New, used amp

[WRGKMC]

The wife gave me a gift card for Guitar center for Christmas so I spent a couple of days digging on their site.  I looked at guitars first and kind of gave up. I can build my own guitars better then anything they had in the price ranges I was looking at plus I got way to many guitars now.  I came close to buying an Epi LP Jr but the bolt on necks turned me off. 

After that I started looking at used guitar amps.  I debated on buying a 5 watt Tube head like the Epiphone Jr or the Bugera 5W which looked cool too.  There was a Marshall Code 50W combo for $130 and a Marshall 50W and 30W  Valvestate Combo in that same range too.  I Do prefer a 1X12" over a 1X10"

Then I came across those little Vox MV50 Class D heads. They use that Nutube technology which is supposed to produce a tube like response at much lower voltages. They make like a half dozen different types from clean to vintage to rock and heavy metal.  I checked out that Orange 20W Terror which was in the same price range too. It uses a preamp tube and SS power amp. 

Then I stumbles across a AD50VT 1x12 50W Guitar Combo Amp that was selling for $119 and it looked to be in mint shape.  I've been into recording Vox tones using a Multi effects modeler pedal for the last couple of year and like the tones. This one had enough features for playing live and recording to make me pull the trigger on one.  

First I had heard the 100W version my buddy has.  Second it has channel switching,  built in effects, and amp modeling so I can sound like many different amps. Its even got a power amp attenuator which lets you adjust from 50W all the way down to 1/15 of a watt which is great for practice or recording.  12" speaker with an extension jack and the like out has cab emulation applied for direct recording.  The only thing I dislike there is it cuts off the internal speaker.  I may have to wire in a switch so I can record direct and record the speaker at the same time. 

Last but not least the amp is a Valvetronix which means it does use a tube. They don't stick it in the preamp like many other Hybrid amps do.  They instead use it in the power amp section and call it a Valvetronix reactor circuit. They use the tube as a 1W power amp then use the SS power amp to amplify the sound that comes  from the tube.  its Not that much different then micing up a low wattage tube amp when you break it down. Given the fact that 12AX7 is a dual stage tube it can be run as Class A or class AB to produce many different amp types. 

Lastly, I can pack this thing in the Trunk of my Mustang and  not have to bust a gut doing small gigs.  I don't need to carry much effects either, just the ones the amp doesn't provide.

Of course I still have the big stuff if I need it but a 50W SS combo is about the same as a 22W Tube amp in loudness when run in their sweet spots and will keep up with a drummer without melting your ears.  Best part, since I'm buying it used I can easily get back what I paid for it when I sell it.  The negatives?  I'm not a huge fan of the metal grill. They tend to get bent or rattle plus they block allot of sound.  I may wind up using a little creative licensee and use some Vox grill cloth on that baby.  The unit does use a Celestion speaker but I'll need to check the speaker model. I may be able to upgrade it with a speaker I have on hand. 

Anyway it will be fun to try out for awhile. Any sound, even a good one can become boring. 

 

 

[Warhorse]

A friend of mine has one of those, its surprisingly good sounding HNAD!

[daddymack]

HNAD!

I am always a little skeptical when someone buys a piece of gear and then justifies it by saying they will get their money back when they sell it...

[DeepEnd]

Congratulations. Happy New (Used) Amp Day. I like those Vox Valvetronix amps myself. I almost bought one except I wanted a line out, which most models don't have.

[Mikeo]

On 12/26/2019 at 4:48 PM, WRGKMC said:

The wife gave me a gift card for Guitar center for Christmas so I spent a couple of days digging on their site.  I looked at guitars first and kind of gave up. I can build my own guitars better then anything they had in the price ranges I was looking at plus I got way to many guitars now.  I came close to buying an Epi LP Jr but the bolt on necks turned me off. 

After that I started looking at used guitar amps.  I debated on buying a 5 watt Tube head like the Epiphone Jr or the Bugera 5W which looked cool too.  There was a Marshall Code 50W combo for $130 and a Marshall 50W and 30W  Valvestate Combo in that same range too.  I Do prefer a 1X12" over a 1X10"

Then I came across those little Vox MV50 Class D heads. They use that Nutube technology which is supposed to produce a tube like response at much lower voltages. They make like a half dozen different types from clean to vintage to rock and heavy metal.  I checked out that Orange 20W Terror which was in the same price range too. It uses a preamp tube and SS power amp. 

Then I stumbles across a AD50VT 1x12 50W Guitar Combo Amp that was selling for $119 and it looked to be in mint shape.  I've been into recording Vox tones using a Multi effects modeler pedal for the last couple of year and like the tones. This one had enough features for playing live and recording to make me pull the trigger on one.  

