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King Loudness « I'm on the Night Train! »
Published on 04/11/11 at 16:47The VOX NT15 is one of the earliest additions to the "lunch box" family of amps that has been a popular fad. It begun with the Orange Tiny Terror and progressed to further amps like the Egnater Tweaker, the Traynor DarkHorse, the Mesa Transatlantic, and of course this VOX.
The characteristics are very simple and straightforward for a small head. It delivers 15 watts of all tube power and is switchable via a half power mode to 7.5 watts. The amp is powered by a pair of EL84 tubes and really sings. The control set on this amp is very simple. It has a very basic interface that comprises a gain control, bass, middle, and treble for your equalization, and a master volume. There is also a small switch that is labeled "Bright" and "Thick." Bright mode is very much like your typical VOX jangly clean tone (AC15/30) at lower gain settings, and takes on an almost Brian May esque character as you turn the gain up. Flipping it over to the "Thick" setting actually disables the EQ controls and bumps up the gain for a more focused, heavy rock sort of sound.
One thing to note is that there's no effects loop or reverb on this amp, so you're dealing with a totally dry signal unless you own a good delay or reverb unit. That was a big caveat for me and part of the reason I ultimately sold it.
UTILIZATION
Setting up this amp is very simple. It can be plugged into an 8ohm or 16ohm cabinet, so I tried it through my personal Haggerty Enclosures G212 with Eminence V12 speakers, an Ibanez 4x12 with stock speakers, and a Marshall 4x12 with Celestions. It was very easy to set up and I had good tones happening within minutes. I found it to sound best and most focused through my 2x12 with the more British voiced speakers.
The Bright Mode is your typical sixties VOX clean tone. If I needed more versatility, I would use the Bright mode, turn the gain up on the amp and use my guitar volume to control cleans. I occasionally experimented with a boost pedal, but usually I found the setup of using the Bright mode and my guitar volume to be the best bet. If I was playing in more of a rock setting, I would use the Thick mode with the gain at about 1 oclock.
Make no mistake, this amp has tonnes of gain and a surprising amount of headroom on tap... I was using it in a modern rock project with a hard hitting drummer and it kept up without issue at all times.
SOUNDS
When I was using this amp, my primary guitars were a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Plus and a Charvel San Dimas with Duncans. I was really impressed with the wide range of tones that were available by turning the knobs or using the guitar volume and tone controls. The fact that it technically is not a channel switcher was a bit of a drag in certain situations (A footswitchable mode for the Bright and Thick modes would be excellent.
Overall I was significantly impressed with the tones that it covered. It went very easily from that classic chiming VOX clean tone to a very viscous and searing modern rock tone with the flick of the switch. Switching into half power acted as a bit of a Variac type thing where it made the feel of the amp a little bit spongier and the tone a bit more juicy. The Thick mode was a shocker for sure... it stood toe to toe with a 100w Peavey ValveKing and 4x12 cabinet in a band setting... in half power no less! I had no problems cutting over drums, bass, and the aforementioned half stack, so if you're concerned about volume levels... try one out and see for yourself. It has a considerable amount of headroom for an amp its size and power.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I feel that VOX is onto a real winner with the Night Train. I compared it to the Orange Tiny Terror, the Traynor Dark Horse and Mesa Boogie Transatlantic, and found it to be the winner easily. What it lacks in some of those extra features (channel switching, various tonal modes, etc) it makes up for in spades with its clear, powerful tone. Definitely a serious contender in the "lunch box" amp market IMO. I sold it to pay for other purchases (and because of the lack of reverb/effects loop) but I definitely would consider another one down the road. For $500 or so brand new, VOX has an amp that sounds just as good as the Dr. Z Maz and the hot rod Marshall amps. Certainly a wise buy, and I'd recommend it in spades over any of the other small amps that I listed above.
The characteristics are very simple and straightforward for a small head. It delivers 15 watts of all tube power and is switchable via a half power mode to 7.5 watts. The amp is powered by a pair of EL84 tubes and really sings. The control set on this amp is very simple. It has a very basic interface that comprises a gain control, bass, middle, and treble for your equalization, and a master volume. There is also a small switch that is labeled "Bright" and "Thick." Bright mode is very much like your typical VOX jangly clean tone (AC15/30) at lower gain settings, and takes on an almost Brian May esque character as you turn the gain up. Flipping it over to the "Thick" setting actually disables the EQ controls and bumps up the gain for a more focused, heavy rock sort of sound.
One thing to note is that there's no effects loop or reverb on this amp, so you're dealing with a totally dry signal unless you own a good delay or reverb unit. That was a big caveat for me and part of the reason I ultimately sold it.
UTILIZATION
Setting up this amp is very simple. It can be plugged into an 8ohm or 16ohm cabinet, so I tried it through my personal Haggerty Enclosures G212 with Eminence V12 speakers, an Ibanez 4x12 with stock speakers, and a Marshall 4x12 with Celestions. It was very easy to set up and I had good tones happening within minutes. I found it to sound best and most focused through my 2x12 with the more British voiced speakers.
The Bright Mode is your typical sixties VOX clean tone. If I needed more versatility, I would use the Bright mode, turn the gain up on the amp and use my guitar volume to control cleans. I occasionally experimented with a boost pedal, but usually I found the setup of using the Bright mode and my guitar volume to be the best bet. If I was playing in more of a rock setting, I would use the Thick mode with the gain at about 1 oclock.
Make no mistake, this amp has tonnes of gain and a surprising amount of headroom on tap... I was using it in a modern rock project with a hard hitting drummer and it kept up without issue at all times.
SOUNDS
When I was using this amp, my primary guitars were a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Plus and a Charvel San Dimas with Duncans. I was really impressed with the wide range of tones that were available by turning the knobs or using the guitar volume and tone controls. The fact that it technically is not a channel switcher was a bit of a drag in certain situations (A footswitchable mode for the Bright and Thick modes would be excellent.
Overall I was significantly impressed with the tones that it covered. It went very easily from that classic chiming VOX clean tone to a very viscous and searing modern rock tone with the flick of the switch. Switching into half power acted as a bit of a Variac type thing where it made the feel of the amp a little bit spongier and the tone a bit more juicy. The Thick mode was a shocker for sure... it stood toe to toe with a 100w Peavey ValveKing and 4x12 cabinet in a band setting... in half power no less! I had no problems cutting over drums, bass, and the aforementioned half stack, so if you're concerned about volume levels... try one out and see for yourself. It has a considerable amount of headroom for an amp its size and power.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I feel that VOX is onto a real winner with the Night Train. I compared it to the Orange Tiny Terror, the Traynor Dark Horse and Mesa Boogie Transatlantic, and found it to be the winner easily. What it lacks in some of those extra features (channel switching, various tonal modes, etc) it makes up for in spades with its clear, powerful tone. Definitely a serious contender in the "lunch box" amp market IMO. I sold it to pay for other purchases (and because of the lack of reverb/effects loop) but I definitely would consider another one down the road. For $500 or so brand new, VOX has an amp that sounds just as good as the Dr. Z Maz and the hot rod Marshall amps. Certainly a wise buy, and I'd recommend it in spades over any of the other small amps that I listed above.