Vox AD100VT 212 Combo

Features have been adequately covered before. The philosophy on this amp seems to be, "Everything you need, nothing you don't need". There are comparatively few amp models, but the ones that are here all sound great and cover all the usual styles. Same with the effects. I sometimes wish it had even 4 preset channels - doesn't seem like that would have been too expensive to add - but you only get two. That's still good enough for me 90% of the time. And, the effects editing is a bit inconvenient, as you have to hold down multiple buttons simultaneously to use the single edit knob for a variety of parameters (the Line 6 Flextones use the same scheme to cut down on the number of knobs, so it wasn't really a shocker).

I don't know if it was in the manual (I only skimmed it, you really don't need to read it as the amp is very self-explanatory), but I discovered quite happily that the effects settings are stored with the presets even if you don't save the effect as engaged with the preset. I rated realistically for what it is advertised as, what I expected of it, and what it's reasonable to expect at this price point, not of what I wish it would do in a perfect world:

The 11 amp models are all great; there's not a weak link here. I especially like the AC30TB, JCM800, Dumble clean, and Soldano models. Like their tube counterparts and unlike a lot of other modling amps, these push a lot of air when cranked, and the dynamic tube feel is markedly better than that of other modeling amps. The power reduction knob is great for maintaining a "pushed" power tube feel at bedroom volumes, although honestly, the master volume knob seems to do just as good a job, and the power reduction knob seems to cut some high end presence out of the sound. I experimented until I found a good balance of volume using the power reduction and master volume knobs.

The amp does lack a little high end; there is no presence knob, no allowance for a presence control with any of the presets, and I think the cheaper speakers could be a culprit, too. I compared this to the AD60VTX, which has a presence knob, and the AD60VTX did have a little more sparkle. For distortion sounds it isn't a problem since you generally want darker eq, but for clean sounds it doesn't quite have that Fender or Vox sparkle and sheen. I don't know what they did for the amp models that originally had a presence or "cut" control in terms of modeling...did they model the presence part of the circuit at 100% and gave the treble control more range to make up? Sometimes it frankly sounds like they just modeled at presence setting "0". Seems a bit weird since this is a Vox product and the AC30TB's are famous for the presence cut control.

However, I will say that, with treble and presence-equipped amps, I'm always second guessing which is which when I'm tweaking the high end, and I've never found an acceptable balance between treble and presence on real tube Fenders and Voxes, anyway. Seems like these amps are always too bright or too dull, and with only a treble control, there's no time wasted tweaking: turn it all the way up, and these models still sound great. I think better speakers might open up the top end, too.

Effects are surprisingly good. The delay is supposedly modeled on tape echo, but I don't hear the distinctive tape echo smear...just a really good analog delay sound. The tremolo, rotary, and chorus are good and rich, and the auto wah is surpringly usable (I usually think of this effect as a useless toy unless you have a really good one). I was able to tweak it so much to my liking that I rarely bother plugging in my wah pedal anymore, which is fine since it's a tone suck on my guitars, anyway. Spring reverb model also sounds good.

Obviously, there are limits because these effects have only basic 3-paramater tweaking and you can't store more than 2 presets, but since they do sound really good, it's nice to have some effects if I'm just plugging straight in and don't want to have to fire up my pedalboard.

Made in Vietnam. Seems study enough but at this price point and with Vox's history of poor reliability, hard to say. I've had it for a few months now, no problems, but I've owned a lot of other Vox products in the past and all of them have had problems sooner than later. It must be a real tribute to Tom Jennings and Dick Denney's amp voicing that people still love that sound so much that they're willing to pay for an unreliable amplifier!

I suspect that the cabinet is made of particle board at this price. I don't have the heart to rip off some vynhide (sp?) and look, I'll just accept that I like the amp and leave it at that. One very cool feature: the tube is easily accessible from the back! Replacing it would take 10 seconds, unlike the full tube AC30 Custom Classics (and, for that matter, every English-style Vox amplifier ever made) where you literally have to remove the chassis from the cabinet to reach the tubes!

If I were touring, I think it would be foolish not to have a backup, but with reasonable care exersized it seems sturdy enough. No creaks, poorly joined parts, or other things making me blatantly nervous. Even though I prefer the older basketweave fronts, the chrome speaker protectors are kind of cool, makes the amp feel not quite as prissy as a real AC30. Corners are plastic, though.

