Valvetronix VT15 Review

This amp, practicaly has it all, it's just amazing. It has 22 pre-set chanels, half clean and half distorted.

Features:	8.5
Sound:	9.5
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.5
Users rating:	9.3
Comments:	6

overall: 9.5

Featured review by: montypythonadde, on march 11, 2009

Purchased from: Make Music, kettering

Features: The Vox Valvetronix VT15 was made in 08, well at least mine was. There has been a long line of these amps due the the major populatity and comes with a Vox 12AX7 valve reactor circuit providing the tone power and feel of a good tube amp.

This amp, practicaly has it all, it's just amazing. I tend to play a wide range of music from blink -182 to Slipknot to Metallica to Muse and it works so well. It has 22 pre-set chanels, half clean and half distorted. These can be chosen using a dial that selects the channel and then you press the 'preset mode' button that allows you to play it, these preset channels each have 3 different settings of their own which changes the thickness of the sound by pressing the 'preset mode' button again, changing the light from green to Orange to red, and back again. There is a 'manual mode' button where you get to play around with the gain, volume, treble, middle, bass reverb and master. It also offers 11 effects + reverb, so basicly 12 effects come with this amp, which I will talk about in the sound section and I constantly change these about for my different styles of music.

This amp will also let you save 4 channels of your own, so you can save your own sound! // 8

Sound: I am using this amp with a Stag Tom Delonge Strat copy, with one seymor duncan invader humbucker pickup at the bridge. The guitar doesn't suit all my styles, so I'm buying an Jim root telecaster soon, but however the amp suit's all these styles very well using the preset channels and the effects creating the ultimate sound using the tube amp sound, for your music. I would however suggest you replace these tubes with ruby tubes if you want more of a metal sound.

This amp is noisy! All of the pre-settings are extremely loud, even when the volume dial is on near 0. It's one powerful little boy. I play it in my bedroom, and I need to put it on basicly zero and turn it right down. I also play it in a garage, where I can turn it to just underhalf way and it drowns the bass and other guitar, so you can see it's loud, and I expect it to gig soon. And I have no worries about it.

Ok, so the amp has basicly 12 effects, reverb, delay, tape echo, chorus+delay, compression+delay, compression and chorus, chorus, flanger, phaser, rotary, tremolo and pitch. It is amazing what you can do with this amp. It will play any music and gives you great oppertunity to create your own music. The clean channel does not get distorted when it is loud, but can be done but slipping up the gain. The distortion obviously has a wide range of brutalness, there are differnt distortion settings ranging from a slight upbeat distortion good for things like The All American Rejects all the way to the most brutal distortion you can get, and all that's in between. You'll have to play about with it. It also has a Tap button, where you can tap it, say, 4 times then it will play a bass beat 4 times repaeted behind waht you are playing. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The amp is reliable, I trust it completly and I would gig it without a back up without question, it's solid, reliable and will give you taht perfect sound each time you play.

I've not had this amp too long, but it's never broken, never had a problem with it. It does take about 7 seconds for the tubes to warm up, but this is no problem. // 10

Impression: It's a great match for pretty much any music, people think they are better off with a Marshall, but your wrong, they sell on their name, unless you have a big double stack it's not worth it, and a Laney amp only gives you a good sound for metal, this Vox is supreme. I own an acoustic, a Kray bass (which sometimes I do put on) and a Stag Tom Delonge Strat copy, which is amazing, I will do doing some work to it, getting a Fender strat neck and headstock, replacing the machine heads and bridge too, only because I want a Fender. But cheeper. I bought this at the same store as my amp, and I love them both. If you can get to it, go!

I asked question when I was buying, but as soon as I played it, I loved this amp! If this amp was stolen or lost I would go right back out and buy it again, althoguh there are cheeper models, this is waht I want! I love all the effects on it, but mostly I love the one channel at the top of the dial that is perfect for playing everlong by Foo Fighters. I don't hate much about this amp, but at first it is really hard to understand it fully. Unlike a Marshall which is simple. I compatred this to a Marshal MG series 80 watt I was using for a good while before this. And a limited edition silver Marshal 45 watt, also a Laney valve amp (I was also very impressed by this) but I chose this because of the perfect clean sound it gives, and the wide range of distortion it can provide. It's effects were waht decided it for me though.

