Vox Pathfinder 15R

Nice features for the price of this guitar. It's not a rack of effects, but the spring reverb and the trem are a bonus. Has a gain boost which I don't really use. The amp looks cool too.

I've got a 1997 American Tele and a 2002 Tokai made in Japan Love Rock (great guitars). I personally think this amp sounds trully sweet with the single coils; it realls seems to ring and has a real bright sound, even with a touch of bite. This amp is very sensetive to changes in your guitar volume- it can still sound clean (for chords etc.)with the vol rolled off a bit, but you turn it up and the gain is back and biting. I think this is better with single coils then with hums (they can sound a little muddy)- doesn't have enough sustain to play santana but you would be able to with a pedal. It's been said before, but I agree this is no good for screemo, but who wants to play that trollop anyway?

Hasen't broken on me. Has a fair few bits made from plastic, but consider the price and what you're getting for your money I think this is fair. I don't gig (yet) so I can't really comment on this front.

Never had to find out...

I'm 16 and have been playing since I was 12. I sort of outgrew my little Frontman that I got with my first squier pack, so decided I needed an upgrade. I like to think I'm quite good, I'm not great but amtrying to get better.
I love the kinda' individual sound it has- doesn't sound like a run of the mill solid state. I'd definatley buy another. This is a good sounding and looking little amp!

The gain on this amp is perfect. Perfect. I previously owned an AC30, a Mesa Boogie Duel Rectifier, and various other amps. This amp gives you a natural tube sound similar to the AC30. I actually AB'd the two amps side by side and they were close enough that I eventually sold the AC30 and have been using this as my main amp. The boost feature is fun if you want some noisy thick, at some points almost fuzzy overdrive. The tremelo is great quality. I think the reverb is fine. I usually keep it just slightly on. I keep it at a slightly breaking up sound, semi-dirty clean, the classic AC30 sound. Then if I want a slight boost I have a Barber Direct Drive which gives it a natural sounding gain boost.

I have used this with a Fender 68' Reissue Strat with a JB Junior Duncan pickup in it. Sounds great. Fender American Standard Tele sounds excellent as well.

I'm a graduate of Berklee College of Music. I make all of my living off of music and I'm dying laughing that this $100 solid state amp is now my main amp! This is one of those secret treasures.

What the amp does best is a slightly distorted sparkling beautiful clean with a hint of gain on it, like an AC30. I find the speaker to be just fine but I've used the line out; it's fantastic. I ran it into my old Mesa Cab and really enjoyed it.

Is it loud enough for gigs? Sure if you mic it through a PA. I use it all of the time in various settings live. Again hilarious because I bought it thinking it was a toy pretty much.

Compare this with Fender starter amps and other $100-150 range amps, this sounds like an actual main amp for a full time musician.

This isnt the amp for you if your looking for a digital distortion. It prob is not good for metal. This is perfect for pop, classic rock, blues, roots rock, jazz, indie, and anything that wants that Class A type sound.

I would use and have used it for many gigs. It is so simple and reliable and I usually just stuff my chords and pedals in the back and carry the thing with ease. It weighs less than my backpack full of books.

Because it doesnt have tubes it's a great secret weapon if you are looking for a light weight enjoyable time playing with surprisingly excellent tone.

I have never dealt with Vox but I've enjoyed all of their products.

In sum: If your looking for an AC30 sound. That british gain that doesnt sound like fuzz but sounds like actual overdriven amp. That bit of dirt that you can have glazed over your clean signal to give it that Tom Petty/Stones/SRV/anybody with good tone sound, then this is a great choice at the price. I am contemplating buying a second just to have it for when they go off of the market. It really is a little treasure. If this amp were $300 I would think differently, but the fact that it sounds the way it does and is priced with beginner amps that sound horrific and like a tin can, yet this Vox Pathfinder sounds good enough to be a main amp!...that is remarkable. If I owned the music lesson studi I work at, I would put these in every room as the amps that the students and teachers use. They exude good tone and they give new players a mark to match when they are just learning what good tone really is. If your feeling bogged down with tons of gear and too much unused stuff...sell most of it, drop $119 and get a this amp. You'll remember why you love the guitar and experience it all over again.

Tremolo and reverb definitely a nice add on.

Compared to price and the fact it's a solid state: excellent.

