So bad news, my amp tech was able to fix one of them. The other two had issues beyond his ability to troubleshoot without extreme expense. The response to emails seems to have dropped off after my initial experience as well.
A while ago, I posted my initial situation with VHT/Musiclink, but I wanted to give VHT a fair chance to repond and correct the issue. Now here I am about 6 weeks later still dealing with it, so an update was in order.
So here is a quasi-review update and update on my VHT saga. My local amp tech now addresses me as "that VHT guy" because of all of our back and forth trying to figure these out. I hope that some how this situation is magically fixed by VHT/Musiclink in the near future, but I am going on a week of non-response from them and starting to feel like it is intentional.
On paper, these VHT Special 44 combo amps sound awesome (like the old Fender amps with modern features). I love the idea of them. It's different. They appear really versatile. They should be big enough to do small gigs with and still not too big to practice with. Hand-wired with point-to-point soldering... all great for an amp at this price point.
So here's the issue: I received 3 non-working amps in a row, all non-functioning or poorly functioning right out of the box. Initially, I thought it might be rough shipping that was the issue, and there was one broken pre-amp tube that might have been caused by it. That one was pretty easily fixed, and I had my amp tech test it, and it worked well.
The other two appeared to have much more serious issues. They both have a popping sound inside (not the speaker, but some electrical component). One pops very frequently (every 20-30 seconds). The other hums so loudly that it does not work above 50% volume. It sounds like you are running a high-gain pedal through it. You could not use a microphone on it in a gig, just too much hum.
So, I opened up a warranty claim with VHT. Both amps had less than 30 minutes of play time prior to shipping them as the issues were immediately apparent. I sent them back at my expense (roughly $60) to their only repair facility in California (31067 San Clemente St. Hayward, CA 94544). 3-4 weeks later I received them back, which was reasonable as travel time was a week each way.
I had exceptionally high hopes that they would be fixed upon arrival. The popping amp now only puts out about 5% volume (which is quite a bit worse than when it left my house), and the humming amp still hums above 50% volume (comparatively, it's about 3x the amount of hum of a different brand tube amp I own). In VHT's defense, at lower volumes the humming amp has a sweet bell-like chimey tone that I really like (somewhere between a Vox and Fender sound).
Now I am awaiting any response from VHT / MusicLink on a re-repair (1-888-552-5465 or
info@vhtamp.com). I am hoping to not have to pay another $60 to ship it back, though another month wait is likely, if they respond.
So the summary is: if you can, purchase VHT amps only in person where you can THOROUGHLY test them before purchase or buy them through great retailers like Amazon that have excellent return/replacement policies, but plan on going through 3 or 4 to find a working one. I would not buy one and depend on VHT / MusicLink to respond quickly or repair them if you ship them back.
In retrospect, I would not have bought the VHT amp knowing what the warranty/repair experience would be like or how difficult it would be to get a working amp. I still think their products have great potential. If quality control improves or VHT makes local repairs easier through more amp repair stores, then maybe that is enough to redeem them. Right now, I am just hoping to be treated well though my hope is dwindling.
I will update this post/review if I get a positive response from them.
