NAD-VOX Pathfinder 15R (Part 2) - Now We're Talking!

[FenderGuitarFan]

As you may (or may not) recall, I had ordered and received a Pathfinder from GC. It hummed badly in different outlets in my house with different guitars and cables. I called GC customer service on Wednesday afternoon and received the replacement Friday morning. That's pretty darn good service! Anyway, the new amp is very quiet. There is a little noise but that may be normal.
Now I just need to get it dialed in. I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with it, but it sounds kind of muffled. It's not bright or dark, just something in between. Not sure how to describe it. I need to do some searches for settings on this little guy to see how to pull some good tones out of it. I have a MIM Tele and a MIM Strat. Both have bridge humbuckers, so maybe that has something to do with it too.



Thanks,
Jim

[Warm Gums]

Glad the new one sounds better, mine took a while for the speaker to loosen up, just regular playing of some chunky 1st position chores for a half hour or so should loosen things up.
Remember that the tone controls are a bit interactive..nothing like a AC series, but it helps to turn the bass down a tad if you want more brightness, conversely bringing up the bass can take off excess top..In general the bass is a bit more hyped than in other small amps (bigger box etc) so you might have too much dialed in if you are use to a Fender, PV etc.
It can also be worth exploring the tones with the boost on and the guitar rolled down a good bit, with the guitar up it is way over the top, but bringing the guitar down makes it usefull.

[Jack S]

Here is what I do with my Pathfinders and I find I have to tweak it for different rooms. I like it mostly clean and chicken pick a lot.

I set the volume all the way up and use the gain for actual final volume of amp, this keeps it clean with the maximum volume I can squeeze out of it. I usually set the bass about 3-4 O'clock and treble about 10 -12 O'clock. I usually set my Telecaster volume about 7 or 8 out of 10 so that I can push it from the guitar volume if I want a little more pooky on it. If I still need more, I can bring the gain up a little more and push it into more distortion. My telecaster is fairly bright, although I just spent a little time tweaking it and after adjusting the bridge pickup, I have toned down the treble bite a little.

I often use the tremolo and almost always use some reverb. You could start in this ball park (except the reverb and tremolo, unless you dig that too) and see where it takes you.

[FenderGuitarFan]

Thanks for the suggestions Warm Gums and Jack S. I will try them in the next few days.



Jim

[JDRNoPro]

Glad you got another - and yes, that's good service from the oft - maligned GC.

Agree with Warm Gums about speaker break-in. I've had 2 P15R's and also gave one to my grandson. All 3 improved considerably after 10 or more hours of good use - perhaps more so than in any other new amps I've owned.

Certainly lots of good tones in these little boxes and much good info in Pathfinder Owners Club thread. I didn't have any real use for the "boost" button for several years, but here's a neat way to use it I eventually discovered:

- set vol. @ around 2 to 3 o'clock and gain @ 0
- engage boost button
- turn up gain to around 8 or 9 o'clock, basically using the gain to control overall volume.
- set treble and bass to taste........ same with reverb and trem if you use it.

Obviously these will vary somewhat depending on pickups and personal taste, but I've found that this approach yields some very full and tasty tones from the P15R with my guitars. Very tubelike tone and response, too.

Good luck - break that little baby in (but don't 'baby' it), experiment with diff settings, and I'll bet you'll be pretty happy with it !

[FenderGuitarFan]

Another good suggestion for settings...thanks JDRNoPro!


Jim

[Cameage]

I had one, up until I sold it to my buddy like three hours ago...but I just got an AC15, so the Pathfinder was just sitting there.

Definitely the best SS lunchbox I've ever used.

[Controller]

I set mine with boost off, Volume at 3 o'clock and Gain to taste for overall loudness.

There are some really nice sounds available from this amp.