Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................... 1 Welcome Aboard! ............................................................................ 1 The Best of Both Worlds ................................................................. 1 Valve Reactor Technology: ............................................................. 2 Enough Talk Already...Shut Up and Let Me Play My Guitar! (a.k.a. “Quick Start”)...................................
Silent Tuning Mode ....................................................................... 31 Calibrating the Tuner ..................................................................... 31 Factory Preset Programs............................................................... 32 What’s on the Factory Preset Program Menu? ............................. 32 Preset Program Recipes ............................................................... 34 Recalling the Factory Preset Programs.............................
Introduction WELCOME ABOARD! any thanks for adding a VOX Valvetronix amp to your sonic arsenal. We’re sure it’ll give you countless hours of great guitar tones that will feel as good as they sound! Before we show you how to get the most out of your brand new combo (and it’s as easy as falling off a log, believe me!), let’s take a quick look at why the Valvetronix unit you’re about to plug into is the real deal as opposed to yet another “jack of all trades, master of none” digital modeling amp....
circuit Modeling System), the stunning realism of which has deservedly earned an avalanche of critical acclaim and has been welcomed with open arms by serious guitarists all over the globe. The result of this perfect marriage is a digital modeling amp that sounds, feels, looks and operates like a guitar amp...
The output of your Valve Reactor power amp is also designed to “read” the constantly changing “impedance” curve of the loudspeaker system it is hooked up to and then “report” this reactive information back to the output transformer - just like its “bigbrother” valve amplifiers do. This information permits the behaviour of the valve stage of the amp to vary with the speaker load (impedance), which is another important part of “real world” valve tone.
Enough Talk Already...Shut Up and Let Me Play My Guitar! a.k.a. “Quick Start” ep, you’re right, the vast majority of manuals are about as interesting as watching paint dry and we know that you’re anxious to plug in to your new amp and give it a whirl in the comfort of your own home. So, here’s a “Quick Start” to get you up and running in a heartbeat.
from scratch. We’re gonna take the easiest of the two options (and they’re both pretty simple!) and go through the factory presets first BUT hey, if you’d rather start by writing a program of your own right off the bat, skip to the “STARTING FROM SCRATCH” section that starts on page 23 and carry on from there... 6. Let’s start at the very beginning by playing program 1-1 which is a fat, easy to play, high gain lead sound called “Flying High.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As already stated, your Valvetronix combo comes with 32 preset programs. FYI, these are stored in 8 Banks, each of which consists of 4 Channels (8 x 4 = 32!). The Bank number is shown in the BANK DISPLAY window while the Channel number is indicated by one of the four LEDs above the CHANNEL Buttons. This means that program 1-1 is indicated by a “1” appearing in the BANK DISPLAY window and the LED above the CHANNEL 1 Button being lit up. Geddit? 10.
CHANGING BANKS... 14. Right, now we’ve played programs 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 and 1-4, our next step is to move to Bank 2 and do the same exact thing. So, let’s move from program14 to 2-1...and, once again, don’t fret, it’s a breeze. Hit the Up (▲) Cursor Button (next to the BANK DISPLAY window - remember!?) one time and “2” will start flashing in the Display.
The Guitarist’s Guided Panel Tour ver the next 13 pages we’re gonna take a quick peek at the Top and Rear panels of your Valvetronix amp.
“acoustic emulation” channels will do the same thing if (ab)used in this way. Why? To make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic you have to boost the high frequencies by ridiculous amounts and so, if you slam such a device too hard, unwanted distortion can result. Geddit?! Good... LOW (low sensitivity) Once again, the “experts” will tell you that a low sensitivity input is best suited for guitars with high output pickups - such as over-wound humbuckers or active pickups.
DRIVE Control This sets the DRIVE amount when TREBLE BOOST, TUBE OD, FAT OD or FUZZ are selected. For the other six (6) stompboxes the exact function of this knob depends on the effect. For specific details please refer to the table that follows.
