Vox Pathfinder 15R

This is no frills little practice amp with an unbelievably good tone. I've been playing Blues/Rock guitar for 30 years and I've never heard such a great sound from such a small amp.

I was looking for a little practice amp that I could carry around. I saw this used for $99, tried it out and was really impressed.

It sounds great. It barks. It quacks. It screams. It cries. It cleans up nice and sweet. It is small and very light. It sounds great with Les Pauls and Strats, Tele's and ES-335s. It is very responsive to your guitar's volume controls. Put your volume on 10 and get a great lead tone. Then just back off a little for a more subtle lead tone. Back off a little more and you've got a great rhythm tone.

While it is more than powerful enough for what it was designed for, it sounds so damned good that I've started thinking about how to use it as my main amp. So, I wish it was more powerful.

Quality seems fine. No complaints. Well one little complaint. Somehow I managed to pull the speaker wire loose and it is so short and the amp is so small it is a bitch to get it connected back. I guess that wasn't a problem with the child labor that put it together in China. Small hands...

Buy this Amp! Buy it even if you don't need it. It is worth it. It is just a little over $100 new. Yes, it is 100% solid state. If that offends your religious sensibilities, too bad. Buy it anyway. If I'm ever out and I see one, I'm going to buy a second one just in case.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the amp brand new at a sam ash music store in ohio for $119.00

everything! The stand alone best amp for the money. I mike it when I play live shows,it's great for bedroom practice,and it is made for direct recording.I love the gain on this amp,it almost sounds like a tube amp.I was going to invest in a half stack or 2-12 combo but after throwing it in the mix those where not needed. I still can't belive it is only a 15 watt unit. I put it up against a 30 watt, 50watt,and a 100 watt combo and could still hear myself. it really cuts thru. it is louder than what they rated it I assure you.

nothing. Its practical,powerful,versitile,and sounds great. I read alot of reveiws and saw people complaining about there only being one channel. If you have the footswitch and you set the amp as clean and step on the footswitch for the boost it is like changing channels and it almost seems the amp is a 2 channel even though its only one. I have done alot of experementing with this amp and it has not failed me. MY ONLY COMPLAINT IS I WISH VOX OFFERED MORE AMPS LIKE THIS THAT HAVE A BREAD AND BUTTER APPROACH INSTEAD OF THE HIGHER END AMPS THAT HAVE ALL THE BUILT IN EFFECTS AND DIGITAL GARBAGE. I WOULD LIKE AN AMP BUILT LIKE THIS BUT A LITTLE LARGER AND HIGHER WATTAGE.

Very well made. great constuction,quality parts,looks good,sounds good,I can't see any flaws.

If you read all of the above there is no need for a summary. go buy one new at a music store that has a no worries return policy and if you don't like it take back.
I bet you will keep it, it's great.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I started out playing acoustic guitar, but I wanted to be able to do more so I purchased an electric guitar, to practise on it I bought myself a VOX Pathfinder 15R amplifier for +/-€275

This amplifier is incredibly nice for the price. I love playing it loud with a small dose of disortion. With 15 watts of output power, it is loud enough for practice and yet the humming noise seems low enough compared to other payable amps. Tremolo effect is extremely versatile when it comes to tone. The control panel features a Gain Boost switch plus controls for Volume, Gain, Treble, Bass, Tremolo Speed and Tremolo Depth. I'm planning to buy a VOX VFS2 dual footswitch whenever If find it somewhere for a suitable price. I tried it once and it reall gives an extreme boost to the sound.

Sometimes the sound contains a little too much treble but you can fix that by using your guitar tone buttons

I have not used it long enough to rate its long-term reliability, but I do not expect any problems.
I do like the way it looks and how it's not heavy so it's easy to carry.

If you like classic rock rhythm or lead, and don't have much much money to spend, this is definitely the one to get!


This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased new in-store at local Seattle WA Guitar Center. Paid $120. Was looking for small solid-state practice amp with vintage VOX Brit-Rock style tones.

This is the 'new and improved' 15 watt VOX Pathfinder now with REVERB!

Likes:
- Clean tones: very bright and chimey
- Distortion tones: very warm and crunchy, close to natural overdriven tube amp
- Gain Boost: kicks in more distortion
- Reverb: adjustable, with good depth and echo, adds nice sparkle to clean tones
- Tremolo: very cool feature! vintage style, with adjustable speed and depth
- addition jacks for: footswitch (controls gain boost and tremolo), earphones, line-out, ext speaker

This amp may be rated at 15 watts, but it can really bark! Surprising loud.



Very minor quibbles:
- be nice if it had corner protectors
- be nice if it had a mid-range tone control
- gain boost can get a bit muddy when pushed to max; easily remedied by rolling back guitar volume, or gain control.

The Pathfinder 15R feels very solid construction-wise:
- Solid cabinet and handle
- Good response from all gain, volume, bass, treble, treble, and reverb controls.
- very good 8 inch VOX Bulldog speaker
- nice diamond quilt grill cloth, tight fitting


This Pathfinder 15R really nails that vintage VOX Brit-Rock sound 100%. It is well suited for Beatles, Byrds, Tom Petty, REM, and simliar modern-retro styles. It's not designed or intended for heavy-metal or thrash-punk.

I tried out several solid-state practice amps in the $100-$200 price range. I was looking for an amp in this class/price range with vintage style 'clean' and 'distortion' tones, and to me the VOX Pathfinder 15R was the best value hands-down, both sound-wise and price-wise . lr**

Try one out, let your own ears be the judge.

Feb 14,2003

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com