As with Vox's recent history as a brand name, the current crew running the company are not the same people who did the 90s reissues, who were not the same people who did the 80's/70's Vox, etc., so you have to evaluate using a fair and fresh perspective on the new company's mission. The stuff is made in a SE Asian factory where we frankly can't see what the build quality is one way or the other, but the company seems committed to making this business model work, and the prices are ridiculously affordable for what you get. When I first decided that I wanted a Vox AC30 in 1992, there's no way I could have had one for less than $2k. Hard to be too critical here, to be fair. We'll see. I have to give it an 8 based on its relaibility for me and my confidence so far. I also own a Tonelab SE and it seems VERY well built, nothing shaky about it, all good-quality metal parts, and they are made in the same factory, so it's a good sign...

never dealt with them. Have heard high praise and horror stories. I hope I never have to find out!

Been playing for 20 years. Favorite bands are The Beatles, The Who, Zep, and U2. I don't play professionally anymore, otherwise I might go for a more expensive, more tank-like amp, but for occasional friendly jams and the fact that I finally have a Vox amp that sounds like I think they're supposed to, it's great! (I had an AC30 reissue in the late 90's and really didn't care for it, it just didn't seem to have the characteristic Vox sound in spades...with this one I plug in, dial the knobs for 5 seconds, and it sounds like the Vox tones I love from my favorite records). My guitars are Epi Casino and Fender Am. Strat, and I generally don't use effects anymore if I can get away with it.

I compared it to the higher line AD60VT from Vox and Line 6 Flextone III. The AD60 had more features (preamp pedal effects like a variety of overdrives etc.), more effects, and more programmability, none of which really appealed to me (save the missing presence knob!) so I couldn't see spending the extra money. The Line 6 stuff sounds great at bedroom whisper levels but always seems to sound sterile, lifeless, and thin with any kind of healthy volume. The Flextones are probably more rewarding at the music stores since they seem to be tweaked to sound better at lower volumes and seem to capture more of the "characteristic" sound of the various amp models (plus they have more variety), but only the Vox modeling amps are as fun (nearly as fun, anyway) to play as a real tube amp. I've gigged with a Flextone and still cringe every time I hear my guitar tone on a recording we made that night.

I'm guessing a simple speaker upgrade might help this amp a lot. The middle of the road speakers included don't sound like anything, really...you can't quite get the boxy Beatle tone of the AC30 model without real Blue Bulldog speakers, etc., so I plan on some experimentation here. But I still love this amp.

2006 Vox AD100VT purchased new from a national guitar retailer. Most of the features have been covered already, but this amp is 100 watts with a variable power selector, 2 12" Vox speakers (supposedly Celestion 70/80s), 2 channels, built in effects, effects loop, and a line out/headphone jack.

I have a love/hate relationship with this amp. Although it features 11 different amp models, I have to say that the modeling on my Line 6 Duoverb was much better. There is alot of bottom end to this amp, and I find it difficult to tweak a good tone on many of the amp settings, especially with single coils. By far, I think the best tones on this amp are from the Fender and Dumble models. The Marshall models are good, but too much bottom end and the distortions get too muddy above 12:00 on the gain. I'm playing American Standard strats through this amp, and play mostly rock and blues. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed that I parted with my Duoverb for this.

No problems so far.

Never deal with them.

I've been playing for 35 years now and also own a Hughes and Kettner Edition Tube 112 20th anniversary combo, as well as two American Standard strats. If this amp were lost or stolen, I would definitely not buy another one...too much low end and muddiness with this amp, and the time I spend tweaking this amp could be spent playing guitar. I compared this to a Flextone III XL, but chose this amp because of the built in power attenuator which makes it a good amp for home and live playing. This is a decent amp, but I wouldn't say stellar.

Features are, from the Vox website:
Eleven realistic amp models using sophisticated modeling technology
A total of eleven coveted amp types are provided. Starting with the classic AC30 and ranging from vintage to modern, higain to clean, a variety of amp models are built-in, giving you an incredible range of sound-creating potential. Selecting the amp model and adjusting the tone controls is as intuitive as it gets ? just turn the knobs!

