Matt
April 6th, 2006, 10:12 AM
Hey guys, sorry I havnt posted for weeks, but life has been rather irksome and busy lately, but luckily, I have managed to jam quite often and I'm starting to love my AD50VT more and more. So I thought why not post a review now that I'm on my easter holidays (ah the wonders of still being in education) :P
Pros:
First off, as some of you know, I had worries about it not being loud enough. Well at first it wasnt, which annoyed me. But the reason for this was because I couldnt crank it fully without screaming feedback. But after some helpful advice, I turned down the gain slightly, put the amp on a chair and shezam, the thing now sings, almost too loudly :D
Secondly, the amp models. While jamming I only use my two user channels via the footswitch, but when recording at home, the versitility of this thing impresses me. For a nice crunchy sound I like to use the UK80s with the gain turned down, or the vox AC30TB with the gain cranked. For the main heavy distortion amd leads, the UK Modern. That model is the shiz, and it can drive better than the NuMetal setting. For cleans, I found that for nice fenderish cleans, the blackface 212 (duh!), but for a nice SRV clean, the tweed 410 was better, and it likes my badmonkey better. Another model I've been looking into more and more (especially since Robert's Das Fuzz movie) is the Boutique OD. Can get some almost Hendrix tones from that baby.
Cons:
The amp can be quite erratic in its sound quality. When you first switch it on, understandibly its sounds arn't as good as when its been running hot for 20 mins, but sometimes it will sound better if you switch it off for a while after some hard playing and then switch it back on. There is a slight volume swell when this happens as well. Any ideas why?
Its damn heavy. My other bandmates Laney which is a 65W doesnt weigh anywhere near as much. I suppose its because of the goodies inside ;)
The footswitch only has a 6ft cable. Now this is quite annoying as it means I have to stand quite close to the amp, and when its cranked its fairly loud, meaning that my ears are going to pay for it
The choice of only two user channels is highly annoying as well. I know you can have the manual third, but I like to cycle the effects on and off instead. Speaking of effects, the effects are pretty nice, especially the rotary speaker, delay, reverb and tremelo. The chorus is a bit week however. Unfortuneately, as its a modelling amp, it makes my modelling pedal (a Zoom GFX-1) pretty much redundant, and they dont like being hooked up to each other and there is no effects loop. So I just use it for a big expensive tuner instead :D
Conclusion:
Overall, its a fine amp. I can see it probably being more useful in a recording studio than for a gigging musician, but being on limited funds, and the fact I like the sounds you can get for it, I'm not going to trade it in, at least, not yet. Anyhoo, its getting near dinner time for me here in merry old england.
regards
Matt
Pros:
First off, as some of you know, I had worries about it not being loud enough. Well at first it wasnt, which annoyed me. But the reason for this was because I couldnt crank it fully without screaming feedback. But after some helpful advice, I turned down the gain slightly, put the amp on a chair and shezam, the thing now sings, almost too loudly :D
Secondly, the amp models. While jamming I only use my two user channels via the footswitch, but when recording at home, the versitility of this thing impresses me. For a nice crunchy sound I like to use the UK80s with the gain turned down, or the vox AC30TB with the gain cranked. For the main heavy distortion amd leads, the UK Modern. That model is the shiz, and it can drive better than the NuMetal setting. For cleans, I found that for nice fenderish cleans, the blackface 212 (duh!), but for a nice SRV clean, the tweed 410 was better, and it likes my badmonkey better. Another model I've been looking into more and more (especially since Robert's Das Fuzz movie) is the Boutique OD. Can get some almost Hendrix tones from that baby.
Cons:
The amp can be quite erratic in its sound quality. When you first switch it on, understandibly its sounds arn't as good as when its been running hot for 20 mins, but sometimes it will sound better if you switch it off for a while after some hard playing and then switch it back on. There is a slight volume swell when this happens as well. Any ideas why?
Its damn heavy. My other bandmates Laney which is a 65W doesnt weigh anywhere near as much. I suppose its because of the goodies inside ;)
The footswitch only has a 6ft cable. Now this is quite annoying as it means I have to stand quite close to the amp, and when its cranked its fairly loud, meaning that my ears are going to pay for it
The choice of only two user channels is highly annoying as well. I know you can have the manual third, but I like to cycle the effects on and off instead. Speaking of effects, the effects are pretty nice, especially the rotary speaker, delay, reverb and tremelo. The chorus is a bit week however. Unfortuneately, as its a modelling amp, it makes my modelling pedal (a Zoom GFX-1) pretty much redundant, and they dont like being hooked up to each other and there is no effects loop. So I just use it for a big expensive tuner instead :D
Conclusion:
Overall, its a fine amp. I can see it probably being more useful in a recording studio than for a gigging musician, but being on limited funds, and the fact I like the sounds you can get for it, I'm not going to trade it in, at least, not yet. Anyhoo, its getting near dinner time for me here in merry old england.
regards
Matt