Vox Pathfinder 15R

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andydeedpoll

i do love smilies...
Hi there.

I'm looking to change the amplifier i'm currently doing everywhere. because its frankly rubbish :p. it's made by "bullet" (well, thats the only writing i can find on it, except the words "guitar amplifier" in small letters on the front :D) - if we're still not sure, i'll post some pictures when my big brother decides to return the digital camera. its done well. i got it five years ago, and the guy we got it off said it was ten years old :p

basically, i want a change, but i'm skint :p how would the Vox Pathfinder 15R stand up to playing gigs, if it was miced up and was coming out of the main speakers and the monitors? it'd also be used to record, practise, jam and anything else. i heard they're pretty loud, and could be hooked up to power a speaker as well? or maybe i'm just getting confused :o :p

Andy
 
I have an original Pathfinder and, yes, they are pretty loud (22 watts according to the plate on the back). Whether that'd be enough to compete with a drummer, a bass player and (possibly) another guitarist, I don't know. I've never had the opportunity to find out.

But, the Pathfinder IS one of the best sounding cheap amps out there. So, go for it :)
 
I play in a band, and we usually rehearse at gig-volumes, and I only have to open up my AD30VT (30 watts) for about 1/4th of it's power, probably even less. Don't know if that helps...
 
Quiet you :p :D

Actually, what Stan said got me thinking. Maybe this would be more appropriate
 
:) thanks for the quick responses!

i'll save up for a few more weeks, and then go and look in my local oh-so-friendly underground (you go down a 20 gently-sloping tunnel before you get to the front door :p) music shop!

hehe.

sounds fun.

just out of interest, would there be any way i could use the speaker from my current amp, with the pathfinder if it isn't really loud enough? maybe... but maybe i need to read up on this kinda stuff. maybe i need to find out what an 'ohm' is... :p

anymore people bigging up the pathfinder would be welcomed :rolleyes: :D

Andy
 
The Vox Pathfinder 15R is one of the very nicest cheap guitar amps, but I don't see gigging with one, as 15WRMS solid-state into a single small speaker just doesn't pack very much grunt. There is a line out for reinforcement through the house system/PA, but I don't know if you're going to hear yourself over the drummer onstage.

On the other hand, take a gander at this treatment!

Depending on speaker sensitivity, this has the potential to be at least twice as loud as the standard 15/15R. Still not big sound, but a neat looking amp.
 
I'd kill a busload of handicapped children for one of those.

The Pathfinder 15R is great, mines sitting 3 feet away from my computer as we type. It sounds great, though the distortion is anything from metal/hardcore w/ the scooped mids and such. Hell, the Pathfinder doesn't even have a mid-range EQ knob. It's a bang up amp with a great sound, although it is not loud enough to rehearse with a drummer without nearly blowing the speaker out. (trust me, I've tried)
 
:D this is all good stuff.

i think it'll probably be the Pathfinder. but it'll have to wait a little while - guitar isn't my main instrument, and i'm going to need a new trombone (which is my main instrument :p ) before i go to uni, and trombones are a bit more than a piece of wood with a few pieces of wire pulled across it (:D), and the prices reflect that...

but check out the beast! http://www.rathtrombones.com/specs.asp?Model=R3F hehehe!

thanks for all the help.

Andy
 
I bought a Pthfinder at GC, and it's one of the few things I have returned. I think it must have been a defective unit. I was testing it with a Highway 1 telecaster, and the hum was absolutely godawful. If that unit wasn't defective, I don't think I'll be buying one anytime soon. I don't need a -12db noise floor for any reason I can think of.-Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
I was testing it with a Highway 1 telecaster, and the hum was absolutely godawful.
Click to expand...
Was the hum still there with the guitar unplugged or with the guitar's volume turned all the way down?

You test an amp for hum under those conditions, otherwise you're just demonstrating pickup hum, which on a Telecaster is typically hideous.
 
Yeah the hum was there anytime the gain was turned up on the vox amp. It became worse when the guitar was plugged in. I'm familiar with single coil hum, but this was way beyond standard stuff. I use the tele with other amps all the time, and they don't do that. Something was seriously wrong with that amp.-Richie
 
hmm... interesting.

but noone else has mentioned it, so maybe we can presume it was knackered :p

thanks for all the advice,

Andy
 
Just tried listening to my Pathfinder with the gain and volume at max. No hum.
 
Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I just bought a brand new, sealed, boxed Pathfinder 15R and after fifteen minutes of examination, I have to report that it's an abject POS.

Very noisy -- as in the hissiest amp in the house of any wattage (and I have a lot of amps) -- and the tremolo depth adjustment runs out at just a bit off the peg, basically little more than an off/on switch.

Note that "hiss" and "hum" are entirely different things, caused by entirely different circuit problems. There's some hum with this one, but it hisses like it was designed as a white-noise generator.

Iffy construction, sloppy covering.

In short, junk.

It went right back in the box and it goes back to Guitar Center tomorrow. They have a couple more of them, so I might try to find a better one and exchange this, but all I can say is don't get one without trying it.
 
Yo Bongolation- sounds like they re-packaged mine and sold it to you! What you have described is exactly what I heard. And you're right- it was hiss, not hum. The self noise was way beyond anything this studio will willingly handle. It's gate-bait.-Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
What you have described is exactly what I heard. And you're right- it was hiss, not hum. The self noise was way beyond anything this studio will willingly handle.
Click to expand...
I was really shocked and disappointed; I expected something much better after hearing everyone rave about these amps, especially as recording units. You're right -- way, way too much noise for my studio as well.

I even popped off the back and took a look. It's very well-made in terms of clean wave-soldering, but I think what's going on is the same thing that happens with all cheap gear, the unpredictable results from very cheap electronic components -- it's not that they are bad so much as inconsistent. Sometimes a piece of bargain gear will sound great and the next one will sound terrible, or roll over and die, due to the cumulative luck of the draw with bottom-line caps, JFETs, resistors, etc. Pop open something like SWR Pro Series amps and you'll see near-audiophile, low-tolerance components -- WIMA caps, etc. One big result of this is extremely low self-noise on a consistent basis.

Why there's so little control over tremolo depth may have something to do with this as well, I dunno.

So...tomorrow I'm going to give another example of this amp a try and if it's OK, I'll swap it. Otherwise, it's sayonara.
 
Let me know what you hear. I'm interested. I bought the amp for the same reasons as you, and was shocked at the self-noise.-Richie
 
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