Behringer Review: V-Amp 2

History:

Purchase: I originally wanted to get a J-Station after borrowing a friend's unit. They were on sale for $99 on the internet. Bythe time I decided to buy it I couldn't find it! I was looking for a modestly priced effects unit to use at home and for occasional gigs. Another friend mentioned that he had tried out the V-Amp 2 and liked it. I played the unit and thought it sounded transparent and clean - something I was looking for. I didn't especially like the guitar shape because it looks more like a toy or a gadget for a little kid. But the price ($129.95 plus tax) and the sound persuaded me to get it. I wasn't disappointed.

What I Like About This Behringer V-Amp 2: You can pay a lot of money for effects, so price was important to me. I wanted to get as much bang for my buck as possible. The cost of this unit was a plus. The unit has a wide range of pre-programmed sounds with names that sort of identify the nature of the sound. This is handy to get you familiar with the range of possibilities. You can alter and tweak any of these presets easily. There are many different amp sounds and a lot of effects (read the specs for details) The unit gives you tremendous flexibility. I also appreciate how quiet this unit is. My unit has 25 banks with 5 presets on each bank. You can find a sound on any bank and transfer that sound(preset) to any other bank easily. Simply find the sound then tap to the bank and preset button you want and hold down that preset button for about two seconds. That's all there is to it. You can then set up a bank of five different effects for the gig your playing. The footswitch allows you to select any of the 5 presets on one bank. You can also bypass the amps and just use the effects. The reverb is good and quite flexible

What I Do NOT Like About The Behringer V-Amp 2: I do not like having to unplug the unit at the wall outlet. No on-off switch. I'm thinking I will get a power strip to plug it into and switch that off and on. I probably would rather have a footswitch to stomp directly to the sound I want rather than the up-down footswitch. The unit does not have any harmonizing effects.

Behringer V-Amp 2 Quality Rating: The basic unit is fairly solid and seems durable but be careful with the knobs. I accidentally broke one. The shaft of the knob is hollow plastic! I repaired it by carving a small wooden dowel to fit inside the two parts of the plastic shaft and glued it back with a tiny amount of gorilla glue. Works fine now. So be careful with those knobs!

Review Summary: If you appreciate quality effects at a very reasonable price I think you could be quite happy with this unit. It will provide many hours of fun with a bunch of amp sounds and effects. If you are hard on equipment you might want a more durable unit you can kick around a little more.

Rating of this Behringer product: 4

This Behringer V-Amp 2 Guitar Effects Review Submitted By: Chum N.

Review Date: 2004-01-30