VT30 Review

It has 22 different amps. Twelve different effects and three can be used at the same time.

Features:	8.6
Sound:	8.4
Reliability:	9
Impression:	8.9
Overall rating:	8.7
Users rating:	9.5
Comments:	19

overall: 8.8

Featured review by: LTD-F-250, on june 12, 2009

Price paid: $ 250

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: This amp is very Versatile. I can play heavy metal like Slayer and then click another chanell and play some Jimi Hendrix. There are 4 channels, and there is a headphon jack. This amp has a lot of effects like flanger, delay, phaser and many more. This amp is a modeling tube amp, so it's not a tube amp but still very good. // 8

Sound: I have a Schecter hellraiser c-1 with EMG 81 85. I play mostly Metallica and all that thrash stuff and it suits my needs. This amp is very loud when the power level is turned up all the way, but it doesnt sound good when its at its max and this amp should not be used for gigging. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I have had no problems when it comes to breaking down or anything. I take very good care of it though, but it has not shut down on me or anything. It does take about 1 minute to warm up and actually make sound but that doesn't really matter. The metal grill on the amp I think is cool, but stuff can get behind it easily though. // 10

Impression: This amp is good for metal. The metal bull setting with the right setting, has a good metal sound. This amp is very good for the price. I probably would not buy it again though if it were to break. But I am overall impressed by it, just because of the price and that it has a good sound for that price range. But I would save up for a better amp if I were you. // 9

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: johnbaldwin, on november 10, 2009

Price paid: £ 139

Purchased from: Vox/Fair Deal at LiveMusic NEC, UK

Features: Bought this amplifier two days ago and I am extremely pleased with it. I have two other combo type amplifiers (non valve) and the tonal quality of the other two is no where near as good as this Vox. The valve preamp does make a difference and sounds great after a short while to warm up. All the features are listed here already so no need to repeat again. I do wish there was an effects send and return on the back but not that important as the effects not already included on the amp can easily go between my guitar and amp.

I only use for home use and it will eventually end up in my son's possession one day. I am confident it will last for many years until then. // 9

Sound: I use two retro fitted humbuckers in an old '89 stratocaster. I want warm sounds with a little bit of distortion and this amp seems to be great for that. The amp is loud enough for my requirements.

Have not tried the more heavier distortion tones much but I think they would sound great when the volume cranked up. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I only use at home and not had any issues with it at all. I would be confident to gig with it. Never broken down in short time I have had it. Never had a valve amp before so I don't know how long the preamp valve will last but I think it is easy to replace and they are easy to purchase.

I like the way you can see the valve glow red inside when you look through the slit's at the top of the amplifier, although I am concerned I might (or my clumsy son might) spill my beer down them? Maybe there's a nifty drainage hole in the bottom, but never looked. // 10

Impression: I like rock, blues, some heavier stuff. I have been playing for 20 years and this is the most versatile little amp I have ever owned. No need for patch leads and effects pedals anymore, this does the lot for me and more. Nice compact sturdy construction.

If there was anything else on it I would opt for a guitar tuner built in like most of the other digi-combos on the market, but I can tune a guitar from a pitch fork quite well so not essential for me. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on november 13, 2009

Price paid: € 220

Features: I was preparing to buy this amp for a ferw weeks. Have read all available reviews, seen demos etc. This amp is definitelly very versatile, on the other hand the number of models is not too high, which is good OK to me - I prefer quality, not quantity. Features that I miss are: tuner and aux input. The latter I miss, however I knew that before I bought the amp. The best think is the poewer attenuator, which allows you to play at low volume with full tube-like tone. I use this amp for home practising only. // 8

Sound: I use this amp with Cort EVL Z4 guitar with passive EMG pickups. I play 80s and 90s thrash. Before I used MetalZone pedal with low end solid state 0 Watt amp, I was not satisfied with the sound. I use also DigiTech RP250 multieffect connected to my home HIFI, I can get nice distorted sound out from this. I expected better results with new Vox VT30, I have to say that I am little bit disappointed.

