Valvetronix AD50VT Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI'm a guitar student who has been playing acoustic and electic guitar for three years. I've been in a band for the past two years. Although I generally play acoustic guitar, I sometimes switch off to electric when it is needed. I'm a huge fan of all generes of music.
I bought the VOX AD50VT for about $320 American at Chuck Levin's Washington Music in Washington, D.C. My old amp was a 1980 something Epiphone--surely a classic but not exactly what I needed for gigs. I debated about getting an acoustic amp, but (wanting to spend economically and not buy two amp) decided that I could play an acoustic through an electric amp better than playing an electric through an acoustic amp; all I needed was a direct box.
This amp is hardcore. VOX did an excellent job blending the sounds of many famous amps into one small unit. The on-board effects are better than the effects I can get out of my effects box. The distortion channels are great, and the clean channels are wonderful. The amp even has a power output adjustor on the back so you can fine-tune the volume for smaller venues or headphones. There are eleven amp models to choose from, a three band EQ, about a dozen digital FX, an external speaker jack, headphone jack, program mode, and more. It has a valve reactor in it too, so even though it has solid-state electronics you can still get some good ol' tube distortion out of it--the real deal. This is really a great piece of equipment for such a low price; it acts like a $1000 amp.
There seem to be some goofy stuff in the program mode, like it's not always consistent in what it decides to do, but that could very well be my ignorance. Besides that, I can't think of any complaints I've had with it.
The thing is built like a rock. I throw it in my car almost daily and jostle it around, and it's got no marks to show for it. The speaker has a chrome grated front which assures that nothing it going to penentrate the speaker fabric, and the shell is as hard as anything. The knobs on the top are perfectly sturdy, and nothing has come loose at all.
This is definitely a great amp for the price. If you really want good tube tone you'll have to pay at least $1000 for a Marshall, but if you're looking for anything less than that you should definitely check out this amp.
Ben rated this unit
on
2005-12-21.
