I can’t believe how bloody loud this thing is, wholly overkill for me on so many levels. Highly recommend as a beginner amp 11/10

I’ve been told to always set volume on max for tuning purposes, I accidentally hit the G string and my heart almost jumped out of my rib-cage. I’ve been told this is normal and that 20W isn’t even that much

I’ve also been told I *need* to buy a combo for practice and I have to say I agree (even though initially I agreed only reluctantly), but I can see this thing could work at a small club concert, you can probably juice out that much out of this. I can even see this being a good backup solution in case your main amp is MIA

Aside from the loudness the What-Brand Chinesium speaker this ships with isn’t exactly an audophile’s dream. I should clarify, the sound is great, for 60 euros it’s, I mean, I couldn’t imagine this level of quality 10, 20 years ago at this price level. Still you should know, anything through the aux input is going to sound dulled? ie. not bad, but not great either

Guitar sounds great of course, I mean great as in unexpectedly good for transistor. I actually greatly prefer the *actual sound* through headphones/an external speaker over aux cable. The difference is noticeable even for an amateur like me

I keep the volume knob at 1-2-4 at most, and strangely I prefer the clean sound. I intuitively believed that if you’re gonna have a cheap speaker then distorted sound would sound better since you know… it’s distorted and the nuances of the sound are lost. But this didn’t turn out to be true in the real world and clean sound has much more "body", it feels more plentiful and vibrant. Remember kids, keep your gain low. Signed: someone who is not an expert

EQ works differently than I expected, but I’ve been told this is exactly how these things ought to work so yeah

Let’s quickly address points made by other reviewers:
– build quality is… I just can’t give it all of the stars without feeling like lying. It’s amazing for the price. The logo is very well machined. It will probably last I don’t know, let’s say 10 years. But just… 5% more effort would make this combo look and feel so much better, dare I say premium even. There was one bolt that wasn’t fully tightened. This might’ve happened during travel, but then I’m afraid what kind of travel conditions this was in. Also on the back there’s a strange black paint applied? I don’t know if this is normal, you’ll see if you buy it, I’m neutral towards it
– the two buttons and all knobs are good quality, the lines below are slightly misaligned though and it’s triggering the perfectionist nerves in me. Just very *slightly* so, just barely [screaming inside]. I think these are the same knobs from the higher-end models
– the jack seems to be good enough to last a lot of connecting in/out
– handle feels goood, I approve
– reverb sounds amazing except for positions 5 through 9.5-ish. Still you probably should stick to 1-3-4 anyway. 9.5-10 sounds good

pros:
-very low price: it costs like going once to local restaurant with your girlfriend
-pretty good quality
-very loud: I usually play at 30% loudness. I guess you can take it to local pub concert, etc.
-The eq is nice

cons:
-Mine came a little bit scratched
-The spring reverb is very strange. If you play at a big volume, and turn the reverb bigger than 60% percent, it starts to make a very loud noise which go louder and louder, until you turn off the effect at all. First time it happened I thought I destroyed the combo. You don’t imagine how loud that was
-Strange sound quality when playing in headphones. That is because the combo doesn’t have a cabinet simulator. So playing in headphones doesn’t make any sense.
-Also the aux cable quality is very very bad. The sound is very bad, it doesn’t have any bass and middle freqs. Also when nothing is playing it makes a very loud noise. So connecting an aux cable for practicing or just listening to music also doesn’t make any sense.

In conclusion I can say that if you are a beginner totally buy it! But if you want something serious, buy a combo like Fender, that has digital effects. They are called Modelling combos. Buy something like Fender Mustang LT50.
But from my opinion, the best option is buying a sound card. I bought Behringer Umc204HD. But if you want a sound card, you will have to know at least the basics of a DAW (reaper, cubase, reaper), or you can download different soft(Bias fx2, Guitar Rig 5). Also you need to have a good pc, and some speakers or studio monitors

I use this HB 10 G Combo Amp mainly in my house and I am very pleased about it. Mostly I like the options available on it, the fact that it has a port for headphones but also a port for connecting an iPod or phone or an MP3 player.
The sound that comes from it is quite clean, it has some buzz but only at the highest gain level which not too many, I think, will use.
The HB 10 G Combo Amp is built really good and can take some ruff handling, in case it is somehow necessary. I traveled with it a lot and never had any issues even if unfortunately was bumped to surfaces sometimes.
The weight it’s just 4.2 kg or 9.2 pounds and even though it seems to have a bit of weight, the weight is distributed in such a way that it is really easy to be handled by hand from one place to another.
Pros: The sound is so diverse using all the modes on the HB 10 G Combo Amp
The weight, being distributed nicely
The great variety of options available, to turn almost any sound you want on it (for a beginner)
The sturdiness being such a small, yet full of options Amp.
The Cons: Not enough options to change the sound and tone for a Pro guitar player.
Buzzing when the Amp Gain dial is turned at it’s maximum level.
Overall I really like this Amp and I recommend it to any guitar beginner that I am sure will use this Amp, until will learn to play the guitar almost a t a Pro level.
I didn’t try too much the MP3 function too much, but until now I have been really amazed of the possibility to use this function on such a cheap Amp and it all works great.

Last year I started playing guitar and bought a Fender starter kit. I was not very happy with my Fender products so last week I bought this amp. I am very happy with it. The sound is great for a beginner. Ofcourse it can be better but it’s only 40€. There’s many options for your guitar, like a lot of distortion or just the acoustic sound, and there’ many options for something inbetween, so you can play whatever genre you want! What i really love is that it’s very small: I’ve put it on my desk and it’s extremely convienent for in my bedroom. It’s great that you can put both your headphones in and music player.Great for practicing without bothering the family. The handling is very easy: I love the simplicity of this amp. And it can go very loud as well, if you’d want to! Love it.

I got these amps simply to "collect them all" with the different colour variations.
As an amplifier, only use the clean channel, as it sounds good for amplifying acoustic/clean guitar sounds. It also handles footpedals with ease for modulation and reverb effects. But…the "OD" channel (overdrive) is utterly terrible.
It’s a great tiny, battery-powered amp for sitting around a campfire and singing songs together, but it’s not a good practice amp and certainly not good at creating anything needing distortion.
The price is cheap, so you can get one just to say,"I have a Marshall" and that’s about it.

It’s very small and can be used with a standard 9V powercell. After a while the chassis started to make noises. I was able to solve the issue by sticking some dampening stuff in it.

The sound is, as you would expect, pretty bad, but it sure is enough to rock outside for a bit or if you’re somewhere where you can’t take your actual amp with you.

It’s pretty loud as well. It’ll be heard in the whole room .

40 watts is, quite simply, a lot of power; I’ve never been able to set the volume to this thing above 6 without fear of deafening myself.
Build quality is 4/5 , as plugging anything in to the dedicated AUX IN port for backing track play results in horrible buzzing and insanely loud popping noises. This was tested across several different aux cables and portable devices.
Other than that, the amp itself is very solidly built, and can definitely take a few knocks. The overdrive channel feature is a bit rubbish, but the clean channel is great. EQ controls are good.

Another note : This is very useful to bring to parties as a speaker. Simply make sure you’re set to the clean channel, set the volume low (1 or 2 out of 10), and use an adapter to connect the 3.5mm jack from your phone to the regular guitar input jack. Many friends have commented on how great the sound is playing back party playlists, and the best part is that you can go from listening to music to playing it, with just an electric guitar and an aux, with the same amp. Very versatile.

