Vox AC-50CP2

ACH91332

ACH91332

New member
Anyone on this forum have any good experience with this amp?

I've fooled around with AC-15s and 30s and have always liked their sound. Everyone Ive heard talking about this amp said the 1st channel was very AC-30ish and the 2nd channel was a lot like a Marshall.

Well I bought this amp blindly thinking itd be what people said and at the worst itd be like the Vox amps I have played and wouldnt sound Marshall-esque in channel 2. Well I have the thing and I dont know if its me or the amp but it sounds like pure mud. There is just no clarity at all. The same guitar plugged into my Marshall has lots of clarity and I actually have my Marshall set up warm with not too many highs and good mids and huge lows. But with this AC-50 its just all mud even with all high end dimed and the lows rolled off. Channel 2 is way worse than channel one and the sad thing it has a presence knob in addition to highs. Channel one I can get "some" clarity with but channel 2 is a nightmare. I've checked bias, changed tubes etc. I even plugged my Marshall cab into the AC-50 seeing if maybe the speakers in the cab of the AC-50 were the issue. I'm kind of at a loss. When I think of Vox I think the opposite of total mud so for me I find this to be horribly wrong. Its not like Ive had the amp for awhile and it just went muddy all of a sudden so I really have nothing to compare the tone with.

If anyone has any suggestions please share.

Thanks.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Vox+AC-50CP2+&aq=f


Unfortunatly i can not help, but i looked into this amp before (MF had a blowout and sold the combo for $599.00 a few years ago), and all the Utoob clips (w all its bad recordings and what not) made me believe the amp sounds OK.
Atleast worthy of the 6bill asking pice.

Does your AC50 sound anything like the amp being A/B/ed with a Fender Hot Rod ?
(see link)
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

From what Ive heard about them and youtube even if not as good as an ac30 the clean channel should still be bright. What speakers? Are the tubes still good?
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

The tones most folks go for are the ones where someone either used a really bright guitar, or a treble booster. I watched a video with Brian May once, and he showed what an AC30 TB sounds like without the treble booster, and sure enough, it was muddy.

Most assume that all VOX tube amps are super bright and sparkly, but that ain't the case.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

guitfiddle said:
The tones most folks go for are the ones where someone either used a really bright guitar, or a treble booster. I watched a video with Brian May once, and he showed what an AC30 TB sounds like without the treble booster, and sure enough, it was muddy.

Most assume that all VOX tube amps are super bright and sparkly, but that ain't the case.
Click to expand...


Must be because of the smooth warmth of an EL84's tonal character, more than the design.

One of the best valve amp break-up's i've ever heard was that of an AC15 !!!
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

I love the AC 15 amp. Great tone and break up. I like it much more than the AC 30. Not muddy at all, but more warmth than the AC 30, imho.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

I played the AC-15 and AC-30 in a local guitar shop. I probably should have just got an AC-30. Both the AC-15 and 30 sounded very defined and not horribly muddy like the AC-50 I blindly bought. And when I played the AC-15, 30, and 50 I used my Dean Icon on each one. So its not like its a different guitar scenario.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

I watched a video with Brian May once, and he showed what an AC30 TB sounds like without the treble booster, and sure enough, it was muddy.
Click to expand...
The normal channel sounds kinda flubby and muddy especially using the cut control and humbuckers but the VOX AC30 I grew up with and every VOX I've played are some of the brightest (in a different way to Fenders) amps I've played although I think with Greenbacks are cheap muddy 4x12 they sound darker and muddyier. My Frenzal amp is a lot bassier then any vox and my cab has got darker thicker speakers yet still my tone is easily overally bright (not in a bad way but bright) and never that muddy so maybe the 50 VOX amps are just designed badly?? Never played one personally. Ive found that VOXs are actually brighter then in any emulation Ive heard.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

If you bought it used, it is entirely possible that "someone" has been inside it, employed some "tone improving" mod that didn't work and unloaded their turd after they realized it didn't sound good. I see a lot of this. There is a lot of bad information out there that guides the untrained to "cut this" and "remove that" but there are no guides to put it back when it doesn't work out.

That amp shouldn't sound muddy. If anything, it should be a little too bright.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

Thats what I was thinking.. Theres a shop in my area that works on Vox amps. Maybe I'll bring it over there this weekend and see if they can check it out to see if everything is how it should be.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

Well I went and dropped it off at a local Vox/Marshall repair center and they are taking a look at it. The guy I talked to worked on my Marshall before and is pretty good. I told him about how it has no definition even if I crank all the treble and presence controls. Like I said I've played AC-15s and 30s before and Id never call them muddy amps. Some are warmer than others but still not muddy. I even told him about how I just bought it a week ago and maybe someone modded it and it didnt work out so they dumped it on ebay. He was even saying there is more than likely something wrong. He said amps that come in there with a muddy sound usually he finds something wrong whether it be a manufacturing error or someone messing with it internally. He even told me if nothing is wrong and theres an issue still I could stop by with a few guitars and try and figure out a way to get the definition I'm looking for from the amp.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

My first thought was that there must be something wrong with it. So obviously the first port of call would be tubes - but you have looked at that. My second thought was that the speakers are no good - but you plugged it into the marshall cab. I am assuming that the thing is not too old, so its unlikely to need a capacitor replacement
So we are back to a bad sounding vox tube amp (cant blame old tubes or cheap speakers or old caps). That would tell me that it needs an expert to have a look at it - which you are doing already. Best of luck.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

Yeah exactly. I mean I just wanted to hear what other people thought because maybe that amp sounds that way?? Which I found unlikely. From Youtube videos I watched it doesnt sound like that amp should sound that way.. Youtube videos are hard to go by but still. Because I changed the amp out with tubes I knew werent failed tubes so it has to be the amp. I even checked the bias of the power section so I'm at a loss and that guy knows what hes doing. I dont know anything about that amp so I wouldnt even know where to start as far as looking at internals. My JVM is a different story. I've learned a lot from that thing blowing up on me.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

I had the AC50cp2 and had to replace the tubes right from the get go. Once I replaced the tubes, the amp sounded fantastic. I regret selling the amp. Let me know if you need someone to tak eit off your hands. Where did you buy the amp? The amp is hard to come by.
 
Re: Vox AC-50CP2

Well my amp guy said the bright channel wasnt working and something was screwy with the fat channel too I guess. I havent checked it out yet but from what he was saying the amp might just be that way. Rather than modding the whole thing to make it how I want it I might just sell it and get an amp that I know I like. So if it doesnt work out I'll let you know.
 
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