Vox Valvetronix Amps

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:03 am

Dean - Melissa - Bill
One other question I have about the Vox Valvetronix effects is the built in Compressor circuit. You have mentioned how nice the Boutique settings sound for Ric 12 strings --- and certainly Compressors are part of the jingle-jangle sound many Ric players desire. What are your experiences with the Valvetronix Compressor settings ?? Is it as good as or better than various Compression Pedals out there in the market, and which would you compare it to ?? How does the built in Compressor sound in conjunction with that Boutique setting that you have mentioned ?? Am especially interested in the twelve string, jingle-jangle sound aspects. Thanks for your further advice/comments.
Regards - Rich F.

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:38 am

The compressor is great on the VTX series. You can get excellent jangle using it. The preset Melissa has mentioned has the compressor set up on it I believe. You can adjust volume and compression, but not the attack. (all of these are adjustable on the Tonelab). The sounds are similar to a Boss pedal.

However, if you use the compressor, you cannot use the wah, boosts, octave, autowah or fuzz effects (only one at a time can be selected). In my case, I wanted a more subtle compressor that I could leave on all the time (except for hig gain distorted models). So I added a Diamond compressor, which for my purposes is the king of them all.

Now I can get that compressed jangle with all models, and throw some wah in occasionally as I like to do. I also have the compressor available for use with my boutique Gerd Weigel (15 watts) and my AC15CC1.

If you don't mind the singel effect at a time limitation, the compressor in the VTX series is quite jangly. There is a preset using compression with an AC30 model that is very Beatles, and one with the Bassman model that gets very Byrds (with a bit of tweaking)

...Dean

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:21 am

Well, you Forumites have convinced me !!! I just placed an order with Chris Clayton at Pick of the Ricks for a Vox Valvetronix AD50VT ! I can't wait to immerse myself in trying out all these settings and tube-amp models !
Regards - Rich F.
P.S. if any of you are suffering from R.A.S. then I strongly caution anyone from visiting Pick of the Ricks website, as one starts to salivate immediately !

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:09 am

Congrats Richard. You'll really like the versatility of the Valvetronix. And all those great built in effects without a bunch of stomp boxes (and no 9V batteries)!

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 12:24 pm

Thanks Kris. I really appreciate the great feedback and comments from the Forumites here to help reinforce one's decisions when making equipment purchases. ..... Rich F.

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:01 am

Let us know how you make out with it, Kris. Good choice.

...Dean

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:33 pm

For all who have Valvetronix amps - Do you also have the VC-12 foot controller? This is a must have companion for the Valvetronix. Road rugged, built in volume and expression pedals, tuner functions at your feet, and the ability to store 128 more programs.

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:05 am

I think the VC-12 only works with the AD60VT and AD120VT amps, not the newer AD30 through AD100 series. These use a VFS2 switch, as they only have two memory slots to work with.

The VC-12 is much more robust than it's VC-4 sibling, and with many more features. A few things to point out with the VC-12:

1) It communicates with the amp through an ethernet style cable (non crossover) but is NOT ethernet protocol. The connector at the amp end is susceptible to damage, particularly the lock tab. Easy to replace though.

2) the 128 presets are storage only. You have to "load" them into the amp to use them, and you can only use 32 presets at once. You have to go through the load procedure for each set of 32 presets you wish to use.

That being said, it makes the AD60V and AD120V powerhouse gigging rigs for those that need the versatility of playing many popular amp tones. And I just love the dual pedals.

The tuner in the VC-12 is very good, better than the one on the amp. However, I normally use a Peterson Strobe tuner, which is more accurate, so the tuner feature is less of a factor to me.

The ability to select a model quickly then go into a mode where each effect section can be activated/deactivated like a "normal" pedal board is a great feature. As is the on/off switch at the bottom travel of the expression pedal (just like a Vox wah).

...Dean

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:40 am

Also the ability to switch between two different programs with one footswitch button is a great feature.

qmoder · Post by **qmoder** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:37 am

I'm wondering if the Valvetronix is going to be upgraded in the near future or even renewed at all? The Vox tube amps seem to be enjoying some success in quality control that the Valvetronix series is not.
Lots of folks on many different Vox forums are having to take them back and back and back again to get a good one. Thats mainly with the Silver series as very few of the Gold series are being seen in stores now at all.
That and the fact that the Valvetronix amps production was transferred to Vietnam not long ago with a further decline in QC is rather worrying for the series.
On the other hand the Vox A30CC's seem to be having a rather good run on the market right now after the initial flaws were recified by Vox.
I'm wondering too when the Vox bass amp that Mitch talked about that Vox is working on will be released and what power and speakers that it will have with it?

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:39 am

I was just a GC this last weekend, and they have the full line of Valvetronix amps, and several people were checking them out. There seemed to be more modeling amps there than tube.

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:29 am

Well, the UPS web-site says they are delivering my Valvetronix AD50 from Pick of the Ricks sometime today !!! Can't wait to start seriously experimenting with these many features when I get home tonight !

I was a bit concerned to hear of the QC issues that Dan-Qmoder mentions, of people taking these Valveronix back continuously ! I hope I am lucky with mine. Regards Rich F.

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:09 pm

I was worried about those reviews too Richard when I bought mine. I haven't had a lick of trouble and a couple of guys at different music stores I talked to said they hadn't had one returned yet. This isn't to discount the problems that some have had with them of course.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:29 pm

I thought the problems were all with the AC30CC1s. My little (but heavy) AD30VT is a workhorse and sounds great, too...

bitzerguy · Post by **bitzerguy** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:21 am

My AD120VTH and AD212's (2 of them) are almost 5 years old. Played every night, and taken out to practice or gig once a week. Never a problem (other than cleaning and lubing the jacks), and it still has the original tubes.

The issues that many people had seemed due to poorly organized documentation, or more often the lack of reading the documentation. There have been legitimate claims (as with any product), and they were not handled well initially by Vox, and there will always be someone who doesn't like the sound or the switches or the memory system or... (as with ANY amp).

However, most (8 out of 10) of the complaints I've read on the 'net were due to lack of reading and understanding the manual(s) or impatience with tweaking to get the right sound. These are definitely not the right amp for "non-tweakers".

...Dean