The sound quality is really good and it is even loud enough to play in a band! Assuming the drum machine is not that machine like 😉
The equalizer is sensitive and can be adjusted precisely. The overdrive channel ranges from crunch to distortion.
The built in reverb is also a nice feature, witch thickens the sound. Good for surf music.
This amp is also very good for playing at home. It has an extra audio jacket for headphones. You can also plug in another box, good for monitoring or whatever you want to do. All in all i would strongly recommend this one for beginners.

I bought this amp at the beginning of 2020 (so the beginning of the pandemic) since I needed an amp that I can use at home, without waking up my neighbors. Before purchasing this one, I tried other practice amps but I wasn’t satisfied. After I bought this one, I ended up using it more than my Marshall and Fender amps!

Pros:
– This is not a modeling amp! In other words, it does not try to replicate the sound of a Marshall, a Fender, a Vox, an Orange, etc. It has its own characteristics as an amp.
– The amp types/channels (Clean, Crunch, Lead, and Brown) do what they are supposed to do! I mainly use the clean and crunch channels. The clean channel is great, with a little bit of reverb, your licks sound fantastic. The crunch is my favorite, it just adds the right amount of crunchiness, such that the pedal effects that come after still sound fantastic! I rarely use Lead and Brown channels, even though I play metal %40 of the time.
– Then there are the effects, which can be controlled/adjusted with Boss Tone Studio. Now, this is where the modeling happens! Clever guys at Boss came up with digital processing algorithms to replicate the sound of very famous pedals (Muff Fuzz, Rat, DS-1, etc.). On top of that, there are lots of modulation and FX options that you can play with.
– The speaker sounds good in all settings. It is loud enough if you use it in 50W mode (for bedroom usage, 0.5W is also great!).
– The USB connection is very useful when you want to record your guitar without any microphones.

Cons: (These are cons that are expected and they are no reason to affect the rating.)
– No FX loop. So if you want to connect external pedals, you have to connect them in front of the amp, which may/will result in unwanted sound effects in certain situations.
– It doesn’t support a decent footswitch controller as its big brother 100W does. Therefore, turning on/off the effects can become really annoying, since you have to turn the knobs to (de)activate the effects.
– In order to play some songs through the speakers of this amp by using your PC/Mac, you have to connect it through the aux-in connection of the amp. You cannot use the USB connection for this reason.

I bought for my nephew who just started guitar. I heard good things about the Katanas over the past few years and even seen musicians play them in pubs which sounded great.

As a seasoned guitarist who uses higher end tube amps, I was honestly shocked when I played it myself how good it was.

The price of the amp is a steal. If you’re starting out and need an amo, you’re are crazy not to get one. It’s hands down the best bang for buck solid state amp on the market. I only wish it was around when I was growing up.

I had heard some great things about the Blackstar Fly 3 watt mini amp so I was very keen to try it. I was looking for the ultimate portable, battery operated guitar amp and I can confidently say, I think I’ve found it. This tiny combo has all the features you need for practicing and home performances. Its best asset is the lovely crystal clear sound it provides, which is in no way tinny.

The Fly 3 is a little smaller than the average box of 80 teabags. You can pick it up easily in one hand, making it extremely portable. The big sound is a surprise! The casing is well made; sleek and modern looking and the four main control knobs on the top (gain, volume, EQ and delay) are chunky and operate smoothly.

There are two channels, switchable at the touch of a button. I mainly use the clean channel. I have mostly played my Fender telecaster through the amp.I generally have the volume at about halfway up and the gain about a third. This is more than loud enough for me to sing along to, so that will give you some idea of the potential volume the Blackstar can put out. At this level, when I switch to the over-driven channel I get a nice, fairly subtle, crunchy sound with lots of bite. But of course, it can go a lot louder and more distorted than that. It really is quite amazing that these sounds come from this little box. You have to hear it to believe it.

The delay is of fantastic quality for a unit like this. I would say it is equal to using a good quality effects pedal. It ranges from a gentle reverb to a long very clearly defined delay.

I bought this amp about seven weeks ago and have used it a lot, yet it is still operating on the original set of batteries that come supplied with the unit, so I have felt no need to buy the power supply. I am keen to buy the extension speaker cab which turns it into a stereo unit, which must produce an even fuller sound.

Other features are a bright power on light (so you never leave it switched on by accident,) a headphone socket and a line in for an mp3 player. My tunes sound great through it and I also listen to audio books on it.

I just love the unique tone of this Blackstar amp. It’s very clear, bright and full. I’m a very happy customer.

I was a bit skeptical of purchasing this amp at first, I must admit. ‘A battery powered amp that sounds good?’, just didn’t seem to make much sense to me. However. I am absolutely blown away. I recently moved into an apartment, so I didn’t want to use a bigger amp and annoy all the neighbours. This amp is a godsend for that, it has a good level of volume, but would perhaps be lacking for a larger living space. Bedrooms and apartments are prime for this amp.

Great features, the gain could have been a bit more for my taste, but it’s nothing a bit of overdrive can’t fix! Delay is fine, as is Blackstar’s ISF tone stuff. The switches and knobs feel like they’re good quality, nothing is loose.

Of course it’s a bit plasticy, nothing wrong with that for the price and the quality of the electronics inside though. Can’t really find a fault with it for my usage. It really isn’t that loud though, which is perfect for me, but some people may want something that’s got a bit more power.

Overall great, good price, good quality, good controls. Can’t fault it myself, especially for practicing at home in a small room. Batteries are meant to last a long time, although I can’t comment on that as of yet. Highly recommended!

If you want a small amp with a great sound, this is your choice, especially if you are looking for the typical Vox sound.

This is a very simple amp. It has two channels (actually, the second channel works more like a gain boost for added distortion). The clean channel is great. And surprisingly takes pedals very well, even fuzzes.

When I want a distorted sound, I prefer to overdrive the clean channel. The gain channel is a little too hard and with too much treble if not equalized correctly.

The EQ has only bass and treble controls, just like some other high range Vox amps. Anyway the Vox sound is very heavy in midrange.

It is loud enough for practice but you can also use it is bigger venues if you mic the amp or you can use its output jack and connect it to the mixing table (this one is frequently used at my church). More volume can be achieved by connecting a bigger speaker, but you?ll have to hardwire it.

The only downsides of this amp are the lack an external speaker output, effects loop and a footswitch connection to change between channels. However, again, some high end Vox amps don?t have them either.

I got Vox Pathfinder 10 because I wanted a nice sounding little solid state combo. I already had the bass version of this amp, which has a great sound. So, I decided to try the guitar version. I mostly play Heavy Metal and Power Metal. This is the only amplifier I ever tried that can produce a nice Metal distorted tone with the gain knob set at noon. The tone is the familiar British tone. I love it so much. Controls are simple and easy to use and you can easily set them for a great tone. However, this amp hasn’t any effects. For me, that isn’t a con, because I use effect pedals for this purpose. Quality is great. This amplifier looks and sounds better than many more expensive amplifiers. If you love classic British Heavy Metal sound, it’s perfect. I’m sure it does a good job for many other genres too.

This amp has two channels. The channel 1 is good for crunch, It is relatively easy to get good tones out of it as long as it is set loud.

The secon channel is only good as a clean amp or a pedal platform. The gain sounds bad, but takes pedals greatly, thanks to the celestion speaker.

The included reverb is surprisingly good too. But this is NOT an amp for home use. This is loud.

There are some nice features such as option for footswitch, external speaker and fx-loop, but i think the sound suffers from the price with all these features.

