software

I plugged my pedal board into this head today and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the amp was very accepting overall...Just a very slight loss in the highs and the lows(Very slight)due to the extra overall lead length of George Ls from the guitar to the Vox..If you use alot of pedals,you would have to invest in some kind of buffer/signal booster..

I run first into my Vox wah....then into the Duncan SFX-01...From there I have a pedal buffer which boosts the signal and does other good things before the amp sees anything at it's input...From there it was into a TS808,TS5,SD1,Jackhammer,and a DS1....I must say that my modded pedals sounded alot better than the pedals within the Vox head,especially my Tube Screamers which just enhanced everything I loved about my home made presets..

The only negative was that my modded Vox wah was a bit unclear with the high gain presets,but so was the stock Vox 847 that's built into the amp..The stock built in 847 has no sweep overall..Maybe I just need to try one of my other Vox wahs that has less gain and output?That's an easy fix for me..

Regarding the amp models...The Soldano and Boutique OD tones are excellent...I dialed up a really nice singing Warren Haynes preset with the Soldano...The boutique gain tones are great also...I'm also in love with the acoustic pedal and how it sounds alot like playing an acoustic guitar mic'd out...

I'm still sought of having some mixed emotions with the JCM 800 and the 900 tones though...I need to give my ears a rest and try again tomorrow...I do like the Plexi and the JTM45 presets and I was able to dial up some cool tones there...I'm dialing up these Marshall tones through an open back 2x12 Celestion can and more than likely these need to be coming out of my Marshall 4x12 V30 cab to really nail the whole Marshall roar? I need to try that soon.Just something screwy with the mids through the open back 2x12?

I get the feeling that the Marshall tones will shine in the context of the band with the mids and highs being so prominent,but there's this bit of bright buzzy harshness I hear...Marshalls do have this over the notes a bit and I've heard this on my actual 50 watt Marshall head...It's something you hear while you listen to the tone alone,but you miss it with a band..

Once I got more presets dialed in without any effects,I then added things like some slight hall or spring reverb to add depth and dimension to my tones,delay,and adding chorus to the acoustic tones was just heavenly! The F/C allows you to change the chorus and how it acts on the fly either adding or subtracting the overall depth and speed of the chorus..The footswitches on the F/C also allow me to kick in or kick out the added effects..i.e. Reverb,Delay,chorus etc...

The Univibe effect in this amp is excellent..As are the acoustic pedal tones...The Tube Screamer is thin and sucks bass away from your original preset..I haven't tryed the Rat or the fuzz yet,and I prefer to use my own modded pedals if needed...

I could use this amp with just my modded Tube Screamers and no other overdrive/distortion effects and be perfectly happy by using the built in reverb,delay,echo,and chorus effects built into the amp...

An Ernie Ball mono volume pedal plugged into my F/C allows me to control my overall amp master volumes and the volume control is post all preamp,effects,etc..and is at the end of the amp....

I like this amp and it's a great amp for the money! Check one out..

JohnTo be honest, I've never even put my pedalboard in front of the Vox head/cab.
Since it's just my practice setup, I just have it set up for about 7 different amp models, and usually use the built in tube screamer, since it has my favorite tone of the 3 OD models. It's good to hear that it handles overdrives well, since most digital amps get hit too hard and ping out. I had a scare last night. My girlfriend broke my #1 rule of NOT putting anything on top of my amps, and plopped a bottle of beer on top. All of a sudden, foam was pouring out of the beer all over the top panel of the Vox. You've never seen a guy rip apart an amp faster than me last night. I had a towel and screwdriver, yanking the chassis out, and pulling all the knobs off. What a pain in the ass. I think I'm keeping my music room door locked while I practice from now on.

Thanks John, I'm heading to GC in Seattle tomorrow to try one out. I'm pretty much sold on getting the 120 head now. Look what you've started!


Originally Posted by JumpMarineThanks John, I'm heading to GC in Seattle tomorrow to try one out. I'm pretty much sold on getting the 120 head now. Look what you've started!

Well good buddy and why not? Remember to listen to some presets but then dial the controls and see how the amp sounds....You need to get both the volume and master volume up into the 6 to 7 ranges to move some air and plug that head into a decent cab for sure! The 60x60 settings on the back panel will be pretty loud,but you can switch it down to 30x30 or 15x15 and still get an idea...

The modded Tube Screamer is icing on the cake,as it sounds great through every preset I've tryed it with...Even the acoustic setting sounds good with my modded TS 808...The TS in the Vox amps sucks badly..It's too anemic and sucks all your lows away..What a shame..

Try out the Univibe setting also and just scroll around and listen...You aren't going to find any quot;GodLykequot; tones right away,so be prepared to sit with this amp in a quiet place or in a sound proof room if possible and have a blast with it...

Any questions...Direct them at me,as I have a very deep understanding of this amp and the FC-4 already after reading the manuals several times and than doing all the hands on stuff...I hope you see in the amp all that I've seen so far,cause I'm really enjoying this thing!

John

Up

Thanks for the bump, almost missed this! I'm glad it takes to pedals well! That's major IMO! Thanks for the update!


Originally Posted by gOgIverThanks for the bump, almost missed this! I'm glad it takes to pedals well! That's major IMO! Thanks for the update!

Great amp....Love this thing!

you'll have to add it to your sig now!


Originally Posted by gOgIveryou'll have to add it to your sig now!

That's right....Geesh,forgot all about that..
Will do it now...Thanks brother..

John

bold! Like it!


Originally Posted by gOgIverbold! Like it!


Seems sweet. Get some clips up!


Originally Posted by Mr WolfSeems sweet. Get some clips up!
Those darn clips....