Eleven high-quality effects cover the basics
Nine standard effects indispensable for any guitarist are built-in. These include auto wah, compressor, phaser, chorus, flanger, tremolo, rotary, delay and reverb. With the addition of combination-type effects, you have a total of eleven effects to choose from. Each effect lets you adjust several parameters. There?s also a Tap button that makes it easy to set the delay time or modulation speed.



Save your user programs in CH1 or CH2
Channel Select mode lets you save two of your own programs, including the combination of amp and effect settings. You can access either channel at a touch, for immediate switching while you play.

Easily select the classic sound for each amp type.
The new Preset mode gives you a tonal starting point for each amp model. You can enter Preset mode at the touch of a button, and then simply choose an amp model to automatically get the preset sound for that amp. Select a Preset, modify it and save it to CH1 or CH2.

Manual mode lets you hear your exact sound settings
In Manual mode, the sound you?re hearing will be exactly what the knob settings indicate ? just as on a conventional amp. It?s visually intuitive, so it?s quick and easy to create just the sound you?re looking for.

Convenient line/headphone jack for home recording or late-night practising
You can connect the line/headphone jack to your mixer, multi-track recorder or headphones. Since the character of the cabinet is also added to this signal, the sound will have a sense of ?air? and depth even when you?re listening through headphones or recording direct. The AD100VT & AD50VT both have an external speaker output, and effect-loop jacks have been built into the AD100VT making it convenient to connect with external effect processors.

Adjust the output wattage of the power amp
The AD100VT, AD50VT & AD30VT let you adjust the output wattage from 1~100W(AD100VT), 1~50W(AD50VT) & 1~30W(AD30VT) so you can lower the volume without losing the sense of drive that?s unique to tube amps. You can get the great distinctive tube sound at a volume that?s appropriate for any location.

Footswitchable control
If the optional VFS2 dual foot switch is connected, you can use it to switch between user programs (CH1, CH2) or to bypass the effect. Alternatively, you can choose to have the footswitch activate Manual mode instead of Effect Bypass, which gives you hands-free switching between three different sounds (the two user programs and the Manual settings) for convenience during a live performance.

I bought this amp. for my niece who is 16 and been playing about a year, she also has a 15 watt fender bullet 150 amp. We tried a line 6 spider II, 75 watt modelling amp before this one but she just hated the sounds and effects.
So, I decided after a lot of research, that what she needed was an amp. that gave her a variety of different amplifier emulations and effects (so she can experiment with a variety of sounds rather then get stuck into a certain genre (rut) because her amp only has one sound), but unlike the line 6 which was very strident and unrealistic in it's modelling, the Vox amp. sounds great.
I especially like the UK 70's sound, which is (I've read) based on a Marshall. The 2 fender amp models,and the 2 Vox models are great sounding, and since Vox has modelled two of it's own amps, it seems likely they would have got that right! All in all the 11 different amp. sounds seem well done and give an enormous versatility to a guitar player.

My niece is playing an epiphone Les Paul studio through it, her first electric, and it sounds great, and at a 100 watts, the amp. is overkill at this point (however one can adjust the power output of the amp. from 1 to a 100 watts without sacrificing any overdriving of the tube-it's still all there but not to the point the neighbours are complaining), but someday when she ends up in a band, she'll have all the power she needs.

The reliability of this amp. is great so far. There have been no problems with it at all, it's very well built. I would suggest one goes to a music store and buys one, rather then getting one delivered from a music megagiant store, that way you have support locally, and you can listen to the amp and inspect it before you buy it.
There are some reviews I have read, that suggest the guitar jack falls inside, when I told my niece about that she basically said, well if it get's lose I'll tighten it.
As for other reviews stating that the user gor a few Vox lemons, well that's fair, it's possible but this amp. we have is flawless.
If you're a gigging musician I would suggest you have a backup, no matter what brand of amp. you have.

I would give these guys the benefit of the doubt on customer support, besides I would always take my equipment back to the dealer, rather then try to get someone to fix it over the phone or the computer. One of the reviewers here was complaining he/she wanted info. on the speakers but Vox didn't get back to them. My question is; is it Vox's responsibility to tell you about the characteristics of the speakers? Go to Celestions website with the info. on the speakers and do your own web work. Anyway how is knowing the frequency response or other info. going to help you?
The question is (or should be), do you like how the amp. sounds?
If you do buy it, if not don't.
I don't have any need to call customer support, when and if that time comes I'll deal with the store I bought it at, so I won't rate this section.