The basic sound (all 12’o clock) sounds very bass, so you have to turn treble all the way up or bass down to get a nice ‘clangy’ sound. Other than that the gain sounds terrible and as soon as you crank up the volume above ca.15% the amp starts buzzing and humming.

Personally I would lay down a few more bucks and buy a katana or something. I hope i helped some people with this.

As guitar player, a small practice amp is a must when a time and space was limited. Check a bunch of review on this guy, but yeah, sometimes reviewer like to exaggerating thing, so im actually 70% convince. I had to try it since its sounds good, but will i like it?. Yes, i super like it.

Pros-
-As one of reviewer says, it really is worlds biggest smaller amp.
-Speaker sounds fantastic. It really does
-Simple feature but all you needed (im a demanded guy actually, Tone knob only doesnt satisfy me, minimum must have 3-band EQ.
-That JC CLEAN, that Boss pedal CRUNCH, that saturated BROWN channel. Happy happy me.
-Its loud enough, and speaker sim does sounds great.
-Take pedals really well, even mfx unit.
-Feather weight, easy to carry around.
-The most important for me, yeah, it does handle 7-strings like a boss.

Cons-
-Plastic all around (well built though)

Basically, if you need a great practice amp. This amp is a great choice. Especially if you’re seven stringers like me..For the price, its unbeatable. I’ve already try bunch of small practice amps mind you..

I have heard a lot about Katana’s, so I gave this guy a try when I was looking for a practice amp for a small apartment. I was a great surprise!! I could not be more happy. It has a really nice clear sound, and great volume. But what surprised me it was the overdriven sounds. For low volumes, it truly delivers a nice round warm overdriven sound, that makes you enjoy practicing. Its really simple to use, and even have some on-board effects for even more fun while playing.

Pros:
-Quality of construction: Well manufacturer, clear connections, and very robust, yet lightweight.
-The size: Very portable, fits on a drawer, an can run on batteries.
-The sound: Amazing sounds!!. I had other practice amps, and even when the clean sound are good, the overdrives are usually, well, not enjoyable . However, this one delivers a great and playable overdriven sound, at lower volumes. I have valve amps, so I am very "picky" for the overdrive sounds, and this ones delivers . Obviously in the context of a practice amp.

Cons:
– I enjoy playing so much, that I wish it would have extra effects like the bigger brothers =)

To get some context of my overdriven preferences, I like rock and heavy rock, but I am not into a really heavy overdriven sound . I had played mostly Marshall JCM. I have not use the amp with external pedals, live overdrives or other distortion, so I could not made a comment on that.

I had this amp for about 4 months now, and I like it, especially at this price! It is certainly not the amp of my dreams, but you can’t always get what you want. Yet, you do get what you need!

Let me tell you though that I am a little biased in favor of Fender amps traditionally, I will not go for anything other than a Fender Amp ever (save for maybe a top of the line Mesa Boogie if I could afford any rig I wanted one day) Also, I play mostly rhythm guitar lately in my band and we do rock, blues based rock, and some blues.

The clean channel, as mentioned in reviews by others, is Fender clean. It does not have the crunch of tube amps of course, but it is very nice and jazzy, and can bring up "some" crunch through a good guitar turned up loud with quality pick-ups (and I have been using just that lately, a Gibson SG)

If you are on the clean channel and the effects are turned on, effect type set to reverb with effect level around 5, it is already a super nice sound! Although this means that the other built in effects become unavailable on the channel, which is a bit of a bummer.. if the reverb function was independent, one of the other effects could also be available simultaneously such as chorus, or tremolo, or delay or whatever..

But then again, those who want more effects could go for the very similar Fender Mustang for the same price. I personally am a strictly plug and play guy with very minimal effects, such as a Wahwah, and a chorus pedal at times, and I sure am not into modeling amps which sounds iffy (I have my computer and software to fool around with that if need be, without needing an amp with built-in digital gizmo) Plus I do not see myself punching in modeling codes into the Mustang while I am gigging!

Then there is the second channel, with adjustable gain, and few amp voicings of different amps, simulation of Fender and other amp styles, some of which sounds interestingly good. I like the tweed setting which gives it an almost tube-like crunch on leads. So in fact there is a slight modeling concept preset built into this amp in that sense, however it is kept to a minimum. I was originally looking to get a 60 W Frontman, which is similar to this amp, but with spring reverb, and no effects built-in, though it is now discontinued and replaced by the champion series.

There is also good overdrive possibilities on the second channel. I am not a metal shredder at all, but when I was fooling around with the settings in my rehearsal studio where I keep the amp for the moment, I was able to get good distortion, with the gain turned up and amp voicing set to metal.

Overall, this is a really good purchase for the price. And it has a huge, loud sound with the two awesome 12 inch speakers carrying through 100 big watts. It is even too loud to be honest! And it is taking me a little while to get used to the knobs, and the settings as their visibility is NOT so great. I must also mention that the WEIGHT is a positive factor here, for such a huge loud sound at 18,5 kg. it is indeed pretty efficient. As some of you might already know, weight can be a bigger burden than one thinks with each kilo beyond 20 or so start weighing a lot more than what it is.

I would recommend it to anyone who is on a tight budget, and who loves that Fender sound, and who needs a strong power rig for gigging any size venue, even with a strong drummer pounding away. I was thinking that when I get a better Fender tube rig eventually, such as a Hotrod Deluxe, or a Blues Junior, I could sell the Champion 100 second hand to save some money, but not anymore! I am keeping this one!

I must admit I have not been able to use this amp at a gig yet, because for the last few gigs we did with my band, very nice equipment was already set up for us on location, so we did not need to drag our own rig over. But I am confident that the Champion 100 will hold up pretty good at our upcoming gigs where we WILL have to haul our own equipment, judging from its powerhouse performance in the studio during the last four months!

With a nice guitar hooked up, and the included foot switch, you are set to rock on with this amp! Just fiddle with it, and get the hang of the knobs, buttons, and settings, and find your OWN voice on it before taking it on the road, as I have been trying to do. Because this amp can sound way beyond its relatively small price with the right individual settings for your music, whether it is jazz, blues, rock, or reggae…

very nice, easy to use, lightweight amp, i m gonna use it in the rehearsal room (about 32 m2) in my studio. Order came from store in time nice packaged and without any damage, thanx!

For the price this thing cannot be beat.
It’s a great little amp for bedroom practice, practice with your band, and I think it can handle small gigs no problem, if there was any gigs these days, you know. It handles playing with a drummer no sweat. It’s feature packed to the brim, it’s cheap, it sounds great, it looks cool, it’s small and easy to carry – what else do you want it to do, make coffee for you?

Enough of that, though. There’s enough praise being sung to this amp, so I’ll concentrate on the negatives instead.

– First, the build quality begs the question of whether or not this thing can handle the live work. That tiny power transformer can barely manage the load and gets really hot really fast, all that heat coupled with the heat off the tubes cooks the PCB and its SMD components. So far so good though.
– The power tubes are biased cold, or so I’ve heard, and I’m not sure that I’m allowed to open the guts and set it right with the bias pot without losing the warranty.
– The stock speaker leaves a lot to be desired. There’s this harsh top end to it, which cannot be EQed out by the tonestack. But throwing a, say, used Greenback in would improve the sound drastically.
– A few days ago the amp began to oscillate, I’ve swapped V3 for V1 and vice versa, and it’s fine again. Guess the noname V1 tube has gone bad in two months of use, but it pulls the phase inverter duty well enough for now. That helped with the hum, too, there’s less of it now. Looks like I’m buying new 12AX7s. The power tubes are Russian-made 6p14p, no complaints here.
– The reverb wire goes through the hole in the chassis without a grommet, the edges of that hole are sharp and can cut into the insulation. That’s easy enough to fix tho.
– The power cable is very short, a meter or so in length, and if you want to swap it for another, it’s time to reach for your soldering iron. Guess these IEC C14 sockets cost a fortune. Still, it’s a very minor issue, trivial to get around.
– There’s no standby switch. Big deal.

