Ever been ready to grab your guitar and work on a new lick or turn on some music to work on a new lead guitar part, but you couldn’t because it would make too much noise?
It’s hard to believe, but sometimes as musicians we find ourselves in situations where others don’t want to hear us play. There are other times when we would rather practice privately, and for these times we should never sacrifice playing but simply make use of the VOX Headphone Amp.
Plugging this device into the 1/4-inch instrument cable jack on your guitar allows you to listen privately to your guitar playing through any pair of headphones with a 1/8-inch jack. The VOX AC30 is made to sound like VOX’s famous AC30 high gain amplifier. It’s sound was great; it has been modified to be a powerful high gain guitar sound which is perfect for playing along with your music CD’s or mp3’s. The headphone amp has an auxiliary input for music from a CD player, mp3 player, computer or even the radio.
Once connected to the auxiliary input, you can play guitar along with your favorite songs, which is a great way to practice all within your headphones! If you aren’t interested in the AC30’s high gain guitar sound, VOX does offer other headphone amps, which aesthetically are the same as the AC30 shown. All priced at about $40, VOX offers AC30, Classic Rock and Metal options.
For a few dollars more they also make products specifically for bass guitar and for lead guitar parts only. They’re ideal for playing privately at home or even for traveling. Playing at the hotel or even in the car is no problem with VOX’s headphone preamps.
All in all, this is a useful gadget for any electric guitar player, and it is offered at a fair price. Measuring only 3.39″ x 3.15″ x 1.22″, and weighing 1.41oz., it won’t weigh your guitar down while plugged in. Other headphone preamps I have used, like the Pocket Rock-it, did not sound as true to a real amp sound despite being bigger than the Vox.
It can be a headache setting up amps and connecting them to your guitar, but the headphone amps make it a piece of cake if you’re looking to practice on your own, quietly. It runs on 2 AAA batteries (included), which will keep you rocking for up to 15 hours.
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