First I had heard the 100W version my buddy has.  Second it has channel switching,  built in effects, and amp modeling so I can sound like many different amps. Its even got a power amp attenuator which lets you adjust from 50W all the way down to 1/15 of a watt which is great for practice or recording.  12" speaker with an extension jack and the like out has cab emulation applied for direct recording.  The only thing I dislike there is it cuts off the internal speaker.  I may have to wire in a switch so I can record direct and record the speaker at the same time. 

Last but not least the amp is a Valvetronix which means it does use a tube. They don't stick it in the preamp like many other Hybrid amps do.  They instead use it in the power amp section and call it a Valvetronix reactor circuit. They use the tube as a 1W power amp then use the SS power amp to amplify the sound that comes  from the tube.  its Not that much different then micing up a low wattage tube amp when you break it down. Given the fact that 12AX7 is a dual stage tube it can be run as Class A or class AB to produce many different amp types. 

Lastly, I can pack this thing in the Trunk of my Mustang and  not have to bust a gut doing small gigs.  I don't need to carry much effects either, just the ones the amp doesn't provide.

Of course I still have the big stuff if I need it but a 50W SS combo is about the same as a 22W Tube amp in loudness when run in their sweet spots and will keep up with a drummer without melting your ears.  Best part, since I'm buying it used I can easily get back what I paid for it when I sell it.  The negatives?  I'm not a huge fan of the metal grill. They tend to get bent or rattle plus they block allot of sound.  I may wind up using a little creative licensee and use some Vox grill cloth on that baby.  The unit does use a Celestion speaker but I'll need to check the speaker model. I may be able to upgrade it with a speaker I have on hand. 

Anyway it will be fun to try out for awhile. Any sound, even a good one can become boring. 

 

 

I have a Vox Valvetronix VT30.

 

I liked it enough to by the big foot switch that is an option.

Here's the manual if you need it.

 

New the VT 30 was under 200 bucks ( 180 if my memory is correct) and the VT 50 was 100 bucks more. The reason I got the 30 was price.

The metal grill is not my thing, but it's really hard and sturdy. Hard to dent, but I guess it can be done.

Enjoy. I still have mine for grab and go shows, when exact tones are not as important, but handy and convenient is. 

 

 

 

 

[WRGKMC]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 4:21 PM, daddymack said:

HNAD!

I am always a little skeptical when someone buys a piece of gear and then justifies it by saying they will get their money back when they sell it...

Well I've been an electronic tech for over 50 years.  I rarely if ever by gear new because I can usually get something with a few minor flaws, refurb it and sell it for more.  

Been doing that all my life too so its old news for me.  

 

I did get the amp in today and will be trying it out when I get home.  I had it shipped to where I work and did a quick power up test and it seems to be fine. 

I couldn't find a mark on the thing, so whoever had it took good care of it.  It does weight a bit more then I expected.  Its likely the larger magnet on the Celestion speaker that adds the weight.  That and the cabinet construction which is likely particle board.       

[WRGKMC]

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 12:07 PM, Mikeo said:

I have a Vox Valvetronix VT30.

 

I liked it enough to by the big foot switch that is an option.

Here's the manual if you need it.

 

New the VT 30 was under 200 bucks ( 180 if my memory is correct) and the VT 50 was 100 bucks more. The reason I got the 30 was price.

The metal grill is not my thing, but it's really hard and sturdy. Hard to dent, but I guess it can be done.

Enjoy. I still have mine for grab and go shows, when exact tones are not as important, but handy and convenient is. 

 

 

 

 

Not sure mine can use that larger pedal.  It only mentions a 2 switch pedal in the manual. One switch is for the effects and the other switches between the two channels.  I have an extra Marshall switch I can use.  I just have to find out if it uses a latching.  If its Momentary I can swap it out for one of those. 

I did see some 30W versions being sold too. They were actually the same if not more in price.  I suspect its because allot of players like the lower wattage for bedroom playing.  30W and a 10" wouldn't keep up with most drummers.  I already have amps with 10"s and 8's so I'm covered there already.  I do like how this one fits in the trunk of my Mustang GT standing up. 

[Mikeo]

27 minutes ago, WRGKMC said:

Not sure mine can use that larger pedal.  It only mentions a 2 switch pedal in the manual. One switch is for the effects and the other switches between the two channels.  I have an extra Marshall switch I can use.  I just have to find out if it uses a latching.  If its Momentary I can swap it out for one of those. 

I did see some 30W versions being sold too. They were actually the same if not more in price.  I suspect its because allot of players like the lower wattage for bedroom playing.  30W and a 10" wouldn't keep up with most drummers.  I already have amps with 10"s and 8's so I'm covered there already.  I do like how this one fits in the trunk of my Mustang GT standing up. 

I not sure how loud it is. I just mic-ed it and the sound guy gave me a mix in the monitor. It was just more or less for me. 