I think I’ve covered everything negative that I know about this amp. And there’s not that much of it, especially considering the amount of positives to it. A good buy, this amp rocks.

First I ordered a B-stock TUBE15, but alas on the way here it was heavily damaged during transport. Thomann however attended and fixed this problem correctly, so a few days later I received a beautiful new amp, nicely packed two times, and the bounced one was picked up direcly. Nice work Thomann Freunde!!

For this kind of money, building a 12 inch A-quality Seventy 80 Britpop speaker in an almost perfectly refined multiple tube combo, including a spring reverb?

Someone either made a calculation mistake or certainly knows his way around the world how to make a good deal come to us, being the happy customer.

The knobs do their good work, especially the extra Tone possibily is a brilliant feature to get your setting right plugging in various guitars with various pickups, from a Danelectro 59 NOS, a Jimi 69 strat, a Micawber Tele, a Fender FMT, and a very fat Gibson SG, they all sound great on this convincing whitish tube amp with the black front panel and his red eye.

Also my pedalboard works fabulous on the send and return connections in the back of this rather light combo contraption, our beneficiary must have been saving a few coins there, for a 12 inch combo with a very loud mouth in the lowest price range that is.
For loud she certainly is, and also sharp like a razor.
I read on the internet in a Sweetwater review on the Seventy 80 speaker that he considered way too sharp, but in my humble opinion that is the whole purpose of a good amp. If you buy a Mesa Boogie combo e.g., which b.t.w.costs tenfold this one here, you will find that the Mesa Boys are putting all their knowlegde & effort in their products to especially pump the clearest and sharpest tone thinkable out of their amps, as compact and as loud as they can achieve.

And then, there was…… this TUBE15….from Harley Benton….

Get one while you can!
Great work you Harley Benton & Thomann guys!

Don’t miss the beautiful review on YouTube that Dave Simpson made for us all on this amp…..AMAZING!

Thanks for reading, I’m off to my Tuby Tuesday to play…

Before deciding to buy this amp, I tried out all the top names and models in my price range but always found a reason to not go with one of those. Either due to the lack of a midrange control knob, too much of a tone difference between the clean and the OD channel, it being way too bright sounding or the worse which is not having enough clean headroom. For me the most important thing on an amp is a warm but crystal clear clean tone with lots of headroom. The second most important is that it take pedals great.The amp also has to be able to be played both at bedroom and club gig volumes.

I play with the Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded humbucker set on my Ibanez prestige ar2619 and was pleasantly surprised with the tone I was able to dial in, exactly what I was looking for, "Warm and crystal clear". Furthermore, all my pedals sound great on this amp which is no surprise when you can achieve such a full bodied and articulate tone.

For those who are curious about what pedals I use: Wah-Wah, OD, Fuzz, Octaver, Phaser, Tremolo, Envelope Follower, Analog Delay, and Digital Reverb.

Now to the pros: a warm and crystal clear clean tone, plenty of clean headroom, takes pedals great, really nice looking, nice sounding reverb p, sturdy and nice feeling foot pedal and last but not least, an incredible value for what it offers.

Now the cons: OD channel sounds best with the gain around 7 so its not as versatile as a pedal, I would have liked a bit more bass tone to work with, but it has enough, the reverb doesn’t sound as good at high settings, the effects loop hisses slightly but then again, since I don’t use the OD channel I put my pedalboard in the front of the amp and there it is dead silent.

So to sum this all up, I feel that unless you are looking for the specific sound that one of the well known brands offer and are willing to pay dearly for it, this amp should satisfy your needs and offer you good basis for your pedals.

A great value and equally great service from the people at Thomann!

After considering other tube amps combos for home hobby playing, I decided for this one. It has definetly not the sound od Princenton Reverb from Fender, but for 320 Eur, it is a good value.
With the external overdrive box or through the own overdrive chanel it gives the real rock experience and sound.
Playing the clear tones without any effects as in jazz music or similar, I would say, the sound is a bit doubtful. You have to work with setting to get the tone you desire.
My feeling is that the higher tones sounds, as the loudspeaker was made from old aluminium cooking pot. 🙁
Of course, all regarding tones is rather about the feeling of your own ear.
The box of the amp seems to be solid, the knobs durable, footswitch made of metal as well, the diods in footswitch produce reasonable light and I am pretty happy with this amp.
If considering any kind of upgrade of this amp, the change of the Turbosound louspeaker seems to be an option.
I can reccomend this amp for those, they wish to have first tube amp experience, and save money at same time.

I?m not usually one to comment online. That being said I just bought this amp . After many years playing on a variety of amps ,my first a Peavey Rage 108 going up to a Marshall JCM 900 stack. Now days its more hobby . I have a Fender Frontman 25 R which rocks for what it is. But misses that unique valve sound. So I researched. And for home use there?s several options after many youtube videos I decided that the best bang for buck was the Bugera (the marshall / Fender equivalent were twice, thrice the price???)
SO………. The Bugera V5 is a BEAST .It has that solid tube sound that also works with pedals . I use a limiter to boost when soloing etc. Its louder than the Fender I have and that sweet tube sound never fails.
Pros – Its small but powerful
Has a beautiful simple tube sound.
Perfect to rock out at home.
Can use for small concerts ( loud speaker output)
Cons- The headphone output isn?t the best quality.
All that being said…..
5 stars all round for the perfect in house amp!!!!!
And the price is a steal , I?d pay more honestly.

This amp is either incredibly frustrating or incredibly rewarding, depending on your desires and your setup. This really isn’t for everyone, and some guitars just don’t seem to agree with it (I should note that this isn’t a problem unique to this amp, as I had similar experiences with an Epiphone Valve Jr.)

If you have a humbucker equipped, dark sounding guitar, this is probably not the amp for you. I usually play a modded LP with a JB in the bridge and a humbucker sized SD P90 in the neck. The amp took to the neck pickup *relatively* well, but the bridge was all mud unless I dialed up the gain, turned down the volume, and cranked the tone full bright. After a few disappointing months, I swapped the bridge pickup for a P90, and it’s like night and day. With single coils it SPARKLES, especially with the gain up to about 4 and the reverb around 7. A tele would be divine.

The build is solid and the features are actually pretty nice for a simple little tube amp. It would probably sound even better through a more substantial cab, but for my needs it’s fine (now).

This is a bit of a long review, forgive my seemingly rambling text. My general review and personal experience with the product comes first.
At the end I’ll include how to find the VOX Tone Room program for those who need help with its installation.

