What little amp for home practice?

ThePrettyDamned

TheGuitarWeasel;368269" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

TheGuitarWeasel;365952" said:I have (on loan) a Vox Valvetronix VT30. Superb little amp for home practice. Phones socket ... plus at 30w it is loud enough for rehearsals and small gigs too. It is valve preamp ... and actually sounds bloody nice ... and I won't say 'for a modelling amp' but for a small amp full stop.

Oh yeah, forgot about these.



They really are quite nice, right? The uk70s actually has a nice fat drive that cleans up well, and most models are at least usable. The 80s one was my favourite





I have my full pedal board going into the front end of the Valvetronix ... the model is set to UK70s pretty much all the time ... and it sounds great. I would have to admit it did sound flat and lifeless at first before I got my paws on it ... but the preamp valve was a nasty Chinese pile of junk ... and as soon as that was replaced (15mins work) the whole amp sounded great. The design uses the single valve to create preamp and 'power amp' drive so a junk valve will really screw things up.

I must have got lucky with the stock valve.

My friend uses a 50 watt one that I love, and it's got an upgraded valve in it - actually I think his has less gain than mine did, and sounds sweeter on the cleaner models.

The original blue ones sounded awesome, but broke if you look at them funny. The first metal grill ones are my favourite - reliable and great sounding, but only have a 2 button footswitch. The newer ones really don't sound as good imo, but maybe a valve problem to be fair!

Me and my mate put a new grill cover on his and it looks a billion times less tacky

Deadman

That Marshall Custom soon sold out!

Deadman

.

ICBM

I've just got hold of a Vox Mini 5 Rhythm for my singer to keep at her flat - it's really quite fun. Basic guitar amp modelling, a mic channel, some standard effects and a built-in drum machine, headphone jack and an aux in for connecting your iPod. Runs on batteries or mains. And it looks so cute! This one is in 'Ivory' (ie cream), which is even nicer.

OK, the modelling is not brilliant, but is usable. You only get a gain, tone and volume control so not much fine tweaking but most of them don't sound too bad - although incredibly, the worst is the AC30TB! Which sounds nothing like the real thing at all - a comparison not helped by sitting on top of an actual one while I was trying it . In fact the AC15 model is much closer. There is a 'Line input' setting which might not be modelled, too - just a simple natural clean sound, although I haven't tried it with pedals yet.

The effects are OK - editing is a bit limited but you can get some passable sounds just before they become overpowering. There is tap tempo only for the speed settings - slightly annoyingly, the tempo knob for the rhythm section doesn't affect it - but you can run the mic channel through them too if you want.

The real surprise is the drum machine - for a basic preset beat box there are a lot of useful variations - nine each on the eleven settings, 99 in all, which makes it much more versatile than some drummers I have known . You also have to change pattern manually… like some drummers I have known .

There is a tuner too but it's very basic - just for E. It works.

At 5W with a 6" speaker it's not loud, but enough to get a fairly full clean sound before it starts to break up - and there is a power reduction switch if that's too loud in the evening with an overdriven sound. The 5W setting is probably loud enough to busk with too.

And all that for only £69 second hand in mint condition. (About £109 new.)

Nearly forgot… it has a celebrity user! A very famous one with a very famous guitar. (Note box on the floor behind him!)

http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u588/landminelenny/03D56FDA-3256-4B80-9EBA-A533F962F551_zpsyank8sov.jpg

alalalkasar

Has anyone said vox pathfinder? Not a valve amp but at home in your bedroom they sound pretty great, plus you can get the 15r used for a fraction of your budget.