Vox MV50 "Clean" amp

[Wylie]

Haven't found this elsewhere on the site, so I'll ask here: Has anyone used any of the new Vox MV50 "Nutube" amps? I am looking for an amp that will produce a somewhat smoother or more mellow tone than my current solid-state amp, and I feel the inexpensive MV50 Clean might be the one. I'd like to hear about some users' experiences before I buy. Any and all replies appreciated, thanks.

Wylie

[police squad]

I have the mv50 ac, the ac-30 one. It's fabulous, I gigged it last week with my function band, using a telecaster. My bother has one and is very fussy about sound. He also loves it

I bought my wife the MV50 higain and the 1x8 vox cab. Also fabulous.

They take pedals in front well too

I had the gain set to about 1 o'clock and had enough drive for the status quo stuff and when I backed the volume down (on the guitar) it cleans up all sparkly

[EdwardMarlowe]

Not had a chance to play one of these myself, but everything I hear whiel watching other players use them sounds excellent. I'm down with cheaper, lighter alternatives to a traditional tube amp; were I to start playing out again, one of these would certainly be tempting. I like the idea that they're so convenient, you could carry two (one back-up, just in case) to pretty much any gig, and either go straight into the PA or have a cab made for them. This would mean you could match the cab to whatever aesthetic you want (black tolex, stained wood, tweed....), which can matter. 

As things are now, I'm more tempted by the Mooer pre-amp pedal range in combination with the Mooer Baby Bomb 30w poweramp pedal - then with or without a cab. Two little micro-pedals... Worth trying this opposite the Vox if you can, see what you prefer. You can buy the Mooers on Thomann for around £65 a pop, so one preamp plus the poweramp pedal would be the same price as one of the Voxes, more or less. The preamps cover all the same territory as the Vox MVs, so it might simply come down to which sound you prefer, or whether you prefer the pedal form factor. The one big advantage with the pedals I supposed would be if you wanted to have two or three different ones - a Marshall, a Fender and an AC30 sound, say - buying the preamps as separate pedals to use with the same poweramp pedal would give you more variation in the sounds for less. Bonus ball: my understanding is that you can have several of the Mooer preamp pedals all linked together at the same time and switch between them, so if that's a plus.... Both options sound great, just different ways of doing it. 

[Wylie]

5 hours ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

Not had a chance to play one of these myself, but everything I hear whiel watching other players use them sounds excellent. I'm down with cheaper, lighter alternatives to a traditional tube amp; were I to start playing out again, one of these would certainly be tempting. I like the idea that they're so convenient, you could carry two (one back-up, just in case) to pretty much any gig, and either go straight into the PA or have a cab made for them. This would mean you could match the cab to whatever aesthetic you want (black tolex, stained wood, tweed....), which can matter. 

As things are now, I'm more tempted by the Mooer pre-amp pedal range in combination with the Mooer Baby Bomb 30w poweramp pedal - then with or without a cab. Two little micro-pedals... Worth trying this opposite the Vox if you can, see what you prefer. You can buy the Mooers on Thomann for around £65 a pop, so one preamp plus the poweramp pedal would be the same price as one of the Voxes, more or less. The preamps cover all the same territory as the Vox MVs, so it might simply come down to which sound you prefer, or whether you prefer the pedal form factor. The one big advantage with the pedals I supposed would be if you wanted to have two or three different ones - a Marshall, a Fender and an AC30 sound, say - buying the preamps as separate pedals to use with the same poweramp pedal would give you more variation in the sounds for less. Bonus ball: my understanding is that you can have several of the Mooer preamp pedals all linked together at the same time and switch between them, so if that's a plus.... Both options sound great, just different ways of doing it. 

Thanks, EM. I appreciate your taking the time for this.

[EdwardMarlowe]

On 28/07/2021 at 11:05, police squad said:

I have the mv50 ac, the ac-30 one. It's fabulous, I gigged it last week with my function band, using a telecaster. My bother has one and is very fussy about sound. He also loves it

I bought my wife the MV50 higain and the 1x8 vox cab. Also fabulous.

They take pedals in front well too

I had the gain set to about 1 o'clock and had enough drive for the status quo stuff and when I backed the volume down (on the guitar) it cleans up all sparkly

This  nutube tech does seem really good soundwise. I'd be interested to try a traditional AC30 built with nutubes to see what differenced it made there. I wonder if Vox plan for this to replace the Valvetronix in time? Also be interesting to see it applied to a bass amp (I have an old Vox T-25 for my bass; pure SS, the sound is a joy), though I think Vox stopped doing bass amps a while back? 

[police squad]

They do a bigger head that has channel switching and fx loops. It looks good too. The MVX 150H

[Dad3353]

I've never been a fan of the AC30, with its 'Top Boost' an'all. I know that there are plenty of fine players that use 'em a lot (Yes, you may now take a bow, Mr May ...), but for myself, or even the folks I played with, they seems agressive, tinny, trebly. Loud, OK, but not 'musically' loud. All this until, just a few weeks ago a friend brought his Vox in for repair. Easy enough (duff rectifier valve, fuses blowing; new valve and fuses, problem solved. If only they were all such easy fixes...). He was not available to come back to pick it up, so I was able to 'soak test' it for a couple of weeks.   My, my... What a fine amp..! Not that I play all that well, but it really did make it sound as if I could..! When at last the fellow did return, I was able to go through all the settings and gadgets, to show him just how nice his own amp now sounded; he, too, was impressed, and he tottered off with it (OK, it's heavy...), leaving me bereft. An eye (and ear...) opener. My opinion has changed; they can be good, or even very good indeed. 

[EdwardMarlowe]

Lovely amp, the AC30. The hernia you'll get from carrying one, on the other hand..... definitely an amp for guys who have roadies... 

[police squad]

i keep a CC2X in my office. Blue speakers in it. Sounds lovely