Great amplifier at a great price. It really can’t be beaten. It comes with a huge variety of onboard tones, but not too many as to seem overwhelming, as any good modelling amp should. 2x’s 4 channel programming, and the VOX Tone Room program only makes programming and sound tuning even easier.I do strongly recommend this amp to any beginner guitarist, or a player who needs a good practice amp, or someone who wants to play, but keep things nice and quiet. I want to give it a full 5 star review, but it’s not without it’s faults. Namely, it was not obvious by any means to find the VOX Tone Room program. I had gone through the manual, looking for clear instructions as to where I can find the Tone Room program to install. I went to the VOX website, couldn’t find any easy-to-spot download links, and those which I did find, only redirected me to VOX’s homepage. Only after I had to contact VOX’s customer support, was I able to find it on the VT20X’s own product page, install MIDI drivers and THEN Tone Room. So it was a little hard to find. Once I got it all figured out, this small 8inch speaker was really working some magic.
I got it tucked into a corner on my desk, a bit out of reach, but I can manipulate all the controls and the soundbank from my computer with a 5 meter long USB cable I purchased from Amazon. I ordered the 4 channel VOX footswitch as well, and I can easily play from my computer desk, using the Tone Room program to change and program my amp, while using the footswitch to change channels, all without ever having to actually reach behind my cluttered desk to touch the amplifier at all!

It’s really quite a gem. At this price, it’s unbeatable. There really isn’t anything else on the market for a bedroom player like myself, such as this. Not to mention, it has a separate volume and ‘power’ knob. Meaning I can get it to just the right loudness by manipulating the ‘power’ knob and the ‘volume’ knob together. Most amplifiers I’ve used really go from 0 to 100 really fast when you try to get low volumes, this is not the case with this amp!
I really love this amplifier. Just be aware, that you will have to be careful about the Tone Room program, since it was not an easy find for me!

In case you have purchased this amplifier, simply find the VT20x product at VOX’s website, and under ‘SPECIFICATIONS’ you will find a link that says ‘PRODUCT DOWNLOADS’. Click on the link, and you will be presented with a list of downloads for Mac and Windows users. Install the ‘VOX Driver’, ‘VOX USB MIDI Driver’, and the ‘Tone Room Installer’. Run and install all three programs, and you should be all set to use Tone Room with your VOX amp!

Great things can come in small packages, and this VOX Valvetronix VT 20X is just that. Plenty of power at 20 watts to rattle the windows in a smaller venue, or light up your neighborhood with your garage rehearsals. Attractive styling and durable grill cover. Easy intuitive operation with all the amp models you’d ever want whether you’re playing clean rhythm guitar or doing lots of lead work with heavy distortion. Here’s the best part for me. It’s small size fits in anywhere (it’s a little larger than my toaster….no kiddin’), and lighter in weight than my bowling ball. I just walk in, set it down, plug my ESP LTD deluxe ec-1000 fm amber sunburst into it (1/4" jack input) plug in the foot pedal you can buy for it for switching through channels, push the ON button, and start cranking out the music! That simple! I love it! And the price is super right. In the context of equipment prices this amp is cheap to keep….inexpensive. You’re really going to be surprised how good this little guy sounds

I bought this amp to start practising electric guitar. The tones I was searching for were the angry-metal tone and some bright, "glass" clean tones. The bunch of effects and presets that the manufacturer assures is really decent, although you will not need the whole 100 of them. I loved the versatility of this amp, you can play blues, jass, get some light-rock tones and there are a lot of switches for you to choose from. In comparison to the MG series amp that I listened to at my friend, the CODE is obviously better at tones and the sound is cleaner and clearer.
I dealed with some problems in using the USB-recordin feature, because, first of all, the sound that is recording is different from that you are hearing when playing, and I also managed to accidentaly break the port.
Also, at the begining you may find it a challenge to understand what tones give you the amps and the cabinets and the power-amps and the whole lot of switches it has, but in an hour of messing up with them – you’ll find what you need.
The bluetooth feature is usable and really useful, I used it multiple times to just listen to music, but it also allows you to play along a track or cover some songs while they’re playing straightly from the amp. Also the Marshall Gateway app is very good as a remote-control for the amp, and with it you can hold 200 presets – a hundred on your phone and a hundred on the amp (but you will not need so much of them).
As a conclusion, I admit that this is THE BEST amp in this price category and may be the single one you would need for practise and is a decent one to play somewhere live, the sound is really good. Even if I didn’t gave it at every point 5 stars, overall it truly deserves it.

I’ve been using Marshall Code 25 for a month. I’ve bought it for home use and I’m going to tell you what it is about.

Pros:
1. Overall the sound is good for a relatively low price. Since it is 25W amp, you can make it sound so loud that it will probably be possible to preform in front of a small audience of people. However, if you want a good amp for home use(as I wanted), you shouldn’t be scared of the wattage. It is easy to set the volume so that it won’t be heard from another room, even with high gain.

2. The divesity of sound you are able to get is also amazing – delay, reverb, distortion, overdrive, auto wah and so on, you can change every little detail about every setting.

3. The easiness to use. The interface and the buttons are really self-explanatory and I had no problems setting the sound I wanted. If it isn’t convincing you, there’s a good free app that you can connent via bluetooth to your amp and tweak every single setting that you need. The app is also extremely easy to use.

Cons:
1. It is sometimes hard to find a right volume setting spot to play really quietly.

2. The back panel of the amp was really hard to remove. I had to use a knife which damaged the corner a little bit.

Summary:
I didn’t notice any major cons about this amp. However, some small flaws could be fixed in a short span of time.
I definetely can recommend Marshall Code 25 if you’re looking for low to mid volume good quality sounding amp.

Overall, it’s a great choice for that price range.
Recommended.

When the time came for a decent amplifier upgrade, the main options I was looking for were mainly Fender and Vox. With a budget of roughly 1000E to spend, the main amps in my mind were the Fender Blues Junior, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and the Vox AC15c1 and AC30c2 models. Playing in a 60s rock’n’roll. rhythm and blues band. I always loved the tones coming out of the Vox AC30s and AC15s of The Beatles, Rory Gallagher and Brian May – and while the chiming rhythm sounds and soaring, overdriven solos of some of their iconic songs always resonated with me, the appearance of their Vox amplifiers (with their iconic tolex grilles), always appealed to me, too. It was for these main reasons that I gravitated towards the Vox amplifiers over the Fender ones.

Why did I go for the AC15 over the AC30 though? The Vox AC15 does the chime and jangle that are perfect for the ‘Hard Days Night" early Beatles tones and jangle of Tom Petty, as does it the crunchy, overdriven tones synonymous with Brian May, Rory Gallagher and Oasis. It’s smaller frame is also more suitable for my home environment, though it retains much of the tonal qualities of it’s larger brother (but it houses a single Greenback speaker instead of two and a lower output of 15 watts). The amp is built to be durable and mine has seen no signs of damage or detrimental wear (or tonal / speaker degradation) in it’s extensive use since it’s purchase in May. Furthermore, the smaller body won’t break your back in comparison with the lumbering AC30!

Overall, the amp is pure Vox tone – sounds terrific with my Rickenbacker and Fender guitars, and does both chiming, jangling rhythms and scorching, gritty leads perfectly. If I had to find a fault in it, it would be that in comparison to the AC30, the AC15 has slightly less ‘headroom’, with not much in the way of mid-range tonal control. This may be nit-picking though, as I genuinely believe the AC15 does both clean and overdriven tones justice, and handles a multitude of pedals very well. The amp also excels in studio and the tones recorded from it are crisp and colourful. Lastly, for around the 500E mark, you’re absolutely getting bang for the buck and won’t break the bank! I’m delighted with mine.

This Amp-series might be one of the more famous ones in the world, and the "status" that it has is understandable. I’ve it stationed in my bedroom beside my little "studio" corner and of course, it’s a good looking amp and also a sort of decoration. The features may be limited but that’s almost what to expect, if you’re looking to buy an amp from the AC-series you know what you’re searching for. As in my case i’m a huge U2 fan and that’s is actually the main reason why i bought it.
Basically you have two options, either the Top Boost or the Normal channel.
I’ll summarize it quickly from my point of view.

