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Post subject: N(U)AD -- VibroChamp XD
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:59 pm
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Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 1339
Location: Denver, CO, USA
Short version: sweet, simple little amp.

Long version (tl;dr version):

Kind of a bookend experience. A few years ago I went to GC planning to buy an Orange Micro Terror. But they had a used Mustang3 v1, so I plugged into it. Thought it had some good, promising tones and took it home instead of the Orange. But the more I played it the more annoying it became, so I took it back and traded it toward the Micro Terror.

(No offense intended toward Mustang fans. It's just that amps that have lots of adjustable parameters overwhelm me.)

Love the MT, but all 5 of its sounds are Orange and I've been craving a little variety. (Longer story about how I went from an apartment full of amps and cabs to one MT, two 1x12's, and a 50 year old Yamaha...)

Intrigued by the Marshall Code series, I picked up a Code 25 earlier this week. Once again overwhelmed. Found lots of good tones, but for every minute playing I spent 3 minutes twiddling with settings trying to find a better tone.

Plugged into the Micro Terror this morning and said, "screw the Code -- I play for enjoyment and to relieve stress, not to get frustrated".

Took it back and exchanged it for a used VCXD plus a little cash back.

Been smiling and having fun all day. So easy to dial in very good sounds. Even some very enjoyable Marshall-ish tones.

The effects are very limited with almost no adjustability. But they sound good with no dithering about "pre-delay" on reverb, or a tone knob on the delays. Set it to slapback, adjust the level and play.

I've never really been into changing amp settings during a song. The controls on the guitar, sure, but I don't need banks of presets. It might be nice if the effects had an on/off footswitch, but here in my apartment I can just reach over and spin the fx level knob.


Last edited by strayedstrater on Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: N(U)AD -- VibroChamp XD
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:16 pm
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Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 1339
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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I had a no-tail logo badge so I put it on in place of the stock logo with tail. Just seems to visually fit better on a small amp, to my eyes.

Since the voice & effects knobs rotate 360°, from some angles and some settings you can't see the pointers on the skirts. Had these sitting around and they're much easier to read.


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Post subject: Re: N(U)AD -- VibroChamp XD
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:39 pm
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Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 1339
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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Tube rolling. Had a Groove Tubes 6V6C black glass and a Fender labeled 12AX7 in it.

Had the NOS Raytheon JAN 6V6GT gray glass just waiting for a single-ended amp.

Tried some GE 12AX7's in it, but they're kinda bright and brought out some harshness in the gainier voicings.

Tried a variety of current productions I had pulled from previous amps. This triple-mica Chinese 12AX7B is pretty nice.

It sounded good with the old tubes but even better now.


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