Is this a good buy?

[Creedis777]

Hey all! I have been looking at possibly buying this vox to upgrade from my Behringer Firebird GX108. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/481958/

Is it worth the buy? Or should I go for something with a little more wattage and a little less effects/distortions. I am not really planning on any gigging seeing as I am not in a band. But, there is a possibility of ending up playing worship somewhere in my church at some time this year. So what should I do. Go with this Vox or get something else? I do want SOME effects BTW. Maybe I should get an amp with few effects good tone and buy some pedals?? I dunno. I am certainly going to try and get a tube amp if I can. What are your guys thoughts? I play a vareity of music from Rock to blues and everything in bewtween as well as I LOVE good clean sounds from a guitar. Thanks alot in advance guys!

[jeremy]

Re: Is this a good buy?

i might look to up the power at least a little more. a 30w amp is probably more useful. those new vox look cool

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Is this a good buy?

its useless if you wanna gig, for bedroom use, yeah it'd work. If you wanna get into modeling amps i suggest also checking out line 6 and fender cybers

[LesStrat]

Re: Is this a good buy?

I am a Line6 POD user, so I am biased . However, many here have reported good things about the Vox modeling amps.

Regarding power, it depends (normally I would agree with you Jeremy, but there is another consideration here):

What type of sound reinforcement system is your church using? How large is the sanctuary? Do they have problems with stage volume and/or feedback? Will you be sending a signal to the mixer/soundman, or do you expect the amp to carry your sound? What is the makeup of the worship band (instrumentation)? How loud do they play?

I play a Parker Nitefly. It has Fishman transducers in the bridge and strat-style single coils. I send the electric signal to the POD, and the acoustic signal to a chorus pedal and an Aphex Acoustic Xciter. Both signals are sub-mixed into a Behringer MX602A mixer. I use a mono output from the mixer to a direct box that sends a signal to the main board. I rely on a monitor for all of my sound. BTW, we have a monitor mixer on stage that is manned during most of the service, particularly during music.

This set-up has strengths and weaknesses. However, it makes our sound tech VERY happy, and she's pro-quality, so I like for her to be happy.

If stage volume is a concern, a low wattage tube amp might be the answer. Mic the speaker for the sound tech and let them worry about power.

If the amp has to carry your sound on its own for the church, 15w might be slim even in a small church.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Is this a good buy?

For a regular church type setting, it should be adequate enough. Just to play it on the same side, I'd recommend the 30w model. I say that because solid state watts sound much lower than tube watts. It may be loud enough by yourself for the church, but with other instruments, I have my doubts as to whether it could cut through or not.

[Creedis777]

Re: Is this a good buy?

Hmmmmm, someone tell me about these How you say? Fender amps? I know how awesome lines and spiders are and the like. But, I know little about fender amps. Maybe they are for me?

Edit- I will probably go for a 30 watt now btw. I think you all had some good points about that.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Is this a good buy?

It all depends what you are looking for. Modeling amps are the best for low volume playing. Modeling amps are great for helping a beginner distinguish what kind of tones they like the best.

Fender IS clean. Don't trust a Fender with a gain channel (just doesn't work well IMHO). Many Fenders were made to be overdriven (my Vibrolux Reverb being one). There's a singing light sustaining blues type tone that goes on with Fenders that is incredible. I would not trust Fender for anything besides clean and blues playing. If you want a Marshall, buy a Marshall etc.

[Creedis777]

Re: Is this a good buy?

I get ya. When I ge to the actual buysing stage I will go to my local shop and talk with them also. They can probably help even more. I try to avoid Gc now.........bad advice most of the time AND well.......dunno I just don't feel comfortable there. I feel like I am intruding or something. The employess attitude towards customers doesn't help this either. Anyway a 30 watt tuber of some kind is what I think I need now! Thanks for all the advice guys! I can go it alone from here!

[Grandor]

Re: Is this a good buy?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT BUY A BEHRINGER AMP!

I have no gripes with the v-amp2 but an actual behringer amp is a very big no, no.

I play regular church gigs and at other christian type events and I use a v-amp2 and a fender stage 112se.
But All my friends who play church gigs (1 of which has a behringer amp, another which did have a v-amp2 but now has a mesa nomad55, another which had a vamp-pro but now has a line6 flextone 3 and another that uses a vamp2 with his fender twin, and ANOTHEr who uses v-amp2's for recording...) They all agree, the v-amp2 is fine for pretty much any gig really, But obviously they are not gonna sound as good as a nice tube amp but they do the job. A behringer amp however, trust me - u will be sick of the sounds in about 2 months at the most and they aren't versatile enuf for the church scene.
U need heaps of versatility and to be able to control ur tone really well, with all the builds and 'hillyness' involved, you also have to be very aware of ur volume levels much more than in a regular band situation cause of the whole atmosphere thing...

Yeah, my 2 cents...

[Creedis777]

Re: Is this a good buy?

LOL, I totally get ya on the Behringer thing Grandor. You must understand though that so far as a when I bought my Behringer I had very little money and it really isn't that bad of one for the money. I am just not a complete novice anymore is what the big problem is. I can't get anything good out of my little behringer when it comes to sound. I plan on trading it in for a pedal of some kind. Either that or e-baying it. I hate it now though. It is way to thin sounding over all and really is pretty lifeless when it comes to playing having mojo. I am getting a tube amp ALL the way. Or maaaaaybe a line6 who knows we will see. All depends.

[Grandor]

Re: Is this a good buy?

Sorry I misread, I thought u were planning on buying the behringer.

Mmmm, Tubes... Most line6's I have played were fairly average though, obviously not as good as a mesa or something, but I wouldnt really rate it more than the v-amp2 (u can make it sound pretty good if u tweak it).

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Is this a good buy?

its useless if you wanna gig, for bedroom use, yeah it'd work. If you wanna get into modeling amps i suggest also checking out line 6 and fender cybers

+1 for Line 6. Ya, you definately can't go wrong with a Line 6 if you want good tone at an affordable price. Since your currently looking for a 30 watter, I'd reccommend that you look into the NEW Line 6 Spider II 30 Amp. It can be found on the Musician's Friend website. All the info reguarding the amp below was copied and pasted from the Musician's Friend website.

Spider II 30 Amp

SAVE $80.00 (28%) When You Buy Today!
List: $279.99
Sale Price: $199.99 Guaranteed Lowest Price!

Designed from the ground up to drown out the voices in your head!

Line 6 packs this wicked little combo with 4 insane amp models and 7 psychotic effects including Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo, Sweep Echo, Tape Echo, Distortion Boost, and Noise Gate. Genuine Celestion 12" speaker cranks it out. The headphone jack makes it a hot choice for practice.

Features:

30W
Celestion 12" speaker
12 amp models that deliver a complete range from clean to insane
7 Smart Control effects (up to 3 simultaneous) including: Tape Echo, standard Delay, Sweep Echo (all with tap tempo)
Chorus/Flanger
Phaser
Tremolo
Reverb
4 User-programmable channels
Front panel tuner
Headphone/direct out for practice or recording
Specifications:

18"W x 17"H x 8-3/4"D
22-1/2 lbs.

[Creedis777]

Re: Is this a good buy?

Thnks man looks like a good buy. I will keep it in mind.