AD120VTH phased out?

[LoFiBrian]

SO... today I took my sister up to the dreaded Guitar Center.

She has been using my AD30VT for some weeks since her trusty Fender Princeton 65 started to have a issue where the Volume Swells in and out at random points. So she tells me she wants a valvetronix and picks out the AD120VTH on Musiciansfriend.

WHICH MAKES ME EXCITED!:laughing:

Now I have a few pals there that have given me great deals prior so we hea d up there to see what they will do. I go right to my buddy John as soon as i see he is free. I ask for my shy sister about the exact model and if they can order it....

Fast forwad 45mins of them trying to sell her the AD100 head for $400. Then them saying they cannont order them anymore. Then John grabbing the last boxed one in their computer and shipping it from a texas location...

$399.99+$10 Shipping Fee+2 Free Speaker Cables+Me Trying and almost getting them to promo off a VC-12 footswitch. Then a manager not aproving it.

=A Great Deal!!!

pending the 5 days she has to wait for it....It will go on her Crate 4x12 with greenbacks in 2x30watt mode...and I will play through it when she is gone!!!

Anyways...are the 120's being phased out. I mean if they cannont even order them and MF no longer has them and the AD60VTX's are being blown out...

a sad day indeed...but good for my sister...

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

True indeed. They are discontinued and GC is blowing out the 120VTH for $399. A rediculous price for such a killer amp. Watch out for the ones built in Vietnam. Some of them are a tad noisy and hiss loudly regardless of the master volume level. If the hiss goes away with a drop in the master volume, it's kosher enough. The amount of hiss changes with master volume and gain of the model selected etc. High gain usually equals a bit of hiss as well.

If the amp is made in Korea, it's probably a good one. I have one coming in to my local Guitar Center for me and it's Korean. It was a return/repair, but it's being shipped in regardless. The guy at the store in Albany, NY checked it out for me to make sure everything was functional and low noise.

With your purchase and mine, that makes two or less AD120VTH heads left at guitar centers across the USA.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

People have been postulating about a Valvetronix II. Maybe we'll hear something about them this summer (if it even happens). Vox has got to know they've got a winner in this amp series.

- Keith

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Glad I bought my VTH 120 2 years ago....Love mine! I'll be playing through it again tomorrow at an outside gig again.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

If they come out with a Valvetronix II head, I'll be getting one immediately.
I've gotten a lot of use out of my AD60VTH head. It's been the best home practicing rig I've ever had. If there's a new one with stereo XLR outs, better Marshall models, and better FX, I'll be loving it.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

They can't release a new model yet. I won't be able to afford it! :yell: :laugh2:

And I'm NOT selling my Marshall to get one.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

They can't release a new model yet. I won't be able to afford it! :yell: :laugh2:

And I'm NOT selling my Marshall to get one.

I'm so happy today, I've decided I'm buying EVERYONE V-2s!!!! Even you effers who think hybrids are for ninnies.

(I just said "ninnies." Heh heh.)

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

I figure that they would have come out with a Valvetronix II at the Frankfurt Musikmesse and they didn't. I think discontinuing this killer amp this soon before releasing the next model is absolutely the dumbest idea I've seen to date. Why kill off the best one? I think it's purely a profit motive deal because it was also the most expensive to make. Less profit to be made on it than the others. Most folks who play won't necessarily appreciate the differences between them. The chrome amps are great amps. Don't get me wrong. I'm thinking about getting one used to modify a touch and add an effects loop and a different speaker to it. They can be killer amps for sure with breaking in and a little understanding of how they work.

The blue face series amps are subtly different from their chrome grilled bretheren. One case in point. The tube in the blue series runs at 260 volts I think. The tubes in the chrome grill ones are running in starved plate mode (much much lower voltage). The blue ones run the output through the tube, then the power amp and then a transformer in a similar fashion to a real tube amp with transistors taking the place of the big power tubes. The chrome grill versions apparently aren't running through an output transformer excepting the 100 Watt chrome head (which does sound a tad better to me than the other chrome grill amps but that could just be better speakers in the cab used). I like transformers myself. The chrome series is basically a blue face amp that has been streamlined for high volume mass production and cost savings on parts. The blue series pre-dates the chrome grill amps and use more numerous and costly components.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

If they come out with a Valvetronix II head, I'll be getting one immediately.
I've gotten a lot of use out of my AD60VTH head. It's been the best home practicing rig I've ever had. If there's a new one with stereo XLR outs, better Marshall models, and better FX, I'll be loving it.

Joe, I just scooped a Palmer PGA-04 for home practice.

