Long-running amplification company, VOX, have been commanding the music industry for decades. Their iconic AC15, built in 1958, started a legacy that includes the AC30 and AC10, and spans across decades of rock and roll royalty.
It didn’t take long for VOX to develop a supremacy over guitarists- their build quality, volume, and sound really pushed them ahead of the market throughout the 60s and 70s. Once players like Brian May, Hank Marvin, The Beatles, and Mark Knopfler started using VOX amps, more or less exclusively, the brand was catapulted into the stratosphere.
Since then, more and more rock and pop artists have used VOX amps (e.g. The Edge, Thom Yorke, Ed O’Brien, Matt Bellamy, Noel Gallagher, Tame Impala and more) cementing the brand as one of the most iconic guitar amp builders out there.
Now, VOX have turned their attention to modelling amps and, as a result, have created the VX50 GTV.
Here’s what they have to say about it…
“The VX50 GTV was born from a desire to open up new possibilities for guitar amps. A design that’s almost unreasonably lightweight, an internal structure carefully calculated for the optimal sound, realistic and stage-ready sounds driven by modeling technology, and the next-generation Nutube vacuum tube featured on the VX50 GTV are some of the many leading-edge specifications that make this a rediscovery of the guitar amp. Overturning existing ideas of guitar amps, the VX50 GTV will allow you to enjoy playing guitar in any musical scene.”
We had a little play-through and can safely say that VOX have outdone themselves. Each of the 11 amp models are expertly created and sound nigh on perfect in comparison to their real life counterparts.
Clean tones are wonderful to dial in, the best in our opinion being a low gain setting on the AC30 Top Boost channel; add some chorus and reverb from the FX dials and you’ll be in tonal bliss.
If clean tones aren’t your thing and you want something a little more gained up, we enjoyed a lot of the Marshall channel settings but we couldn’t get past the sound of a more gained up AC30 Top Boost channel; I guess VOX does VOX best.
Now if you’re thinking “I like metal, why on earth would I buy a VOX amp?” check out the 3:20 mark in the tone demo- the Brit VM, SL-OD, and Double Rec are all great high-gain amp models that would sit perfectly in a heavy metal mix.
If you’re still not sold then you should check out the USB functionality. The VX50 GTV can be connected to a laptop to allow for direct recording of the amp- all tones heard in our video were captured this way.
Our final thoughts!
This is an incredible amplifier for pretty much everyone, beginner or expert. The NuTube technology allows for way more authentic sounding amp models than previous amp modellers in the past. The best sounding models are the ones that replicate the AC30 (which is hardly surprising) but that doesn’t diminish the quality of the other amp models- the Double Rec and SL-OD are some of the best high-gain tones I’ve heard coming out of an amp this size, ever.
All in all, the VX50 GTV is a truly brilliant amplifier that would be at home as either a beginner’s main amplifier or a more seasoned player’s bedroom/ studio amp- whatever the scenario, it’ll do what you’re looking for.