The amp types on offer are: VOX AC15 UK MODERN VOX AC15TB RECTO VOX AC30 US HIGAIN VOX AC30TB BOUTIQUE OD UK BLUES BOUTIQUE CL UK ’70S BLACK 2x12 UK ’80S TWEED 1x12 UK ’90S TWEED 4x10 Turn to the “AMP MODELS” Section on page 39 for some specific information on each of the amps modeled here. GAIN Control This adjusts the preamp gain of the amp model chosen. NOTE: Some of the amp models are capable of extreme gain levels (e.g. UK MODERN, RECTO & US HIGAIN) while others (e.g.
4. POWER AMP CONTROLS PRESENCE Control This control allows you to adjust the amount of Presence (high frequency “sparkle”) in your sound. Like all of the preamp knobs we’ve just looked at, the PRESENCE control is programmable. NOTE: Presence is a function of a power amp containing a negative feedback circuit and not all the original amps we modeled contain one - for example, none of the four Vox amps we modeled (AC15, AC15TB, AC30 & AC30TB) feature a negative feedback circuit.
Also, if you think about it, if you’re using a crunch or high gain lead sound then it makes much more sense to add effects like ROTARY, ROOM (reverb) or DELAY to the signal after it’s been distorted, rather than before. I mean, does it make any sense to add an effect like reverb and then mash the heck out of your signal (i.e. distort it)? Not really...right!? Good, case closed. Now our little detour’s over - let’s get on with the front panel tour...
NOTE: When you awhile adjust the “Speed” control on ROTARY (either via the front panel or the optional VC-4 Foot Controller) the effect takes awhile to react - just like a real Rotating speaker. Why? Because, in the real world, it takes a second or two for the motor controlling the speaker rotation to speed up or slow down - that’s why! SPEED Control This knob enables you to adjust the modulation speed of the chosen effect.
6. DELAY SECTION Here you can insert one of three (3) distinctly different delay effects in the “virtual FX loop” of your Valvetronix amp. In all three cases, the maximum delay time possible is two (yes, 2!) seconds. TYPE Button This button enables you to select the Delay type you’d like to use. When a particular Delay type is chosen, the red LED to its left will light up. If a Delay type isn’t selected (i.e. none of the three LEDs are on), the Delay Section is bypassed (turned off).
DEPTH Control This allows you to adjust the depth (relative volume) of the delay effect. REPEATED HINT: If you add a DELAY to a program and you can’t hear the effect, make sure the BYPASS BUTTON (8) isn’t engaged. If it is, the ORIGINAL VALUE LED directly above it will be on and this means that everything in the “virtual FX loop” (Modulation, Delay & Reverb) is, er, bypassed. So, in order to “bypass the bypass,” press the BYPASS BUTTON, the LED will go out and all will be good in “virtual FX loop” land! 7.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The BYPASS Button is NOT programmable. ORIGINAL VALUE LED When the position of any one of the programmable knobs or switches matches the values stored in a channel’s program, this LED will let you know by either lighting up or turning off for a second. It will do so by lighting up if the BYPASS Button immediately below it isn’t activated.
Also, if you are using the built-in tuner (see page 30), the CHANNEL Select LEDs are used in the tuning process. 10. POWER SWITCH As amazing as it may seem, this switch turns the power to the unit on or off! And, get this - when the power switch is “on,” the indicator above the switch lights up!! Providing the amp’s power cord is plugged into a working outlet, of course...
