Over the last few weeks I've been fortunate enough to come up with not one but two Korg-era Vox Pathfinder amps: a much-modified 'plain' 15, and this one - a 15R. Neither are anything like the Princeton Reverb I've really got my heart set on, but for now they scratch the amp tremolo itch quite nicely.
Picked this one up today for £100 less than the other one for sale locally, so I'm calling it a bargain. The way second-hand prices are these days, a £180 Pathfinder might not be as far-fetched as it appears.
I've had a couple of Cambridges before, but this is my first Pathfinder 15R. Having been impressed by the valve-like sounds of the 15 I immediately wished I'd held out for the reverb version, and set about putting that right. I can't say I'm hugely impressed by the reverb sound, though. I think I read that swapping the tank for a better/bigger one is a popular mod, so maybe I'll consider that some day. For now an amp that sounds this huge in such an easy to carry form will do just fine as it comes, so I just have to decide whether to keep both for a wet/dry Vox set-up, with optional Roland modulation in the middle, or let go of the non-reverb one to claw back some of my outlay.
I think it was some posts on here that inspired me to look for one of these amps in the first place, so I'm probably preaching to the choir in saying these are phenomenally good-sounding and versatile little solid-state amps which go from clean to saturated and most points in between with aplomb, and the tremolo is the icing on the cake, while the genuine spring reverb is at least functional if not hugely inspiring.
I'm looking forward to trying one through my Vox 2x12" cabinet (which lives in my friend's studio), but for now I'm more than satisfied with how good it sounds at bedroom level, especially with the boost switch engaged and another boost/overdrive in front. Pursists may gag, but I don't think I'll ever feel the need for an AC30/AC15 ever again - this'll do fine as my recording amp for that neck of the sonic woods.