No troubles so far = +2 years.

n/a

Greatest Solid State I've played and/or owned.

Had a chance to test it with a Marshall 4x12 cab, check it out:
http://wiki.stormt.dk/musik:vox12

Por el tama??o son suficientes controles.Estaria bueno un control de medios quizas.

Realmente excelente por su precio.
Yo he tenido equipos como marshall 30 aniverasrio combo de 100 watts, Laney Lc15r,Valvestates varios,Fender deluxe plus....en fin bastantes como para decir que este equipito es mortal!!.
La distorsion no es su fuerte,es para usarlo limpio con pedales o multiefectos.
Consejo:CIERREN TODA LA REVERB,ya que si lo prueban cambia el sonido al abrirla , generando unos armonicos agudos muy feos.

Quien sabe...estoy en argentina, aqui toda garantia...mmmm

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Muy buen equipo.Para principiantes:Yamaha pacifica 112 o 112v(mejor)Zoom G1x y la frutilla del postre Vox pathfinder 15r.

2008 model made in Vietnam. 15watts solid state amp with a boost switch and built in tremolo and reverb effects. If you've read any of the previous reviews, you already know the rest. This amp is lightweight, easy to transport, looks good, easy to operate and sounds great. You can get some great tones out of this small amp. I use the Pathfinder 15R at home or when I go out to jam with friends, etc.. On occasion I may use the tremolo effect on the amp, but I rarely if ever use the reverb. I prefer to use a Tech 21 Boost RVB for washes of reverbs. Hard to believe this is only a 15 watt amp as it packs quite a punch.

I play a CIJ Fender Jaguar with single coils and a Schecter Ultra with humbuckers. My musical style ranges from effects-laden shoegaze/dreampop, indie-rock, post-punk, 80's new wave and 60's British Rock (Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks, etc..) This little amp covers it all and almost sounds like a tube amp. Simply beautiful! It's pretty quiet unless you crank the built in reverb but I never use it anyway. Increasing the gain takes it into overdrive so it's easy to get some nice classic rock tones. I mainly tweek the amp to get a nice warm clean tone and use the effects pedals mounted on my rig (fuzz, chorus, delay, echo, reverb, etc.)This amp takes pedals very well. It may be small and humble looking, but the Vox Pathfinder 15R smokes every other solid state amp I've used, including 30watt amps.

The amp is fairly well built considering it's inexpensive price, besides, I take care of my gear so I expect it should last. At 15watts, I wouldn't really gig with it unless it was a small venue and the amp was set up to a mic.

Nevr had to deal with Vox/Korg.

I love this amp and as I stated before, it smokes every other solid stae amp I've used. If it were stolen or lost, I'd get another one in a heartbeat. It's ideal for private practice and jamming with friends. For the price, the Vox Pathfinder can't be beat. Similar sized modeling amps can't hold a candle to the sounds this little amp can produce. It's that good.

Its been said, so I won't say it again. I'll give it a 10 on features because it has every I want and nothing I don't.

This amp suits me to a "T". I'm mostly a Blues and Classic Rock and its great for that. The stock 8" speaker isn't bad, but its not my cup of tea. I recut the stock baffle and installed a 10" speaker and it really brought the amp to life. The reverb is good, but its just not Fender good. The Tremelo is great although it could go a bit slower. The boost is a nice feature, but its over the top for me. When I practice at home, I turn the gain up to about 1:00, and volume is around 7:00. Treble and Bass are straight up. The boost can take this amp from a really cool blues amp to straight metal with just a kick of the footswitch. Too much for me but tweakable for sure. I don't play clean too often, but the cleans on this camp are really nice. I'll give it an 8 overall since I personally wasn't crazy about the small speaker and the boost is too much.

Seems pretty reliable. Its a solid state amp so its going to be reliable out of the box.