Top Boost – No additional pedal is needed to create a crunchy/overdrive sound.
Normal – Might need something between the guitar and amp to crunch it up a little…

A really good additional pedal to the Top Boost option is a simple Compressor pedal, my main order is basically: Guitar – Dyna comp – Delay – Vox Ac15. And for solos i usually add a Boss Sd1. It’s quite simple when comparing to the tones you can get.

Then should you buy it? It depends…
1. Do you want to imitate specific bands, for example U2, Queen etc?
2. Do you have access to a place where you can really crank an amp to it’s max?
3. Do you have a few different guitar pedals? (Probably yes..)
If you can tick these 3 then you might be the one to buy a Vox AC-15.
Now comes the 3 opposite questions..
1. Do you play at home, ex in an aparmtment/townhouse?
2. Do you have a really expensive guitar and almost no pedals?
3. Do you want a Vox AC-15 but with the Alnico blue speaker instead of the Greenback stock version?
If you can tick these 3 then might not be the one to buy a Vox AC-15..
I’m living in a house with neighbours in almost every direction and it’s not very often when i can even crank it up to 50% without worrying about getting complains, i’ve solved this sort of by having compressor with relative low volume on. But i’m not fully satisfied with that solution.
Then as i said it’s features are limited. Tremolo and Reverb is the only effects you can mod around with so i’d recommend having a few pedals just to spread the capabilities.
And the speaker… i underrated the Alnico blue speaker and planning on ordering it to get it replaced with the Greenback speaker. I’m not saying the Greenback is bad (which it isn’t) but it’s not the tones i’m searching for. So dig into the two options just to be sure you’re choosing the right one.

Summarized it’s a great amp and of course a really good option if the AC-30 is too big for you. I’m only 17 and i do not have all the money in the world but i still find this amp "cheap" compared to its capability. And especially to U2 fans wondering if it’s any good for "U2" purposes – It doesn’t requires more than this amp and ex a Korg SDD 3000 to give me shiver =)

With the AC power (by Thoman) the ground noise is very very very loud. Works onli with battery

This Amplifier worked OK when I tried it but was not suitable for the purpose I got it for.

First I would like to thank Thomann for all their help & advice on my journey to finding the right amp, they just cannot help you enough, kudos to all of them.
This amp is superb, Marshall at it’s best.
I have an American Professional Jaguar, on the clean channel it brings out the best in this beautiful guitar, crisp & clear tones to a subtle crunch & everything in between, the classic crunch gives you THE classic sound of a fender guitar & a Marshall amp at it’s finest.
The Ultra gain channel gives some great Les Paul / SG type tones, plus the presence & tone switch give some great nuances as well.
I have used this in my bedroom on the half power setting & it still sounds great at really low volume.
I have an outside barn with a purpose built stage & I have had this amp cranked up as loud as possible, & man is this thing LOUD !!!!!
Loud without losing any sound quality at all.
You won’t need a tube screamer or any such pedal here, the only negative thing I can say is that the digital reverb is not that good, but to be honest I have not come across any amp with a good reverb. I have a Marshall RF-1 Reflector Reverb pedal that does that.
The two way footswitch is a great for switching channels & works perfectly.
The amp is solidly built & looks fantastic.

Very good product for the price. Very versatile.
Good clean sound for a marshall typa of amp and also very good overdrives.
The clean channel (green mode) as a bit lower volume then the others but you can compensate that with the 2 master volumes, so thats not a deal-breaker.
Also, if you use buffered by-pass pedals on the FX loop, when you turn it on you will notice a slith decrease on the volume aswell. For me, I keep the FX Loop always on and just turn on/off the pedals I want to use so that is not a problem.
If you like to use dirt pedals, this amps is also a great for that cuz it accepts pedals very well.
The key trick for this amp is very simple: the louder it gets, the better it sounds. However, is very easy to dial good tones in any volume, since bed-room practice levels to any live gig.
I have this amp for about 6 months now and I have nothing negative to point out. still in love with it. highly recomended.

This thing is huge! If you’re looking for a home practice amp this certainly won’t be suitable. It’s tremendously loud and could be used in many medium to large sized venues.

It’s super heavy, almost 4 stone! The handles seems sturdy enough but it’s too early to tell. At this point though the quality seems good enough to last a good while.

The good thing about this amp is the master volume. In previous AC30’s the only way to get a good warm distortion was to crank the volume up full meaning to have a nice tone you had to deafen your bandmates – not any more! Now you can crank up the volume for the tone, and control the overall master with the master section. Another cool feature is the spring reverb which is super sweet. Also the tremelo is a nice touch and sounds crisp even if I don’t use it much myself.

The sound it legendary. It’s a powerhouse and sounds so warm you wouldn’t believe. Despite it being an old design this amp is suitable for hundreds of genres too – from blues, to rock, to pop, to metal, this amp could do it all!

Amazing buy and I’m glad to be a proud owner of an AC30. No complaints, simply awesome.

Great amp got from Thomann for a very bargain price. Thanks to you lads.
Very heavy box but with the two side handles you can hire second creature to make it easier. Great features like tremolo, reverb, master volume. I was testing/ listening so many amps and this is the sound that fits my ears. The only downside are the stock tubes. Main V1 Ruby 12ax7 very very muddy with flabbiness through my Les Paul in Normal channel. Top Boost channel has EQ bass and treble and even with the Chinese V2 12ax7b tube can be adjusted to find your own tone. Power tubes Chinese Shuguang rattling as in hell. First when recording at home though amp is faulty but after studying many websides I discovered this is common Combo issue especially AC30 which is called torture chamber for tubes. I found the way out either buy good quality damper rings/ instruments and keep existing tubes or buy specially dedicated power tubes for VOX AC30 which have rugged construction and are resistant to bigger heat and vibrations. With Strat/Tele you might not get as huge rattling like with Les Paul but you can only hear it while playing at reasonable volumes on some notes but it is very annoying and you really hear while playing. When playing loud on rehearsal with drum kit to loud to hear it.
But when you sort that it sounds like a beauty beast and it is louder than many 50-60W tube amps. Other good thing is that you do not have to rebias the amp after changing tubes so you are saving the visit to tech guy. With this amp the master volume works for great I mean it is not like i many Fender/Marshall amps that when you up to volume level 2-3 you see the difference in loudness and after that it you need to put earplugs. With this amp loudness increases gradually.

I bought this one year ago, after having used a vintge 70s one in the studio for recording my album. Tube amp iso a must for me, as i only use analogue effects.

Sound: like most Fender tube amps, this sounds PERFECT. Clean all the way through volume level 4, slightly crunchy at 5-6, distorted after 7. This amp does NOT have a distorted/crunchy/overdrive channel, this gets done the old fashioned way, adjusting the volume level. I use it at 4, which is still clean, but very bright, but my sound is enhanced permanently using an Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9) at 20% gain. I use the Vibrato channel, as i just love the reverb ( real spring reverb!) and i keep it at level 3. I don’t really use the tremolo effect on the amp, i find it a bit too soft (using a Marshall tremolo pedal instead).

I use a Fender Jaguar and a Gibson LP, the amp sounds really perfect with both single coils and with humbuckers. When i switch from the Jaguar to the Gibson, i just turn Treble up from 5 to 6, and Bass down from 6 to 5.

I use it at home now, i don’t play in a band these days. I use it through a Koch Dummybox Home (and a Vox mini-amp at rhe end) to play through headphones most of the times. I imagine that using this for small gigs, for me at leadt, would surely need amplification, as you cannot crank it up too much if you want to keep it sounding clean (as it does not have a Clean channel); so i would keep it at volume 4, which gives the sound i need, and amplify it (maybe with the dummyload!).

