New Vox - Black Diamond amp

[pestyjoe]

Hi,
Has anyone seen or played on a Vox Black Diamond Amp? It was presented at the Summer Namm and I'm trying to put my hands on one but I would like to have some reviews first. I hear that it is full of midi capabilities and full of processing sounds also.

Any feedbacks will be appreciated.

Joel

[Gr8tfulEd]

Originally Posted by pestyjoe

Hi,
Has anyone seen or played on a Vox Black Diamond Amp? ... Any feedbacks will be appreciated.
Joel

As "any feedbacks will be appreicated", I'll offer up my .o2.

First: Welcome to the best board on the net as regards all things tone.

Second: Hmm. This is Vox's flagship modeling amp. So I see two ways to go with this thread: 1) Valvetronix specifically, or 2) Modeling amps in general. As regards the former, I was an early buyer of the Vox AD30VT- a Valvetronix modeling amp. In fact, the AD30 was my first amp with a tube. I thought, and still think, it was a wonderful sounding amp. I changed out the speaker (with a simple Weber Sig series), and thought it sounded even better. So I have no doubt that if Korg/Vox is saying the new Black Diamond is their top-of-the-line Valvetronix amp then it is going to sound REALLY good. It will do everything they say it does.

But, and I do seriously hope I am not opening up a huge can of worms here, if the issue isn't the Valvetronix specifically, but instead the virtue of a modeling amp in general, then I think one need beware. IMHO, the distinction between a "modeling amp" and the amp it models is quite clear: one is an impression of the other.

My first "real" amp was the Fender Cyber-Deluxe. A great amp IMHO, and highly underrated. But I bought it thinking (and telling my wife) that with this amp, because it modeled every other amp, I would never need to buy another amp! (Okay, okay. We all start somewhere. You can stop chuckling now).

But it was a really loud amp. So I bought the Vox AD30 because it too modeled mostly the same amps, but could be played quieter and had a tube. Well, tubes sounded good, so I bought a Blues Deluxe. Wow! All tubes sounded really good, so I bought a Super Reverb. Hey! That sounded good too!, but it was bit loud, so I bought a Blues Jr. Okay, but I kept hearing about hand-wired versus circuit boards, so I bought a 57 Deluxe! Wow! That sounded great, so I bought a Vox AC15H1TV. Oh, but then I got hold of a vintage Twin Reverb! Oh my, vintage is where it's at, so I traded my 65 Reissue Super and some pedals and cash for a vintage Super..........

And so it goes.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: as an initial point of reference, modeling amps can serve as a good starting place: this is "Fenderish", this is "Marshallish", this is "Mesa Boogieish", "Voxish", etx. But to really hear the amp, you have to have the amp. To that end, my modeling amps HAVE served their purpose. I own (too many) amps, and they are all Fender or Vox (with the exception of one Rivera) mostly because in playing with the models, those were the models I always played.

So, given a reasonable assurance that the Black Diamond will sound great, I think a more important question is, why do you want it?

Mahalo,
Ed

[aunchaki]

Originally Posted by Gr8tfulEd

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: as an initial point of reference, modeling amps can serve as a good starting place: this is "Fenderish", this is "Marshallish", this is "Mesa Boogieish", "Voxish", etx. But to really hear the amp, you have to have the amp. To that end, my modeling amps HAVE served their purpose. I own (too many) amps, and they are all Fender or Vox (with the exception of one Rivera) mostly because in playing with the models, those were the models I always played.

I agree with Ed, here. I used a VOX AD60VT 1st generation Valvetronix for a few years and LOVED it. Each particular amp model is not 100% spot-on, but to my ears they can be pretty close.

Having the VOX let me get the general impression of many different amp makes and models, without spending a ton of cash (it seem like Ed's bought a zillion high-end tube amps). I've gone on to try out some of my favorite modeled amps in "real life." In the end, I pretty much would stick with the Valvetronix. Its flexibility was great and the amp models I liked were more than good enough for me.

I may try to pick up a used AD30VT, esp. if people start upgrading and selling their old ones. I absolutely love the AC-15 model on these amps, they're worth it just for that!

Good luck!

[ProToneThinline]

I've owned (and still own) a number of different tube amps. Moost recently a DRRI, original Blues Deluxe, and an Egnater. I've also had Marshalls, a Super Reverb, etc., etc. I'm currently gigging with a Vox AD50. The tweed setting doesn't sound exactly like the Blues Deluxe, but it's really close, as are almost all of the models. For club gigs, close is usually all you need.

I had an interesting gig a couple of weeks ago. I did a gig with a guitar player friend of mine. He brought his '56 toploader Tele and a '66 bf Pro Reverb to the gig. I brought my Squier Standard Tele and the Vox. At the end of the gig he asked me why my rig sounded better than his.

Modeling technology has come a long way in recent years. It's still not 100%, but for most applications it will get the job done. I gig a lot, which is hard on gear, so I'd rather beat the crap out of my $300 Vox than my $2,000 Eggy.