B. The Rear Panel 1. AC POWER CONNECTOR Yes, you’ve guessed it; this is where you connect the included power cord. 2. EXTERNAL SPEAKER OUT Jack(s) This is where you can hook up external speaker cabinet(s) if you’d like to. The AD60VT has one (1) EXTERNAL SPEAKER OUT jack, while the AD120VT has two (2). Why does it have two? Because the AD120VT is a stereo amp! IMPORTANT NOTE: The internal speaker(s) in your Valvetronix combo remain connected when external speakers are connected.
will enable you to play a small room without deafening your audience or compromising your all-important tone. It will also allow you to add even more realism to the smaller output amps we modeled - like the AC15 (15 Watts) or the Tweed 1x12 (18 Watts) for example. 4. LOOP Jacks These allow you to hook up an external effects processor to your amp’s Series Effects Loop. The AD60VT has a Mono loop while the AD120VT has a Stereo one with Left (L) and Right (R) SENDS and L and R RETURNS.
Storing Stuff, Writing Stuff & More... s mentioned earlier, your Valvetronix combo can store and instantly recall 32 programs. These 32 programs are stored in 8 Banks, each of which contains 4 channels (8 x 4 = 32!). The bank numbers (shown in the BANK display...clever stuff, huh!?) are 1, 2, 3, 4, 1. (“1” with a DOT after it), 2. (“2” with a DOT after it, etc,), 3. and 4..
‘Cos the BANK display will now be displaying a bank number (1 – 4, 1. – 4.) and it won’t be flashing! 2. If your amp is in either “Tuner Mode” (BANK Display shows “ ”) or “Silent Tuner Mode” (BANK Display shows “ ”), hitting the TUNER/CANCEL button will get you back into whatever mode you were in before you started tuning – namely, “Manual Mode” (BANK Display shows “ ”) or “Program Select Mode” (BANK display will show a bank number (1 – 4, 1. – 4.) and it won’t be flashing).
SWITCHING BETWEEN PROGRAMS You’re not going to believe this but to do this, you simply follow the 3 simple steps we’ve just gone through. COOL PLAYING HINT: When you’re halfway through switching programs (i.e. you’ve selected the Bank but not the Channel), the program you’re about to change is still selected and will remain this way until you select the channel.
STEP 6: Use the ▲ (UP) and ▼ (DOWN) Buttons to select the bank you want to use and the CHANNEL Select Buttons to select the channel. STEP 7: Hit WRITE again and you’re done! STARTING FROM SCRATCH Why the heck not, huh!? Lets go: STEP 1: Set the amp’s MASTER Volume at a minimum level. Then plug your guitar into the amp...duh! STEP 2: Switch the amp on...bigger duh! STEP 3: Set the amp’s MASTER Volume at a reasonable level.
STEP 11: Happy? Good, let’s store this bad boy. Hit the WRITE Button once this puts you into “where do you want to store your new program?” mode which is indicated by the number in the BANK Display flashing. “ABORT MISSION” NOTE: If you get as far as “where do you want to store your new program?” mode and then decide your “tweaked” program sucks, all you’ve gotta do is hit the TUNER/CANCEL Button and you’re outta “write mode”....
ORIGINAL VALUE LED: What’s being used here, man? So, you’re flipping through the programs on your new Valvetronix combo, you come across one you really dig and you decide you wanna know exactly how the amp is dialed in to get such a killer tone. Sounds like a reasonable plan but how on earth do you do it? Prepare to meet your saviour, the incredibly useful ORIGINAL VALUE LED.
STEP 3: Now that we’ve found which PEDAL is being used, let’s find where the DRIVE Control for it is set. So, watch the ORIGINAL VALUE LED and slowly but surely sweep the DRIVE Control through its full range of motion. When you reach the setting, the ORIGINAL VALUE LED will tell you. STEP 4: Do the same thing with the LEVEL Control in the PEDAL Section. STEP 5: The AMP SECTION is next.
MANUAL MODE: What You See Is What You Get! When your Valvetronix amp is put into MANUAL MODE it “forgets” whatever program it was on and behaves like a “regular” amp - meaning that the sound you hear is a direct reflection of all the knob settings on the top panel, including the PEDAL and AMP TYPE selector switches. Yes sir, “what you see is what you get” in MANUAL MODE - just like on a “normal” guitar amp. The only things MANUAL MODE “remembers” (stores) are: 1.
