve string acoustic,bass, many floor fx's blaablaa blaa.....If it were stolen, yea if they still made it I would buy one. I love how light it is and I love the tremolo. Nothing to really hate on this one. I got this on a trade for a peavey classic 30. compaired to it I like it better when used as desribed in the sound section. also has way better reverb than the peavey. Would have been cool if they would have made a 1x12 cab as an option, just for a little something different in tone option's. If you want a cool little stack this is an amazing amp, If you can find one check it out but they only made like 700 or so. Later...

Submitted by Ashley meekins at 08/03/2003 06:18

Price Paid: US $300.00

Features: 7
New 2002. One Channel. Solid practice, rehearsal, and small venue amp. Will handle larger venues if you mic it. This is the same exact head as a pathfinder 15R combo. Quite loud for a solid state amp. Let me state I did not buy this amp, but I tested it out extensively at my local Sam Ash store and decided to pass. More on this later.

Sound Quality: 7
My style of music is varied from Beatles to Rockabilly, New wave to punk, and a dose of pld time jazz to boot. I play a 1975 strat with Fender Vintage Noiseless as my main ax, and a mid 80's Ibanez RG-550 as my backup. This amp is not noisy at all. It really shines for clean sounds, and has a satifactory overdrive sound. The boost switch is way over the top in my opinion. I like the sound when turning the gain up better than using the boost. My effects chain presently all Dano with an eq into a phase shifter into a chorus into a delay (usually set for slap-back) into a Daddy-O overdrive.

Reliability: 10
Should be great. My 15R combo has been rock solid for over a year.

Customer Support: 10
Great. I have called Korg numerous time, usually relating to my 1965 AC-30, and they have been very supportive. They have hooked me up with a dynamite Vox approved tech a little over an hour from where I live and my vintage amp never sounded better.

Overall Rating: 8
OK, here's we go. My main amp is my VOX 1965 AC-30 Super Reverb Twin. I bought this amp for $150 back in 1977, and now it is worth thousands of dollars. It has the tone I absolutely love, and anything else is second best, but because of it's value, and my aching back, I want to reserve use of this amp for only the biggest venues and home studio use. It's 30 watt class A tube power is way too loud for most gig's I play anyway. It is a heavy beast to move around. I bought a pathfinder 15R combo as a practice and rehearsal amp, and surprisingly it has enough volume for small gig's as well. For medium volume gig's I purchased one of those ultimate amp stands with a microphone gooseneck on top and I mic it through the PA, using the 15R as my stage monitor. It works well, but I'd like a bit more volume. Remember, this is no AC-30, but it is definitle a VOX. When I tried out my 15R at the music store, I plugged the ext speaker output into a marshall 2-12 cab, and was blown away by the sound improvement. This is what Vox has basically done with the 2-10 cab on the mini-stack. The dude at Sam Ash allowed me to set up the mini stack right next to a 15R combo and play my strat through both of them. I went back and forth, using the exact same amp settings, and compared the sound for about an hour. The mini-stack was definitely louder, and had a fuller tone. The treble was comparible, but the mids and bass was so much more defined with the mini-stack. I was really leaning towards buying this as my "in between" amp, but just for fun, I plugged into an AD60VT combo. OH MY GOD! The AC-30TB sounds just like my AC-30 when I'm driving all three channels, and the AC-15TB sounds just like my AC-30 when I'm driving only the brilliant channel. This amp retails for over twice the price of the mini-stack, but it really is the amp for the tone I seek, so I passed on the mini-stack and I'm saving up for the AD60VT. If I didn't already own a 15R, I might buy this baby, but if I connect my 15R to my 2-12 cab from my vintage amp, I can get just about the same sound if I want. The other really cool thing about the mini-stack is it's vertical configuration. (Wouldn't it be cool if someone like North Coast music made a trolley for this like the old Beatle amps used to have?) If you don't already own a 15R, I'd buy the limited edition mini-stack while I still could. If you're on a budget, the 15R is less than half the price and it comes close. I would give the 15R a 10 in value compared to an 8 for the mini-stack.

Submitted by Sav at 01/08/2003 21:24

Price Paid: US $300 ( If I remember)

Features: 10
Post above here covered all this part

Sound Quality: 10
I play Classic Rock/Blues/Rock-a-Billy,. Does most of them pretty good. Cant get the Setzer sound thru this just plugged in, but that's not what Vox was made for. I play a Les Paul Std w/Hums, a Strat w/ Single Coil/ a Casino w/p-90s, A Gretsch 6120 w/Alnico's. Dont really care for the Strat yet, Havent played with the settings to much yet tho. Everything else sounds good and that's just pluggin straight in. I have a Little Danelectro Set here to see if I can get a better sound for my strat, but if all else fails I'll run my RP2000. IT's loud enough and still keeps it's tone.

Reliability: 10
I have 2 Vint. Buckinghams a Berkley Super Reverb and 2 Cambridge 30's. Havent had a Prob with them yet, so hopefully this will hold it's own.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
Only been playin with it for about ohhhhh since X-mas. So havent really jammed on it yet. I would prob do major bodily harm to someone if this was taken. That goes for all my gear tho. I would highly recommend these to anyone. 15-watts...LOL that's about 50 watts of another brand. That wattage Number (15 watts) doesnt do it justice. This is a totally different 15 watts. You just have to hear it to believe it.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/05/2003 21:51

Price Paid: US $299

Features: 10
This amp is about two weeks old, made 2002. The amp has wonderful cleans and distortions. It suits my needs which are basically Beatles and classic rock. Has one channel with the boost switch which really works. It booms. The E.Q.s respond very responsively to the touch. Temolo is sweet and the reverb is good. I play mainly at home but play out ever so often. It is quite loud for 15 watts and the two 10" celestian speakers move some air. The amp is all solid state but it has the tone. Sounds outstanding with effects pedals too.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Casino guitar and all pickups on it at some point. I play lead and rythmn which I think the amp is well suited to do. No noise. I keep the volume down. It doesn't take a lot in a bedroom. The amp can go from classic Voxy clean to overdriven sounds. The more I play it the better it sounds. I'm getting it broken in. Clean stays clean for decent volumes. We are talking about 15 watts solid state here. The distortion can do anything I want to do. It probably wouldn't be suited for the metal head.

Reliability: 10
No problems with the amp. It's solid state so I hope it will last for my lifetime. There's nothing to service.

Customer Support: 10
I bought mine from North Coast music. I thing the warranty is about 90 days. I hardly notice that stuff.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing 26 years. I have a Peavey Delta Blues (for sale) and two Fender Champs and a Rogue A/E 300 and Digitech RP 2000. A few other odd guitars, tuners, etc. Only 750 of these were produced so if it were stolen and I couldn't get one of these I'd probably get a Marshall mini stack or a Vox Cambridge twin reverb or possibly one of those economical Behringer rigs. I love the looks, real vintage. I love the tone. There's nothing I hate about it. I had thought about the Pathfinder combo or Behringer 110 models but when I saw this baby on the web I knew it was the one. I chose this one because I owned a Vox last year and traded it off. I miss that Voxy clean tone. I'd like to have a Vox wah pedal and maybe someday a Rickenbacker 330. Buy one soon because they will all be gone. The value should rise on these mini stacks with time. I'm happy with my purchase. Oh, be sure to get the optional footswitch.

Submitted by mike baggett at 11/26/2002 10:44