Vox-types

JohnPerry

Anyone have any experience of the Bad Cat Cub or Cub II, the Matchless Lightning, the Hayseed 15, the 65 Amps Lil' Elvis...that kind of thing? Anyone been able to compare any two or three of them? Am looking for a fairly low-wattage EL84-type with Vox crunch, preferably at low volumes. Used to have an AC15TV hand-wired... it was nice but only broke up when very loud.

Dodge

Hey John!

The Matchless and Bad Cat amps don't give it up until they're VERY loud.  Just taken delivery of a VHT Special 12/20RT and even with 6L6's in for 20W, it's nowhere near as loud as the little Lightning.

ATB mate,

P

JohnPerry

Cheers Paul. I may need power-scaling or somesuch then by the sound of it? The 65 has some of that I think

Dodge

Does it need to be giggable?  Wonder if the Mini Cat II or the AC4HW might suit.

JohnPerry

No. But I had the MiniCat II. Found it a bit, I dunno, one-dimensional tbh

Dave_Mc

JohnPerry said:

I may need power-scaling or somesuch then by the sound of it?

Yeah more than likely, if you want power tube distortion at half-reasonable volume levels.

ThePrettyDamned

Mooer little monster ac. Literally the best sounding ac type amp I've heard that's not an ac30, and kicked vox's own arse at the lower wattage amps. Just use a simple home made attenuator, it's a loud 5 watts! Single el84, warm or bright and top boost on or off. No eq, doesn't need it. It's just perfect and I love mine.

If only I wasn't a metal head. I can't bring myself to sell it, so I have to save up for my metal amp

Catthan

They say the Suhr Badger 18 sounds voxy (at least compared to the 30 which allegedly sounds Marshall-y). It has power scaling to retain the tone at low volumes involving the power stage too.
Don t know about the other amps mentioned here but this one is on the expensive side.

Brgrds

mike257

Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 (if you can find one) would do a great job. Apparently based on AC30/Matchless DC30, drops down to 15w or 7w (Switching from four power valves to two and from pentode to triode) so great for low volume gigs or natural overdrive at sensible levels. Has a voicing switch to go from normal (AC30-style) to a variety of curves which will take you into Fender or Marshall ballparks, but the AC tones are its strength. Eminence Red Fang speakers too, they're lovely. Love mine, I'd have two if I could justify the spending/weight!

They were discontinued by Fender after they acquired Genz Benz but did retail at around a grand and a half. Can probably be had (if you find someone daft enough to sell one) for between £500 and £600 used. No plans to let go of mine in a hurry!

koss59

I've owned a handwired heritage Vox, two Matchless' including a C-30 head and 2-12 and two Dr.Z combos.

I recently got the Badcat Black cat 15 and it's the best of the lot! It gives the most amazing tones I've ever heard and the master is so good it can be used at low volumes. I really can't recommend it highly enough. It's also way over a grand cheaper than a Matchless

JohnPerry

Thanks, all, for all those thoughts. The Black Cat is particularly tempting. 

One name bandied around a lot when people talk about the perfect Vox tone is Vox. Who knew? I've not yet read a review of the AC15HW1 that doesn't rave about it. Apparently a quantum leap in tone from the hand-wired Heritage version I had. 

So I guess that deserves a listen first up

Dave_Mc

mike257 said:

Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 (if you can find one) would do a great job. Apparently based on AC30/Matchless DC30, drops down to 15w or 7w (Switching from four power valves to two and from pentode to triode) so great for low volume gigs or natural overdrive at sensible levels. Has a voicing switch to go from normal (AC30-style) to a variety of curves which will take you into Fender or Marshall ballparks, but the AC tones are its strength. Eminence Red Fang speakers too, they're lovely. Love mine, I'd have two if I could justify the spending/weight!

They were discontinued by Fender after they acquired Genz Benz but did retail at around a grand and a half. Can probably be had (if you find someone daft enough to sell one) for between £500 and £600 used. No plans to let go of mine in a hurry!

Probably even less than that since GAK was blowing out them for less than that new not so long ago. Very nice (though not 100% sold on the reliability, my first one was DOA and I wasn't the only one having problems).

But yeah vox is probably worth a try, lol. Will be a lot easier to find than genz benz, too.

daveyh

Blackstar Artisan, one channel is voiced Vox, the other Fender.