seriously having a mass debate with myself over amps...!

[Woogie]

You may be in luck here. I know someone selling a Tech21 rack preamp thing. It's a PSA-1 without the midi memory thing

[MM-S MIKE]

I don't know about the vox valvetronix amps, but with a few minutes of tweaking I can get a very good Mesa Dual Rectifier sound from the Tonelab which uses the same technology and amp models, and I think the US HI GAIN model is based on a Peavey and you can get some nice heavy tones from that with a downtuned guitar. So the Valvetronix reactor can do the sort of high gain sound you're looking pretty well if you experiment with the levels. Also, stick a virtual tubescreamer in front of your virtual amp to boost it and turn on the noise reduction as well.  Tbh I spend most of my time using the Marshall/Mesa/(Peavey?) models on there. Whether you'd need a valvetronix XL or just the chrome grilled series to match that I'm not sure.


And, scour the B stock and Ex-demo amplifiers online, you might find yourself a very good deal.

[varkunus]

thats what my friend from music college (student) said... the defaults arent great but if you fiddle you can have a great tone. And could i get in touch with the guy whos selling the tech 21? But i did look into trademark amps which use the sans technology. But from what i can gather even the mesa settings sound like a hotrodded marshall. Right well i need to try the ad100vt then, although im still leaving my options open. And would that be and upgrade from a dsl401, or maybe a dsl401 with a speaker upgrade (only a cheap one) and a cheap EQ. Ive looked at clips on youtube but still dont seem to like the upgraded sound much, the fizzyness seems to become fuzzyness, but more harmonic. Also i still dont think it would offer the versatility i need. I have looked into vc50 (gh100r) combos in 50w basically. But everyone is saying they are rather bright and probably wont do the mesa low end im looking for. Also where they are discontinued i would have to buy second hand which could mean i need to replace all the tubes etc. So still undecided really but the ad100vt is the favourite at the moment i would say. Anyone own or played them alot? Say your band mate has one

[Stevepage]

thats what my friend from music college (student) said... the defaults arent great but if you fiddle you can have a great tone. And could i get in touch with the guy whos selling the tech 21? But i did look into trademark amps which use the sans technology. But from what i can gather even the mesa settings sound like a hotrodded marshall. Right well i need to try the ad100vt then, although im still leaving my options open. And would that be and upgrade from a dsl401, or maybe a dsl401 with a speaker upgrade (only a cheap one) and a cheap EQ. Ive looked at clips on youtube but still dont seem to like the upgraded sound much, the fizzyness seems to become fuzzyness, but more harmonic. Also i still dont think it would offer the versatility i need. I have looked into vc50 (gh100r) combos in 50w basically. But everyone is saying they are rather bright and probably wont do the mesa low end im looking for. Also where they are discontinued i would have to buy second hand which could mean i need to replace all the tubes etc. So still undecided really but the ad100vt is the favourite at the moment i would say. Anyone own or played them alot? Say your band mate has one

I own the VC50 and it does the low end chug very well. It's got 6L6 valves instead of EL34's and I changed the speakers to Celestion G12K-100's which give it more low end and round off the highs a touch. They can be bright, but only if you don't play with your EQ for a bit. Just keep a look out for one.

However I hear great things about the AD100VT's, I've heard people using it for small clinics at guitar shows and it sounds pretty good.

[varkunus]

yes but thing is with the vc50 is that i would have to pay for tubes and speaker change on top and i really am uptight for budget. And youd have to buy second hand, and i dont mind buying second hand, im all for it, but i could end up with some really bad old tubes. So i duno the ad is still slightly ahead. Also i really like a thick reverb sound and might find some of the onboard effects of the AD useful, although i wont buy the amp based on that, if there good then thats a bonus kind of thing, if not then meh tough luck. Call me a nub but i did like the sound of the AVT amp at music college, it sounded pretty good although it wasnt quite bright enough in a band situation.

[varkunus]

I don't know about the vox valvetronix amps, but with a few minutes of tweaking I can get a very good Mesa Dual Rectifier sound from the Tonelab which uses the same technology and amp models, and I think the US HI GAIN model is based on a Peavey and you can get some nice heavy tones from that with a downtuned guitar. So the Valvetronix reactor can do the sort of high gain sound you're looking pretty well if you experiment with the levels. Also, stick a virtual tubescreamer in front of your virtual amp to boost it and turn on the noise reduction as well.  Tbh I spend most of my time using the Marshall/Mesa/(Peavey?) models on there. Whether you'd need a valvetronix XL or just the chrome grilled series to match that I'm not sure.


And, scour the B stock and Ex-demo amplifiers online, you might find yourself a very good deal.

i dont know if the ad has a virtual tubescreamer but i have an MXR overdrive which i prefered to tubescreamers anyway. And i thought the US high gain was based on the soldanos, but what is the UK high gain based on?

[Will]

UK high gain is Marshall,
US is Mesa.

Aren'ts the Soldano's a 'super lead overdrive' ie modded Marshall territory

[varkunus]

Ahh theve just announced a new series of valvetronix with 5 preset sounds that are footswitchable, also with more amp models. http://www.voxamps.co.uk/valvetronixVT/vt15-30-50-100.asp. I dont know if i would use all the amp models, but the 5 presets must be handy. I bet it will cost alot more though, any gear nerds played one of these?

[Woogie]

Will let you know soon cos he might not be, but I think he will be ;).

[AndyR]

Ahh theve just announced a new series of valvetronix with 5 preset sounds that are footswitchable, also with more amp models. http://www.voxamps.co.uk/valvetronixVT/vt15-30-50-100.asp. I dont know if i would use all the amp models, but the 5 presets must be handy. I bet it will cost alot more though, any gear nerds played one of these?

I was looking at those earlier - I don't think they're out yet, might be wrong though.

As far as I can make out, the modelling in the existing valvetronix products (including the tonelab LE I have) has moved on in the last few months, and they're in the middle of getting it to market. The VTs look to me like a step down from the Black Diamond "top of the range". Possibly they're to replace the AD stuff eventually? Personally I'm not that interested until they announce a new "tonelab" that uses this technology - so I didn't look much further...

Whether it's an improvement to the modelling, or just an extra X amplifiers/etc that they've modelled, I'm not sure. It does look like they've addressed the "you can only have one stomp on at once" issue that some LE users complain of (eg you can't use a distortion/overdrive pedal model and a wah at the same time in the signal chain - no problem for me, I don't really use dist/od pedals to get tones...)

[varkunus]

hhhm so it might be worth hanging on for they said end of 2008, so thats obviously gona be before xmas. Although i bet they will be more expensive, but if there not then i might go for one, if not im sure the AD prices will drop so i might bag myself a good deal, although if the modelling on the VT series is better it might be worth saving a bit more, but if its just extra amp models i wont use, then, meh. But the 5 channel thing seems to be useful, especially for live situations.

[varkunus]

just checked out that black diamond and it looks pretty darn good so if the new vt has almost as many feature i think they will be about £350-450

[Stevepage]

I forgot. What about the Peavey Valveking. They seem pretty versatile and might tick all the boxes so to speak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xBoGWBYuPw

[varkunus]

ow ive almost been talked into getting the vc50, if they sound as good as the vh100r then they are the real mccoy. Also they go pretty cheap, one on ebay for £200 (PLEASE DON BUY IT), I assume this would be a better option to the ad100vt? I mean it would still do a a really thick slightly industrial sounding, big low end mesaish type sound wouldnt it...?

[Stevepage]

It's possible. You would need a tubescreamer or overdrive pedal to get a slightly more chuggy sound, but mine seems to be very close to that without one.