Opinions on Vox AD30VT?

Hi all I'm looking for a new amp, i thought about this amp should be good for me cuz its vesatile? :? I don't know guys, what do you think of this amp?
Are there better alternatives at this price?

I have its little brother and love it. Plenty of options for tone and even some effects. I have gotten some very very good tone out of mine. Good price too

Hi all I'm looking for a new amp, i thought about this amp should be good for me cuz its vesatile? :? I don't know guys, what do you think of this amp?
Are there better alternatives at this price?

Better alternatives? well, for what, $230? I don't think so personally. As far as modeling amps, I think that thing has them all beat. So your other choice would be a solid state fender frontman maybe. Well, that Vox thing does Fenders pretty good if you ask me. I was looking at that amp and went with a Vox tonelab instead, as it better suited my needs. But If I had to get an amp and had only $230, I wouldn't think twice about the AD30. If you have more to spend though, consider a used tube amp.

-Brian

Mmmm i found this, should i get this instead?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Vox-VR30R-1x10-Combo-Tube-Guitar-Amplifier-NEW_W0QQitemZ7413620401QQcategoryZ10171QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

...they can be found used for < $200.

Had one, a buddy of mine had to have it, so sold it to him. Missed it, got another one. Both were bought used, near mint, about $175. The 30 watter is plenty loud for small gigs, and its nice not to have to carry a pedalboard if you need effects. Don't love the metal grillwork, but it is distinctive. The variable power control on the back is great for getting tone at low volume (at home, at night, etc); don't think the 15 version has the same flexibility.

MmMm everythin's so much more expensive in australia though! The cheapest price for this amp i can find is around $308 shipped. :(
Wat's even crazier is guitar prices, standard american tele= $1800, thats like double of how much u get them for there!

Hi Jdimitri
i ve had a Vox AD30VT for 7 months now and for the price here in Aus its unbeatable.
For $308 shipped go for it - i paid $450 and still got a bargain.
I'm also looking at the Epiphone Valve Junior heads and combos but i'll still keep the Vox as its so versatile and it sounds great. Not as good as a $3000 tube amp but then its only $300.
rgds
Cobra

Even at the higher prices in Australia, it's still the best amp for the money out there, IMO. I have the 50 watt and I think Vox could sell them at a higher price. I haven't regretted buying it all. And they keep thier value pretty well too. So, until something better comes along, I think it's the best amp out there for the money.

Mmmm i found this, should i get this instead?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Vox-VR30R-1x10-Combo-Tube-Guitar-Amplifier-NEW_W0QQitemZ7413620401QQcategoryZ10171QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

No, that is not the same amp as the AD30VT. Nowhere near as many options, etc. I have the AD15VT and may be buying the 50 watt model soon and selling my Blues Junior. If/when you buy one, you absolutely must read the manual. It can get confusing without it because when you change models, the controls change what they do in some cases as well (to model the original controls on the amp you are modeling).

Mmmm i tried a VR30 yesterday and sounds pretty good!
I've never tried the AD30VT though... If it has the normal brown grill i'd go for the AD30 straight away :roll:

you may want to google the vr30 and check some reviews. seems to me that there were some reliability issues with it.

Yea... when i tried it, something umm... rattled :shock:
I dunno it kinda struck me when i was thinkin about the sound, didn't really notice it then...

Mmmm i tried a VR30 yesterday and sounds pretty good!
I've never tried the AD30VT though... If it has the normal brown grill i'd go for the AD30 straight away :roll:



Here you go.... exclusive from North Coast, I believe:

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/shopping/index.htm


I already have a AD30VT (love the tones), but I'm gonna pick up one of these with the nicer grill in either the 50 or 100 W model.

benn playin the **** outta my guitars since i bought it :D great amp for the money.Slap a better speaker it that sucker and its heaven(as close as a modler can be) go for it man you won't regret it!More info here: www.patchtronix.com Enjoy!

Umm if i was to get a speaker which one should i get???
I checked ebay and most of them are 12"... :?