My niece has been playing a year of electric and acoustic. She also has an Alvarez AD60CK electric acoustic and a nice little 30 watt crate amp. to go with it
And if it was stolen I'd easily try to get her another one.
It's solid (heavy 63 lbs) and reliable and beautiful, and compared to other amps. in it's price range probably the best buy out there.

Most of the features have been listed already, so there's no need to rehash them again. This amp is a modeler which has 11 different amp sounds, 2 12" speakers, and built-in digital effects. It's a 2 channel amp with an effects loop and built in adjustable power feature. My only gripe is that it doesn't come with a footswitch.

This amp can go from super clean, to bluesy overdrive, to downright balls to the wall distortion. I compared this amp to the sounds of my Line 6 Flextone XL and although the Flextone is a very good amp, the sounds on the Valvetronix are much more livelier, with better clarity and presence. The Valvetronix, like alot of 2 x 12 combos, has alot of bottom end to it. All of the amp models are useable and sound very good. My favorites are the Twin Reverb, the AC30, and the Boutique Overdrive, although as I mentioned, all of the amp models sound great. The effects are equally as good, especially the tremelo, and are easy to tweak. I use strats with this amp, and on the bridge pickup, the tones are full and well-rounded. This amp produces some good midrange tones. I don't find the amp to be especially noisy, as there is a built in noise gate, which is adjustable. I found this amp to take pedals pretty well too, although not necessary as this amp kicks out alot of gain.

This amp is built solid and weighs a ton. I was concerned when I bought it as I've read some reviews about the quality of Vox products made in China. I took out an extended warranty from Guitar Center just in case. No problems yet, but time will tell.

Never had to deal with them yet. My first Vox.

I've been playing for 34 years and was looking for a good amp that could be played at bedroom levels as well as put out some power. This amp fits the bill. I love the tube in the power amp section (it's NOT in the preamp) and the adjustable wattage feature. This is not a tube amp, so I'm not going to bother making any comparisons. This amp does the job of modeling tube amps and comes very close. I like the fact that this amp is only two channels, rather than having numerous patches to go through. Overall a very good amp. Better than solid-states, and much better than Line 6.

It models all the usual suspects. I bought it mainly for the Vox models as I have owned many AC30s that I always sold on due to reliability problems.
There are a bunch of in-built effects that I don't use. I'm a middle-aged stompbox man.
The power control on the back is great. For smaller venues I just ease it back a little and it pretty much keeps my tone but quieter. Not very rock and roll but that's how it is.
I gave up with footswitching between sounds on stage as it had a habit of returning to default settings even though I'd saved everything. Lose one point.

I bought this after I borrowed the 50 watt version. It took a bit of work with the tone controls but eventually I was happy with the AC30 setting. Then one day my fingers slipped and I went one beyond and found the UK70s setting. Woah!!! I never had a Marshall that sounded that good (I've had JCM800s and 900s and JTMs). It gave me that Pete Townshend "brraaanngg" that I've searched for since I was a wimpy teen. That was it for me. No looking back. I play Lone Star Strats in a rock/pop covers band and the other guys all agree it gives me a quintessential 70s rock guitar sound. Overdriven but still clear, not mushy. Apart from my sloppy playing. And loud. Oh yes indeed. Top marks here.

Ah the curse of Vox. Sound wonderful for the 10 minutes they work. I'm hoping this will be better. I've used it on half a dozen gigs and it hasn't let me down. Yet. But I can't give any Vox amp 10 out of 10. There's too much history there.

So far so good. I know the guys in the USA get a really raw deal. I don't think it's any different over here but at least we have Ese Music who know how to keep the darn things working. Pass.

