Vox Valvetronix appreciation or not?

[rsm]

I have a Vox ToneLab LE that works well, its a like/dislike situation; For what I paid and what it does, it is a good value. I'm still tweaking and I'm convinced it will work for me. What are your experiences and thoughts with the valve reactor, valvetronix Vox modeling technologies? Good, bad or ugly?

What is your set-up / signal chain?

Any tips or techniques you've found useful? What is working or not working for you?

[mwc2112]

I think as far as all-in-one modeling amps go, the Valvetronix is very solid (although I'd rather have a Tonelab+Atomic or something like that, but I digress). I'd get one over one of the Line 6 amps and probably Roland Cubes (although that would be a tough choice).

[Peppy]

Really like the Valvetronix. I've had a VT120 for years. Gigged it many times. I also own some really nice and desireable tube amps...Swart AST-PRO, Vibro-King, Brit-built AC30TBX. The Valvetronix more than holds its worth.

[eyeball987]

I have an LE now and have been tweaking a bit recently. When I am using headphones, I get the best results running it into a mixer (or Powerblock) first and putting a MXR 10 band after the unit and before the mixer/PB. The EQ lets me tweak out any high end harshness on gain settings and I get great tones that way.

I just bought a powered speaker and while I have not spent a ton of time with it yet, or really turned it up, I put together some really great sounding clean and mid gain patches without the EQ. I step on a Trans OD set up to kill to push those mid gains into high gain.

My results using tube power sections into guitar cabs have not been as good but that could be the cabs and speakers. I haven't been able to work with it too much in that setting yet.

[FUSER]

I had the 30 watt and 15 watt amps for a while.
Very impressed with the clean sounds, not so much with the overdrive sounds.
The effects were quite good too.

[Southern ILL]

My grab and go for the last 2 years has been a AD60VTX.....Blue Grill cloth model.

1st bank is clean to Vox overdrive......
2nd bank is my Fender/Marshall tones from clean to crunch.

Sound great for what I do.....Had a noise drop/loss issue.....took it apart and hit with some solder and I'm good to go.

[Electric I]

Had both original 60W versions & the 120W as well.

Have since scaled down to the newest stomper (tonelab st).

Into various low-watt tube amps (carvin vintage 16/scxd/randall rm20) it more than does the trick.

To me, it's the best non-axe/fx tech out there.

[000]

I've had an LE for a few months now and am getting some terrific sounds with it. Running it into a Carvin DCM 150 and then to a 4x12. Sounds great even at low volumes.

Last week I picked up a Valvetronix VT50 just to try it out. I planned on returning it after messing with it a bit...I think I might keep it. It sounds really good and is really easy to dial in. I think I like the amp modelling on it a bit more than the LE. Can't go wrong with these amps really.

[rsm]

Yes. I just "won" a Vox stack on ebay. AD120VTH + 2 AD212 cabs + VC-12 footcontroller. Cost more than I planned to spend, those last minute sharks came in and drove the price up a couple hundred bucks; they cam close to my max bid and I didn't think it would. Looks like there's solid demand for these things yet!

I plan to spend serious time tweaking to get this stack to work, then compare it to my AC15H1TV and some vintage Vox tones I dig, and then AB it with the ToneLab LE. I'd like to have options from a full stack to a simple grab and go that can get the tones I want.

Thanks for all the replies. Happy to see a few TGPers with good things to say about the valvetronix. About the best modeler for what I need short of the Axe-Fx. But the Vox covers more vintage Vox tones too!

[000]

Yes I would agree. Short of the Axe Fx I think Vox does modelling the best. They really do have the feel of a tube amp and while the models are far from perfect, they get you in the ballpark of the modelled amp and sound really good.

[buddaman71]

http://www.voxamps.com/us/valvetronix/vt-series/

I think the new VT series sounds and feels pretty great.
Affordable too!

[Rick N Boogie]

I play bass primarily, but enjoy noodling around on guitar as well. Never cared much for any of the Valvetronix amps, especially when compared to the actual amps they supposedly model, (AC-15), BUT, recently aquired a ToneLab ST, (the small one, $200), and am more than impressed with the tones and effects this little box puts out. Quite impressed. My current noodle around rig is a Fender Am Dlx Toronado, (humbucker version), the ToneLab, and a Blues Jr amp. I feel like I could step up and become a real guitarist with this set-up, but have way too much time, effort, and money into my bass gear. Anyway, nice little box.

[mwc2112]

Yes I would agree. Short of the Axe Fx I think Vox does modelling the best. They really do have the feel of a tube amp and while the models are far from perfect, they get you in the ballpark of the modelled amp and sound really good.

