Vox AD50VT manual

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IMPOR T ANT SAFETY INSTR UCTIONS • Read these instructions. •K eep these instructions. •H eed all warnings. •F ollow all instructions. • Do not use this apparatus near water . •M ains powered appar atus shall not be e xposed to dripping or splashing and that no objects filled with liquids, such as v ases , shall be placed on the apparat[...]

i Ta b le of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Welcome aboard! ............................................................................ 1 Main features ................................................................................... 1 Signal path ..................[...]

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1 Intr oduction W ELCOME ABOARD ! hanks f or choosing the V O X AD15VT , AD30VT , AD50VT or AD100VT V alv etronix amp . To ensure a long and troub le-free relationship with your ne w amp , please read this manual carefully , use the amp as directed and k eep the manual f or future ref erence. M AIN FEATURES • The AD15VT , AD30VT , AD50VT and AD10[...]

2 S IGNAL PATH Y our guitar sound passes through the follo wing sections. (Y ou can refer to “The Guitar ist’ s Guided P anel T our” while you read the e xplanation that f ollows .) V ALVE R EACTOR T ECHNOLOGY T HE P OWER ( AMP ) AND THE G LORY ! alv e Reactor technology was first used on the VO X AD60VT & AD120VT V al- v etronix amps. S[...]

3 Apar t from the vital valv e tone this ingenious power amp design pro vides, it also allows us to replicate v ar ious “circuit characteristics” that are unique to the all-valv e pow er stages of the amps we’v e modelled. These “characteristics” include: Class A or Class AB operation, Presence and Resonance (lo w end) control circuitr y [...]

4 C HECKING OUT THE PRESET PROGRAMS 1. Press the top panel PRESET button. The PRESET LED will light (this means you’ re in Preset mode). 2. T urn the AMP selector to select an amp type . F or each amp type you select, a preset containing a typical sound f or that type will be selected; i.e., the GAIN, VOLUME, TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS, and eff ect set[...]

5 The Guitarist’ s Guided P anel T our In this chapter we’ re going to take a look at the top and rear panels of your V alvetronix amp . A. T op P anel 1. I NPUT SECTION This is where you plug in y our guitar . 2. A MP SECTION Here’ s where you mak e your settings. AMP selector switc h This selects one of the amp type models. As mentioned ear[...]

6 TREBLE, MIDDLE, and B ASS This trio of knobs allow you to dial in the e xact amount of high, mid, and low fre- quencies. Also , as you’ d e xpect (and hope!), the e xact manner in which each one of these controls behav es and also interacts with the others is dependant on the amp model selected. T ur n to the “Amp models and eff ects” secti[...]

7 T AP (EDIT 2) and LED This button enab les you to set the speed of a modulation-type eff ect (such as CHOR US or FLANGER) the delay time REVERB length; simply press the button twice at the desired inter v al. The LED blinks at the specified speed or time . HINT : To set the time to e xactly match the tempo of a song, press the T AP button se v- [...]

8 WRITE button Use this button to sa ve a ne w program into CH1 or CH2. Ref er to “Stor ing your program” (page 14). 5. P OWER SWITCH When the power is on, the indicator located abo ve the s witch will be lit. B. Rear P anel AC power This is where you connect the included po wer cord. FOO T SW Y ou can connect the optional VFS2 dual foot s witc[...]

9 This control lets you get that highly desir able , fat, w ar m sound of the V alvetronix pow er stage being driven hard (a common trait of all g reat valv e power amps), at va r ious le v els. This will enable y ou to pla y comf or tably in a small room or compro- mising your all-important tone. LINE/PHONE Use this jac k if you’ re plugging dir[...]

10 About the three operating modes he AD15VT/AD30VT/AD50VT/AD100VT contains ele v en “preset programs . ” T o select one of these, enter Preset mode (which simply means , press the PRESET button) and turn the AMP selector . There are also two re writable “channel programs” which you can select b y press- ing the CH button or b y using the o[...]