GETTING OUT OF MANUAL MODE There are two ways of doing this... 1. Press either the ▲ (UP) and or the ▼ (DOWN) button. Doing this will automatically take you back to the last program you were using. or 2. Hit any one of the CHANNEL SELECT Buttons - this will take you to the last bank you were using and whatever channel number you press to get out of MANUAL MODE. ...
Tuner Mode TUNING YOUR AXE WITH YOUR AMP! or your convenience, your Valvetronix combo houses a built-in auto chromatic tuner that can be calibrated between 438Hz and 445Hz. To access the tuner, simply press the TUNER/CANCEL button and “ ” will appear in the BANK Display to let you know that the tuner is activated and ready to go. F When you play a note, the pitch it is nearest to will be shown in the BANK Display. And if the note being played is a sharp (e.g.
SILENT TUNING MODE If you want to tune in silence (and if you’re checking your tuning halfway through a gig, you’re definitely gonna want to do that), simply hold down the TUNER/CANCEL button for more than a second and it will mute the amp’s output. To let you know that “silent tuning mode” has been activated a “ ” will appear in the BANK display.
Factory Preset Programs elcome to our menu of tasty tonal morsels - a veritable sonic smorgasbord of chef-prepared delicacies. Each one is a satisfying meal in its own right but we heartily recommend that you try all 32, as doing so will give you a good idea of the vast variety of wholesome, satisfying tones you can prepare in the comfort of your own home.
4 - 3 “Crossfire Crunch” 4 - 4 “Clean Trem” Texas tinged rhythm ‘n’ blues. Er, a clean tone with a touch o’ tremolo - believe it or not! BANK 1. 1. - 1 “Dirt” 1. - 2 “Mr. Clean” 1. - 3 “Unchain” 1. - 4 “Sweet Child” In reverence to some chained-up guys called “Alice”... They don’t come any cleaner or more chorused than this. Flanged ‘n’ brown - a drop-D, chuggers delight. Flip to your neck humbucker, put on your top hat ‘n’ wail! BANK 2. 2. - 1 “Alabama’s Home” 2. - 2 “Large Led Balloon” 2.
Preset Program Recipes PROGRAM PEDAL 1 - 1 “Flying High” 1 - 2 “Def Tone” COMP 1 - 3 “Breakin’ Stuff” MODULATION DELAY REVERB UK MODERN CHORUS TAPE ROOM BLACK 2x12 FLANGER TAPE ROOM RECTO SPRING 1 - 4 “Tie Mama Down” TREBLE B. AC30 CHORUS 2 - 1 “Clean Edge” COMP AC30 CHORUS 2 - 2 “Crunchy Trem” TREBLE B. AC15 TREMOLO 2 - 3 “Paperback Author” 2 - 4 “Keep Alive” AC30TB TREBLE B.
RECALLING THE FACTORY PRESET PROGRAMS If you went through the “Quick Start” section (page 4), you already know how to do this. If you didn’t, here’s how you can recall the 32 Factory Preset Programs that are described on page 32 IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do a “factory preset recall” you’re gonna permanently erase all the programs you’ve written/tweaked yourself. So please make double sure that you don’t mind losing your programs before you reset your Valvetronix’s memory to its “virgin,” factory default state.
Model Behaviour: What’s What? And What Does What? I n this section we’re gonna take a quick look at the 16 great sounding amps and 10 stompbox models your Valvetronix amp has to offer. Let’s start on the floor by looking at what’s on offer in the PEDAL section. NOTE: On any pedal where the DRIVE and/or LEVEL controls don’t literally control “drive” and “level,” their function will be described in CONTROL QUIRKS. A. PEDAL POINTS 1.
merely telling you that you’re driving the Pedal too darned hard! And just so you know, all “acoustic simulation” pedals and “acoustic emulation” channels will do the same thing if (ab)used in this way. Why? To make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic you have to boost the high frequencies by ridiculous amounts and so, if you slam such a device too hard, unwanted distortion can result. Geddit?! Good... 3. VOX WAH This effect is modeled on the legendary VOX Wah pedal, the V847.
