PonyOne
03-27-2005, 12:38 PM
http://www.voxamps.co.uk/images/products/pathfinder/Path15_ph.jpg
http://www.voxamps.co.uk/images/products/pathfinder/path15controls.jpg
Cost:
$120 at Mars Music in 1999; still the same price!! and now with reverb
Pros:
-try to find better sound out of a $120 amp
-the most durable piece of gear i own
-versatile sounds make it a great first amp
Cons:
-not the loudest thing ever; probably not best suited to playing live
Review:
This was my first amp and I've kept it as my living room practice amp (the JC120 takes up a lot of space and it's louder). When I got it, I had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting into; I saved up $200 and went to Mars Music and said "I need an amp." The salesman pointed me towards the Crates and Marshalls in the 10-15 watt range and I was unimpressed. I may not have been playing for long but I knew the difference between crap and quality.
I had just about resigned myself to saving up another couple hundred bucks when another shopper suggested one of the Vox amps. I plugged one in and loved it, and I am glad that I made that decision. Since then, I've carted the thing all over Massachusetts and Los Angeles, it's been cross country, it's fallen off of curbs, been rained and snowed on (you know... high school rock band days), shut in subway doors, had a cat puke on it, had a couple drinks knocked over on it, and generally been through hell. It sounds perfect; no crackling, no noise in the pots, no nothing, it just goes.
for knobs, it features gain, volume, treble, bass, tremolo speed and tremolo depth. the tremolo is kind of like a built-in almost-phaser that is utterly useless; i've used it a few times and its point still evades me. it does add a sort of artificial tremolo that gives the tone a bit of a waver but it is really pretty pointless. it also has a gain boost button, which lets the distortion get a little bit nastier.
in terms of tone, with the gain down low it gets a very rich clean sound that is very good considering its size. it is way more pleasant than the $150 Crates that people compare it too. with the gain up, it can get from a British bluesrock tone (think Clapton, the Yardbirds) to a bit more aggressive classic distortion that, unlike other guitars in its range, doesn't completely lose its character as it gets more aggressive. With the boost on, you get a much more progressive tone; no, you aren't going to be rivalling any Mesas, but, if you want to get some teeth in your sound it'll do it. Basically, this amp can do anything from light blues up to punk/alt rock. with the gain down low and the boost off it works well with distortion pedals and with my MT-2 can get a convincing metal tone.
This amp also has a few more features than most amps in its range which may make it even more enticing: a line out (so you can out it to a mixer, PA or even another amp), headphone out (so you can hook up your 'phones and still out to a mixer/PA/etc), 8 ohm cabinet out (Vox makes a matching 10' speaker cab) and a footswitch control so you can switch the Boost on and off.
Summary:
For $120 it is a really, really awesome deal, and IMHO, it's the best starter/practice amp you can get. Whether you just got your first electric and just need something to plug into, or you're a seasoned veteran who needs an inexpensive amp to cart around that still has a convincing sound, this is your little beast.
http://www.voxamps.co.uk/images/products/pathfinder/path15controls.jpg
Cost:
$120 at Mars Music in 1999; still the same price!! and now with reverb
Pros:
-try to find better sound out of a $120 amp
-the most durable piece of gear i own
-versatile sounds make it a great first amp
Cons:
-not the loudest thing ever; probably not best suited to playing live
Review:
This was my first amp and I've kept it as my living room practice amp (the JC120 takes up a lot of space and it's louder). When I got it, I had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting into; I saved up $200 and went to Mars Music and said "I need an amp." The salesman pointed me towards the Crates and Marshalls in the 10-15 watt range and I was unimpressed. I may not have been playing for long but I knew the difference between crap and quality.
I had just about resigned myself to saving up another couple hundred bucks when another shopper suggested one of the Vox amps. I plugged one in and loved it, and I am glad that I made that decision. Since then, I've carted the thing all over Massachusetts and Los Angeles, it's been cross country, it's fallen off of curbs, been rained and snowed on (you know... high school rock band days), shut in subway doors, had a cat puke on it, had a couple drinks knocked over on it, and generally been through hell. It sounds perfect; no crackling, no noise in the pots, no nothing, it just goes.
for knobs, it features gain, volume, treble, bass, tremolo speed and tremolo depth. the tremolo is kind of like a built-in almost-phaser that is utterly useless; i've used it a few times and its point still evades me. it does add a sort of artificial tremolo that gives the tone a bit of a waver but it is really pretty pointless. it also has a gain boost button, which lets the distortion get a little bit nastier.
in terms of tone, with the gain down low it gets a very rich clean sound that is very good considering its size. it is way more pleasant than the $150 Crates that people compare it too. with the gain up, it can get from a British bluesrock tone (think Clapton, the Yardbirds) to a bit more aggressive classic distortion that, unlike other guitars in its range, doesn't completely lose its character as it gets more aggressive. With the boost on, you get a much more progressive tone; no, you aren't going to be rivalling any Mesas, but, if you want to get some teeth in your sound it'll do it. Basically, this amp can do anything from light blues up to punk/alt rock. with the gain down low and the boost off it works well with distortion pedals and with my MT-2 can get a convincing metal tone.
This amp also has a few more features than most amps in its range which may make it even more enticing: a line out (so you can out it to a mixer, PA or even another amp), headphone out (so you can hook up your 'phones and still out to a mixer/PA/etc), 8 ohm cabinet out (Vox makes a matching 10' speaker cab) and a footswitch control so you can switch the Boost on and off.
Summary:
For $120 it is a really, really awesome deal, and IMHO, it's the best starter/practice amp you can get. Whether you just got your first electric and just need something to plug into, or you're a seasoned veteran who needs an inexpensive amp to cart around that still has a convincing sound, this is your little beast.