I still don't have a satisfactory main dirty sound...

[Roseweave]

IMHO the main difference between tube and SS/Modelers is the "feel" playing through tubes is different to SS and modelers, they dont react the same to pick attack etc
just my 2c

Yeah, Voltage sag mostly. Modelers sometimes emulate this too though. I can feel a lot of the same stuff with the AD30. The guitarist I jam with though prefers SS amps for this reason, the feel of razor edge response, where it's a constant WHEEEEE instead of whEEEEEE.

[Roseweave]

Hmm. I really have nothing to contribute, but I've fiddled a little bit with a Vox AD30 and decided that it's not the amp for me.

Roseweave, if I were you, I'd just go to some gear shop on a day where I have nothing to do and pretty much just play around with mad gear. As it's been said before, when it comes to tone, you gotta follow yer ear.

There aren't really any shops like that in Ireland. I always feel bad trying stuff out and not buying too.

Also, the AD30VT has a kinda crappy stock speaker. I swapped mine out.

[veteransdaypoppy]

There aren't really any shops like that in Ireland. I always feel bad trying stuff out and not buying too.

Also, the AD30VT has a kinda crappy stock speaker. I swapped mine out.

Bummer. I've got two or three in NJ. I don't really try stuff out around here, though. Mostly just listen to demos. I bought a Small Stone from my local Sam Ash once and the guy asked me why I was so specific about the big chassis Small Stone. I said, "Oh, well, I really dig the tone of the thing. I've checked out a lot of demos and stuff and I just prefer the sound of a Small Stone to other phasers." Seriously, the dude tried to convince me that I was nuts for preferring one phaser over another.
Some people just don't get it, I guess.

The AD30VT having a shitty speaker makes sense, though. I've tried the 30 and the 100, and obviously the 100 gave more definition to the sound 'cause of its wattage, but I couldn't make it sound good without thumbing the strings (ya know, not using a pick.) And I'm the type of person who can find at (the very) least 1 good sound in any piece of gear. I didn't play with it much 'cause it wasn't mine and I felt a bit uncomfortable fiddling with my friend's gear, but ... Toan is subjective. Good luck findin a dirty sound, man. Don't give up.

[Roseweave]

100 has a Celestion speaker as far as I know, at least the 50 does.

I can see how every

[Roseweave]

I was at my sisters wedding the other day, and the guitarist was using one white Fender Hot Rod type amp... it sounded really great when he kicked in the extra gain. It's lower gain than what I'd normally go to, but had a really hot, warm feel...

I've heard some more clips of the ZT Lunchbox recently and it has that similar kind of mid heavy sound... I think the stock sound of the Lunchbox is actuallly pretty good for me.

[Blurillaz]

If you're still looking for a pedal, the Frazz Dazzler ay suit your needs. It has a 1 watt amplifier built inside it to create the distortion!

[Roseweave]

I Actually found the Vox AC15 model on my AD30VT to be kind of the sound I was looking for actually... it sounds really good. I bet with a Boss SD-1 or something it'd sound amazing.

The AC30 model is pretty good, but not as much fun.