newby VOX modeling amp ?

[johnnymjr.]

I have a 60 watt VOX modeling amp that worked GREAT at first. I liked it so much, I sprang for a celestion blue and installed it. Long story short,
lately I have had ALL kinds of electrical problems w/ it. Wondering if these are well known to puke after time, as well as where in Chicago I could have it looked at for a reasonable price.
Thanks so much, in advance!!!

John

[mwc2112]

If it started having problems after you made changes to it then I would be less concerned about general reliability problems with the amp and more concerned about figuring out what you could have done.

If you put a Celestion Blue in it that speaker is only rated for 15W. You might be overdriving the speaker (or worse, have damaged it).

[pitseleh]

These are incredibly well documented. The earlier Valvetronix amps all had a penchant for malfunctioning in some electrical way that caused a variety of obnoxious problems. There's a lot of coverage on the specific causes of the issues and how to address them on valvetronix.net.

[TS808]

The blue Valvetronix amps, the AD60VTX and the AD120VTX were known to be pretty reliable actually. It was when Vox introduced the chrome series amps that alot of the reliability issues came to the forefront.

Also (just my opinion and experience)...be selective in what type of speaker you put in your modeler. Celestion 70/80 speakers and neos are good choices in that they don't color the tone of the models. When you start putting in different speakers such as Greenbacks, blues, etc., you will notice that the models no longer sound like they used to. Certain speakers will alter the tone of the amps being modeled.

[Southern ILL]

I have used mine 2-3 times a week....in and out of cold(its been sub,10* all weekend) to hot and humid conditions........load in and out of the back of the Chevy Arse-Hole van.......down gravel and bumpy rural roads and no real problems......it did cut out once in while and that was a 10 minute fix.......Going on the 3rd year.

Its a AD60VTX........I would not see any reason to change a thing.....Grab and go..sounds real good anywhere......For $250 NOS......I've more than got my money worht outa that thang'.........Fun amp.

[pitseleh]

Originally Posted by TS808

The blue Valvetronix amps, the AD60VTX and the AD120VTX were known to be pretty reliable actually. It was when Vox introduced the chrome series amps that alot of the reliability issues came to the forefront.

Also (just my opinion and experience)...be selective in what type of speaker you put in your modeler. Celestion 70/80 speakers and neos are good choices in that they don't color the tone of the models. When you start putting in different speakers such as Greenbacks, blues, etc., you will notice that the models no longer sound like they used to. Certain speakers will alter the tone of the amps being modeled.

The posts on Valvetronix.net would paint a different picture! Even the owner of the site acknowledges that the jacks/other components in the earlier generation will almost inevitably cause problems in most of the amps. A couple years ago when I was looking into picking one up as a practice amp, it was difficult to avoid all the complaints. It initially turned me off, but he says it can be fixed, and insiststhat the amps are good enough to justify fixing them to keep them going. I guess that depends on the player, but I think they're pretty cool amps, especially for how cheap they can be had these days.

I've not heard much about the Chrome series malfunctioning, on the other hand!