CBHScott
How did I get here?
...well, I've had it home for a week now.
For the last six days, I have spent at least one hour per day playing through it.
The honeymoon period is over, I think, and I still look forward to playing through it .
I have always thought that the classic "Fender clean" was my favorite clean tone, especially with a Strat or Tele neck pickup through it. Now I know why people love the good Vox tones so much. The classic Vox "chimey clean" as sweet as hell. Considering the lack of your typical 3-band EQ, the range of tones here is impressive, without having to give it much thought. The amp loves the Strat single-coils, but the SG alnico hummers, not so much.
Reverb is OK, but like most on-board tank reverbs is unusable past about 1/5th of the way. While I do like the top-boost channel, the only thing that doesn't grab me as much is the natural overdrive - it's a bit on the thin side, not as well-rounded as a good Marshall, but all-in-all, not bad. I have found that pushing the amp with a little OD fattens up the dirt quite nicely.
What really impresses me the most, though, is the relative punch it gives you at low volumes. I have had various tube amps from 5 to 20 watts, that when bringing the volume down to quieter levels, you just really don't get that tubey sound - you have to get the volume up to really hear the difference - not so with the Vox. I can have this no higher than conversation-level volume, yet still get a wonderfully tubey, round clean tone.
This is a solid amp that really is THE best do-it-all (home, practice, small gig) amp for the money IMO. I am probably going to get rid of my other amps (the ADA and the MIII), because this one gives me so much satisfaction without all of the tweaking. Take the Strat, plug it in, and that's it.
Plus, it looks cool as hell
Love it. Gonna replace the SG with a Tele of some sort - either a FSR BSB, or a Cabronita .
For the last six days, I have spent at least one hour per day playing through it.
The honeymoon period is over, I think, and I still look forward to playing through it .
I have always thought that the classic "Fender clean" was my favorite clean tone, especially with a Strat or Tele neck pickup through it. Now I know why people love the good Vox tones so much. The classic Vox "chimey clean" as sweet as hell. Considering the lack of your typical 3-band EQ, the range of tones here is impressive, without having to give it much thought. The amp loves the Strat single-coils, but the SG alnico hummers, not so much.
Reverb is OK, but like most on-board tank reverbs is unusable past about 1/5th of the way. While I do like the top-boost channel, the only thing that doesn't grab me as much is the natural overdrive - it's a bit on the thin side, not as well-rounded as a good Marshall, but all-in-all, not bad. I have found that pushing the amp with a little OD fattens up the dirt quite nicely.
What really impresses me the most, though, is the relative punch it gives you at low volumes. I have had various tube amps from 5 to 20 watts, that when bringing the volume down to quieter levels, you just really don't get that tubey sound - you have to get the volume up to really hear the difference - not so with the Vox. I can have this no higher than conversation-level volume, yet still get a wonderfully tubey, round clean tone.
This is a solid amp that really is THE best do-it-all (home, practice, small gig) amp for the money IMO. I am probably going to get rid of my other amps (the ADA and the MIII), because this one gives me so much satisfaction without all of the tweaking. Take the Strat, plug it in, and that's it.
Plus, it looks cool as hell
Love it. Gonna replace the SG with a Tele of some sort - either a FSR BSB, or a Cabronita .
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