vox valvetonix

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:37 am

i started jamming with this band, "the bad samaritans" really just for something to do once a week and keep my guitar chops up.
at anyrate, the singer songwriter and rythm guitarist uses this vox amp that just says valvetronix on it.
i fucking hate it, it sounds like a fart, all the time, apparently he already blew out a speaker and bout a brand new vox replacement speaker for it, but it still sounds like ass. its really farty and ploppy sounding. i thought it may have been the strat he was using but he plugged into my ampeg and the guitar sounded great.
he has had this thing for like 4 years or something and altho it sounds ok at about 2, anything past that, or anything audible sounds really really really really really really shitty.
you guys think there is something wrong with the inards of the amp? apparently its all digital, but it didn't used to sound like this i guess. I can't imagine that vox would actually produce something so shitty sounding.
so back to the original question, you guys think there is some sort of fart problem with these amps? maybe a freak problem in the circut board?
or maybe its just a really shit amp, anyone ever tried one?

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:08 am

I bought one because I liked what I heard in the store... I took it home, turned it up, played with the band, and returned it a week later. I didn't have any problem with farty sounds in particular, but it did seem to get worse the louder volume.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:09 am

was he using high output pickups? a really hot signal can really fart out a solid state amp.

Ty · Post by Ty » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:10 am

Had one, hated it, destroyed the cab at a party, the electronics still work, it's just not connected to anything any more.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:19 am

I used to have a AD30VT which I really liked at bedroom levels. Once I got my rehearsal space setup, I tried it at band levels once and then sold it.
I tried bypassing the DSP shit and messing with the attenuator but nothing I did got it to sound as articulate as it did at lower volume. I honestly think it might be the cheap wharfedale/OEM Celestion speakers the factory puts in there. Perhaps pairing it up with a nice Webber might have done the trick but that would have meant spending another half of what the amp cost me new.

I think the bottom line is that these are fine little apartment amps but that there's better, far more polyvalent amps out there, for players with whole band scenarios in mind. If one factors in the cost of upgrading the speaker to potentially make it a usable outside the bedroom, then there's WAAAY better choices out there.

To answer Robert's question directly, I think these just fail as loud amps by design.
Mind you, I had a 30 watter... I've seen people use 50 watt combos and 100 watt valvetronix heads live with better than sucky results but it was always at small, shitty venues, and the head was driving a Marshall 1960, so that doesn't say much.

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:19 am

I have a AD50VT and I usually scroll the ''power button" (on the back) to about less then a half way back..so it is at its 'max' at that moment.. and I always use the AC15 'emulation'.. and I think it sounds quite good, maybe a bit muddy, but quite fine.
Even at higher volumes.

(you can hear it at my Epiphone Casino "demo" in youtube for comparison).

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:58 am

ok, that has pretty much been my thought, "sounds like shit loud"
he was using the stock neck pup on a MIM strat. and in reality, i gave him crap for the strat, but its a nice playing, feeling and sounding strat. maple neck, crimson red with black guard and unknown bucker in the bridge.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:43 pm

I've had one for about a year and a half. I liked it when I bought it but now I kind of hate it, except maybe at bedroom volumes. I did buy the 'high gain' version though (WHY????), a friend of mine has the non-high gain version of mine and it sounds a bit better, but still not great. I think the whole Valvetronix thing is all kind of mehh...

ambientnoize · Post by **ambientnoize** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:23 pm

high gain version?

explain?

i have an ad100vt. it's alright when i need it. managed to get a good sound from it so i'm not complaining. would like to upgrade but can never find the capital for it.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:26 pm

ambientnoize wrote:high gain version?

explain?

i have an ad100vt. it's alright when i need it. managed to get a good sound from it so i'm not complaining. would like to upgrade but can never find the capital for
it.