LEVEL: Adjusts the depth of the Uni-Vibe effect. STEP ON IT! With the optional VC-4 Foot Controller (you’ve bought one by now, right!?) you can control the speed of the Uni-Vibe model. The result? It’s groovy baby!! 6. OCTAVE This effect generates a note one octave lower than the one you’re playing, adding thickness and “weight” to single note lines. CONTROL QUIRKS DRIVE: Adjusts the level of the original note. LEVEL: Adjusts the level of the octave note.
B. Amp Models hich amps did we painstakingly model for our seductive selection of 16? Believe me when I say it wasn’t easy ‘cos, as I’m sure you know, there’s a plethora of great sounding amps out there. After countless hours of soul searching, earnest discussions (not to mention the occasional friendly argument!), calls to tone-wise friends (some professional players, some not...but all blessed with great ears) plus, of course, listening and playing, a top 16 list was finally drawn up.
Also, as you’d probably expect, we do the same exact thing with the Valvetronix’s PRESENCE control too - namely, if one isn’t present (bad pun, not intended!) on the original then PRESENCE will be an added control on our model. This time though, the “neutral” position is when the control is all the way off (turned fully counterclockwise). The two models this applies to are BLACK 2x12 and Tweed 1x12.
POWER AMP ACCURACY As already touched on a couple of times, what happens in the power stage of any good tube amp is of paramount importance to the way the amp sounds, feels and behaves.
Valve Reactor Technology the power stage of your Valvetronix amp is automatically switched to its “EL84s in a Class A circuit with no feedback” emulation whenever AC15, or any of the other three Vox models, is chosen. Like most amps of its era, the AC15 is the very essence of simplicity. In fact, the Channel we modeled, Channel 2 (remember!?), only has two controls - Volume and Top Cut.
3. AC30 As already stated, the VOX AC15 was a huge hit with the British guitar bands of the late ’50S. However, as the popularity of the AC15 using bands grew, so did their need for a more powerful amp. Sure, the AC15 was loud for a 15 Watt amp darned loud in fact - but it was no match for 1,000 + screaming fans! Remember folks, back in the late 50S/early ’60S, guitar amps weren’t being fed through the PA - that was reserved purely for vocals, the band’s backline had to do the rest.
4. AC30TB Even though the AC30 was a runaway success, several artists expressed a desire for the amp to have more tonal flexibility and a pinch of extra gain too. VOX reacted quickly and came up with some clever extra tone circuitry which featured an additional ECC83 valve and was called “Top Boost.”* When “Top Boost” was added to an AC30 it increased the gain of the combo’s Brilliant channel, and added two extra EQ controls, giving the amp three tone controls -Treble, Bass and Cut.
6. UK ’70S This is based on the “High Treble” channel of a 1969, 100 Watt, all-valve head, boasting a Plexiglas front panel and four (4) inputs.
8. UK ’90S This model is based on the “lead” channel of a 100 Watt, dual channel head that is capable of so much preamp distortion it houses a Gain control that goes all the way up to a Nigel Tufnel approved “20, dunnit!” This amp replaced UK ’80S and was developed to satisfy the ever-evolving rock guitarists’ insatiable lust for more gain, features and flexibility.
11. US HIGAIN This is modeled on the Overdrive Channel of an all-tube, 100 Watt head built in 1991 and covered in snakeskin! This high gain, power house was designed by a guy who also builds and drives Hot Rod cars so it should come as no surprise that the originals controls all go to eleven - after all, “that’s one louder innit!” (© Nigel Tufnel!) US HIGAIN is capable of a powerful, heavily saturated sound that combines an open low-end with compressed mids and highs.