Celestion Tube 10 seems to be the speaker of choice but
there seems to be good reports on the Rajun Cajun - if i've spelt it right .
Cobra

Sorry forgot
a tube swap also is recommended.
Tung-sol or JJ's seem to be preferred.
I've got some of both on the way will post results.
Cobra

Well i'm buying one in the next week or so and if i need more out of it i'll order the celestion tube 10 (can't get ragin cajun here in australia, sounds GOOD though) :cry:
Even the celestion is around $60 US, almost double the price you get it there for!
Did you replace your speakers, if so with which ones?
(never replaced speakers before, might come back here for help later)
Now, about the tubes, the only ones i can get is on this page, except if anyone can tell me any other place to get them from
http://www.retrosound.com.au/Amps/Amp_Parts/XTubes.htm
Any of them any good?

*EDIT* I can get hold of 12AX7 TS NEW Legendary Tung-Sol low noise and microphonics
Is that the tung-sol you were referring to?

do an ebay search on jj and/or tung-sol and /or 12ax7
you will get alot of hits for here in Australia.
Keep trying the celestion Tube 10 on ebay and they pop up every so often.
Good luck with the Vox i'm sure you'll enjoy it!
Cobra

I love mine. I think that the stock speaker is fine. I have a Hot Rod Deluxe and the AD30VT. That little Vox has endless tones and the tube qualities are very good. If you write songs, the various amp modes will inspire you to come up with new ideas.

It's a fantastic amp.

Buy a Vox footswitch; they're built like tanks. Very helpful for writing and coming up with clever stuff.

The 30 watt unit is much better than the 15 watt because the 30 watt units (and up) have power attenuators on the back.

You'll be very pleased.

John

I have one and it's a great amp. You can't beat it for the bucks...
Now, the footswitch...I just use an old Peavey two-button switch I had laying around...I'm still not sure where it came from...and it works fine...You can switch between two saved tones and switch to manual, which gives you three tones at the tip of your foot...

yeah
thats the tung-sol one

I have a AD15VT that I just picked up the other day, im still getting used to it for settings etc...Sounds great to me, its what I wanted, a not expensive great sounding amp. That one tube makes a difference in tone! Not as nice as my HRD for cleans, but for the price, a nice amp that is very portable....i couldn't believe how light it was to carry. This camp can make a ton of different sounds just through the modeling, havent really goofed around with the effects yet (im not big on those anyways) but looking forward to tinkering.

I have an AD30, I couldn't be more pleased, stupidly good value for money!
There really isn't a better amp in that price range.

I have an AD30 and it is a very nice amp. It might be partially due to most of my practice time being mics and guitar through a mixer into headphones, but when I play out through the AD30 I always like how I sound.

I play mostly with my fingers, and while it may not be a problem for pick players, I have not been able to develop the attack to make any use of the wah effect. And most unfortunately, I haven’t had amp GAS since I bought it.

I've been looking for a small practice amp,and have been following his thread.I will probably get one of the AD30's after hearing how much you all like it,and listening to some of the tones it can produce by listing to some demo clips.

Now some of you say that you recommend that you swap out the stock tube for a better one.

CUrious as to why,and what diference it makes in the sound,if any??????


Mike

I've been looking for a small practice amp,and have been following his thread.I will probably get one of the AD30's after hearing how much you all like it,and listening to some of the tones it can produce by listing to some demo clips.

Now some of you say that you recommend that you swap out the stock tube for a better one.

CUrious as to why,and what diference it makes in the sound,if any??????


Mike

Not much according to a lot of stuff I've read. Also, the stock speaker is very neutral sounding, which if we're talking modeling amps is a good thing. It lets the character of what they're trying to model come out the way they modeled it. You can put a different speaker in there, but you might not like what you hear, even if it's generally accepted that it's a "better" speaker. That's because better often means the speaker is voiced a certain way and has a characteristic sound that's considered good for certain types of music. But it's not neutral, and it's not what the Vox designers used to tweak their models. You're not going to hear what they heard, and the "better" speaker might be a lousy match for the Vox amp, even though it might sound better to somebody else who prefers their sound colored that way. The Vox modelers sound great the way they are. Howsomever, I do think they respond better to P90's than anything else, with humbuckers running a close second. I have enough guitars so I can have the luxury of trying what works best, and that's my call for the Vox stuff. My tele and strat work, but not with as much versatility soundwise as my other guitars.