Basically instead of the AC15 emulator etc... it has lots of amp models with heavier distortion. It was probably useful to me at the time, but now I use pedals for distortion it sucks because it's quite difficult to get a completely clean sound.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:06 pm

all of the valvetronix stuff is, for lack of a better description, total shit.

Valvetronix Info

the only good ones they made were the first ad60vt/ad120vtx (by first i mean the blue face ones).

that's rich's (admin at voxamps.com/forum) blue face stack. before i settled on my ac30, i played the 120vtx 2x12, and the cambridge 2x10. obviously the ac30 blew them both away, but for the price, the vtx was fucking killer. it could emulate the ac30 almost perfectly, but it has a bunch of knobs and i hate that kind of shit. i could only imagine how much ballsier it got through the vtx 2x12 cab.

i've not ever gotten the chance to play the head, but i think it would be great through a 4x12.

if it's a black with chrome speaker cover valvetronix, it's hopeless. they're garbage. tell him to throw it out and get an ac15.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:50 pm

so essentially the amp is shit in general(i mean in volumes over 2)
i didn't really take a close hard look at it, i just payed attention to the sound and what he was trying to do to make it sound better. it does have a nice trem effect, the auto sucks a fat one and has no sense of depth.
he kept being like, "dude, it sounds good when its quite" andi kept thinking, "yeah, you mean it sounds good when its off and i just play my jag>E.C.T.>M.B.M.>sc70 ampeg"

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:08 pm

I always thought the Valvetronix was similar to the Marshall AVT, in that they represent excellent value for money, but they aren't the full tube amps that their makers are known for?

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:37 pm

BacchusPaul wrote:I always thought the Valvetronix was similar to the Marshall AVT, in that they represent excellent value for money, but they aren't the full tube amps that their makers are known for?

Well, they aren't actually tube amps. They're digital modeling amps. Doesn't the AVT have a real tube inside?

Post by **Mike** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:40 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:all of the valvetronix stuff is, for lack of a better description, total shit.

Absolute bollocks. I owned an AD50VT and I still miss it for practise and recording, which it was fantastic at. The Fender and Vox models were dead on. It just couldn't compete with a drummer.

And bramble - they also use a tube to replicate power amp response.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:45 pm

Mike wrote:
hotrodperlmutter wrote:all of the valvetronix stuff is, for lack of a better description, total shit.
Absolute bollocks. I owned an AD50VT and I still miss it for practise and recording, which it was fantastic at. The Fender and Vox models were dead on. It just couldn't compete with a drummer.

And bramble - they also use a tube to replicate power amp response.

From the 15 minutes I've played with one of those, I imagine that would be the case. I've probably just got a bad impression from the dreadfulness of the high-gain model I have :\

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:25 pm

I don't want come off all Harmony Central and be hating on gear over unrealistic expectations.

My experience with the AD30VT line is mostly positive. The only time I ever felt dissatisfied with it was when using it outside of what I think was it's intended application. I honestly think that the ADVT line smokes every contender at the entry level practice amp game. The only reason I sold mine is because I pay a rent giving me 24/7 access to a rehearsal space. If I wanna play electric guitar, I'm not going to sit in my room and hope my elderly neighbours aren't having aneurysms because they can hear my devil music coming trough the cardboard walls. It sucked at loud, so I passed it on to somebody who can't do loud.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:35 pm

i almost bought a vox valvetronics amps or whatever they're called.
they were pretty nice, i dug the effects amp emulations.
but i'd rather have the real thing...
(drools at a picture of a fender twin)

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:39 pm

still wish i'd bought one of these when i first started instead of the 'orrible solid state thing i did buy.

when you're just starting out you've got no idea what you want. a simple enough control scheme (g-dec can git tae, sounds shite too), lots of models and effects is what you want.
then when you move on to tube amps and stompboxes you've got some idea of where you're headed.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:54 pm

that was me, once a kid interested in line 6, and other amps with effects and modulation.
now i'm into vintage solid state, or newer tube amps, with few knobs. with exception for fender amps.