NAD: Vox AD50VT

paul_c2

I am a bit confused. For two reasons, the first being I don't know why I've bought an amp. Analysing it logically, one concludes there's 4 reasons to buy an amp:

1. To practice at home with
2. To practice with others, possibly in a jam/band, with
3. To gig with
4. To record with

Since I've played bass for ages and already have a 30W bass amp, I didn't worry too much about buying a cheap practice amp, knowing I could plug into the bass amp and at least get a nice clean tone out of it, and with the help of some pedals some distortion too. But after about 3 months of playing and generally following the guitar world etc I gradually learned that there's a reason why (for example) Andertons sell about 750 guitar amps and 150 bass amps - guitar amps don't just amplify, they (I guess deliberately, but historically I believe it was somewhat accidental) "colour" the tone in mysterious ways, and our conditioned ears determine that this is better.

Anyway so sceptical about merely buying an amp which serves (1) in my list, I was casually looking around eBay up to around 50W amps or so, which I believe may well suffice for (2), and possibly (3) and (4) depending on how loud/good they are. So I was watching a bunch of amps just to see what prices they go at. Then, I noticed on Tuesday morning one of my watched items, a Vox AD50VT, was sat there at a screaming bargain price with 11 minutes to go. So I bid...not much more...and won it. Oops!!! Anyway I collected it tonight and have had a chance to try it, well some of it because it has a lot of features.


Second confusing bit: I get valve amps, I get that the valve(s) can "colour" the tone in ways that people seem to like, and that a computer or transistors are never going to be quite as good - or are they? Hmmm possibly a topic for much debate there. And I "get" modelling amps, in that computers (well, digital electronics) are now sophisticated and powerful enough to have a fair old bash at adding that critical flavour to the sound and will convince a good number of people, if not possibly all of them. And I also "get" why some amps (for example, some of the Orange range) just focus on good old transistors, but that nowadays the clever boffins aren't just banging out an amp for as little as possible but lay out the circuitry to make a very nice sound off of them trannys.

But this one is "Valvetronix" - it has a valve inside too! So that fairy dust which can only be ground down from unicorn hooves and, like gold, there is a limited quantity in the world to sprinkle around, is captured inside my amp, albeit a little blob of it not 9x glowing princesses. But I don't get why they say its in the power bit not the pre-amp bit. But then I've vaguely heard of "Vox" and I kinda trust they know more about amps than me. Anyway, it has a valve in it (I've not seen it yet but it might neigh at me) but I reckon its in slightly the wrong place; and thank god it has a "power level" knob because I don't think my neighbours like my guitar-playing talents yet.


Here's a pic, mine is in almost spotless condition so it looks just like the above.

ICBM

They're splitting hairs with that "power amp" bit about the valve. In theory it's the valve power stage which gives most of the elusive "feel" of a valve amp (rather than the tone, which mostly comes from the preamp). So they claim that the valve is in the power stage - it isn't really, it's actually a separate and very low-powered pseudo-power stage in between the preamp and the true power stage, which is solid-state. It *does* seem to work in giving a bit more of the magic unicorn fairy dust stuff though, at least compared to other modellers - these Voxes are definitely some of the best-sounding.

You will definitely find that some of the models are better than others though. The AC15 and the 80s Marshall are my favourites, for a clean to slightly-overdriven natural amp-overdrive sound and (maybe surprisingly) a clean to light crunch sound which takes pedals well, respectively - with the gain low, obviously. I don't really like the high-gain models, and surprisingly I detest the AC30TB model, which sounds *nothing* like one… it's thin and shrill compared to the AC15, which is the exact opposite of the two real amps.

paul_c2

Yeah I've had a very basic fiddle around with the various settings (and effects), there's definitely some useless combinations in there in amongst some very nice tones. Shame there's only 2 channels to save favourite settings to (the sucessor model had many more). I fear coming across a brilliant tone, fiddling a bit more then losing it.

paul_c2

I thought it might be worthwhile to update this thread, now that I've had a good opportunity to try out the amp. Out of the 11 amp "models", I've found my favourite - UK 70s, which I actually use for clean and dirty tones by altering the gain (I guess, just like I'd do if I owned a more basic amplifier). Then there's NuMetal for a different kind of overdrive, and the Boutique OD for another alternate. And the Boutique clean for an alternate clean sound.

So I suppose 4/11 isn't bad, when without the modelling I'd be looking at 1. The other channels seem to cut the bottom end out of the sound a bit too much for me, and it seems to be a quirk of the modelling that they've also simulated the eq controls of the modelled amp - so some have no effect!!! Never mind. I know about "bedroom sound" vs "in a band sound" too - so I guess the other amp settings may not be completely useless, just for me at this stage I don't like them.

I've not actually had a chance to turn it up full volume yet. But it seems to produce nice sounds at normal volume.

professorben

Sounds like you found a few settings you like, all the dials on my amp go from 0-10 I only like them in a few positions, it's the same thing.

ICBM

I'm happy enough with these sorts of amps if I can get one clean and one overdriven sound I like, anything more is a bonus. Same as with any amp really...

Voxman

Just to give a bit more background, the circuit design of the original 'Blue' Valvetronix amps (so called because of their blue cloth grill) is actually quite different to the later 'chrome' grill versions.  In the latter, the valve isn't used in quite the same way and the valvereactor circuit is somewhat different.  In fact there's very little voltage going through the valve in the 'Chromes'.  In the Blue amps, the tubes (one in the AD60VT/VTX/VTH, 2 in the stereo AD120VT/VTX/VTH) are under 'full' voltages and the valvereactor design means that it directly responds to speaker impedance just as a valve amp - in the 'Chromes' it doesn't.  

Fundamentally, the 'Blues' were designed as gigging amps from outset and as you cranked them, responded in a very similar way to a a full valve amp - but these were very expensive to make. The subsequent Chromes were originally designed as a much lower cost practice amp with a much simpler 'valvereactor' circuit and significantly reduced features and processing power. The original 'Chromes' (so called because of their chrome grills) were the AD15VT (8" speaker) and AD30VT (10" speaker).  Because these weren't intended to be 'gigging' amps, it didn't matter that the cheaper 'valvereactor' design didn't directly react to speaker impedance or that the valve was 'less linked' to the power-stage (so to speak) as compared with it's original 'Blue' counterpart. But when the chrome model proved so successful Vox then decided to cash-in and make the larger 50w (12") and 100w (2x12") versions. Although aimed at the gigging player, the simpler circuit design remained the same - so although these had more volume, the 'Chrome' Valvetronix didn't respond as closely to a valve amp as the 'Blues', and the playing dynamics were a little different.   

The Chromes (& subsequent later variants) were still nice sounding amps (and many prefer them to the later better featured non-chrome 'VT' range that had grey cloth grills) but the marketing diagram correctly used for the 'Blues' was misleading for the 'chromes' and Vox had to subsequently change the marketing blurb for the 'Chromes' accordingly.

Here's the original marketing blurb for the Blues:  http://www.korguk.com/voxmanuals/PDF/Valvetronix.pdf