N/A

I'd really have to give this amp a 9 overall. Most people would buy this amp for practice, but I know people who gig with this amp. I was really able to turn it up one day, and my wife thought I started a band and didn't tell her we were practicing at the house. I play this amp with my Fender Classic 50's Esquire and Fender '72 Telecaster Custom RI. I love playing the Custom with this amp simply because it sounds a little better. My Esquire sounds great too, but its lacking output compared to the Custom. Sometimes I'll kick in the boost and turn my volume down on my Esquire to give it what it needs. The best thing I ever did to this amp was install a larger speaker. You can't believe the difference in the sound. I thought Vox was really smart about installing an Ext Speaker Output. You'll use it. I'll be doing my first gig with this amp in about a month and I'm excited to see how it turns out. If it happens to not be loud enough, the line out on the back of the amp, straight into the P.A. should cover it. There will be naysayers, but I doubt that it won't be loud enough. I've been looking for "that" amp for what seems like forever, and I stil can't believe I found it in a solid state amp. It sounds very tube like and that's probably why I like it so much. The tremelo is killer and the reverb is useable. If you're a reverb freak, and new tank can easily be installed. I may do the same. You also can't beat this amp for the price. They sell for $119 new, but I got mine with a footswitch for $110 shipped. GET THE FOOTSWITCH! You'l be glad you did. I'd like to get its big brother, the AC15, but I'm in no rush. If anything, I might get a second Pathfinder and run them in stereo at gigs.

Now for my other/past gear. I've owned mostly Strats and Teles, and an Epiphone Casino. I am a Tele man now, and I expect that's where I'll stay. For my money, there is no better guitar. I've had lots of amps. Deluxe Reverb RI, Epi Valve Jr, Fender Champion 600 RI, Epi Valve Special, Vox VR30, and the list goes on. I currently own a Pathfinder 15R (duh), a Silverface Fender Vibro Champ, and I still have my Epi Valve JR head. Guess which amp gets the most play? The Pathfinder. My Vibro Champ is killer too (I also installed a 10" speaker in that one), but its crazy loud so it mostly gets played when the wife isn't in the house. Would I buy this amp again? Hell yeah I would! I've turned a lot of people onto this amp, and they've done nothing but thank me. One of Vox's classic amps.

New. You have seen all goodies in other reviews. One important feature don't know if I saw it anywhere when you take a line out and send it to another amp, pa, etc., it does not kill your speaker in the amp so you still have a little monitor amp should you need it! It also has spk. outs and headphones outs. cool setup here!

Sounds great of course up to a certain level. Keep it in the sweet spot and you will do fine...it's only 15 watts!

SS so far so good dropped it a few times and it still works great! Yes no backup necessary.

Been playing pro for many many years have all tube amps Koch studiotone & twintone II (love em) for band stuff... this is for a solo situation through a pa maybe with tracks etc. or in home practice or maybe recording under certain situations mainly for practice and solo stuff though.. Nice.

2008 Made in Vietnam for Korg, Vox Pathfinder 15R. Single Channel with Boost switch. Solid State amp with a 8" Bulldog speaker 8ohms. Built in Tremolo and Reverb. 7 knobs Gain, Master Volume, Treble, Bass, Tremolo Speed, Tremolo Depth and Reverb. Has a Head phone jack, line output, 8ohm 15W output and foot switch all in the back of amp. I wish the head phone jack was on top of amp.

I wanted a quality practice amp with great tone and I was looking for a VOX. I went to mid-town to try out some VOX amps well for the price and the tone the Pathfinder was awesome it is a very musical clean tone and I like the gain on full without the boost switch engaged, if I want high gain I use my Boss MT2 and let me tell you I have already tried it out with the MT2 and she sounds sweet. I play blues, metal and rock and the Pathfinder can do it all.
At low volumes she sounds great, my other practice amp is a Crate V18
and it is kind of loud for the apartment so I am glad I found the Pathfinder 15R. My main amp is a 112 75 watt VALVEKING with some upgrades but if you know the Valveking they are LOUD.
I like the built in Tremolo and Reverb for the BLUES. I am very happy with this amp.

I use 2 guitars:
1- A Jackson Dinky (color BLACK reverse head stock)with humbuckers SH2n(JAZZ) and a Dimebucker. 5 way switch so you get the Dimebucker split and the Dimebucker with the Jazz split nice tele and strat tones other then the normal 3 way stuff. Soldered in a volume bleed mod.

2- G&L ASAT Tribute(see through orange) stock other than I installed a no-load tone pot and installed a volume bleed mod.

They both sound very sweet through the Pathfinder. Mind you there is noise with single coils but I have not used my Boss NS2 noise suppressor, I am just practicing so I don't care if I was to record I would hook up the NS2. I bought this to play at low volumes but I have put down the pedal to the metal and she sounds very good no strange feed back or distortion.

