Quote:
Originally Posted by perttime
Vox does have the Mini Superbeetle which is a compact NuTube amp that is supposed to behave much like AC-series amps...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LFL Steve
Vox was on this path, but isn’t now. Their original modeling line used a miniature tube in a hybrid circuit, which they called “valve reactor” or “VR.” This was the Valvetronix series available as heads, combos, console, and pedalboard. All these were long before the KORG/Noritake NuTube. To access all the models required a complicated control interface, but if you just wanted that valve reactor circuit to replicate an AC15 or AC30 and not a lot of cluttered controls, they offered the VR30. Great idea, ugly execution. Later they did the same idea but with much better AC__ styling; this was the AC30VR. Now with NuTube, they offer no equivalent product. Yet. But they do offer a FUNCTIONAL equivalent, two actually, the Cambridge and the Clubman. Neither has traditional styling. But you might check out the Super Beetle. (Edit: I see perttime has made the same suggestion, in a less-wordy post.)
I’m over lugging heavy combo amps to gigs. I play guitar and keys in a rock band, and bass (and some mandolin) in a country dance band. For the rock band I use a Super Beetle head, line out direct to the PA, and I leave the speaker cab home . I like the MV50’s size but the Super Beetle has reverb and better EQ so I put up with the silly box. I also own an MV50AC. I use it as the bass head in my other band.
My ideal would be a small modeling console like the original Valvetronix desktop, but with the VR circuit updated to NuTube. Or a Cambridge head. But neither is offered.
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I'm familiar with all the Vox offerings above (including the 150W NuTube head and corresponding 1x12" combo, which I'm surprised nobody mentioned - and FWIW I was strongly considering the unconventional-looking AV60, until I read about how difficult it is to perform routine tweaks like tube/speaker swaps) but I was thinking specifically in terms of what Fender did with the ToneMaster Series - a vintage-sounding amp with a few requisite upgrades for modern performing conditions, housed in a cabinet patterned after the iconic mid-60's blackface lineup (and their strong-selling reissues) - with the sonic mojo offered by the NuTube. I'm sure you're also aware that the ventilation in a vintage AC combo can leave a lot to be desired, with certain models/production periods notorious for frying power tubes on a regular basis (FYI Canada's thetubestore.com pitches their heavy-duty, Soviet-era mil-spec 7189 tubes at Vox owners with this problem), and a multi-stage NuTube front end and class-D power amp could take you from Beatles to Brian May and all points in between in a far-more-portable package than the original; leave the
uber-tech modeling boxes to outfits like Line 6 and Roland, and concentrate on the still-active generation of road warriors who know (and need) "that" tone, in a package that won't have us financing our chiropractor's new Bentley - it seems to be working well for Fender and, for those of us who were in the musical trenches during the first wave of the British Invasion and still love those classic sounds, I see no reason it shouldn't work at least as well for Vox...
