NAD (Did'nt expect this...)

[Phantasmagoria]

.....but I'll be damned ...it shreds like a mother!!!!

Honestly, don't think I've ever had much interest in Vox amp's ..I mean I'm not a great one for cleans or chime or any of that jive & I hate the Beatles...so.

When I saw this baby on a local classifieds type site, I was barely curious, the only thing that caught my attention was the price ($200) which seemed kinda interesting and maybe warranted some research from my side. So off to YT I went :lmao:


I was pleasantly surprised to see that these amp's (Night Train NT-50h's) seemed to have a decent amount of gain on tap. Then I came across a bunch of folk on mesage boards/forums talking about how awesome these sound for doom. Needless to say I was sitting up pretty straight by now :laugh2:


Messaged the seller & he said it was a 2012 model in great working order but had a few other minor/cosmetic issues (small ding in the top left corner, broken power on/off switch lever/ two missing screws at the back of the chrome basket & the handle was missing a screw as well) and yeah it had enough gain for classic/80's style metal & rock & was smooth & sweet for solo's (!!)..so I thought..why not?? Seemed like a steal for the price.

Dude shipped it over to me & when I plugged it in I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least. This thing was a fat sweet singing grinding TONE MONSTER with oodles of gain on tap!!! These older models had an extra preamp tube (4 12AX7's vs. the next gen G2's 3) Don't know if that's the reason but the gain available was a hell of a lot more than I was expecting. It still has that sweet vintage-y kinda vibe to it though ...nothing modern sounding about it at all..

I came across a lot of people griping about how it sounds more like a Marshall than a Vox. how it has way too much gain blah blah... well all I can say is....Awesome!! :lmao: (In fact I think it's somewhere in between a Vox & a JCM 800 type amp) ie. a really cool unique sound...it's grainy & chewy but still smooth & it really shreds like crazy on the "Girth" channel when you crank the gain to about 3'oclock and beyond..no boost required & yes it will bring the DOOM all day long on the girth (gain) channel as well :bigthumb:

And while cleans are'nt my thing ...there are some reallly impressive cleans to be had if that's what rocks your boat..It actually made me jam some clean stuff (badly) after a long, long time :laugh2:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I used the settings that were already dialled in on the amp when I got it . Literally recorded the clip a minute or so out of the box...

oh, and the power cord's completely useless. It's only about two feet long (??) and really skinny (I always get at least 14 AWG one's for all my amps).

 

[jeremy]

sounds like a sweet score! the power switch was broken off? i get the ding, and maybe even the missing screws i guess, but wtf did they do to break the switch?

 

[solspirit]

Congratulations!!!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah, you plug it in in the wall and it's on standby. Flip the standby switch and you're good to go.....I've never seen a toggle switch broken off like that either :laugh2:

Played around with it a bit more this evening, It's a bit of an eccentric amp to dial in with all the weird options, thick switch, tone cut knob, tight switch..

Another take where I actually dialed a tone in myself :lmao:. Same Peavey 4x12/WGS ET65/Sennheiser mic..but I pushed the front with my TC Mojo Mojo pedal..

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I think he (seller) dialed in a better tone though ::laugh2:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

And a (very ) short clip w/ The Bright (Clean) Channel..

 

[devastone]

You lost me at "I hate the Beatles"

 

[Gtrjunior]

You lost me at "I hate the Beatles"

It clears up some things, anyway.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

You lost me at "I hate the Beatles"

.
They're a grossly overrated teeny-bopper pop band from the 60's. Still if your idea of a great song is "Love me do" well, more power to you...

The whole Beatles fanboi thing is'nt for me....

But I guess that's a problem now :lmao:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Checking to see if the FX loop works (Yep, it does)

There's button that switches it in & out of the circuit.

I'm sort of getting the hang of things now. The "Tone cut" knob is an especially cool feature. It seems to add and remove bite/graininess/hairy-ness while brightening & darkening the amp You can go from the characteristic Vox hairy/ gritty graininess to a reallly smooth conventional sound and feel with it...also brightens & darkens the amp. It's especially useful for soloing. I like setting it so there's a bit of texture/grain/bite to the tone but it's still fast & smooth feeling to play.. (ie not too edgy or choppy). :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Anyway, this is why I wanted to know about JJ EL34L's. Found a matched quad for cheap. Not sure what condition the tubes in the Vox are in. (They are all Valve Arts/Shuguang's) The preamp tubes are great & the power ones seem fine to me as well...but I'm not sure how long they've been in here...so might be a good idea to get some spare ones.I do have a new quad of EL34's (Shuggy's) but I've been saving them for my Bugera.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I ended up getting a quad of the regular JJ EL34's. They were reasonably priced too. Not going to remove the ones already in there unless/until there's a problem with them though.

Thought I might poke around inside the amp tomorrow or day after & see if I can do anything about that power switch. I've got a few high voltage toggles in my parts drawer. Lets see if I have the right type (SPST/SPDT/DPDT and what have you). If I find one that's right, in it will go :bigthumb:

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Totally agree.... F#ck the Beatles..... Ha ha ha.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

 

[Phantasmagoria]

.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Swappedout the cheesy looking temporary power switch with the LED tip I'd put in the amp yesterday out sooner than I expected. Cuz I discovered another switch in my parts drawer, that, though not exactlt the same to look at is a far better/more acceptable match and not an eyesore..so in it went.

As an added bonus there were some little screws that were in the switch terminals that I removed (it was DPDT so I got 4 screws) that I did'nt need for the switch cause the amp has spade connectors.
Anyway, they were perfect replacements for the missing screws for the chassis "basket"...so in they went.

And I also found some perfect chrome pan-head nuts bolts & nuts to re-attach the handle..so now it's good as new. I also replaced the output tubes with two new Shuggy EL34's and the amp sounds SWEET! (and looks as good as new too )

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Soft Rock w/ the "Tight" switch on...don't think I've demo'ed that before..

Amp Settings:

Gain: 6.5
Treble: 3.5
Middle:6.5
Bass:3
Ch Vol: 3
Tone Cut: 5
Mast Vol: 2
Tight switch: On

Nothing in Front or in the loop. No post Prod.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Same thing but with the 'Tight' switch off..

It's a bit fatter & less bright/brash sounding with rounder edges & feels a hair spongier/more saggy to play..also, the response is less immediate..

While this amp is actually pretty gainy, it's obviously more 'rock' than 'metal' and really excels for anything from early Sabbath & heavier Zeppelin to ^^ this sort of soft rock/mid-gain-type stuff :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

And one with my Laboga The Beast Classic 30..cuz it's right there anyway, under the Vox w/ the same cab/mic/positioning etc..

The Laboga has 4 EL84's vs. The Vox's 2 EL34's, also just two preamp tubes (12AX7's) in the Laboga vs The Vox's four. They both have about the same amount of gain. The Laboga can get more (classic/80's) "metal" ish tones though... while the Vox is voiced more for Classic/hard rock as I said before..