I’m not rating this 5 for features and handling as it is not really for everyone, anyone. No loop circuit for effects rig, no overdrive channel, the Power and Stand-by switches are in the back (but you get the hang of that in a coupke of weeks), and it is pretty heavy for only 22W. BUT that is all in the name of keeping it identical to the original Deluxe, and rhe result is pretty good, my guitars sound the same as through the vintage one that got me into Deluxe Reverb in the firrst place.

Skip all the pedals, and plug in. feel the magic.

This thing sounds rich, and for anyone not thrashing/tapping/screaming, this thing will pull off everything you throw at it. Neighbours will also be well aware of its arrival. There is more punch than any home needs, and is ideal for any mic’d stage.

The vibrato channel is annoyingly noisy/clicky unless the vibrato is off, but that is somewhat expected given that this amp-and-circuit design is not supposed to behave like a modern piece of kit. The reverb is delicious, and is often rich-enough at 3-4.

The ‘normal’ channel seems to play nicely with pedal-fx such as overdrive, wah, etc. just run ‘treble’ and ‘bass’ at 6-7, sometimes there is too much high-end. At low volumes of 1-2, it sounds sweet.

My reverb pedals tend to fall shy of this spring-reverb, which is re-assuring given the terms ‘deluxe’ and ‘reverb’ in the product name.

Now waiting for the neighbours to take a long-holiday so I can run the valves warmer….

I really love this amp. I have it near my coding desk. When I get bored, I turn it on an play for a while. It has a really nice fenderish clean and nice breakup at low volumes cause it has a master volume. I use it also in a light rock/rap band rehearsals where is no need for big volumes. It is lightweight against my other amps.
The bad thing is the handle, it is in leather I think, but with very very sharp edges. I always say I will smooth those edges but never do. Also some tubes broke at start (few hours of use). Send it back to Thomann and they repaired it fast. It works since then just fine. I have to mention, that I buy stuff from Thomann also because it is never the issue with repair. And yes, I am very careful with my gear.

I bought this amp mainly for playing at home and small venues and it is all you could ask for. It works well at low volume to play at home and it is insanely good when you crank it up.
I find it very versatile and sounds good with or without pedals. I’d say it will suit you regardless of the genre(s) you want to play.
Pros: great classic Fender sound, beautifully made.
Cons: Quite heavy, although this is normal among this kind of amps.

Stylish and good sounding, this mini-amp by Danelectro is NOT just a toy, but it can be used both for low volume private practice, and especially for studio recording, as it has a very specific sound – not too plasticky, and not too "broken transistor radio" like, it actually has some lows (or low mids) & body, and doesn’t attempt distortion as many other mini amps do, mostly failing miserably, but it delivers a spanking, defined clean tone.
Keep the amp & speaker size in mind, of course, this is no regular amp and no substitute for a "real" amp, but in its range it is really good.
Best fed from a good PSU!
The only negatives are the chrome-ish knobs which could be smoother & less toy-like, and the position of the input jack, which can tip this tiny guy over if the cable & jack used are more massive, or let alone if you move around.

Comes with 9v battery already in, the bass in the sound is non existing just like in every other micro amp however the overdrive sounds are pretty vintage sounding. Doesn’t weight a ton and looks cool!

SHORT STORY

Use
Home(studio), band practice, gigs.

Pros
*Very nice clean sound on the cool (clean) channel, with a lot of headroom (so, the clean sound does not break up, but stays clean). If you do want a slightly broken up/distorted sound, this can be achieved as well, by adjusting volume and gain settings or going over to the hot (OD) channel (with its own gain and volume knobs). You can switch between channels by using the left button on the foot switch (FS), or use the switch button on the back of the amp.

*So, the amp acts and sounds pretty much like a tube amp, even though it is a hybrid. That is because there is a tube in the preamp and one in the power amp (followed by MOSFETs). Less tubes should mean less maintenance and certainly less maintenance costs. With a dimmer (master volume) you can change the volume of the amp, without changing the nature of the sound you’ve dialed in with the gain, volume, 3-band EQ, contour, and (the nice sounding!) reverb. The EQ knobs and contour-switch are subtle (and shared by the two channels), but certainly noticeable. The gain-boost option is nice for soloing, or for creating a heavier sound for rhythm guitars. It seems to provide a boost in volume, but I think it actually boosts the mids instead.

*The whole amp, from the on/off switch to the housing (and also the footswitch with 5 m cable ) appears to be very sturdy (I guess that is where part of the weight comes from; the amp is some 19 kg and not 16 kg as you find in a lot of review articles).

Cons
*Both channels (cool/clean and hot/distortion) share the same EQ and reverb section. However, I favor other EQ-settings for the clean channel than I do for the distortion channel.
*The distortion channel is not that impressive (personal taste).
*Overall, the sound could use just a tad bit more body to it.
*Although not super heavy, it is still 19kg. But that comes with entering the tube-amp territory. So, can’t really count it as a comp.

Experience from the last year
I’ve had it for over a year, and so far, I am pretty happy with it. I use it for band practice, for gigs and jam-sessions. It is certainly loud enough for any of these uses. Should you need even more volume (if you have an insanely loud drummer, maybe?), you can simply mic the amp or connect an extra cabinet. You can also use the speaker emulated output if you do not want to mic the amp. I find that it gives a very good sound if you do this (and the sound guys/galls are usually pretty happy with this option, as well).

LONG STORY

I bought the Koch Jupiter 45 Combo as a replacement for the (of course much cheaper) Fender Mustang IIIv2 that I returned. The footswitch of the Fender Mustang III had horrible latency. I have read that the Blackstar TVP ID60 (also a modeling amp) has this problem, as well, making current day modeling amps probably not very suitable for on stage use when in need of (quick) mid-song setting changes. (Also, in band setting the Fender sounded sounded very thin and powerless).

So, in search for a replacement, I tried out a couple of other amps: I first A/B/C-tested a Roland Blues Cube Stage (solid state amp), a Laney CUB 12R (all tubes) and a VOX AC15C1 (all tubes). I wanted to also test the Koch Jupiter 45 (hybrid, with one 12AX7 tube in the pre-amp and one 12AX7 in the power amp, and then some MOSFETs), which was recommended to me. However, this amp/brand is hard to find in music stores.

So, I first tested the Roland, the Laney and the Vox with a Gibson SG. I dropped the Roland Blues Cube Stage based on me not liking the sound of it, compared to the other amps. Also, I think the Roland is pretty expensive for a solid state (and that is without a rather expensive footswitch). I did like the option to combine the clean and distortion channel on this amp. And it has variable power output, making it suitable for different settings (home, band practice-room, stage).

The Laney CUB 12R sounded pretty good (I liked the distortion you could dial in), but not as "wide" as the VOX. However, from what I understand, it only has one channel, so it seems that it is not possible to quickly switch between clean and distortion (or is it, somehow?). Of course you could use a distortion/OD pedal in front of it. But, I read several reviews stating that the amp might not be loud enough for even smaller gigs (it’s 15W, just like the VOX, but the latter is supposed to be very loud, if you want it to be).

The Laney has the option to turn to 1W for the "bedroom". And it has an external FX loop which the VOX does not have, and a connection for an external speaker (just like the VOX) should you want to use an additional cabinet. Both do not have a recording output, nor a headphone out.