11 S WITCHING CHANNELS With either the CH1 or CH2 LED lit, press the CH s witch. The channel will change each time you press the b utton, and the program stored in each channel will be recalled. (The ph ysical settings of the top panel selector knobs and control knobs are ignored at this time.) HINT : If the optional VFS2 dual foot s witch is conne[...]

12 Creating and storing y our o wn pr ogram here are two w a ys you can do this; by tweaking an e xisting preset program that’ s close to what you ha ve in mind, or b y star ting from scratch. C REATING YOUR OWN PROGRAM Let’ s star t from scratch. 1. Choose any pr ogram in Preset or Channel Select mode , or select Manual mode. HINT : Since we?[...]

13 HINT : F or details on the effects , ref er to “Amp models and eff ects” (page 17). 8. When y ou’ve come up with a sound y ou like , store the program. NO TE: In Preset or Channel Select mode, the changes y ou made will be lost if you s witch to a diff erent program or Man ual mode or tur n off the pow er without storing the program first[...]

14 S TORING YOUR PROGRAM When you’v e come up with a sound you lik e, y ou should store (wr ite) the program. 1. Press the WRITE button. The CH1 or CH2 LED will blink. 2. Press the CH button to select the c hannel in which y ou want to store your program. The program will be stored in the c hannel whose indicator is blink- ing. HINT : If , during[...]

15 R ESTORING THE FACTORY SETTINGS Here’ s how y ou can restore the f actor y settings. NO TE: If you do this , the programs y ou sav ed in the channels will be completely erased, and will be reset to the f actor y settings. NO TE: Eff ect and noise reduction settings made in the Manual mode will also be erased. 1. T urn the power off. 2. While h[...]

16 Using the VFS2 dual f oot switc h f the optional VFS2 dual f oot s witch (sold separately*) is connected to the rear panel FOO T SW jack, y ou can use it to s witch programs or turn effect b ypass on/off. S WITCHING THE CHANNEL PROGRAM ( SWITCH 1) Each time you press the VFS2’ s left switch (s witch 1), you’ll alternate between CH1 and CH2. [...]

17 Amp models and effects In this section we’ re going to talk about the elev en amp models and effects . A MP MODELS hich amps did we painstakingly model f or our selection of elev en? Believ e me when I sa y it wasn’t easy ’cos , as I’m sure y ou know , there’ s a plethora of great- sounding amps out there. After countless hours of soul[...]

18 T UBE T ALK Us Brits call ’em valv es while our US cousins call ’em tubes ... as the saying goes: England and America are merely two countries divided by a common language! Anyw a y , call ’em what you will, these w ondrous glass bottles lie at the tonal hear t of each of our 11 models. As all the amps we’v e modeled hail from one of the[...]

19 1. BOUTIQUE CL F or this amp type, w e modelled the Clean channel of a very rare, v er y expensiv e and respected 100 W att head named the Overdriv e Special. W e auditioned se v- eral top-shelf boutique amps f or this model but this amp was the clear winner . Its beautifully rounded low-end, delightfully tr ansient mid-range attac k and s weet [...]

20 4. A C15 This is modelled on Channel 2 of an amazing sounding 1962 V O X AC15. This 1 x12”, 15 W att, valv e dr iv en combo was unleashed on the mark et in 1958 and was the first e v er V O X amplifier . Thanks to its compactness, built in vibrato and tremen- dous tone, it w as a huge hit with the popular British guitar bands of the time. On[...]

21 Original’ s valve compliment: 5 x ECC83s & 1 x ECC82 in preamp , 1 x GZ34 rectifier , 4 x EL84s in power amp . 6. UK ’70s This is based on the “High T reble” channel of a 1971, 50 W att, four input, all-v alve head. This amp was chosen because the tone w as incredib ly rich and war m yet biting and distinct! As this amp has no maste[...]

