Upgrade or VJ?

**Mr Grumpy** · May 4th, 2008, 01:15 PM

Now, I love my Vox AD30VT - it sounds great with my gordon smith (and did when I had a Pacifica, for which I am GASsing for the new 112V but I digress...) but also loved the Epi VJ I tried once. Now, should I bother upgrading the speaker to a Celestion G10 or whatever other speaker or keep it stock and get a valve junior to partner it? bearing in mind MOST of my playing is at fairly low volumes though I'm looking to jam soon, though dont see me gigging atall. I also use my toneport a lot for headphone playing. I have a small pedal collection (OD, Dist, Chorus and hopefully soon delay) which I could use to expand the possibilities of a VJ, but dont want to spend too much of my GAS savings as I want a 2nd Electric (the aforementioned Pacifica, which for me beat a Mex strat hands down).

I spent a time using a Valve Junior and it was lovely with an OD pedal alone - just LOUD for its size! What to do?

marnold*** · May 4th, 2008, 05:32 PM

Good question. I've been pondering the same thing for quite some time now.

**warren0728** · May 4th, 2008, 06:06 PM

i think everyone should have at least one tube amph....just sayin'.....

ww

**tot_Ou_tard** · May 4th, 2008, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by warren0728

i think everyone should have at least one tube amph....just sayin'.....

ww

I'm with Warren. I'd take the tube amph over a speaker upgrade.

I have the AD30VT & did the speaker upgrade. It is an improvement, but not the get a whole new amph kind of improvment.

Since I've gotten the Fender Champion 600 I hardly ever play the AD30VT anymore.

**Katastrophe** · May 4th, 2008, 06:56 PM

From reading your post, it looks to me like you really would like to have the VJ.

If you have the funds, forego the speaker swap and get the Valve Junior head and cab. You'd end up having the best of both worlds, with sparkly tubey goodnes, as well as the flexibility of the Vox.

As far as the Yamaha goes, the 112 looks cool... I've been wanting to play a Mike Stern signature for some time now, but I haven't been able to find one to play...

**Kazz** · May 5th, 2008, 04:45 AM

Originally Posted by tot_Ou_tard

I'm with Warren. I'd take the tube amph over a speaker upgrade.

I have the AD30VT & did the speaker upgrade. It is an improvement, but not the get a whole new amph kind of improvment.

Since I've gotten the Fender Champion 600 I hardly ever play the AD30VT anymore.

Since you are not playing it anymore...you could send it down here....I will play it lovingly

**tot_Ou_tard** · May 5th, 2008, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by Kazz

Since you are not playing it anymore...you could send it down here....I will play it lovingly

I said hardly ever..not never

.

I'll trade you for your Parkwood PW340FM

.

**Guitar Gal** · May 5th, 2008, 05:09 PM

My 2 pesos......

I have the Vox AD30VT with the speaker upgrade and a modded version 2 VJ and I find myself using the VJ more than the Vox. It is nice to have the option to switch between the two as well.

I've heard good things about the latest VJ (version 3). My vote is to get the VJ and do the speaker swap on the Vox later.

GG

**Tone2TheBone** · May 6th, 2008, 09:26 AM

Nothing against the AD series amps I had one too and loved it...but I eventually upgraded to an all tube amp. That happens to some people.

**Mr Grumpy** · May 7th, 2008, 12:53 PM

I'm still in 2 minds - I sat down and analysed my playing time and most of it is via the toneport, often set to a decent amp with a pedal or before the input, then either phones or PC speakers. 'Amp' time is usually at very low volume in the evening or at weekend in the house, even on the odd house jam Ive been to its been 30W amps at about half volume and its plenty for messin' about. Hopefully any larger jams that may occur in future could be miked or use borrowed/venue gear. My playing isnt good enough to feel comfortable about being loud and the Vox goes much louder than I really need at the moment. I dont think I could push even a 5W valve amp into the sweet spot with my current situation, and space/storage is a problem in a small house with small kiddies. Maybe I'll shelve the tiny valve amp idea for now and consider a speaker swap (though again, at low volumes it may be barely noticeable).

I also really want another guitar and my local has some unspeakable deals to tempt me with. Need to get it past the wife-radar yet though.....thanks for the replies though. Looks like its Vox for me for a while yet.

**WackyT** · May 7th, 2008, 01:19 PM

Think I'd go for the tube amp also.

Think DVM still has a fully modded VJ up for sale.

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=6531&page=4

**mechanic** · May 7th, 2008, 05:45 PM

I'd also go for the VJ.
I own one and can't understand how I lived so long without it.
Eric

**Mr Grumpy** · May 10th, 2008, 01:26 PM

Well, its going to have to be either valve or Vox due to space issues. If I go down the little valve amp route these look mighty interesting and have great reviews on HC etc (they are basically rebranded blonde VJ's)

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ga15.htm
http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ga5g112.htm

I might really think about selling the Vox and going this route and use the toneport for quiet practice.

**WackyT** · May 10th, 2008, 02:32 PM

That second one looks nice.

**Tibernius** · July 23rd, 2008, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Grumpy

Well, its going to have to be either valve or Vox due to space issues. If I go down the little valve amp route these look mighty interesting and have great reviews on HC etc (they are basically rebranded blonde VJ's)

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ga15.htm
http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ga5g112.htm

I might really think about selling the Vox and going this route and use the toneport for quiet practice.

I've got a GA5 and it's pretty good, sounds a bit fenderish. I need to sort something out with the tone control though, as it is it's pretty much useless.

**ShortBuSX** · July 24th, 2008, 01:48 PM

My question to you would be:
Which amp model(s) do you spend the most time on?

I found myself on the Tweed and Blackface models all the time with my Tele and Strat.
So I bought a Fender amp!

I kinda liked the Vox models, but it was either hit or miss, but I did consider an AC15.

I also found the high gain models fake and useless with my Les Paul...but some people like that Line6 tone/sound.

Id suggest buying a model that you play often, moreso than upgrading the AD30.
Which BTW, I still think is a great amp, it served me well, I learned alot about tone from it(thanks ROBERT)

: ...but Im moving onward and forward!

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