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Mackie Hotwire VT12 Guitar Combo Amplifier

Fully-configurable vacuum tube circuitry with 12 distinct wiring modes.

Overall User Ratings

Overall:
           7 out of 10
Features:
           6 out of 10
Quality:
           6 out of 10
Value:
           5 out of 10
I Want It:
           6 out of 10
Sound:
           6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
           5 out of 10
Support:
           5 out of 10
 
 

"Not for everyone, but I was for me. Awesome complete package."

Overall:
          8 out of 10
Features:
          9 out of 10
Quality:
          9 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          7 out of 10
Support:
          8 out of 10
User: a customer from hotmail.com
Submitted: 11/12/2008
Style of Music: Rock
Musical Experience: Active Church Musician
Location: Fort Worth, TX

 

 
Feature:
The greatest thing about this amp is that it has the complete package. Tube Amp with digital effects built in. The capability to preset all your settings, including effects settings and then switching it on with just a click is great.

Quality:
No complaints. Everything from the cabinent, the controls and the padded slip cover seem very well built.

Value:
I would say this amp is expensive, but considering, I paid more than this for all my effect pedals and my prior amp, it is a deal.

Desirability:
I just love it. From clean jazz sound to running my acoustic through it, to crunch, the separate mic channel, the built in effects, tuner, metronome, etc. It has it all and it is not too heavy. Not really light, but impossible to carry like some other amps.

Sound:
Just incredible. I think the other reviewers have not taken the time to learn how to use this thing. It is so flexible and sounds fantastic.

Ease of Use:
You really have to read the manual and then play with all the features as this thing is so flexible, you can pretty much make it sound how you want, but it takes a little time to do this as it has so many features.

Support:
Don't really know as I have had no problems. They were very responsive to getting answers on their website forum and in sending me software that was supposed to be included but failed to ship with the amp.

Overall:
I would definately replace it again with the same model. My only complaint was I bought this thing in January and did not receive it until August. They need to ramp up the production line....

3 of 4 people (75%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Wait Til Mackie Gets Its Act Together"

Overall:
          2 out of 10
Features:
          3 out of 10
Quality:
          1 out of 10
Value:
          1 out of 10
I Want It:
          2 out of 10
Sound:
          2 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          2 out of 10
Support:
          1 out of 10
Submitted: 10/14/2008
Style of Music: Alternative
Musical Experience: Wannabe
Location: Pasadena, CA, USA

 

 
Feature:
The features would be great if they worked like they're advertised to work. Speaking of advertising, this thing has been marketed for over a year and they still can't produce enough to meet even the minimal demand the amp has generated in that time.

Quality:
Forget it!

Value:
It should be selling at half the street price with the PB1 foot controller.

Desirability:
I wanted it. Waited and waited. Tried another sucker's purchase first. Then, the bubble burst.

Sound:
Agree with review below, amp not very loud even in 120 watt operation. This is because it's equipped with just one 12" speaker in a combo. If you want better tone with a little more volume, you have to shell out another $500 for the extension cabinet ... not to mention $80 for your basic 4 button footswitch and/or $270 for the more useful PB1 foot controller. And yes, the thing throws out feedback like a hissing dragon (but not in the good sense). I think it's because of Chinese manufacturing at an American price point.

Ease of Use:
Like all these digitally based contraptions, you need to be a programmer to get decent tone.

Support:
Barely exists. Can't even run a user forum.

Overall:
Great concept ... poor performance and lousy value.

12 of 12 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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Mackie Hotwire VT12 Amp Customer Review

Overall:
          1 out of 10
I Want It:
          8 out of 10
Sound:
          1 out of 10
Submitted: 10/14/2008

 

 
Sound:
Not powerfule enough. Lots of annoying feedback. Even at low volumes when effects are in use.

1 of 3 people (33.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"NOT STEREO! WAY OVERPRICED..."

Overall:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          5 out of 10
I Want It:
          3 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          5 out of 10
Submitted: 8/5/2008

 

 
Feature:
Love the onboard effects, balanced line outs, and the relative simplicity, even though it a very versatile little bugger. It is such a shame that they don't make it STEREO. For the money they are asking, it definitely should come with two speakers and should have the stereo capability.

Quality:
I would assume that this Mackie product is as reliable as their other offerings, and that is pretty darn good. None of my Mackie stuff has ever failed in 16 years of daily use.

Value:
Sure, Mackie has a reputation for reliability and good sound. But this amp is NOT a hand-made boutique product. It should be either much lower cost, OR have all the features and STEREO capability, with two speakers and the footswitch included for this price. Even then, $1500 is high. If I knew I could get the all important STEREO amp, with this feature set, plus the extra cabinet and the foot-switch for $990, I could justify the price. As is, the amp will sell primarily to rich amateurs looking for a "magic-bullet" to make their sucky playing sound better. All professionals play in STEREO, so Mackie is making a huge marketing miss-judgment at this price point for a mono amp. Dorky rich kids, endowed adults with little talent, or control freaks are the only people who will be interested in this as a mono amp. Pros won't touch it until Mackie can figure the STEREO thing out.

Desirability:
IF, and ONLY IF, they made it stereo, sold the whole package (including foot-control and extra speaker) for a reasonable price, THEN it would be very desirable. As is? ...not even if I won a lottery.

Sound:
Yes, there are real working prototypes out there. Yes, it really sounds good, for a mono amp. And it has an impressive feature set, even though it is not stereo.

Ease of Use:
Easy and fast...

Support:
The support for product inquiries is less than optimum. After a week of trying every available avenue, I was finally able to get a person on the phone during business hours. He was either in-the-dark or very secretive about this particular product. I got the impression then, (four months ago) that they were not ready to unveil this amp. That turned out to be true.

Overall:
Mackie stuff is good, no doubt about it. But this is overpriced, especially if it ain't STEREO.

3 of 15 people (20%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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