Hey cobra, any news on the tubes and how they sound vs stock?
I decided that i won't get speakers (yet) cuz i need to buy... food
On the other amp, i just ordered my amp and it should be here in 2-3 days, around the same time that my new tele should me here :twisted:

The JJ tube arrived today but the Tung-sol hasn't arrived yet.
i'll be able to try it tomorrow and give some idea as to what it does.
I have Epiphone valve Junior combo order which should have arrived last friday but it still isn't here.
Maybe I have a negative effect on freight deliveries????
I ordered the tubes to try in both the Epi and the Vox and see what difference they make - some forums have posted improved sound with these tubes. - ????
anyway i'll keep you posted
rgds
Cobra

I have a VoX AD30VT and have tried many tubes. The best sounding was an ECC83/12AX7-M/Groove Tube, but it was not really suitable as it was a bit microphonic in this combo application. I tried another and found the same result with it. So I have settled on a JJ ECC83S as being better than the stock Electro Harmonix 12AX7.

My best mod was a Celestion G10 speaker whch sounded far better at the higher volumes than the stock speaker.

Ok.Maybe one of you guys would be so kind to fill me in on what makes replacing the stock tube with another sound "better"??????

If I were to put an "upgraded" one next to one with a stock tube,what differences would I hear doing the old "blindfold taste test"??????

Thanks guys!!!!!!

Mike

From my experience of changing valves in the AD30VT, I found that the stock Electro H valve gave a certain degree of difference between each of the amp models so that all of the models sounded distinctly different from each other and as the model control was moved clockwise there was an increase in gain/vol for each amp model.

Some valves upset this operation. E.g. the gain/vol was very low for the Boutique CL & OD, marginaly louder for the Fender & Vox amps, and then a huge gain jump for the 70's etc upward.

For me the best valve (JJ) brought out the Fender and Vox models, killed the boutique and high gain models. As I only use the Fender and Vox models this was "better". In a blind test you would hear this difference.

Also the Fender and Vox models just sounded all around better in tone and depth (diffficult to describe but I liked the sounds I was hearing).

What I would say about the AVxxVT is that no 2 users will use the amp in the same way, as there are so many combinations with all those damn knobs.

I generally used it in the Manual mode, Noise Gate off, effects bypassed or with a small bit of compression, vol full, gain to taste, bass, mid & treble somewhere near midway, master volume at 3:00 and used the rear volume attenuator to adjust overall volume.

I hope this makes sense and is helpful.

Gee......

I appreciate your taking he time to give me your input on your experience with swapping out the tube.That was exactly what I was wanting to hear.

So this afternoon the other guitar player and myself took a break from our writing and practicing session to hit Alto Music in Middletown NY,which is right down the block from where we rehearse.

Ive been trying to convince him that being as we pay a sound guy,he should switch to a smaller amp rather then lugging his head and 4X12 cab.Let the sound guy throw a mic on him and use a smaller combo.Which is what I do.

So we fired up the AD30,and I ran a MIM Tele into it off the rack.I played it for a bit,and I was floored.
Then,even better,I had HIM play through it doing some of our material while I fiddled with the knobs and settings.Ive never done anything like that before,and Ill tell you what,I was REALLY able to run the amp through the paces while he played it.What a great way to check out an amp!!!!!

In the end,we were both totally floored.Now its a matter of figuring out if we should get 30's or 50's.The store is geting $229 for the 30,and I think the 50 is around $100 more.

Thanks to all on this thread who raved about this amp.You guys were dead on!!!

Mike

I'd get the 50, only IF it has the upgraded celestion speakers
I chose the 30 cuz i'll only use it at home/practice/solo gigs (with vocals) and appearantly it sounds betta at full watt settings... and it'd b easier to carry (i have to use public transport :shock: )

...get the 30. Its smaller, lighter and plenty loud. Mic it up and you're all set.