The drummer I play with now is a pretty light on my ears.. He plays a drum kit called a Taye Go kit. They mic it and it sounds like a million bucks.  I thank Josh for not blowing out my ear drums all night.

I can't remember if the 12" amp sounded better, but I do remember it was 100 bucks more.

I use this amp here and there, when I need to make a quick exit, and don't need or what to take a pedal board. There's are times for me when good tones are just fine for me.

Mine does have the ability to save 4 different sounds on each bank of 2, for a total of 8 different amps and effects. So it might be the next generation after yours. Vox has made so many Valvetronix amps over the years, it's not funny.

I did have a Vox  AC 15 here for a while. It didn't sound too much like a Vox to me so I ditched it. My so called Vox-ish sound comes from a Dr Z Maz 18 with reverb and some eq bypass mod they offered at the time. I'm doing a bit of acoustic work these days and dragging around a Taylor GS mini and maybe a Fishman Spectra DI that I got 10 years ago. In and out.

Enjoy your Vox, I think you will find it very handy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Voltan]

On 12/26/2019 at 3:48 PM, WRGKMC said:

The wife gave me a gift card for Guitar center for Christmas...

 

see?    this guy is doing something right...

[WRGKMC]

I was able to use it all weekend and was able to judge its tones pretty well.  Its obviously not a standard Tube amp, but it does a pretty good job faking it.  String touch isn't bad considering either.  Having a gain and volume on the front end goes a log ways to setting optimal pickup sensitivity so when you dig in you can get the drive to match the physical attack of the strings. 

  I like the Fender Tweed Bassman, AC 30 and Dumble amps the most.  The Marshall amps are OK but i can simply plug into one of my Marshall amps and do better for that.  Same thing with the Blackface setting.  It doesn't come close to the Blackface Bassman I've owned for the past 53 years.  It's instead a bit generic and lacks a bit of top and bottom end on that setting which I suspect is a Twin amp setting. 

Its got a Boogie amp setting which is pretty good too. In all the amp modeling has enough setting to get a decent rhythm Crunch and lead setting, and it does sound allot better cranked then attenuated.  I suspect that's because the speaker begins to add its tone when cranked. 

The Effects are simply OK.  I have plenty of great effects I can use if and when I want but the ones built in are good enough to use for most stuff.  The main drawback is the combinations are fixed.  I often like being able to toggle the compression on and off either for getting clean chords or sustaining leads,  but on this amp Compression runs solo without any echo, Reverb, chorus etc.  I can do chorus, Echo or reverb which I use allot and the reverb is uniquely nice sounding.  If I did bring some pedals to a gig I could get by with 3 or 4 to fill in the missing combinations, I could use my Vox Stomplab 1G and bypass all the built in effects.  Something I'll simply have to try. 

The other thing i noticed was some frequency clashing mostly in the high frequency ranges which seemed to be related to the Guitar type and pickups I was choosing. Example. I'd pick up a Strat which sounded great with a fender or Marshall selected but not so hot with a Vox amp selected.  I used a couple of guitars with mini humbuckers and thay sounded best with 3 of the amp types and not so good with the others.  They got better once I tweaked my guitar setup too, especially moving the pickups a little farther from the strings so there may have been some Stratitus involved. 

It may be the type of 12AX7 tube being used or maybe the Celestion is one of the cheaper generic versions that don't do Highs very well.  I can easily rule those out. I have  Blue Marvel Peavey speaker designed for modeling amps I know well and can try, and I have an extra EH 12AX7 tube i can try in the amp and see if that cleans up the high end.  EH does an excellent job designing their tube to run is Starved Voltage circuits (which I suspect this is given the kind of Highs I get).  If it adds that little extra clean chime on the top end it will make this amp sound top notch.  Also given this is a used amp I have no way of knowing how many hours are on the tube that's in there or whether someone else experimented sticking the wrong tube in there. If its something like a JJ i can easily see that putting a blanket over the high end.   

The guitar that did best with all settings was my LP  has P100 pickups in it.  Those pickups have a lower output them most but can be driven electronically to sound fat and warm or throaty with enough mids added.  It looks pretty good with that amp too. 

 

 I also tried my Flying V with Gibson 57 clones in it.  I'm likely going to move those pickups over to my Dot and see how it sounds with this amp. I tried a couple of other oddball guitars too including one with a EVH style Mighty Mite HB and it nails that early Van Halen tone pretty good.  Again, its no classic tube amp but it does multiple things well plus its portable.  I'm still not a fan of that Diesel Steam Grill and I may wind up gluing standard Vox grill cloth right over it but that's not a big priority.  I'll need to find the exact tones that work with the most guitars then refine them to sound their best.  After that its simply having fun playing.