I do wish it had a hall effect, that would be nice. But all-in-all, it's a great amp, and I advise if you like playing a wide range of music, buy a Vox! // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: Noahman, on march 31, 2009

Price paid: $ 299.95

Purchased from: Deluca Music

Features: I'm not exactly sure when the amp was built but I bought it new last year (2008) so I would imagine that the amp was constructed sometime like early '08 or late '07. The amp has a wide array of effects and distortion so it's easy to play a lot of styles of music. There are two different programmable channels on it and you can Switch back and fourth between the two simply by pushing a button. There is also a headphone jack on the back. There are a lot of different effects on the amp (Auto-Wah, Compressor, Compressor + Phaser, Compressor + Chorus, Chorus + Delay, Chorus + Reverb, Flanger + Reverb, Tremolo + Reverb, Rotary + Reverb, Delay and Reverb) but it doesn't have twang which is the only effect I wish it had. I use this amp with my schools jazz band which is a 30 person ensamble and I constantly have to turn it down so it's more than loud enough. The amp is a tube amp so it takes a minute to boot-up but that's never given me a problem. // 9

Sound: The guitar that I use with the amp is a Aria STG (which is basically a cheap Stratocaster) with single coil pickups. It works pretty well for the styles of music that I play on it, I tend to play hard rock, blues, experimental, jazz, etc. Single coil pickups tend to buzz constantly when you're not playing but that's not the case with this amplifer. The only time that I notice the pickups buzzing is when I'm facing an electronic or metal device (I.e. Computers, televisions, drumsets). Because of the built in effects on the amp, there are hundreds of different sounds you can get on the amp. The clean channel is relible, there usually isn't much distortion on the clean channel when playing loudly. The distortion isn't super grungy but it gets the job done. I don't play very much metal so this doesn't really concern me. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This amp is both reliable and durable. I've brought it to numerous gigs and had it for a generally long time and I've never had a problem with it. It's had it's share of dings and bumps and it's never effected the amp in the slightest bit. It is very nicely built, the frame is strong and very durable. I'm a cautious person so I would bring a back-up amp to any gig but if I were to only bring one amp, this would be it. // 10

Impression: I play most every genre except metal and this amp is great for all of them. I've been playing guitar for about two years now and I own an Ibanez Acoustic, B\.C\. Rich starter amp, and an Aria STG electric. I had no questions before buying this product and no questions after buying it, it's a very easy amp to use. If the amp were stolen I would definatley buy another one, it's a very fun and great amp. I love everything about the amplifer, my personal favorite feature on it has got to be the Auto-Wah. it's sound very nice and is fun to use. I compared this amp to a Line 6 Spider and I found this one to be a better buy. The only thing that I wish it had was a Twang effect. // 10

Comments

[Sacrebleu!]

Has anyone compared this thing to a Peavey Vypyr? I'm wondering which is best...

[moshtradomus93]

i have the VT 30
which is like th VT 15 but thirty wats instead
i used a fender strat and a ibanez RG
its ok but i like to play Detuned in drop B in such and i get a weird bouncy noise when i open palm mute
thats my only complaint
other wise its great!

[billyman_90]

i was looking at getting a vt 100 head. Anybody got any advice?

[pianomanfromjap]

i have the vt15 its good but on every setting there is a really loud buzzing

[Shaunfromtheuk]

Can anybody comment on the song presets particularly the layla, crossroads, sultans of swing and pride (in the name of love) effects on the VT15 model?

[RickyDude]

I find the 'buzzing' or background noise these reviews mentions can be stopped or significantly reduced using the 'noise reduction' function.

For those who own one, hold the by-pass button down and turn the the [Edit] dial up or down to reduce/increase the level of background noise