I don't mean for this to be "Max's Guitar Stuff"- it's just that lately, almost all of my "fun" purchases have been guitar-related. I promise that, soon, I'll talk about some other purchases, but for now...
So, my Crate CR65 practice amp ( meaning my main Amp-I play "Living Room Stadium" nightly) is very, very old. It still works, basically. The reverb tank is shot, and the brightness switch is a dicey affair, but I can still plug it in, and crank out noise with it. But, it's from 1978. I have owned it since before the 1990's. So, it's time for a change. I've been looking at the Orange Tiny terror, but a lot of my friends have gone in for Modelling. So, this is my compromise: I went down to the pawn shop and picked up a Vox Valvetronix VT15. It cost me Seventy bucks, which is pretty dirt cheap. The pre-amp is all tube, so it's a heck of a lot louder than most 15 watt solid state amps- I'd put it up against a 40 Watt Crate or Randall. It's got several different modelled voices, but I have stuck with the AC30 for the most part. It's got lots of built in effects models, but I have stuck mostly with the Reverb, only. I really don't care for most of the model stuff. All it ends up sounding like, to me, is really bad early 1980's rackmount BS- Alesis styled stuff. Again, I've got lots of friends who swear by that stuff- but here's where I think the difference is- people want to sound like the records. I want to sound like the live performance. Keep in mind that I know this makes me a minority opinion, here. For example- virtually every Metalhead likes the Metallica "V" shaped EQ. I strongly suspect that Hetfield developed that because he loved a bunch of the New Wave of Heavy Metal bands from the UK- these were bands he could not see live, ever- so he was copping virtually everything from his home stereo- which would benefit from cutting out the midrange- see, Treble is directional, and bass is sensual- so crank the bass, and you feel it, crank the Treble, and the sound goes right to you- the end result is that it simulates standing right at the lip of the stage, where you feel the bass in your chest, and every cymbal snap translates directly to your spine. However- here's the problem with that- things like Cymbals, keyboards, and Snare drums have those frequencies, while Bass guitars, and kickdrums have the lower frequencies- with a live band, the most space for the guitars is in the upper mids- that V shape means that you have to kick up the volume in order to be heard. If you cranked the mids, you wouldn't be competing against the other instruments, and could be heard. Hate to tell you this- but that tone- from James Hetfield to Dimebag Darrell just sounds like frosting on the beater to me- a sweet mush with no distinct flavor. Likewise, the modelled Amp and effect sound- it just sounds flat, to me. So, lesson learned- I'm sticking with regular solid state from here on out. Still, I don't want to write about what I don't like- and this is no exception- While the AC15 and AC30 sounds really don't sound like "real" Vox AC's- they are better than passable "clean tones" and the reverb is a nice touch of wetness- so, it sounds good with my pedals. I can crank out some nice crunchy tones really easily, and with a little more work, I think I can get some Fender Champ type chimey tones. That means, at 70 bucks, this'll do, just fine. Still think I need another Amp, and I never have trusted tubes, at low volumes, but this is certainly a nice little Amplifier.
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