The amp itself is not very good for metal palying without using aditional distortion in front of amp. The metal amp models do not have enough gain and distortion is fuzzy an muddy. I like clean, bright distorion free of noise with enogh crunch. I cannot get it with the VT30. I tried to add distortion in front of amp with simulation of Tube Screamer from my RP250, the sound gets much better with more crunch, but still lacks the dynamics and does not sound better than the amp models in DigiTech multieffet.

The models of clean and "softly" overdrived models are better. Overall, sound from VT30 seems to me "caval", and reminds me of sound that you get when hitting the pot with the spoon in kitchen...Unless you are not very demanding, dont expect good metal sound from this amp.

On high gain amp models there is a lot of feedback noise and hum, but you can easily reduce it with editable noise gate. There are also several affects like delay, chorus, octaver, flanger, phaser etc, which in fact do not interest me, so I will not comment on their quality. The only effect useful to my playing was the reverb, which sounds good in my opinion. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I cannot comment much on durability and reliability, but amp seems good built quality, no flaws. It weighs 12 kg, and looks masssive. Chickenhead knobs are easy to operate, nothing was lose etc, I think this is really no crap and also looks stylish. I have had the amp only for few days, so dont ask me how reliable it is in long term. // 9

Impression: Still, for the money it is quite good amp with little tube-like feeling of the sound, probably good enough for clean and slightly overdriven hard rock or blues sounds, but there is too fuzzy distortion for anything more nad always present hollow sound of big pot being hit by metal spoon. The metal models are not very good themselves, you will have to add some ovedrive or slight distortion in front-end and spent some time tweaking the sound. Fortunatelly you can save up to 8 own presets, which is enough. I will return the amp and look for something else. // 7

Reviewed by: unregistered, on october 05, 2009

Price paid: $ 269.99

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: I recently got this amp from guitar center, and was blown away by the amount of features. As its been stated so many times in these reviews, it has 22 different amp settings, and each amp setting has a Basic, Effected, and Song style. There are 8 channels: 2 different banks with 4 channels each. There are 11 effects, each with 3 edit selections.

The most helpful feature for me is being able to reduce the wattage. If I'm practicing in my room, I'll turn the knob in the back to 15W so I can keep the master volume full, to get good tone. But then, I can just turn the knob to get the full 30W playing great. // 10

Sound: I'm using a MIM Strat, playing anything from Pink Floyd to Metallica. I've had the amp for a week, and haven't had any noise problems. There's a noise reduction feature that can be adjusted manually for every guitar. This amp excells at Rock tones, but it can also get pretty good metal distortions, if on the right settings. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This thing is built like a brick. The chrome plate in the front is solid, and the amp iself isn't going to go anywhere. It is absolutly durable, but I haven't had it long enough to know if it is reliable. For that, read the other reviews here, which all say good things. // 9

Impression: I love this amp so much. It is absolutly wonderful and would reccomend it to anyone. It is the best value in this price range, and is higher than any of its competition. There is nothing wrong with this amp, and I wouldn't trade it for any other (the $100-400 price range, that is). I would make the same decision in an instant! // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: Garlic Owl, on july 24, 2009

Price paid: $ 270

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: This is a very versatile amp, it can get a clean tone, a highly distorted tone and almost everything in between. There's 4 channels, and 11 effects. Honestly, I don't know too much about effects but they sound pretty good to me, but I really don't use them. I use this amp for my bedroom and it does the job with ease, I'm don't really think you can gig with this amp though. Only things that really tick me off is when you Switch from amp model to amp model, the volume changes, and with some models you have to play with the settings to clear up some of the muddiness. The reverb has it's own setting on the panel which is better than having it down under effects. I've used the headphone jack and it sounds decent through my cheap studio headphones. I've never recorded with this amp but I will in the near future, hopefully the quality won't change. // 9

Sound: I have an Ibanez ART300 and it has active pickups. I play blues, metal, and some rock. This amp suits all of those styles perfectly. I've only cranked the volume up a couple times and it gets pretty loud but you can't gig with it unless you mic it or something. It gets some strong ass feedback when you have the gain and volume cranked up so you'll have to play with the settings. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I haven't really ever had to deal with any technical issues with this amp due to the fact that I just purchased it about 2 months ago. // 9

