New Vox Valvetronix VTX150 Pro announced today

[Voxman]

Now with 44 amp models, VC12/VC12SV compatibility, and an EL84 power tube in the valvereactor circuit!

http://www.voxamps.com/valvetronixpro/vtx150/

Rich

[RocksWithVox]

Hi Rich,

Am I to take from this that the VC12SV will be being manufactured and sold again new? If so, this is good news for original Blue Valvetronix owners... Surely? I'm currently in the process of trying to find a foot controller for my newly acquired AD120VTH...

Cheers,

James

[Voxman]

That's my understanding & I'm way ahead of you - I asked that very question to Vox this morning & I'm just waiting for Vox to come back to me to clarify!

[RocksWithVox]

Haha, brilliant! I e-mailed Vox about an hour ago myself... Along with a few distributors. My fingers are crossed for this as so far I've been able to track a VC12 down in the USA, but if I can get one in the UK, brand new and probably cheaper after shipping/import duty etc, then I'll be a very happy man!

Do you know if these new Valvetronix are set to be superior in terms of quality, compared with the old blues? I can't help looking at it and thinking probably not... It's not the most attractive thing I've seen them produce! And I'm a fan of the chrome look!

Cheers,

James

[DaBirch]

I sense a pricedrop on secondhand blues... Bring it on!

I might just pick one of those 150s up too! But why just 4x4 patches when the pedal's got 8x4?

/Dan

[Voxman]

I hate the chrome look - cheap 'm nasty - but that's just my personal opinion. Bearing in mind budgetry constraints and the need for keen pricing in the market I'd be surprised if the VTX150+ stands up completely to the Blues from a solidness of construction perspective - production cost was a big reason they were discontinued. But then on the other hand construction & design techniques have changed and some of these may actually be better - arguably the Class D design is more efficient, increasing power handling with lighter weight. The introduction of an EL84 power valve sounds like it could be a definite sonic and 'valve feel' improvement. So, I think that some elements will be better, others perhaps less so - at this price point there have got to be compromises. 44 amp models is arguably overkill - but it will clearly provide more tonal options.

[Voxman]

I sense a pricedrop on secondhand blues... Bring it on!

I might just pick one of those 150s up too! But why just 4x4 patches when the pedal's got 8x4?

/Dan

This is a misconception - the pedal doesn't have 4 x 8 patches - it merely provides floor access to what's in the amp. In the BlackDiamond prototype it gave access to 128 patches, in the Blues 32 - and in the VT150+ it's 16, which is a reasonable number bearing in mind that without patch naming facilities you'll struggle to remember the locations of more than this anyway.

[DaBirch]

This is a misconception - the pedal doesn't have 4 x 8 patches

Ah, well yes of course. I knew that once but my two gray cells have a tough time remembering certain things, maybe they just don't like the way certain things work

I guess what fooled me again was that they say you get 8 patches with just the amp and 16 with the pedal.

[bclarke675]

Sounds like the replacement for my AD60VTX, if I ever need it.

[Voxman]

Sounds like the replacement for my AD60VTX, if I ever need it.

Possibly - but you might want to keep your AD60VTX too!

Whilst the VTX150 Pro may be a VT+ on steroids & I'm sure will sound great with the new Neodog & EL84 tube, I suspect it still doesn't have the Blue's 'gigability' with the VC12, and its effect & floorboard options remain limited - the VC12 can only control what's in the amp. However, I need to see the manual and/or try the amp to fully understand what you can/can't do with the VC12.

I suspect that you probably won't get full stomp box control - effects will probably just go on/off globally even with the VC12 (akin to the VFS5). For example, because the delay and modulation effects are in the same section, I can't see that you'll be able to switch these on/off independently.

Re 'Wah' it says on the VTX150 Pro product page:

The VC-12SV also provides a volume pedal and expression pedal, which you can use to control volume, wah, or the parameters of each effect, offering even more live performance potential.

As the VTX150 Pro doesn't have a wah option in its pedal effects options (only auto-wah) I'm not sure if it can give a manual wah as in the Blue series - unless the auto-wah is 'converted' to a manual wah somehow when connected to the VC12 - I suspect all you'll be able to do is just alter the range of the auto-wah with the expression pedal i.e. it can only give floor control to parameter in the amp.

Doubling up on the user memories to 16 is good though. But the VC12SV is still going to be expensive - so I think folk need to fully understand exactly what this will/won't do to avoid possible disappointment. If you've already got the VC12 and haven't bought it specially, no biggie - but if you buy it specially & think it will do in the VTX150 Pro what it will do in the Blues, I think there could be disappointment unless Vox makes the functionality VERY clear! Particularly as a lot of folk completely misunderstand floor-controllers and think these are giving additional effects and controls not available in the amp. Hmmm - I think I'll flag that thought to Vox to try and avoid possible customer misunderstandings and 'upset'. Also, (re Vox comment below) availability of the VC12sv might be an issue too.

The amp won't be out til late Summer 2011, but I'm trying to get hold of an advance copy of the manual.

Rich

PS - by the way, Vox tell me the VC12SV has always been a current model but the demand is so low that it means they are expensive to bring in. If a higher demand is generated by the VTX150 amp they should be able to get a reasonable quantity in but they’ll still be expensive though.