As I said, the VOX was way more "wide" in its sound, and a lot more sparkling clear. The VOX has 2 channels with separate inputs, but no switch on the amp. You have to buy an ABY-pedal to be able to switch between the clean channel en the top boost channel. A good quality ABY switch will costs you an additional $100, at least. In reviews people talk about the VOX not having much headroom on the normal channel, so when you turn it up loud(er), the clean sound is not completely clean anymore. The VOX is almost twice as heavy as the Laney: some 22kg.

In another shop I tried out a Fender Blues Junior III, but I was not all that impressed (it seemed kind of buzzy when turned up loud in clean. And not distortion buzzy, just buzzy).

So, that left me with the Vox AC15C1 and a yet to be tested Koch Jupiter. I finally found a shop that had both the Vox and the Koch in stock so that I could A/B them (again using a Gibson SG). I had brought my earplugs, so I could turn up both amps very loud (for a short while, of course). And indeed, the Vox did not have enough headroom. It broke up pretty quickly. I want to be able to play clean also in louder (non-amp mic-ed) set-ups, so that pretty much eliminated the Vox AC15C1 from my list. (A Vox AC30 supposedly has a lot more headroom, but also is a lot more expensive and a lot heavier [>30kg]).

It left me with the Koch Jupiter 45, which I quite liked, especially the clean sound of it! The Jupiter has a ?dimmer? knob so you can play your clean and overdriven channel at the level you like. It acts and sounds like a full tube amp, if you want it to, although the sounds seems to have a bit less ?body? to it, but that might well be the sound design Koch was going for. I like that it has a FX-loop and a record/PA-out. The record/PA-out does not cut off the signal to your speaker, so you can use your amp as a stage monitor, although if you change the volume, it will have an effect on the level of the signal going to the mixing desk, as well. (B.t.w. you can cut off the signal to your speaker, without any harm done, by unplugging the speaker cable). It also has an output for an additional cabinet.

I would have liked a volume control specifically for the FX loop, but since the loop is serial, that might not be possible without influencing the master output, when the effect is turned off. I also would have liked separate EQ-controls for the clean (cool) channel and the overdriven/distortion (hot) channel. Of course, that would come with a price increase.

The footswitch (FS2) is very handy. It has a 5 meter cable attached to it. I would have liked an input jack on the FS so that you can tailor the lenght of the FS cable to your needs. Also, a three button FS would have been nice, so that you don’t have to chose between gain-boost and reverb on/off for the right hand button.

The fact that it has only two tubes in it, should make it cheaper in maintenance compared to a full tube amp.

I have tested it out in band (practice)-situation, jam-sessions and gigs and it was (way!) more than loud enough.

It takes pedals well, both those "designed" to go in between the guitar and the amp, and those that should ideally go in the FX-loop. This is nice, because the distortion is not that impressive, speaking from personal taste.

I would have given "sound" and "total" more stars if the clean channel had a bit more body to it, and if I’d been more happy about the distortion sound of the Hot-channel. Having said that, it is a real pleasure to play this amp. It makes you want to pick up your guitar and play.

Thomann’s service was again good and quick.

I play in a Rock/Pop/Indie covers band working the Pub circuit in the North East of England.
I bought the Koch because it was a hybrid amp and I wanted to try to retain a Valve Amp sound whilst adding the reliability of solid state. My research told me that the pre-amp valve had excellent longevity. I had been using a Marshall JC200 DSL400 Combo which began a gig sounding perfect and totally died after half a set. No spare so rerouted through the PA …in short it was a mess !!
So the Koch arrived and I plugged in my pedalboard (SKB) and guitar (Cassidy) turned everything on and started playing.
After ten minutes I was a very happy bunny indeed.
The Amplifier sounded like a valve amp…but more importantly it was very responsive…flexible to the ‘n’th degree.
The controls enable you to extract pretty much any sound from bright clean to super crunchy. I love the gain control on the clean channel which allows you to flavour the clean to your taste. I like a hint of dark on the clean channel !! An added bonus was the effects loop which works so much better than my previous amp. I can now split my board putting the wah/compression/distortion overdrive through the front end and the other stuff into the loop…really really excellent.
I cannot praise the Koch too highly… it’s well built, good looking, and gives you such sound versatility and so far total reliability ! I originally bought it as a backup to the Marshall (Which is now repaired) but to be honest I find myself using it for every gig.
Apart from giving me the confidence of knowing it’s reliable it backs that up with a brilliant sound and you can’t ask for better than that !!
And finally a side benefit is the number of conversations I’ve had with fellow musicians who approach me after the gigs and ask me "..hey…what’s that amp? I love it!!"

Used a 1996 USA Lonestar Strat & a series of guitar effect pedals going into the front of the amps custom channel with bass on 10, treble on 6.5 & volume between 4-6 in a smokey hotel bar residency 5 nights per week in Dubai – United Arab Emirates.

Played in 4 piece band (bass, drums, guitar, female vocals & backing tracks) Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Dance, Top 40 Chart hits music for 6 months. Set up the amp and kept it in the same place. Everything worked perfectly even when the hotels fire alarm shut all the power off on the stage randomly every 2 months without warning – The amp would always start back up again.

More than a year later with the same tubes and still sounds great. Only once has the amps fuse blown because it was plugged into a intermittent power supply.

This is a good ‘workhorse’ general purpose amplifier.

Pros:
1. Super clean tone
2. High quality reverb & vibrato can be used on both channels
3. Relatively lightweight & compact
4. Breaks up nicely at around 50% volume
5. Loud enough to keep up with a mature drummer(who doesn’t bash the kit)
6. Looks beautiful

Cons:
1. No effect loop for external delays, reverbs etc
2. When micing the amp to a live mixing desk or for recording, it has a small hissing sound even with all volume & tone controls turned down and without any cables plugged in.

I love this amp..Perfect for pub and club gigs playing anything from classic rock, country and blues. i find it has just the right amount of power to get that classic fender breakup sound at small gig volumes.. back the volume off on your guitar and get great twin type tones.. if you have not used amps without pre-amp gain controls before you need to learn to use your guitar volume to control the gain or simply put an overdrive or distortion in front of it… they sound great with pedals.i use an ABY pedal to switch between the 2 channels or run both at the same time. both channels have different characteristics. custom channel is bassman sounding, vintage is more twin. having had twins and devilles in the past..its a joy to carry this amp. very small in weight but big in sound..

This is a great amp considering it’s price, it’s well suited for the gigging musician with all the needed features to be a great live pedal platform, but there are a couple things you should consider before deciding:

– There are better sounding amps from fender, if you’re looking for the very best with recording in mind, try a deluxe ou any other non master amp from them

– It’s not a good solution for home/bedroom playing, because it’s loud and control is difficult, the master doesn’t work for the clean channel and there is a very high jump in volume from 1 to 2 and beyond that is quite unusable outside a stage or a studio

– the gain channel is an acquired taste, most dislike it, if you’re planning to use it as a platform amp that is not an issue

All that being said, this is an awesome amp for most band and/or back-line scenarios, it’s light, it’s powerful, it has plenty bottom end, it sounds great.

I have owned II and III of HRD versions ..but this one is a real deal!

PROS:
– Sound is amazing
– Volume control is superb
– Distortion channel and more drive are awesome
– Lighter than previous versions for 3-4KG
– I think it doesn’t have to have volume box (some kind of attenuator) on fx loop anymore for better response.
– No need to change tubes and speaker 😉

CONS:
– All screws on the amp should be tightened. (they were pretty loose)
– Tolex is poorly attached to the amp which costs 850¤.