Impression: As I said it can pretty much suit any style really. I've been playing for about 10 months, but I've been pretty dedicated. This compared to my Roland15, it's no contest the VT30 comes out ontop. If this amp were lost or stolen, I would burn the asshole's house down when I'd find them. The only thing that I don't like about it is the fact that it changes volumes when you change the amp modeling and you have to play with the settings to get rid of feedback/muddiness. All in all, this amp is an extremely good buy for the price. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Snowy Dark, on june 24, 2009

Price paid: $ 249.99

Purchased from: Deluca Music

Features: This amp has 11 different effects, and 22 different amp sounds. The effects include Phaser, chorus, delay and tape echo, all of which are adjustable in speed and intensity. It has sounds ranging from Boutique, To overdrive, to Heavy metal sounds. It is programmable and has gain, volume, mid, treble, bass, reverb, and master knobs so it is pretty adjustable. It doesn't have the power to play shows or anything, but for practice it works just fine. It is a tube amp. However, one problem with the amp is that there is no clean channel, so it is always slightly distorted. If you turn the gain down, the amp will simply get quieter, so you must have the volumne and mster knobs up high if the gain is down. // 8

Sound: I use a Epiphone Les Paul Special II, and I play classic rock, Alternative, and hard rock. It can adjust to play all three genres, as well as metal. It can get pretty loud without ruining tone. A few of the settings sound a bit fuzzy, but there are so many that that is insignificant.the variety in tones, as previously mentioned is pretty amazing. The distortion can be mild or insane depending on what it is set to. Overall, very good sound. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I have had the amp for about a month and a half, and it hasn't started breaking yet. The shell on it is hard and sturdy, and I would trust this amp to continue working for a while more. // 10

Impression: This is a good match for any music which is not too reliant on totally clean sounds. I have been playing for around a year, and this amp suits me well. If it were stolen, I would most likely buy it again. My favorite feature is the effects, such as chorus, phaser, flanger, etc. I compared it to the Line 6 Spider III 15W, and this a much more refined and all-around nicer tone. I wish it had a clean channel. Overall, this is a pretty great amp and I would suggest it to any Who wish for a new practice or recording amp. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on march 10, 2009

Price paid: A$ 600

Purchased from: Mega Music Store

Features: The VT30 was made in 2008. Allows me to play a big variation of music styles from The Beatles to Metallica. It has 22 different amps. Twelve different effects and three can be used at the same time. Four channels. No headphone Jack. Can buy a speial effects pedal to go with it (would be very useful) // 8

Sound: I play with a Fender Squier which isn't neccesarily a great guitar but even with the amp it still makes it sound good. I vary my music from The Beatles to Metallica and this amp allows both to be played easily. The amp is 30 watts and can give quite a lot of sound. The amp can sound clean but it there is still a bit of fuzz, it sounds much better when made to sound a lot heavier. The distortion is very decent that was what I found to be the most impressive feature. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I have only had this amp for a month or two and have had no problems but whenever a different amp is set the sound gets reset unless you just twist one of the knobs a little bit.

I would use it in a gig but only if I had everything very well prepared before I started playing. // 7

Impression: This is a very good match for the style of music that I play but only for people just getting into the intermediate levels of guitar. I have been playing for about two years and am quite happy with my amp. If this amp were stolen and I had the same budget as when I first started looking at amps I would buy this amp. I love the look of the amp and the effects but I dislike the way the sound goes up and down when you Switch amp styles. It was a decision between this amp and a Peavey, but I went with this amp simply because it looked much better and had a larger variety of effects. // 8

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: luyano, on august 17, 2009

Price paid: $ 330

Purchased from: Audiomusica

Features: I bought this amp as my birthday present and I'm very happy with it, Here in Chile a new VT30 is near to the $400 US and I bought this because there was an offer with 20% free on the all amps so this was a great deal.

