The Vox Clubman 60 arrived today

[Little Jay]

Great thread, I really enjoyed reading all of this!

The Clubman 60 caught my eye since I am always on the lookout for small portable amps that are hussle free and sound good, for the low volume jazz jams I do in town. I walk, bike or take a tram to get there, so portability is important to me.

My most successful setups so far are my DIY 5F1 Champ with 10” Jensen P10R and my AER Alpha (sometimes with my Quilter Superblock US in front of it). The AER is the most portable solution, but I like the the sound and feel of the Champ just a little better. They both sound good but are not hussle free because I don’t like the reverb on the AER and the Champ has no reverb at all. So I have to bring either my Quilter Superblock US (because I like it’s reverb!) or my Boss FRV-1 (best sounding spring reverb pedal imho), a 9V AC/DC adapter (using the Quilter in 9V mode also) and a powerstrip with two outlets. I would like a small amp with no other frills to carry.

The Clubman 60 does sound interesting to try out. Good onboard reverb could make or brake the amp for me. Also in the available soundclips on YouTube it does sound a little bright, but perhaps that’s just a matter of rolling the trebles off.

[Jim Soloway]

Jim, if you can answer easily I've a question about the Vox.
I really appreciated the quality of your recent direct recording of the Mustang + Art pre. How would a recording in which instead of the Art there is the Clubman 60 line out entering the sound card, without subsequent editing, be comparable to the one you made? Would it be so warm, clean, free of hiss?
I'm asking you because I'm interested in the possibility of listening directly from the amplifier, with a nice tone and without delays, and, at the same time, recording with a nice warm tone and without hiss...

Here's a direct line out recording from the Vox. No edits, no added EQ, no compression and whatever reverb you hear is from the amp.

[StefanoGhirardo]

Here's a direct line out recording from the Vox. No edits, no added EQ, no compression and whatever reverb you hear is from the amp.

Thanks Jim!
Comparing the two recordings I would say that recording directly with the Pre is better. Sure it would be possible to improve the Vox one by adjusting the tones to suit the recording purpose, but maybe it's not worth it: direct recording is so good and simple...

[Jim Soloway]

Thanks Jim!
Comparing the two recordings I would say that recording directly with the Pre is better. Sure it would be possible to improve the Vox one by adjusting the tones to suit the recording purpose, but maybe it's not worth it: direct recording is so good and simple...

Don't judge too quickly. I'll toss my usual suite of eq and compression and you can hear what it sounds like then. I'll probaly be able to get it posted in about an hour.

[Jim Soloway]

Thanks Jim!
Comparing the two recordings I would say that recording directly with the Pre is better. Sure it would be possible to improve the Vox one by adjusting the tones to suit the recording purpose, but maybe it's not worth it: direct recording is so good and simple...

Same recording with my basic suite of plugins. It sounds very different.

[StefanoGhirardo]

Same recording with my basic suite of plugins. It sounds very different.

It is actually much improved: it has a more balanced tone, it is less muddy and also has more spatiality.
You are too kind Jim, thank you for the time and skill you put into my question!

[Jim Soloway]

It is actually much improved: it has a more balanced tone, it is less muddy and also has more spatiality.
You are too kind Jim, thank you for the time and skill you put into my question!

No problem at all. This community has always been very generous to me and I'm happy to be of service.

[mrblues]

Mine arrived 5 days ago. I had a lot of amps, including amps made for jazz, I wont go into detalis, I really had a lot. But this...

I cant put down my guitars till I got this amp. Its sound is highly inspiring, very warm, round, creamy, mellow, tube-ish, and loud! The reverb and chorus are also very good, very enjoyable. I kept only my old japanese Roland Cube 60 orange, and a little ROland GX10 in the music school for teaching, and I am now selling all my other amps. No need anything else... Really...

[pingu]

which is best ?

vox clubman
or
Fender champion 20 ?

[Jim Soloway]

which is best ?

vox clubman
or
Fender champion 20 ?

Clubman.

[deanmartian]

I just bought this amp because of Jim's great review/demo but unfortunately the unit I received has a prominent and annoying hissing. It is not quiet. My tube amp is quiet compared to it. Don't know if I got a dud but will be returning it for a refund.

The sound is nice though... clear, articulate, warm. However it is not a "fat" sound. Jim was right in that you can't get a boomy bass from this amp at all (which I do like a hint of). The search continues for me!

[garybaldy]

BTW
I use a cheap Behringer graphic eq
pedal sometimes for this purpose
Behringer EQ700 – Thomann UK

it has up to 15db of gain
(in addition to the eq facs which is always handy)

if i was using this a lot ,i would probably slash the cash on a
Boss GE7 pedal

I've just bought the EQ700. I'll be using it for the first time today at a festival gig with my Loar 700 and Polytone Teeny.
Just oiling the wheels on my sack trolley!

[gitman]

I think that's a wonderful idea. I had a clean boost many years ago for exactly that purpose and it did a great job. I have no idea what happened to it but it seems like a really simple and obvious solution to a lot of problems now that you've mentioned it..

We overlook the possibilities of outside gear way too often because we hang on to the idea of "the-one-amp-that-can.do-it-all" - NOT so when we look at our instruments, right ?
I have found a very useful and practical solution in pairing a light weight and inexpensive active speaker/monitor cab (Alto TX308, 12 pounds) with my HELIX Stomp pedal as preamp/effector.
Def. loud enough for pretty much all of my gigs, small and light so I can securely load it onto my bicycle - the cab also functions great when paired with my BUD6 : since it's designed as a
floor monitor I place it beside me on the floor and the BUD sits on a stool facing the front/band .
In your particular case a simple EQ pedal will probably do the trick. I recently learned that Tim Lerch also employs a booster since his delicate touch wouldn't produce enough signal to
properly drive the front of his amp. Makes total sense to me !