I can get Hendix tones with this amp with a Soul Vibe and a Barber Trifecta Pedala, with just the stock settings on the amp I can get some nice blues tones and like you will read here in the other reviews the clean is awesome very musical and usable. I like the built in Tremolo and reverb if I have not said this before usually on low budget amps the reverb usually sound like crap but not on the Pathfinder its very usable.

I have only been playing with it for 24 hours but for the price it seems it should last if used as a practice amp or just jamming in the garage with the guys. I treat all of my things with care, so I would not purposely drop it down the stairs so I would say it will last

I will register it online. But I have not had to contact them.

I have been playing off and on for many years. I do it for fun and the love of music. I own 2 other valve amps and a whole bunch of stomp boxes.
If it was stolen I would hope we catch the thief and if broken I would buy another.
I love that even though it is a small practice amp it still has a great tone quality to it, ITS NOT JUNK! I have played other practice amps like the Peavey Rage transtube, a Pignose and a Crate V18 and I like this one the Pathfinder 15R the best.

If you were to ask me what practice amp do I recommend I would tell you go checkout the Vox Pathfinder 15R. I bet you will be very happy.

I recommend you always test out any amp before you lay down the cash to make sure that is the tone you want.

Just so you know I wanted a practice amp straight up no Digital modeling junk just a great clean channel with some gain for taste. That is what you get here. Modeling amps are cool for like 3 months then your like where is my tone. Also after you play through a valve amp your like everything else sounds FAKE AND DIGITALIZED.

That is what makes the Pathfinder so cool its solid state but there is not modeling crap inside it sounds organic.

I'm gonna guess and say it was made in '06 because I bought it in the summer of that year. It's got a single channel, a gain control, a boost switch for added gain, treble and bass EQ controls, a tremolo depth knob and a speed knob, and a reverb control. Has a 8" Bulldog speaker. Also has a headphone jack, a line out, a footswitch jack, and a 8ohm extension speaker line so you can run it into a 1X12 or 2X12 cab.

It's listed as 15W of SS power, but I guarantee you it sounds much louder. I think what most manufacturers do is list the clean power of the amp, but when you add gain to that, it gets a lot louder than the wattage would have you think. I read up on that the other day. Something I didn't know. I think that's the case here.

I use this thing with 3 different guitars: a Washburn X50ProQ, an Agile Ghost III with a GFS Power Rails in the bridge, and a Peavey Predator with a Power Rails in the bridge.

The X-50 is a more vintage sounding guitar (Seymour Duncan SH-11 CC in the bridge and a SH-1n '59 reissue in the neck), and clean it is nearly amazing what I can get out of this amp. With this guitar, I get a great clean sound, the CC chimes just a little bit and the '59 is smooth as could be. The sound is a little bright, but I think that's due partly to the speaker and partly to the placement of the pickup (it's a 24 fret neck). Turn up the gain and you get a great crunch. It's not distortion per se, but it's a great overdrive. Imagine AC/DC, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, that pure classic rock crunch. That's what you get. No way like an AC30, but it really is the sweetest overdrive I've heard come out of a SS amp. It has character to it, it builds on what your guitar gives to it, and it doesn't cover mistakes. Metal folks, look elsewhere. I beef it up sometimes with a Marshall Guv'nor Plus if I want a harder hit. The guitars that have the Power Rails respond really well, they overdrive the amp a bit earlier, but the sound pumping it is still sweet, crisp, and clear.

If you want a more aggressive edge, you can use the boost to an extent. Don't put the gain too high when you use it or you get that liquid sounding fuzzy overdrive. Used correctly, it's good. You may prefer a pedal like I do if you want some more crunch to the sound. Tremolo works ok, but I don't use it very much. I keep the reverb around 12. Higher up doesn't make much a difference.

I stick mainly to blues style classic rock. So this is perfect for me. Even if I want to pull off some sweet cleans, it's got me covered for that too.

I've had this thing for 2 years and about 4 months and I've never had an issue with it. I am pretty careful with it. I don't yank the cable out, I keep it cleaned off, I don't bang it around, and I keep it covered when it's not in use (with a pillowcase, but it gets the job done). So I've never had to worry about it. It's built pretty solid from what I can tell. The only thing that I had to do was take the sticker off the back that has the serial number, voltage, and whatnot off. It was causing a buzz on certain notes.