I think that this amp was made in 2008 or 2009 because is of the newest Valvetronix series, I play from Pop Rock to Blues Rock to Hard Rock to Alt. Rock to Thrash Metal so this amp is really nice to me, I can get from those Fender-ish cleans to a nice British distortion to that modern Hi-Gain.

It has 66 preset settings that are really nice but I never use them, I prefer to tweak the knobs and find my tone. I can save 8 settings that I use for all of those styles. It has 22 Amp models that are these:

-BOUTIQUE CL/MODDED CL: Dumble Overdrive (Clean)/Fender Showman (Dumble Modded)
-DELUXE TWEED/TWEED 2X12: Fender Tweed Deluxe/Fender '57 Twin Amp
-SUPER 4X10/TWEED 4X10: Fender Super Reverb/Fender Tweed Bassman
-AC15TB/AC15: Vox AC15 (1960's Top Boost)/VOX AC15 (1950's EF86)
-AC30HH/AC30TB: Vox AC30HH/VOX AC30TB
-EXPRESS TRAIN/BOUTIQUE OD: Trainwreck Express/Dumble Overdrive (Overdrive)
-AC50CP2/AC30BM: Vox AC50CP2/Vox AC30BM Brian May
-UK 25TH/UK '80S: Marshall 2555 Slash Jubilee/Marshall JCM800
-US '90S/CALI METAL: Peavey 6505/Mesa Boggie Dual Rectifier
-UK MODERN/UK '90S: Marshall JVM/Marshall JCM2000
-BOUTIQUE METAL/METAL BULL: Diezel VH4/VHT Pittbull

I use this amp on my bedroom with the wattage knob low and I use to Jam with friends with the necessary volume, it can get loudet than I thought before. It has Delay, Tape Echo, Chorus, Comp, Phaser, Flanger, Rotary Speaker, Tremolo, Octave, Pitch shifter and independent Reverb, I couldnt imagine that I could buy an amp like this, the effects sound really nice but I use some of them only. It has an Phone Jack but I've never used it. I would like to have the VFS5 Footswitch but I is sold separately. This is really necesary beacuse I know that you don't like to stop playing and go to press a button on your amp to change from Clean to Distortion. // 9

Sound: I use a Squier California Stratocaster with S-S-S config. I know that with single coils is really hard to get a hi-gain tone but this amp make my Strat sounds heavy enough to play Metallica or Dream Theater. It has noise reduction but I don't use it beacuse my guitar has single coils and it produces that ankward hum and when I try to take out the hum, I got to use a lot of noise reduction and this ends shuting notes, I prefer my guitar being noisy than muted.

On the clean models I use them with the gain knob at 12 o'clock because it acts like a volume knob and with the other volume knob and the master volume I can set it to sound clean and loud without getting dirty. On the Gain Channels I use the gain dimed, yeah it may be crazy but I've always done it on any amp or pedal because I just like it. Some say that it can't handle Metal but I don't think so, it makes my Squier sounds "br00talz". It is noisy with Hi-gain but it is because I'm using single coils, every thing else is nice. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I haven't played gigs with it but I think that it could nail some small gigs. I got it since last week only so I doesnt't have a lot of experience with this amp but it really looks durable, I've heard that the Vox logo may fall from the grill but I don't think that it can happen. // 8

Impression: I've mentioned all the styles I play and yes, this is a good match for me. I've been playing since 2006 and this is my second amp, I've used a Freeman 15W crap amp for the last years and finally I bought a new amp. I got a Vox Bulldog Distortion for the Freeman amp and it sounded great, but with this amp it sucks because when I turn on the pedal on my clean setting it sucks a lot of tone and volume.

I tried Marshall MG's, some Ibanez amps and a Roland Cube 20 and this amp killed them all, I think that the footswitch should be includedbecause it helps you a lot. If it were stolen I would buy it again but maybe one of his bigger brothers like the VT50 or the VT100 if I'm gigging. Nice amp if you play need a lot of versatility on a practice amp. // 9

Comments

[prt1990]

I'd suggest that you've underrated this amp slightly. Also, I have a feeling the fuzz may emanate from your guitar, since the clean on my amp sounds pretty great (I play a Mexi Tele through it). This is a good amp, especially relative to the price.