With the amps you have, why not grab a PGA-05 (stereo XLRs) for home practice?

The Palmer acts as a Speaker Sim/Load Box/DI ....plug your amp right into it instead of a speaker cab & fire away at any volume with headphones, direct to the board or computer.

I'm sure the Vox stuff is cool, but I wanna use the great amps I've already got to their fullest without getting booted from the neighborhood.....or house !!!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Joe, I just scooped a Palmer PGA-04 for home practice.

With the amps you have, why not grab a PGA-05 (stereo XLRs) for home practice?

The Palmer acts as a Speaker Sim/Load Box/DI ....plug your amp right into it instead of a speaker cab & fire away at any volume with headphones, direct to the board or computer.

I'm sure the Vox stuff is cool, but I wanna use the great amps I've already got to their fullest without getting booted from the neighborhood.....or house !!!

I'll look into the Palmer. I rarely use my headphones right now, since I just like amps that can sound good at home volumes.

I almost don't see a point in getting a Valvetronix II, if they even have one on the horizon. The original version works fine. If they did any upgrades, I'd like to see them get as sophisticated as Vetta II's, and maybe create a modern looking Vox, rather than relying on the vintage look.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

I just checked the Vox site, and there's no indication that Vox is disconinuing the AD120VTH and AD60VTH. I think Guitar Center just decided to liquidate them, as part of one of their "biggest sales ever."

There probably isn't a V-2 coming out anytime soon, but they do have the new Classic Plus EL-34 amp listed now.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

I just checked the Vox site, and there's no indication that Vox is disconinuing the AD120VTH and AD60VTH. I think Guitar Center just decided to liquidate them, as part of one of their "biggest sales ever."

There probably isn't a V-2 coming out anytime soon, but they do have the new Classic Plus EL-34 amp listed now.

The vox website runs way behind. They've just gotten round to showing the AD100VT on their site and it's been in showrooms for months now.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

They've had the AD100VT head on their site for months, even before I got my AD50 last June. It had it's own page at first and then with the redesign I noticed they incorporated it in to the same page as the other BBQ grill amps but it still has its own page with the 4x12 cab.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Hmm. Must have not been looking in the right place then. Guitar center says the AD120VTH and all other blue faced amps have been discontinued and the valvetronix.net site agrees with this finding as well.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Hmm. Must have not been looking in the right place then. Guitar center says the AD120VTH and all other blue faced amps have been discontinued and the valvetronix.net site agrees with this finding as well.

Interesting. I can't wait to see what they come out with, to replace it.
Have you heard anything definite about a V-2 coming out? I can't imagine they'd just cease to produce a proven seller.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Interesting. I can't wait to see what they come out with, to replace it.
Have you heard anything definite about a V-2 coming out? I can't imagine they'd just cease to produce a proven seller.

They have an XL series recently unveiled at the Frankfurt Musikmesse that is basically the BBQ grill amps with different tolex, a black grill and the heavier models from the Blue series amps. This is aimed at the heavy metal side of the market. Neat idea and it will sell nicely, but there is no new technology to be had from Vox IMHO for a while.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Hmm. Must have not been looking in the right place then. Guitar center says the AD120VTH and all other blue faced amps have been discontinued and the valvetronix.net site agrees with this finding as well.

They have an XL series recently unveiled at the Frankfurt Musikmesse that is basically the BBQ grill amps with different tolex, a black grill and the heavier models from the Blue series amps. This is aimed at the heavy metal side of the market. Neat idea and it will sell nicely, but there is no new technology to be had from Vox IMHO for a while.

Hmm, interesting. Seems like they're just reboxing the Blue series to expand the target market. Not a totally bad move really. I've actually read in many reviews that the grill and such wasn't the most appealing part of the amp.

Scott, on the starved plate thing, from what I've heard, the power amp section in the chrome and blue series are the exact same thing. Maybe it's the 15/30 that run in starved plate. I've seen some mention of that but nothing about the 50/100.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Info on the new XL's...

http://www.musicgadgets.net/2007/03/29/vox-valvetronix-xl-amps/

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

http://www.valvetronix.net/forum/4-vt875.html?postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30
This is where I've seen the discussion. It's on page 4 of the linked thread. I'm admittedly parroting the information, but these folks sure do seem to know what they are talking about. Seems that they had to make a compromise regarding the tonelab series stuff and the voltage it was running back in the day. Seems that they adopted this to their chrome series to cut costs.

The user doesn't specify the particular models. He just says it applies to the chrome models.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AD120VTH phased out?

Interesting read. To be totally honest, I never would have thunk it. I love the sounds I get from the amp.