Review: Vox Pathfinder Bass 10 Mini Bass Amp
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Measuring just 15″ x 7″ x 11″ the Vox Pathfinder Bass amp is a very nice little mini amp for practicing and light jamming with friends. This is an amp that has great visual appeal and design, making it perfect to display in your living room or office, and a nice compromise for any “roommates” who don’t want the the bulk and distraction of a larger amp. You can proudly display this amp and its vintage Vox styling, complete with diamond grill cloth, chicken-head knobs, and classic gold accents.
This amp is equipped with volume, bass, treble, bright, and drive controls, along with a headphone/line-out jack. For a bass amp of this size the sound is surprisingly good, but the 5″ dual speakers do struggle with bass frequencies as you turn up the volume. Keeping the drive off and the volume at a respectable range will get you some really nice sounds. Pushing the volume to full will result in some rattling and speaker/cabinet distortion, however. But for it’s size it is important to be realistic, and finding the right balance of volume and tone will give you some great sounds and a nice convenient amp to plug into and keep you playing day or night. The headphone jack was very clean and strong and is another nice option for silent playing.
The drive and bright options didn’t seem to be all that useful when playing a bass through this amp. The bright switch is barely noticeable unless you are really cranking the volume and treble up or playing loudly through headphones. And the drive feature is more of a fun option, but not something most bass players will use that often.
One surprising discovery however, was how nicely this amp sounded when plugging in a guitar. The bright switch makes much more of a difference, and the drive feature really becomes useful, providing some really nice crunch and distortion variations. With the volume on full, cranking up the drive really makes this amp quite loud. This brought a whole new outlook on this amp, knowing it could handle both bass and guitar, giving it quite a flexible and versatile option for your home or office.
Overall, for the price of $99 this is a nice versatile little amp with a very stylish vintage look. Compact, solid, versatile, great sounding, and affordable – a great practice amp or gift.
Pathfinder 10 Bass Specifications from http://www.voxamps.com/pathfinder10B:
Output Power: 10 Watts RMS
Speaker: VOX Bulldog 5″ x 2 (4 ohms)
Input: INPUT jack
Output: PHONES/LINEOUT jack
Controls: DRIVE, TREBLE, BASS, VOLUME, BRIGHT switch
Dimensions (W x D x H): 380 x 170 x 277mm (including projections) / 14.98 x 6.69 x 10.91 inches
Weight: 5.6kg / 12.32 lbs
