Vox Amplug Review

October 27, 2008

Lucia writes for Electric Guitar:

Noise is both the joy and bane of the electric guitarist. This noise should ideally be both tuneful and toneful and should be suited to the environment; rocking right out at ear-bleeding levels when you're rehearsing with the band or playing a gig; to more measured volumes when you're at home practicing late at night. It's this latter point that is often problematic. Most guitarists have an amp designed to have enough power to play with others, particularly matching drums, however these amps tend to lose tone at low levels; particularly when you're after that grungy tone. Many amps have a headphone socket; but the length of the headphone cable limits your ability to stage dive off the lounge suite. Your may also be limited in being able to play along with songs on the stereo through the headphones either. So how to get a good guitar tone at home for practice without scaring the neighbour's cat¡K. ten doors away? English amp manufacturer Vox have come up with a very clever, and affordable, solution. The Vox amPlug is a pocket-sized headphone guitar amp that plugs directly into your guitar, put in a couple of AAA batteries. Switch it on, plug in the headphones and enjoy great sounding guitar tones. It also has an auxiliary input socket so you can connect an iPod or similar to play along with the mix if the like. There are 3 models in the Vox amPlug range to suite a range of music tastes; AC30 emulates the Classic Vox AC-30 used by a range of artists from the Beatles through to Brian May. ƒnClassic Rock emulates the 100 Watt Marshall Stack for those Who, ACDC or Led Zep sounds Metal has the overdriven rectifier sounds of Van Halen, Metallica and modern thrash. Each unit has Volume, Tone and Gain that operates that match the dials on the real amps. According to the Vox site "with its completely analog design, great care was also taken with amPlug's gain circuitry. The "AC30" uses two naturalsounding gain stages to reproduce the distinctive AC30 tone. "Classic Rock" uses four classical gain circuits to deliver that great sound. "Metal" uses two stages of ultrahigh gain plus a mid-cut circuit, giving you modern metal high-gain sound anywhere and anytime. Even the circuit response of the original amp is simulated completely. The simulation extends not only to the response of the tone circuits, but also to the way in which the high frequency and gain are affected when you turn down the volume control of the guitar. Every detail has been faithfully reproduced." But the proof of the pudding is in the playing (to mangle a metaphor). I have the amPlug AC30 model and love it. It works as claimed, plug the headphones in, put it into the guitar, including the awkward Strat-type socket, turn it on, strike a chord, and the honest-sounding guitar tones are there. With the Gain turned down you get clean early British tones; wind up the Gain to get pleasing overdriven crunch with long sustain. There is a bit of noise with high gain levels, but that is realistic to the real thing as well. I haven't checked battery life to the claimed 15 hours; however I'm using rechargeable battery which I can cycle through as necessary. There are two huge advantages to using the amPlug. The first is the portability; plug it in and you can rock around the lounge or the bedroom; heading up to the PC to checkout some tab on musicnotes or ultimate-guitar; or duckwalk down the street with great tones in your ears. The other is that it's quiet, only you can hear the music. This is great for the late at night practice, but also means you can practice pretty well anywhere. I've taken to taking the amPlug into music stores while auditioning guitars. No more waiting in line for an amp; and you can get away with playing Smoke on the Water or Stairway to Heaven! The Vox amPlug range is highly portable, simple to use and delivers on tone. Highly recommended for any electric guitar player. The Vox amPlug range retails for $65 and is available from good music stores.