I've been playing for 30 odd years now and this is possibly the best amp I've ever had. I can't believe I just wrote that. I've had Voxes, Fenders, Boogies and Marshalls and they all had their (many) good points and (some) bad points. I know it's crazy but this one just seems to have a sound that my ears say is THE guitar sound I like. And it was ridiculously cheap. God bless the Chinese. Forget the effects. Forget switching between presets. If you're an old school "one sound" man like me this will not disappoint. It's the one amp that makes me forget I sold my Carlsbro 50 Top. Sniff.

iv owned the amp for 5 months now.i got it as the ultimate all rounder.as you know a nifty little knob on the back to adjust the wattage output. it's so flexible. its a practice amp and gigging amp in one. you can programe in two of your own channels. this is not enough at all. any regular guitarist needs about ten at least. i had to buy a channel switching pedal for it, it should have come with one of those too. iv used this amp at home mostly so far.fills my garage nicley with sound. has lots of effects but it'd be nice to mix more than two at a time and ones you pick yourself. but it really is a good alrounder in features beside these little mistakes

the ones from about 3 o clock on the knob and beyond are a bit shite though.i dont ever use them. but from 7 o clock to 2 on the knob are all excellent.

iv never head a problem. very reliable. iv never gigged it though. not sure if i'd go without a backup after what iv read but my score is on my experience soo

havnt had to deal with em but not supposed to be good at all.

it's an excellent amp.if it was stolen id buy a smaller one though. it's pretty heavy.then id buy a full tube amp.but for the money you cant go wrong. what i love is that it's consistant with great tone and in fairness the efeects are good.i dont hate anything about it. it's the best product in it;s class.its won numerous awards year after year and if your lcky enough to get a reliable one you'll be smiling for a long time to come!

I liked the power level selector on the back, which allows you to crank your amp to get that valve sound, but not deafen you and your neighbours aswell.

It sounds awesome, but you just have to do a bit of tweaking. The guy before who was saying it sounds like crap is an idiot and probably didn't read the manual. You can get some of the best clean sounds around from this amp, as well as some pretty good distorted/overdriven sounds too (These are admittingly a bit harder to tweak). The effects aren't top notch, but they're adequate.

I had a couple of problems with the input socket coming undone and falling into the box, but this was easily fixed.

Never dealt with them.

The only way I think anyone could possibly get this amp to sound bad (if set up right) is if they're a really bad guitarist.

the amp has lots of features. unlike its smaller siblings in the AD range,it incorporates an effects loop. it can be set up as a 3 channel amp if needed...has lots of user friendly fx but with the exception of the reverb and delay,i think they are pretty worthless. plenty of power for my needs and so far does not have any problems keeping up with the band.

i play in a R&B band in vegas...i aint playin sweaty,greasehog whisky bars...im a professional who plays the best showrooms...the only SOUNDS I USE ON THIS AMP is boutique CLEAN, TWEED,AND 70S MARSHALL. the clean sounds can be thin if you dont have the gain up..i like the reverb and delay on this amp but i think all the modulation effects sound like typical digital crap! i traded my ad50vt in for this amp thinkin the 100 watter would sound better but believe it or not i preffered the sound of the 50 watter...all this aside, the 3 settings i use are very wonderful... the clean sound is top notch,and u.k.70s is very warm,even with a stock bridge strat pick up...i never mess with all the hi gain crap...im not tryin to be 18 again.

the 50 watt version was a gem the year i owned it....so far with this new one,the friggin input jack fell inside! sound familiar? i will say that this was a total turn off but honestly is not hard to fix with alittle super glue....one has to always question the build quality and reliability of ANYTHING made in CHINA! case closed....but let me go to the other side...ive paid big bucks for all tube amps that were brand new,like mesa.fender, marshall,rivera,etc... dont think that something made in the u.s will have less probability of breaking down?..last amp i bought was a brand new mesa mark 1, you know the amps that fall off trucks and sound great...let me tell you that boogie broke down after 2 days.. last time ill ever shell out big bucks for that $%^& again!

ive never called vox, but based on the 10,000 other reviews it would be safe to say that they are horrendous assholes!

been playing some 20 years...have owned everything under the sun from top shelf tube gear, to the bottom of the solid state $%^&pile. just think CRATE ,PEAVEY and CARVIN.. try not to barf.. BOTTOM LINE? for just over 500 bucks its a no brainer... where the hell else are you gonna find an amp this consistent, powerful and versatile? no it aint no plexi or vintage tweed but it also aint thousands of bucks and the models are very respectable.. in my opinion they get ya 70 to 90 per cent there depending on the model....yeah i like this sucker...only thing i might do is upgrade the speakers one cat said it made a huge difference. the grill is also on the cheesy side.