I've never gigged with this, but I'm really thinking about buying a nice 1X12 cab and just using that. It's plenty loud enough and even if it's not, mic it up. I was going to get a Blackheart Little Giant, but I may just invest in another one of these. I love the sound I'm getting, so why change it?

Never had to deal with this. If it broke, I'd attempt to fix it or just get someone else to.

I've been playing for a good while. If it were lost, broken, whatever, I'd without hesitation buy another. I love this amp, it sounds great, it's reliable, and it won't break the bank. Like I said, I'm going to get a cab so I can gig with this and probably buy a second to have as a spare. I don't see the need to have more power than I need. This suits me fine for right now. I was looking at all kinds of amps, but I wanted one that I could use in a dorm and at home, but also one that had balls enough to gig with. I read a lot of positives about it, and I got it. Needless to say, I'm happy I did. I would like to see a mid control on there, but as is, it works for me. This is probably one of the best SS amps you can get, forget Line 6 with all that modeling s***. If you want great tone and no processors or digitalization, this is your answer.

1. one channel
2. Gain,Boost switch,Mstr volume.Treble,Bass
3.Tremolo speed and depth,Reverb
4.On the rear,headphone speaker jack,ext spkr jack (8ohms),line out for direct recordings,footswitch jack for optional VSF-2. not a bad tolex covering.
The amp is pure solid state,its a through hole technology not a surface mount technology it has a sixteen pin analog IC that shares the pre-amp side and an eight pin IC for the reverb side. Sorry guys! I know its attention to details but, I'm an Electronic Technician and thats what I've been doing for a living down here in Southern Californias Amerasian sweat shops for the last 18yrs. anyways its 15watts of solid state,and it can get pretty loud! for a little guy,and last of all its not a modeling amp thank God!

Now this is where it gets really good,this amp is mainly use for home recording with SM57 in front as well as late night practice jams and thats what this amp is design for. DEFINETLY NOT A CLUB GIG AMP OR BAND REHEARSAL AMP EITHER! does not require a Technicians brain to operate,its very simple to dial in sweet tone. Distortion wise if you've got a strat or a tele youre gonna get an excellent 70's Rock sound as well as Country Rock without the boost switch engage.(I will refer to the humbucker bridge p-up position only from here on)now as far as the bridge humbuckers when you have a p-up thats wound between 8.0k to about 8.79k with the distortion all the way,you can get an AC/DC type sound or more like late 70's Hard rock. as you tend to lean towards heavier wound p-ups from 9.0K to about 14.0k you get the 80's heavy metal spandex sound with shred guitars of course! with my style of playing my bridge humbucker p-ups are wound about 9.75k and at times when I need to role back the guitar volume a little,it still cleans up pretty good. remember this amp is one channel so playing with the guitar volume will give you dynamics as well as finesse. I have put this amp through series of test,does really well on the funk department,great country rock tones,nice bluesy sound on the front single coil strat as well as the 2 and 4 positions,great Rock,Hard Rock,metal and again that all depends on how hot the p-ups are wound on the bridge side,its a nice all around practice/recording amp for about $119.00 and of course I can dial in my favorite brownsound with my set-up without using pedals which is a big plus. I'm an amp,guitar cable,guitar kinda guy and just let the skills do the rest. As far as the built in tremolo its only use when its needed on some songs thats being recorded. for the most part its never use(not bad either). and last of all the reverb,I use alot cause its not so over the top its subtle not so splashy very sweet. and the overall sound is very balance,great warm tube type distotion when needed as well nice cleans and in betweens. the guitars that I use were all loaded with stewmac single coils and vintage humbuckers except for the tele which are fender texas specials.The two guitars were fender and tele configurations which are alder bodies and maple fretboards. the third guitar was a strat type but with humbucker on the bridge,this is te guitar that I switch different wound p-ups with.

never had problems with it and I do know that anybody can get a lemon!

never dealt with them

been on this route for about 24yrs,alot of practicing as well as lots of live gigs and also modified hand full of amps on the side. Now if this amp were stolen the guy better have fire insurance cause you know where his going and at the same time I'll go buy another one. the amp is great for what it is at least it sounds and feels tons better than those Modeling amps! get this amp if you want reality not some virtual wanna be modeling sound. Go figure why all of a sudden line 6 now has tubes on their amps!