14. BLACK 2x12 The dual channel, blackfaced beauty we modeled here is considered a “musthave” 2x12 combo for country and blues players, and rightfully so - after all, its celebrated clean sound is very tight ‘n’ twangy, with a deep, taut, piano-like bass. Pristine clean tones aside, BLACK 2x12 is also capable of producing that classic Chicago blues tone - especially with single coil pickups. In keeping with the original, when pushed hard the bass on our model tends to crumble.
In keeping with the original, the TWEED 1x12 produces an open, relatively uncoloured sound when clean, but starts to “snarl” beautifully when pushed into overdrive. Its highly desirable “snarl” is rich with harmonic content and cranking this puppy up will produce those classic, old rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll sounds of the ’50S and ’60S, at the drop of a 10 gallon hat - especially when a single coil pickup is used.
Troubleshooting 1. The amp isn’t powering up when the POWER switch is “on” ➢ Is the power cable plugged into the AC POWER CONNECTOR on the rear panel of the amp? ➢ Is the power cable plugged into an AC outlet? ➢ Is the AC outlet switched on? ➢ Does the AC outlet being used actually work? ➢ Does the power cable work? 2.
➢ Are you in MANUAL MODE (this is indicated by “ ” in the BANK Display)? If yes, make sure the following controls aren’t turned down low: GAIN, VOLUME, TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS & MASTER. And, if a PEDAL is selected also check the PEDAL DRIVE & PEDAL LEVEL knobs. 4. There’s no sound heard from the LINE OUT or PHONE OUT jacks when you use them. ➢ Check that the LEVEL control knob that adjusts their output isn’t turned all the way down.
If your problem persists after going through all the above suggested solutions, please contact your authorized VOX dealer for further assistance, or visit www.voxamps.co.uk. NOTICE: VOX products are manufactured under strict specifications and voltages as required by each country. These products are warranted by the VOX distributor in the country where they are purchased.
Techno Talk (yawn!): General Valvetronix Specifications NUMBER OF AMP TYPES: 16 NUMBER OF EFFECTS: DRIVE TYPES MODULATION TYPES DELAY TYPES REVERB TYPES NOISE REDUCTION 10 5 3 3 1 NUMBER OF PROGRAMS: 32 (8 BANKS x 4 CHANNELS) NUMBER OF INPUTS: TOP PANEL 2 (HIGH & LOW) REAR PANEL AD60VT 1 x LOOP RETURN 1 x FOOT CONTROLLER JACK REAR PANEL AD120VT 2 x LOOP RETURN (L & R) 1 x FOOT CONTROLLER JACK NUMBER OF OUTPUTS: REAR PANEL AD60VT 1 x LOOP SEND 1 x PHONE OUT 1 x LINE OUT 1 x EXTERNAL SPEAKER OUT REAR
TUNING RANGE: A0-C7 (27.5HZ-2093HZ) TUNER CALIBRATION: A = 438HZ - 445HZ SIGNAL PROCESSING: A/D conversion D/A conversion Sampling frequency 20bit 20bit 48KHz POWER SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS: AC, Local Voltage POWER CONSUMPTION: AD60VT AD120VT 73W 135W DIMENSIONS: AD60VT (W X D X H) AD120VT (W X D X H) 530 x 267 x 559 (mm)/ 20.87 x 10.51 x 22.00 (inches) 699 x 267 x 559 (mm)/ 27.52 x 10.51 x 22.00 (inches) WEIGHT: AD60VT AD120VT ACCESSORIES: INCLUDED OPTIONAL 19.6 Kg 26.
1 3 2 4 5 6 8 7 9 AD120VT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 AD60VT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
Wanna remember how you set up your favourite programs? Well this is the place to do it! Simply do as follows: 1. Indicate where all the knobs are set by drawing a line in the empty circles. 2. Indicate which MODULATION, DELAY & REVERB effects are being used by colouring in the relevant LED (including EX CON) 3.