22 8. UK MODERN This is modelled on the High Gain channel of a modern, all-tube 100 W atter . It com- bines a toneful high gain preamp stage with the unmistakab le, “snarling” punch and gir th the UK ’80s pow er stage off ers. The result is a highly aggressiv e, tone-breath- ing monster capab le of mondo-gain while retaining individual note d[...]

23 E FFECTS The AD15VT , AD30VT ,AD50VT & AD100VT provide ele ven of the most popular eff ects (some eff ects actually combine two eff ects). you can adjust the SPEED parameter of modulation eff ects or the TIME parameter of dela y/rev erb effects simply b y pressing the T AP switch twice . In addition to using the EDIT 1 knob to adjust the mos[...]

24 COMP W ant to play a clean passage that needs to be nice , smooth, and e v en? Need a bit more sustain on a lead line? Then look no fur ther ; COMP is the effect f or you. It’ s modeled on a compressor pedal that is hugely popular due to the percussiv e clean sound it can pro- duce — making it perf ect f or ’80s and ’90s pop and funk rh [...]

25 FLANGER A model of a truly classic flanger that “unchained” a highly influential moder n guitarist who many hail as the “godfather of tw o-handed tapping. ” TREMOLO This eff ect is based on the highly acclaimed tremolo circuit f ound in a BLA CK 2x12. ROTARY This models a rotar y speaker . TA P “SPEED” Sets the modulation speed in [...]

26 DELAY This is a model of one of the most respected analogue tape echo machines e v er made. In the original the “echo” is produced by a pla yback head and the e xact “dela y time” is set by var ying the motor speed. Many prof essionals pref er these “lo-fi” units because of the war m, dark echoes they produce . HINT : In the CHOR US[...]

27 Tr oub leshooting 1.The amp isn’t powering up when the PO WER switch is ON. ➢ Is the pow er cable plugged into the A C power connector on the rear panel of the amp? ➢ Is the pow er cable plugged into an A C outlet? ➢ Is the A C outlet s witched on and actually working? ➢ Does the pow er cable w ork? 2. There’ s no sound coming from t[...]

28 ➢ Check the settings of the GAIN, V OLUME, TREBLE, MIDDLE, and BASS con- trols. On cer tain amp types, if the TREBLE, MIDDLE, and BASS controls are all tur ned down, there will be little or no sound coming from the amp due to the w ay the circuit of the original works. ➢ If you’ re in Manual mode (the MANU AL LED lit), tur n the follo wing[...]

29 Specifications * Appearance and specifications of this product are subject to change with- out notice. URL = http://www .vo xamps.co .uk Number of amp types: 11 Number of effects: 11 Noise reduction: 1 Number of programs: 11 preset, 2 channel Input/output jacks T op panel: 1 x INPUT Rear panel: 1 x FOO T SW jack, 1 x LINE/PHONE jack (AD50VT/AD[...]

30 Pr ogrammer’ s Cheat Sheet W anna remember how you set up y our fa vourite programs? W ell this is the place to do it! Simply do as f ollows: 1. Indicate where all the knobs are set by dr awing a line in the empty circles . 2. Indicate which MODULA TION, DELA Y & REVERB effects are being used b y colouring in the relev ant LED 3. Don'[...]

31 PROGRAM NAME: NO TE: NR ( NOISE REDUCTION ): POWER LEVEL EDIT2[T AP+EDIT 1]: /T AP EDIT3[BYP ASS+EDIT 1]: PROGRAM NAME: NO TE: NR ( NOISE REDUCTION ): POWER LEVEL EDIT2[T AP+EDIT 1]: /T AP EDIT3[BYP ASS+EDIT 1]: PROGRAM NAME: NO TE: NR ( NOISE REDUCTION ): POWER LEVEL EDIT2[T AP+EDIT 1]: /T AP EDIT3[BYP ASS+EDIT 1]:[...]

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