brand new ad100vt 2x12 combo -
-100w ss amp with valve emulation preamp and one preamp valve in the power amp section to create valve breakup.
-plywood body
-2 customized celestion 70/80 speakers
-2 programmable channels and one manual mode (so actually a 3 channel amp). -footswitchable
-11 amp models
-11 effects
-effect loop
-external speaker jack (internal speakers will be muted)
-line-out/phones jack
-footswitch not included

i bought this amp 4 weeks ago. i was trying a couple of different amps in the shop. amongst others i played the 50W version of this mp and really liked it at low volumes. so i thought the 100W 2x12 should be just what i need! i didn't care much about the modelling/sounds-like mesa,plexi,dumble shit - just liked the over-all tone pretty much (especcially the uk70's setting). so i ordered myself this amp to play it in the rehearsal room and on stage with my band.
well...it arrived - i first was very impressed by the building quality and weight...but when first played it loud i was completely
dissappointed.
we're playing stoner rock-foofighterish music and i thought this amp should be just right for it... but it isn't.

the only setting that works at all is the uk80's amp.
its tonality really gives a little bit of a punch with a smooth distortion but all the others just didn't work at all for me.

all the amp models either create not enough punch (numetal, us-higain,boutique-od) or weak sounds with honky mids (ac30tb, ac15)
but the worst for me is the plexi simulation. that one was the main reason for me to buy it- sounded amazing in the shop or played just by myself - but in the band you just CAN'T create a sound that
you can actually hear through the other instruments. at high volumes it just gets bassy, mushy and ugly. and no way to tweak it right.

the effects are of very bad quality also. the compressor and the reverb work quite well but all the modulation sounds are just weak, flat and digital sounding. i've honestly rarely heard a chorus sounding that bad.

the noisegate (normally a very useful feature) always influences the input signal, even when turned to minimum. so when your guitar volume turned to let's say one third it still cuts your tone.

The preset sounds are not useable because of their completely exaggerated effect amount. the manual mode leaves you unsatisfied
because of the completely exaggerated amp-modulation tonalities.
the tone controls are supposed to work like the tone controls on the
original amps. well, i used to have a plexi and a jcm800 and i
played ac30s and twin reverbs. sorry but the tone controls on either of these amps worked completely different than the rip-off versions on this AD100vt because the vox designers were so keen on getting this thing to sound like for example a recto that you just can't
weaken the annoying tonality that seems to be vox's interpretation
of a recto by tweaking the tone controls.
if a mesa recto would sound like THAT noone would ever play it.

but to be fair i need to say that the clean sound are really quite good. it's just that i never use really clean sounds.

over-all said: this amp is completely useless for me.
i'd say the 15-50 watts are nice little amps. they sound great at low volumes and give you a versatility and quality that is outstanding at this price.
but a 100W 2x12 combo is usually built for high volumes and professional use. and that's were it just doesn't work!
it is NOT a professional amplifier and everyone (like me) who thought 'wow, what a bargain!' should consider to spend slightly more money and buy a real thing.
it's a toy! a great, big, very loud one but still a toy.

no problems with it.

there's avery good forum on korg's german website.
whenever you have a problem or a question the korg guys will answer you at least within 2 or 3 hours.
so i think they are quite good. never heard anythig bad about korg's customer support.

i played this amp with a gretsch duojet and a godin artisan telecaster.
as said above i hated it and just returned it to the shop.
i've spent some extra money and bought an AC30 head with 2x12
and some stompboxes and now seem to have found what i need.

though everybody denies it i am now convinced that modeling amps still are miles away from a tube amp's tone quality. the AD100VT sounded good played by itself but had strong weaknesses within the band context. and -sorry- what should such a huge amp be built for if not playing with a band?
i would recommend the smaller versions but not this one.

Features are explained below, enough for most people.
The only problem is that it doesn't support midi, so you have to buy the expensive v-12 footcontroller (which is great, by the way)

Im playing an unmodified Fender Highway Strat and play mostly funkrock and rock. Sounds perfect, although metalheads won't be happy with it, its not great for high gain sounds. All Amp models sound great, i played a 100watt alltube combo before i bought the amp, i don't miss anything.
Effects sound great, much better than the effects on the 1x12 combo.

Never had any problems

Never dealed with them..

I love the amp, it sounds great, it is vertisale, Its funky