[dr4g0n33rz]

I am very sure you can set the channels to not override each other when you try changing the effects on a preset. Also, I am certain that there is a headphone jack, a standard 3.5 mm one in fact, unless we're talking about different amps.

[MetalHead916]

This reviewer does not know what he's talking about.

YES, this amp has a headphone jack on it. If you didn't know that, than you shouldn't be reviewing this amp.

As for your sound rating, well you have a squire so we can disregard that rating. And as an above commenter stated, the hum/fuzz is from your guitar. I have a squire from back in the day. It creates fuzz/hum from any amp I plug it into.

I'm thinking about grabbing this off of CL for $120. IF I do, I'll come by and make a review of it.

[BigFella69]

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

[doubtfull]

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

anyone would tell you not to get a spider. from what ive heard about this amp, its pretty good. not sure about metal though, have a look on youtube at the videos of these amps playing metal.

[9badarv]

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

you get more variety with the Vox, prob better in the long run. i also found a demo of the amp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTArC1ZwV8

[HannibalX]

frankly i got a great tone out with a squire+vt30 setting
this baby is well worth the money, its available in india for under $350,
best part is, it will NOT hamper your guitar's actual tone,
I'm buying it myself for my birthday, (yes and not the spider)
but i am thinking whether or not the peavy vampyre,
peavy smoothness vs vox crunch..tough call

[sg4ever]

VT50 is great too. Much better for live application.

[pimpinazndude]

Just got this amp. I like it. Effects sound good. Amp models are good too except for the metal amp models... not quite crunchy enough for me but they're still pretty decent.

[linkrevolver]

lovely amp

[Shredderofdeath]

awesome amp

[revo crazy]

im gonna get one of these i think....

[Revine16]

i hope i can get this too and i can get a free korg effects with it XD ^__^

[adnor junior]

this vox vt30 or a roland cube 30x. i want to buy an amp but i don't know wich one

[MetallAndy]

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

I have this Vox amp and a Spider Valve 212. I would say that the Vox is amazing for almost every genre, but in my opinion it's weak for metal. The spider works best for metal in my opinion.

[GuerillaGorilla]

Hey, so I'm looking at this and the Peavey Vypyr for my next amp- which would you guys recommend? I use a BOSS OS-2 for my distortion and overdrive, which do you think would give a better tone?

[jetwash69]

MetallAndy wrote:

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

I have this Vox amp and a Spider Valve 212. I would say that the Vox is amazing for almost every genre, but in my opinion it's weak for metal. The spider works best for metal in my opinion.

Big difference between a 3 75 & a 'valve 212!

[MetallAndy]

jetwash69 wrote:

MetallAndy wrote:

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

I have this Vox amp and a Spider Valve 212. I would say that the Vox is amazing for almost every genre, but in my opinion it's weak for metal. The spider works best for metal in my opinion.

Big difference between a 3 75 & a 'valve 212!

Yeah, but I have the 3 75 as well and I prefer that one over the Vox too. But I love the clean sound of the Vox and it's great for more bluesy stuff and rock like AC/DC.

[MetallAndy]

MetallAndy wrote:

jetwash69 wrote:

MetallAndy wrote:

BigFella69 wrote:

i play mettalica to death metal and im think of buying this amp or a spider 3 75 but dont know which to get can anyone help me out?

I have this Vox amp and a Spider Valve 212. I would say that the Vox is amazing for almost every genre, but in my opinion it's weak for metal. The spider works best for metal in my opinion.

Big difference between a 3 75 & a 'valve 212!

Yeah, but I have the 3 75 as well and I prefer that one over the Vox too. But I love the clean sound of the Vox and it's great for more bluesy stuff and rock like AC/DC.

Nevermind anything I've said about the Vox. I forgot that I have the Vox AD30VT, not the VT30, sorry!