software

After following Stratdeluxer's reviews of the AD120VT head the last few days I just had to check one out for myself. Went to Seattle yesterday with my wife and another couple. My buddy and I ditched the girls at the mall and beelined to GC. We spent about 3 hours in the sound room putting the ad120VTX combo through the ringer. Played a variety of guitars through it including: PRS C24, American Standard Strat, Nashville Tele, Lite Ash Tele, Faded SG Special and a beautiful but used LP Standard.

Back to the amp. The floor model wasn't in the greatest condition and it had some serious grounding/squealing issues for the about the first 10 minutes of playing with it. Then it seemed to go away. The presets had all been tweaked badly so luckily my buddy had printed out the manual and we figured out how to do a factory reset. In doing that we were able to start with a clean slate that followed our printouts of the presets.

Went through each preset and low and behold.....they all sounded pretty good. Like John has said before, quot;Play with the knobsquot;.......the amp you guys! The presets are just the tip of the iceburg to let you know what this amp is capable of. I was especially impressed with the quot;Unpluggedquot; accoustic preset. While it didn't sound like a pre war Martin, it was VERY usable and a super clean, sparkly top end setting. It sounded incredible with the single coils. I couldn't get a bad sound to come out of this amp. It is loud, not nearly as loud as my JCM but very usable. The power switching was really cool, from 1, 15, 30 to 60 watts all to two channels. Personally, I am sold on this to be my next amp and so was my buddy Keith.

As far as how the amp took to the different guitars, you could easily hear the tonal differences in each guitar. Each had a flavor all to its own and wasn't overshadowed by what some may think a modeling amp will do.

Quick and dirty review of the Guitars:

American Strat-Can't seem to get comfortable with the feel of a strat. But Keith loved it. Nice fit and finish work.

Nashville Tele-OK, but not very impressed at all with fit and finish or over all feel.

Lite Ash Tele-LOVED it, beautiful fit and finish(Clear Natural). Neck was nice and chunky and it played effortlessly. Loved the APSII's, I hadn't ever heard them before firsthand. Very rounded, smooth and warm. Especially so when compared to the Broadcaster in my Tele.

SG Faded Special-This was the biggest supprise of the day for me. I had never picked up an SG before. I had no idea how thin, light and comfortable they really are. Finish was very thin satin and I really liked it(Faded Cherry), no stickyness. The neck was perfect and it played effortlessly. I loved this guitar and for $650, you can't beat it. I am now wondering, quot;If this is the cheap model and I liked it this much, what are the upgraded models going to be like?quot;

PRS C24-What can I say about this: incredible fit and finish(Dark Blue Trans Flame Maple top), wonderful neck, played like a million bucks. Just a bit too flashy for my tastes.

Used LP Standard-This is it, the one that really talked to me yesterday. I have never played a real Gibson LP before. I kind of wish that I hadn't because it's going to cost me alot of $$$. I love my Tele to death, but I do believe that I really am an LP guy after playing this guitar. It just fit me like a glove, sounded incredible even with the 490/498's. It had a perfect action.......played like a dream! Why oh why do they have to cost so dang much! It will be mine....oh yes....it will be mine! LOL

But the amp is first.......

Very cool....Glad your results were like mine...I have the head and have been very happy plugging it into my Cyber Twin's Celestion 2x12s.....This keeps me from buying another 2x12 cabinet,it's open backed,and it still allows me to have my CT with me in case the Vox goes south on me..I've had my Cyber Twin over 3 years now and I've never had a problem with it..

Guys complain that the Vox 2x12 cab rattles? Was that something you noticed? Also..Putting a set of NOS Long Plate RCAs in my amp made it stronger,warmer,and tighter..

The more you play and tweak and learn on this amp,the better it sounds...I've dialed in some great presets with it already and I've got a very firm understanding of the amp and the F/C...The FC-4 is fine for my needs...I use the built in expression pedal to control modulation effects and then I plug my Ernie Ball volume pedal into the FC4 and this becomes my master volume control for the entire amp...I set my FC up so that I can add or subtract my effects from my presets....

The Vox tones and the acoustic,BF Fender and almost all of the amp tones are very good...The only ones I don't care for so far,are the small Tweed amp and the UK 80s..The SOLDANO,and the Dumble Boutique amps,and some of the Marshall and Recto settings,have allowed me to dial up some great tone..

You also need to keep the master volume up over 5(About 6 to 7 at least)...The gain control needs to be dialed up there on some amp models also...Great amp for me and very versatile! I'm having a blast tweaking and learning on mine...If you already have a decent cabinet or 2,save yourself some money and opt for the head..You'll not have to worry about the Vox cab issues people speak about(Mostly on the VT model and not the VTX)...

JohnThanks for the info guys. This amp sounds very interesting. JM I am glad you took the time to play with the amp for a while. I have heard too many reviews where people don't spend much time and certainly don't crank the amp at all.

thanks for the review.

Everyone is really pleased with these amps. I must try them again. The one I tried didn't sound too good. Maybe there was something wrong with it.

I might have to just give in as well...


Originally Posted by StevoThanks for the info guys. This amp sounds very interesting. JM I am glad you took the time to play with the amp for a while. I have heard too many reviews where people don't spend much time and certainly don't crank the amp at all.

I'm a diehard tube guy(Always have been)but over the last few years I've opened my mind up to these modeling type amps...I Liked what The Cyber Twin sounded like and all the great fender tones I heard coming out of it...Get a great BF Twin tone from the CT and then use pedals...The CT lacked in the brit tones though,and I kept reading about how good the actual Vox tones were...Korg spent alot of time(At least)getting the AC30,AC30TB,and the AC15 tones dialed in....This was my attraction to the amp from the get go..I have vintage Fender and Marshall amps,but I've never owned a Vox? I thought for $600 I could buy the head,try it out and if it sucks,return it...Well...It doesn't suck and I'm not returning it! LOL....I went out and bought the F/C for it..

