I need a new amp?

[purplehaze1988]

I have a mex strat with Vox AD-15VT, and to be honest i've never been a fan of the tone it gives me. the clean is fine but the distortion is disgusting and there is absolute no blues tone, something which is very important to me.

I was thinking of getting an awesome FX pedal to counter this, but my mate told me that running an FX peda through an amp with effects sounds shit. is this true? i don't necessarily want to buy a new amp if i don't have to, but i am looking for a better sound.

i posted this on another board and got no help so i would appreciate some detailed advice

thanks in advance

[purplehaze1988]

you lazy bastards

[AXL 20]

get a tube amp

end of story

[Genesis]

^ I'll say it louder: GET A TUBE AMP!

Tube amp combos are not so expensive anymore, so there's ur answer.

[purplehaze1988]

the point is i dont want to get a new amp if i dont have to!

grrr. i'll just go to dawsons tomorrow. thanks anyway.

[Genesis]

the point is i dont want to get a new amp if i dont have to!

Oh, but u have to. You want a blues tone? Only tubes will give u that. No shitty pedal will come close.

[AXL 20]

i have a roland microcube and there is no way in hell i can get blues out of that, however my 212 peavey ValveKing will give you loads of tube blues tones.

[purplehaze1988]

im sure the son of a bitch that sold me the amp said it was tube cos i reember people saying dont get solid statee, get tube.

isnt valve (ie valvetronix) the english for tube? might've read that somewhere...

[WeHeldTogether]

yeah it explains it in the manual, i have the exact same amp.  have you ever tried the UK 70s amp model?  It gives you a good Cream-esque bluesy tone...just gotta mess with the gain, treble, etc.  the cream tone might not be what you're looking for though.

[Genesis]

If u want a nice but cheap tube amp, go for the Epiphone Valve Junior (5W). It's only $120 or something...

[Miz]

Firstly, don't be such a nob.

you lazy bastards

Secondly, the vox Valvetronix series are probably the best practice amps you can get which aren't all tube.

Thirdly, running "an awesome FX pedal" thru a shit amp will never sound good. There are very few pedals which sound good through shit amps, the Blackstone Mosfet II being the only one I can think of (and incidentally, probably the best overdrive pedal you can buy).

Fourthly, there aren't any effects pedals which will sound as close to a tube amp as the pre-amp in your valvetronix except real tube pedals (a la EH) or maybe Line 6 stuff (but you NEED a good power amp).

Finally, I've played on an AD-15 before, and at practice volume, you can get a brilliant blues tone out of it. In fact you can get lots of brilliant tones out of it. It does get a bit noisy, but then thats what you get with modelling equipment.

[AXL 20]

the valvetronix line has like 1 ie 2 tubes in the preamp and the power amp is solid state.
Valvetronix are the equivilant of marshall's valvestate

I heard laney has a 15 watt all tube amp thats cheap

[Genesis]

the valvetronix line has like 1 ie 2 tubes in the preamp and the power amp is solid state.
Valvetronix are the equivilant of marshall's valvestate

Why go for part solid state, when u can have an all tube amp. Amps from Laney and Epiphone are certainly available cheaply.

[purplehaze1988]

ok thanks all for the advice

[AXL 20]

the laney LC15 (their 10w A/B tube amp) is ?165.00

its $300us but i searched on a uk site and thats the number. the one with reverb is even more expensive