The Vox amps are very good, but I think the H&K amps are the best when it comes to full modeling amps.

[Noah]

The older blue grill cloth model Valvetronix amps sound awesome. I used an AD60VT for practice and the AD120VT head for a few small gigs. I honestly wish I never sold them.

[rsm]

The Vox amps are very good, but I think the H&K amps are the best when it comes to full modeling amps.

Which H&K amps are you using?

[rsm]

http://www.voxamps.com/us/valvetronix/vt-series/

I think the new VT series sounds and feels pretty great.
Affordable too!

I thought about the new series as well; but I've read good things about the old blue series, except for reliability, though the reliability is mostly due to cheap jacks, and poor solder. Not to mention the speakers, the Vox/Celestion NeoDogs in the blue cabs. Read good things about these as well. Only one of my inbound cabs will have them, the other will probably get Weber's since Celestion doesn't make G12 Century's anymore, and new they cost nearly as much as Celestion Alnico Golds.

[scott58]

I tried one of those again yesterday and just can't get into them that much. Better then the ones they had out 3 years ago, but still no go. I pulled a cube 30 up next to it and still like those better,but then I put a SCXD in and that was better then both in my opinion. Still not as good as a POD plugged into a Valve Junior though.

[i8guitar]

While I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate my M13 for direct situations, I still have love and appreciation for my trusty Tonelab SE. I've been using it for a few weeks playing it at church, and it sounds great through my IEM's and our Axiom system. I like the AC30TB amp model, clean and dirty variations within one patch, and I turn on/off trem, delay, and verb to taste.

[mwc2112]

Which H&K amps are you using?

They only made 2 modeling amps: the Zentera and it's little brother, the Zenamp. I owned a Zenamp for quite a while... and kinda miss it.

[rsm]

New Amp Day! Well, almost. Most of my new-to-me Vox AD120 stack arrived today:

Vox AD120VTH
Vox AD212 (with crappy EV speakers that will be replaced asap!)
Vox VC12

Tomorrow, the second Vox AD212 with the OEM Vox/Celestion Neodog speakers should be delivered.

Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from surgery (I have two more weeks to go) so I can't set the amp up! It is stuck in the shipping boxes! The cab with the EV's weighs 81 pounds, so I'm the only one here that can move it...

Well, at least its here. And the boxes have the cool Vox logo on them... :(

[rsm]

They only made 2 modeling amps: the Zentera and it's little brother, the Zenamp. I owned a Zenamp for quite a while... and kinda miss it.

Thanks for the info. I've heard of the Zentera, not the Zenamp. Never tried them. Always on the look out for new/old modelers.

[rsm]

Pic of the stack. I will be able to set it up in another two weeks or so. This was the sellers picture:

http://i.ebayimg.com/17/!BZMsMDQB2k~$(KGrHgoOKk!EjlLm(M-TBKlek00M2w~~_12.JPG

Ordered two Celestion G12 Century speakers (80W @ 8 ohms) to replace the EV's in one cab, still waiting for confirmation that they have them in stock as these speakers have been discontinued by Celestion.

Update: the speakers were in stock, and shipped today! YES! http://web.mac.com/a_chaoidh/iWeb/Site/test_files/woohoo.gif

Can't wait to get the speakers swapped, and fire this thing up! :rockin

[freddyd]

I have a Vox ToneLab LE that works well, its a like/dislike situation; For what I paid and what it does, it is a good value. I'm still tweaking and I'm convinced it will work for me. What are your experiences and thoughts with the valve reactor, valvetronix Vox modeling technologies? Good, bad or ugly?

What is your set-up / signal chain?

Any tips or techniques you've found useful? What is working or not working for you?
The Valve Reactor is in the power section and it creates headroom, which really compliments clean tones. For each model who's original amp did not have a master volume, you should crank the Valve Reactor. Now for models who's original amp does have a master volume, you need to use your ears and bring in the Valve Reactor until you get that unwanted distortion, then back it off a little bit. Also you can us the unit's Insert, to add your stomp boxes or whatever. The cool thing here, is that the Tonelab's Noise Reduction can be applied to your external pedals, that are routed through the Insert.

[mcalo42]

A couple days ago I returned my Spider IV 2x12 and took home a VT50 instead. I have the older AD30VT and really like it. I’ll have more time to play with it next weekend but it has the nice UK 80’s and modern that I like and sounded great on a quick trial run. I got the 5 button panel on order and should have that to play around with soon too.

I was torn initially between getting the VT and the Spider IV. If the VT would have had a CD in I wouldn’t have even looked further.