OTOH, if you'll be playing larger places without a sound guy, you may want the 50 for its bigger speaker.

Also the 50 has an external speaker jack, whereas the 30 doesn't, so if you want to run a second cabinet you'll need the 50 (or larger) amp.

Got my amp today! I don't have an electric with me right now (hopefully it gets here by friday) so i cant really comment
Looks good and i played around with my acoustic for a while...
Any news on the tubes, cobra?

got the 12AX7's but i still haven't tried them as my new Epi Valve junior arrived and i've been playing with that and swapping tubes. In the VJ though the tubes sound different i can't say they are better or worse just different. The tubes i've tried are a JJ and a Tung-sol,
maybe when the speaker breaks in there will be a big difference as reported on some other forums.
Two big points though are the VJ sounds great stock and secondly my MIJ 52RI really sings through it - much better than through the Vox AD30VT.
I'll try the Vox tomorrow and post
Cobra

Nice little amp the Valvetronix, isn't it? I've got the 50, and it's a lot of fun. I have a bunch of video clips on my site if anyone is interested.

I am thinking about getting that 2x12 Vox cabinet, which has better speakers. I think the stock speaker in the AD50VT can be improved upon. Anyone tried this (fairly new I think) 2x12 or the 4x12 that Vox has out?

Video Clips:
http://www.dolphinstreet.com/video_clips/video-1.php

you may want to google the vr30 and check some reviews. seems to me that there were some reliability issues with it.
I've found the QC on the Vox amps to be absolutely dismal, and a great many Vox owners and dealers with whom I've corresponded have said the same thing, particularly with these modeling amps, which have more things to go bad.

I desperately wanted to get the AD30VT, but too many people having experience with them told me not to -- and I had five (5) straight Vox small combos of simpler circuitry have significant problems right out of the sealed cartons.

Regretfully, I passed on getting the AD30VT, even though they have really nice sounds -- until they break. :(

you may want to google the vr30 and check some reviews. seems to me that there were some reliability issues with it.
I've found the QC on the Vox amps to be absolutely dismal, and a great many Vox owners and dealers with whom I've corresponded have said the same thing, particularly with these modeling amps, which have more things to go bad.

I desperately wanted to get the AD30VT, but too many people having experience with them told me not to -- and I had five (5) straight Vox small combos of simpler circuitry have significant problems right out of the sealed cartons.

Regretfully, I passed on getting the AD30VT, even though they have really nice sounds -- until they break. :(

I've not had a single problem with mine, and I am not kind to my amps!
It's built like a brick.

I've been using the amp with my new tele for the last 2 hrs or so and i gotta say im pretty happy!
Sometimes the distortion is pretty loose and the highs are a bit sharp and lows a bit boomy, but a bit of eqing can fix that most of the time...
Will the loose distortion be fixed by new tubes (say, tung-sol?)

Sorry
i've been away for a few days and then i've been sidetracked by the Epi Vj - but as its a long weekend here in West Australia i'll get around to pulling out the tube in the Vox and trying a Tung-sol and a JJ/tesla.
In the VJ i have decided they do improve the tone/sound but i've left the JJ 12ax7 and the JJ el84 in.
will post Monday some results
rgds
Cobra

Just got my AD30VT yesterday - so far, so good. It does seem a little thin compared to my HRD, but then I can get highs/treble with it that I can't get with the Fender. The AC30 and tweed sounds are the best for clean I think.

I have band rehearsal to day so I'll really see what it can do.

Funny, having MANY amps now and many over the years
and the humble VOX AD30VT is the amp that has gotten
more "WOW! I really like your tone!" than all my other
amps combined... PLEASE go figure that one...!

They are fun, light, and loud enough for gigs...

Modern VOX technical issues keep me away..
Wanna love Valvetronix, but that service call
probability keeps me away....
bought a Cube 30...my son takes it to high
school sometimes...and I know he's diming it..
still chuggin strong....if this amp had the larger
Vox cab, I think it would pull far ahead as it
the best sounding ss 30 watter I have ever heard...very warm and brilliant at the same time...speaker upgrade makes it better I hear...BUT REMEMBER...modeling amp speakers are designed to be neutral to be able
to reproduce a variety of amp sounds...a speaker change might improve a particular model but comprimise another...