It's just not good these days to bring my old 50 watt Marshall head and a 4x12 cab into these small lounges we frequent,I Mean it looks cool,but it isn't very practical...I find a 2x12 combo is plenty and I Like to use my old Pro Reverb with alot of my modded pedals,but these modeling amps have everything already built in...

I haven't tryed plugging this Vox into my Marshall V30 4x12 yet,but I'd bet it would really rock...I'm dialing my head up through a 2x12 Celestion cab and so I've not tryed the 4x12 yet?

John


Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97I'm a diehard tube guy(Always have been)but over the last few years I've opened my mind up to these modeling type amps...I Liked what The Cyber Twin sounded like and all the great fender tones I heard coming out of it...Get a great BF Twin tone from the CT and then use pedals...

John,

would you still consider the Fender Cyber series better than Vox at getting a quot;Fenderquot; tone?

thanks

Marin


Originally Posted by MarinbluesJohn,

would you still consider the Fender Cyber series better than Vox at getting a quot;Fenderquot; tone?

thanks

Marin

Yes....The Fender Cyber Twin is really all about Fender tones first...It better be,it's a Fender....The CT also takes well to floor pedals on a great dialed in Fender clean tone.A wah in the front end of the CT sounds better to me than the Vox also..

The Fender tones in the Vox Valvetronix are pretty good also...I Love the BF Fender and the 4x10 59 Bassman tones,but I don't care for the little Tweed Deluxe tones..

Nice minty fresh 120 watt head on E Bay right now..

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Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97Nice minty frest 120 watt head on E Bay right now..

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I have been watching that one!


Originally Posted by JumpMarineI have been watching that one!

So....Let me ask this again..LOL..
Did you have problems with the cabinet rattling? This has been a big complaint with the combos,but mainly it was on the first series(The VT)...The VTX series is closed back and the tone is improved on this model...

By opting for the head,I've alleviated these problems..

John

love my 30 watter!

slade

I walked into Sam Ash one day, and spent about an hour and a half playing the AD60 head. I wasn't blown away, but knew it would be a great home practice rig, on top of one of my cabs. My friend there hooked me up for $420 out the door, which was surprisingly low, so I bought it. After getting it home, hooking it up to a REAL cabinet, and playing with it for a few days, I realized it was better than I thought.
Then, I decided to swap the Sovtek WA for an LPS, a better Sovtek, and voila, it sounded even better. From AC-30's to Blackface, to Tweed, to all out metal, it does it all really well. If you're into highgain lead tones, it's got more gain than almost any other amp I've plugged into, and it's tight and focused, so you can play it at super-low volumes, and it still sounds just like it does loud. Personally, I like the head version because you can choose any cab, you can use it as a practice or main amp, and also use it as a direct recording unit. The Swiss Army knife of amps.


Originally Posted by GearjoneserI walked into Sam Ash one day, and spent about an hour and a half playing the AD60 head. I wasn't blown away, but knew it would be a great home practice rig, on top of one of my cabs. My friend there hooked me up for $420 out the door, which was surprisingly low, so I bought it. After getting it home, hooking it up to a REAL cabinet, and playing with it for a few days, I realized it was better than I thought.
Then, I decided to swap the Sovtek WA for an LPS, a better Sovtek, and voila, it sounded even better. From AC-30's to Blackface, to Tweed, to all out metal, it does it all really well. If you're into highgain lead tones, it's got more gain than almost any other amp I've plugged into, and it's tight and focused, so you can play it at super-low volumes, and it still sounds just like it does loud. Personally, I like the head version because you can choose any cab, you can use it as a practice or main amp, and also use it as a direct recording unit. The Swiss Army knife of amps.

I've also used the Sovtek LPS tubes but had some reliability problems when they first came out....Everytime I use these Long Plate RCAs in any of my amps,I Love the outcome....I have these in my Fender CT with the same results..Tighter,stronger,and rounder tone...This Vox is just too much of a pain in a$$ to change tubes in to use anything other than the best tubes I can use in mine!

John

John

Hey guy's the rattling cabinet issue caught my attention. I am trading up from a ad50 to a ad60 head and ad212 cabinet. $400. is a little steep for the cabinet but I like the matching cosmetics, not to mention everybody else wants $450. for it. The amp and cab are expected in 5 to 7 days. I played the ad120 combo and thought the neodogs sounded as good as it gets, and expected the same out of this cabinet I ordered. Has anybody played one of the ad212 cabs? Thanks for any input

Have they gotten over their perceived reliability issues? The first ones that came out seemed to have some problems. Like, the grounding squeel for the first 10 minutes up in Seattle.


Originally Posted by Scott_FHave they gotten over their perceived reliability issues? The first ones that came out seemed to have some problems. Like, the grounding squeel for the first 10 minutes up in Seattle.

Not sure Scott? Time will tell on the 120 watt head I bought though? The head has tone though.

quot;Fingers Crossedquot;

I've even left mine on accidentally overnight a couple times, and still, no problems.
I haven't had one problem at all with mine. If you use it real loud, it sounds best with a little bit of the noisegate kicked in. That's another nice feature.

LOL, Sorry John.....we were playing through the VTX and had absolutely no rattle at all. Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97So....Let me ask this again..LOL..
Did you have problems with the cabinet rattling? This has been a big complaint with the combos,but mainly it was on the first series(The VT)...The VTX series is closed back and the tone is improved on this model...

By opting for the head,I've alleviated these problems..

John
how would you compare it to the Tech 21 you quot;babysatquot; for awhile?!

i know it has more quot;optionsquot;, but what about general tone?!