This has the tighter low end and higher head room in one of its settings producing 30 watts. Great for stage work with a band. If your PA can amplify the lower watt settings you want to get that Yardbirds, Beatles tone then you kick in the lower settings on the caps which gives you that great tube rectifier sag (compression) and natural power tube distortion at 22 watts and you get chime and grind just moving your guitar's Volume/Tone pots. That's added to by the use of the two channels normal and brilliant which you can blend and a hardwire bypass effects loop that you can cut out of the circuit or use as a clean boost. Tele's Strats, 12 strings, LP's, 335's and SG's even PRS sound great. I use the head with my own cabinets loaded with EV 12L's or EV SRO Alnico's. The tubes are okay and you can upgrade them to JJ's or NOS tubes if you got the dough. The circuit board, the traces are all heavy duty and appear mil-spec so they should last. I use an OCD, Carl Martin Compressor, Cry Baby, TC Chorus Pedal, Carl Martin Layla delay. The reverb and tremolo are non tube driven and while they can be useful providing ambient textures you need a spring to get Surf. The DeLayla will get the slapback echo for rockabilly.The upper mid voice of the amp no matter what your running through it places it very well within the mix of sounds made by a band. Needs little post eq on stage or in studio. When changing out tubes I noticed that the wood tray the amp chassis was anchored to had very long wood shipping screws to hold the unit from being jostled. They're a pain to get out so the chassis can be slid out and the screw metal was cheap so the heads stripped real easy. So they were a pain to get back in and its debatable whether once you have them out do you need them back in. I see on the photo of the back of the head they look like they've gone to a chrome heavier gauge screw on the panels

The amp pedal that turns on/off tremolo/reverb is a little clunky and the switches make an audible pop when engaged/disengaged. Not a microphonic pop just a ching from the metal casing. A little insulation might deaden that a bit.

They give you a template to lay over the top of the amp with visual explanations and suggestions for getting various clean, gritty, distorted tones, including use of loop boost. The amp is dead easy to get great sounds out of as a deliberate combining of the circuits used in its older brothers handwired version. So you can get AC30, AC30TBX tones and very useful combo's of both. The master volume allows the power tubes to crank at bedroom levels, and the cut feature does just that cut treble instead of adding mud on the bottom. The tone controls work like in the Handwired also and they do change function depending on how they and the amp are set. More good variations. The reverb as mentioned above is not tube driven it sounds like a small room to small hall type and the reverb has a setting that changes the reverb dynamics based on whether your intending to play clean or dirty and that keeps the reverb from sounding fizzy. It's highs produce a sound that is referred to chime as it does not sound clinical, it breathes. It can faithfully reproduce what your hands and the instrument are doing but with the added second order harmonics takes it to another level.

Everything on the amp except the shipping screws are heavy duty. Even the I/O jacks are well made the toggles feel firm as do the chicken head knobs. Birch Ply is heavy but better than MDM if you want the amp to resonate.

Yes

Since they are Korg, Marshall etc they haven't always been quick on the trigger answering customer emails. No problems with the amp so no reason to call service and or buy one of those ridiculous extended service contracts.

I played Dr Z's, Fender's, Marshall's, VHT's, Mesa's, for years and was not in a financial position to get the Ltd Hand Wired version when it came out. I was sitting in my local store when it arrived I plugged it in warmed it up plugged in a Custom Shop Strat off the wall and played a couple of chords some riffs some runs unplugged the strat, unplugged the amp and took it home. I'd say more than the looks, the design, the feel, it has a sound all its own. As kids we wracked our brains trying to figure out how they got 'that' sound. Take one part Fender Esquire and one part AC/30TBX, no effects just turn it up loud.

Old Pro Mainly Decomposing

Roots, Blues,Country,Folk,Rock&Roll,Classical Jazz

The Tone that this amp is capable of is absolutely amazing! I have been looking for this sound for a long time. And believe it or not, I'm actually running this Amp through a Peavey Valveking 412 and I have just been blown away with how good these two sound together. The best thing about this amp is a flip of a switch you can completely change it's tones from deep and bluesy to bright and crisp, it's just perfect!

You know I haven't really even been able to figure out what all this amp can do. It's got tons of options and you can do so much with overall sound of the amp. I just hope that I don't get comfortable with the settings that I currently have it at. It's a lot to try and dial in at first, and even more confusing is the fact that for some reason, everything is backwards lol. Seriously, the amp is set up basically in reverse compared to anyother amp that i've ever played.

It's not easy at first, but that's ok, it's gonna get you thinking about your sound and what your looking for. The amp kind of gets you to work for what you're looking for, but once you find it's sweet spots you're money!

So far, so good! I have had no problems and I'm not really expecting any. It's got a great solid build to it.

It was worth the money. If you've got the kind of money to spend on a 33 watt amp than go for it. You could get a 100 watt amp for the same price but I doubt you'll get the same kind of tones. And this amp is loud!!! Seriously, much louder than I thought it would be.

Haven't had to use any factory support at this point, but I'm sure the people at Vox would be very helpful because they do offer a lot information about the amp when you buy it.

It's just classic! It's a beautiful, classic looking amp. I love it!

Active Musician

Blues, Indie stuff

I think this amp has a very classic tube sound to it. it doesnt have the newer, heavier distortion. I absolutely LOVE how you can blend the channels as well. Personally, i think it sounds better when you mix "normal" with "distortion".

The FX loop is useful if you want effects, but i just like to keep the tone classy, not to flashy. i kind of wish they would sell this head in a stack with a Vox 412 cabinet. those cabinets work very well with this head if you want to play live.

it's one of the most durable amps on the market.

it did lighten up my wallet a bit, but it was worth it

active musician

classic rock all the way