My usual 'go to' gigging/rehearsal amp is my trusty tube Laney LC30. But of late the back has been giving me aggro, so I tried my business partner's little Vox Valvetronix 30w into 10" combo. I was expecting nasty, overly processed pseudo-sounds. And didn't hold out much hope taking that, and the Oil City Vintage V100 LP equipped with a Blitz Spirit in the neck and a NightFighter in the bridge to rehearsal yesterday (along with a backup Strat). Okay so the little Vox had sounded pretty okay in my lounge, but it's tiny, and light, surely it couldn't compete with our super-loud drummer and bass player. It was bound to sound pony with a full band wasn't it?
To cut a long story short, I had a ball ... no back pain humping in the gear, and a really warm set of very convincing tones. Okay so the 'metal' presets are a little 'tizzy' and over done, but the 100w marshall emulation is really nice, as are the various lower gain Fender and Vox classics. And boy is it loud for a 'little box'. It suited the V100 perfectly, and I could get all the classic rock tones I wanted reasonably easily. The top panel is a bit of a confusing dog's breakfast, and the built in effects are okay but not stunning ... but in general the overall tone was brilliant ... oh, and it takes a Tubescreamer in front of the 'Dumble' preset to do a very nice SRV,
Sadly the 30 watter isn't fitted with an effects loop so I don't think I could entertain it live ... but it's got me thinking.
Am I going senile? Is valve combined with modelling, like the Vox the way forward?
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Yeah, a pro version, with midi, effects send and return ... I'd buy one like a shot.
As it is I'm going to have fun playing with this little beast, at least at rehearsals and saving my spine!
I'm not 100% a modelling convert, but the Vox feels like a proper amp ... and to me the feel and dynamics are really important. For recording I'll probably always stay tube ... but live ... I am pretty close to doing a u turn.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
The singer in my band has used one of those for the past 3 years or so, at every gig we've played and it's always sounded great!
He's only recently upgraded to the 120w 2x12 model which also sounds brilliant!
I've always played through a valve amp with the band, and spent loads on pedals and guitars - and I've always been jealous of his tone!
So much so that I recently bought the VT20+ and footswithc for home noodling and for using at some smaller gigs we'll play. The lack of FX loop is a bit annoying, however with the footswitch you have added control over things like delay - you can control feedback/time/level just like a normal pedal. It's also designed to work in different ways depending on whether you have the amp set up.
You can also push the amps softer or harder than their wattage rating - mine can run at 30watt which is more than loud enough to gig with!
Mine is up for sale at the moment, which may have you wondering why I'm bigging it u so much now - it's only because I've bought too much other stuff recently so need some money back! if it wasn't for that reason, I wouldn't be parting with it!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
The Vox gave a very useable proper-amp-like sound and held it's own against bass and drums.
It had just returned from being repaired by another mate, though, so maybe a bit fragile as people have said.
In fairness, the lc30 is a brilliant amp, too. You've got yourself sorted
My fave models were uk70s and UK 80s, closely followed by the ac30tb (which had the best dynamics I think).
"Nobody is really researching robot jokes"
the older AD VT models were great
also
check out peavey vypyr 30
12" speaker too to shift some air
very giggable