While it is an affordable one-stop shop for someone who needs one product for everything they do, it can also be a secret weapon in the studio. I wouldn’t gig with it but I’d definitely record with it as providing fresh sounds is where this amp shines. As if we’d expect anything less from Vox?
The Vox VX50GTV is primarily a profiling amplifier, featuring 11 different amps and sounds ranging from clean to dirty and tipping their hat to Fender cleans, the AC30 and Marshall style amps, all the way to Mesa drive and finally a line only option. Much like Line 6’s Helix, a Kemper or Fractal’s AxeFX, profiling amps will never completely replace amplifier heads, nor will they ever sound specifically like the amp they’re trying to recreate. What they do do, however, is create new sounds whether they nail what they’re trying to replicate or not. The VX50GTV won’t replace your Fender Twin, nor your Mesa Dual Rec, but it’s not trying to. You can pull tones out of this small amp that are great in their own right, and that’s what it’s trying to do. While this amp is the perfect one-stop shop for the bedroom or occasional guitarist, it’s also a great addition to a collection of any size. The effects, ranging from modulating choruses, flanges, tremolos and phasers to bouncy reverbs, metallic plates and grand halls with tap-tempo, are enough to sell this amp. Some different flavours blended however you want them, either together or solo, and the right amp choice can build a tone that can nail the sound in anyone’s head.
The VX50GTV’s amp models are all workable. Beginning with a Fender Deluxe-style clean and building to the Vox cleans, the amp modelling becomes dirtier as you dial past the Brit 1959 and 800 settings, before landing on the SL-OD and finally Double Rec. There’s a universal gain control that changes with each amp selection on the stepped knob, and universal bass, treble and volume controls above the NuTube technology knob that dials the amp’s power from 0-50 watts. As if the amp modelling wasn’t enough for noodling at home or creating in the studio, you can dial the power all the way back and run the amp hard, delivering the breakup made famous by clean and dirty tube amps alike. Effects respond differently when driven, so you’ve effectively got double or triple the sounds, depending how hard you run the amp. The ‘Org Phase’ effect gets super gritty in the most pleasing way, and when you find a setting you like, you can save it!
The Vox VX50GTV is a one-stop amp for guitarists of any calibre. There’s also bass, keyboard and acoustic versions in the VX50BA, VX50KB and VX50AG respectively. Dial in your amp with the amp modeller, set the gain, tweak the EQ and save the settings if you want. Add some grit, size and heat with the modulation effects and then give your tone some space with a nice reverb or delay. Triple check your tuning and get on your way at either 1 watt or 50 watts depending on how much you like your neighbours.