[000]

Had my VT50 for about a week now and I'm really starting to dig it. The speaker needs to be broken in so it sounds a bit stiff and boxy, but right now I can't get enough of the UK Modern sim (the Marshall JVM). I haven't really delved into the clean side of things too much as the higher gain end of the spectrum is covered really well and fun to play.

[dave_lp_strat]

Owned the Vox AD50VT for a couple of years. Good amp, but not as versatile in preset programming as the new VT series. The AD50VT sounds good, but only has the capability to program two channels and switch between the two, so you have to have outboard stompboxes. To me, that negates the purpose of having a modeling amp. A good modeling amp should have storage and foot switchable recall for at least 24 settings. Otherwise, you are back to stompboxes on the floor.

Sound is similar to my Roland Cube 60, which I kept. I just sold the Vox on consignment and kept the Cube because it's small and highly mobile for small gigs.

I bought a Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 and its my main amp these days. With the Sanpera II foot controller, it's infinitely programmable and you can easily set up several banks of related sounds for different types of music and switch between them as easily as using a board full of stompboxes. It's even easier since you have two buttons for bank up and down and the same 4 switches for ABCD effects within the banks. There are 400 presets that are modifiable and you can store your own and switch between banks. I'm sold on the Vypyr.

[rsm]

Hi Freddy, good to see you here. I'm out on the Vox forum as well.

Working on my new-to-me AD120VTH rig to dial in some basic amp tones. I'm mostly interested in the Vox amp models, just sampled the non-Vox models at this point with neutral settings to compare them as a baseline. Having better luck with the TB amp models. For the AC15 and AC30 non-TB amp models, I'm getting too much muffle/mud to hear the pure Vox tone (like or close to, my AC15H1V).

I'm going to spend some more time on these, but was hoping you may have some hints on basic settings for the AC15 and AC30 models on the AD120VTH? I'm using 1 stock AD212 (my second AD212 is not connected since it has EV speakers that will soon be replaced with Celestion G12 Century speakers; as soon as I can get to it). FWIW, I plan to put an EQ pedal in the loop as others have recommended, but wanted to get a good baseline from the amp as-is first.


The Valve Reactor is in the power section and it creates headroom, which really compliments clean tones. For each model who's original amp did not have a master volume, you should crank the Valve Reactor. Now for models who's original amp does have a master volume, you need to use your ears and bring in the Valve Reactor until you get that unwanted distortion, then back it off a little bit. Also you can us the unit's Insert, to add your stomp boxes or whatever. The cool thing here, is that the Tonelab's Noise Reduction can be applied to your external pedals, that are routed through the Insert.

[danielcrowe86]

I've been a proud Valvetronix 50 watt user for about four years now....until my amp was dropped while being carried up some stairs. I have lost the modeling side of the amp, so right now I have a plain amp with effects, but no modeling. Anybody know how this might be fixed?

[rsm]

Tokai Les Paul and a Vox Valvetronix AD60VT!! Check out his other clips too. This was posted on the Vox forum...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SPHc7dxeUY&feature

[Brooks]

in my quest for a "one-stop-shop" rig, i've owned
roland VG8-ex
H&K tubeman plus
H&K switchblade
axe-fx standard
tonelab st

the main thing i've noticed about ALL of them is that
i only really like one or two amp sounds,
the rest are almost useless (for me, anyway).

the roland has been gone for several years,
it was super flexible (amps/fx/even modeled guitars like strat/335/acoustic/synths, etc)
but never sounded that great. the older one i had necessitated a guitar w/ the roland synth pup.

the H&K stuff sounded great for modern high gain stuff, thats about it.
needs an onboard tuner (can't believe they put everything in there EXCEPT a tuner).

out of all the axe-fx amp sims, i only really like 2;
"brown" (classic VH), & "brownface" for cleans.
i tweaked the parameters (sag/dampning, etc), results were subtle.

same w/ the tonelab st;
i like "UK metal" (marshall JVM), & the fender or cowtipper for cleans.
all the other sims sound like filtered versions of these 2 or 3.

for comparison, i ran the axe-fx and then the tonelab st thru the same poweramp & cab,
playing for a minute then switching to the other (yes, cab sims were turned off).
for plain crunch or clean tones, i slightly prefer the tonelab!

obviously, the axe-fx has superior FX,
but i'm mostly an amp OD and delay guy.
if i was doing a bunch of studio work,
or playing in a cover band that needed tons of different tones,
the axe-fx would be ideal.
also, as i understand it, the axe-fx is best when used direct or w/ a FRFR cab,
so running it thru my SS amp and celestion cab is not ideal.
but, that's how i'm using a modeler, and i prefer the vox.

[Rena Rune]

I find my AD30VT has some decent models but it doesn't take pedals all that well, and it suffers from the crappy power amp.