I've only heard the Cubes, never played through one. They do sound very SS to me, especially on the clean settings.

After spending the afternoon rehearsing with a AD30VT I found it to be very warm and very tube-like. Much nicer sound then most SS amps I've played through. My bandmates couldn't believe the sound that was coming out of that amp and they've seen me go through all sorts of rigs.

I'm wondering what the technical issues lostpick is talking about?

I have to agree with Lostpick. I love my Roland Cube 30, and my Microcube. I tried a Vox Ad30VT, thinking it would sound so good, I'd sell my Roland. Didn't happen. Yes, the Vox sounded great, but somehow, the Roland held its own for me. The Roland's clean setting doesn't sound particularly tube-like; it is a Jazz Chorus model, after all. It just has a clarity and smoothness I like, but I can understand why someone else wouldn't.

Keep in mind, though, my favorite amp isn't a Twin, it's my Roland JC-55. So...YMMV.

I sold my cube to buy one of these, and i gotta say i don't regret it one bit...
The models IMO sounds better and there are more choices in the clean department... i LOVE putting having a little bit of break up on one of the clean models, something the cube simply can't do!
It also has 2 programmable channels and more configurable effects... I don't know about the look though :?
Hey, but i might get a microcube for travelling and (maybe) busking!

To clear up my last post........

I only got the "kudos" after I swapped out the
cheap stock tube for a MESA BOOGIE TUBE
and swapped out the cheap stock speaker
for a CELESTIAN TUBE 10 SPEAKER.

These mods make it sound so much better....

vic108 - How did the Celstion change the sound? Can I assume it got a lot louder?

Got round to changing the tube today.
put in a Tung-sol - the one that came out was an Electo-Harmonix 12AX7EH - which is pretty good to start with.
I believe it has brought out a warmer sound in the Tweed, Blackface and both Vox models. All the models don't have as much icepick in them and has tamed the treble a little.
Bottom line is its staying in.
As i got an Epi valve Junior i've been hung up on that but A/B ing the Vox and Epi had me constantly going back to the Epi as i much preferred the warmer sound - even my wife and kids commented the Epi was warmer, smoother sounding.
After the tube swap there is much less difference between the Epi and Vox on the Tweed, Blackface and Vox models - the main ones i use.
I had basically reserved my 52RI with Texas specials for the Epi and a Cheap Tele Clone with pretty good P/ups for the Vox as the Texas specials had too much twang-
but not now.
Next i'm going to get the Celestion Tube 10 speaker after the reports i've read and see what that does.
Cobra

Not as brittle sound with the CELESTIAN TUBE 10...

I did the tube AND speaker swap at the same time
so I can't say what did what exactly - all I know is
it sounds MUCH better...

I had a cheap chinese tube for stock - maybe the ones
they put in now are better?

Well, i'm gunna get a jensen c10q instead...
Reviews for the celestion tube isn't that great, but i can't really afford the G10!
Some guy on patchtronix said great things about the c10q, i think that might be what i'm looking for, less boomy bass, taming the highs and an overall warmer sound that won't cost me AUS$200...
I'm gettin a tung-sol too, and i'll put in the order in in the next few days and i should recieve it in the next week...
I'll post impressions a few days after that!

As I mentioned previously, the last few months we've had to practice with guitar and mics straight into a mixer and then into head phones. Here is something I tried today which really worked.

In the 100 Watt thread a poster mentioned miking a smaller amp for more sound and it gave me an idea. So today I plugged my guitar into the AD30 and cranked up everything on top and set the attenuator in back to “0”. I put an AKG 9000 mic with a foam cover right up against the grill. While strumming the guitar I rotated the attenuator until I had good sound in the headphones coming from the mixer. The gain from the mixer was enough that the amp volume was low and could barely be heard outside of the room while I had excellent volume level in the head phones.

We practiced an hour an a half longer than we normally do. It was fun to get good tone for practice and not disturb the neighbors.