The Vox AC50 is a guitar amplifier head and accompanying speaker cabinet manufactured by Vox. It was introduced in 1964 to meet the growing demand for louder amplifiers during the British Invasion era of rock and roll live performances. [1] Most notable performers that used the AC50 was The Beatles as well as several other British pop rock bands during the mid to late 60's. [2]
The head of the first AC50 MKI model originally had 2 inputs. 1 for a warmer "Normal" channel and another for a brighter "Brilliant" channel that sounds more comparable to a Vox AC30. The later MKII and MKIII models have 4 channels to meet the varied input needs of musicians. While the amp's output provided larger sound than the Vox AC30, the tube design called for two EL34 output tubes to achieve the power needed for tonal clarity. The preamp tubes were consistently one ECC82 (12AU7) tube and three ECC83 (12AX7) tubes. Early designs came outfitted with a GZ34 rectifier tube, while latter MKIII models housed a more predictable and stable diode rectifier to support the power supply. [3]
The AC50 many times accompanied the amplifier head with a speaker trolley cabinet loaded with Silver Alnico or Blue Alnico speakers and a Goodmans Midax Horn to push more bright clear sounds out into large crowds. The speaker trolley was cleverly designed to change in speaker tilt angle for adjusting down or up based on crowd locations beyond a main stage.
The golden era of production for the Vox AC50 occurred between 1964-1969. With the most popular models being produced by Jennings Musical Instruments, or otherwise known as JMI. [4]
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal. It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power supply to increase the amplitude of a signal applied to its input terminals, producing a proportionally greater amplitude signal at its output. The amount of amplification provided by an amplifier is measured by its gain: the ratio of output voltage, current, or power to input. An amplifier is defined as a circuit that has a power gain greater than one.
Vox is a British musical equipment manufacturer founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford, Kent, England. The company is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Queen, Dire Straits, U2, and Radiohead; the Vox Continental electric organ, the Vox wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix, and a series of innovative electric guitars and bass guitars. Since 1992, Vox has been owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg.
A guitar amplifier is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a combo amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight practice amplifiers with a single 6-inch speaker and a 10-watt amp to heavy combo amps with four 10-inch or four 12-inch speakers and a 100-watt amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.
Peavey Electronics Corporation is a privately-owned American company which designs, develops, manufactures, and markets professional audio equipment. Headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi, Peavey is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world.
Marshall Amplification is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers and speaker cabinets. Founded in London by shop owner and drummer Jim Marshall, the company is based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England. Since March 2023, Marshall Amplification has been one of several divisions of the Swedish conglomerate, the Marshall Group.
Dynaco was an American hi-fi audio system manufacturer popular in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide range of affordable, yet high quality audio components. Founded by David Hafler and Ed Laurent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1955, it's best known product was the ST-70 tube stereo amplifier. They also manufactured other tube and solid state amplifiers, preamplifiers, radio tuners and bookshelf loudspeakers. Dynaco was liquidated in 1980, and the trademark is now owned by Radial Engineering Ltd.
The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox. It was introduced in 1958 to meet the growing demand for louder amplifiers. Characterised by its "jangly" high-end sound it has become widely recognized by British musicians and others, such as George Harrison and John Lennon of the Beatles, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, Brian May of Queen, Dave Davies of the Kinks and Hank Marvin.
A bass amplifier is a musical instrument electronic device that uses electrical power to make lower-pitched instruments such as the bass guitar or double bass loud enough to be heard by the performers and audience. Bass amps typically consist of a preamplifier, tone controls, a power amplifier and one or more loudspeakers ("drivers") in a cabinet.
The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristically clean tone.
Jennings Musical Instruments is a manufacturer of musical instruments, and the original owner of the Vox brand. The company was founded by Thomas Walter Jennings.
The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a guitar amplifier manufactured and sold by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1996 as part of the "Hot Rod" line of guitar amplifiers and has been in continuous production since. The Hot Rod Deluxe is a modified version of the Fender Blues Deluxe from the earlier Blues line of amplifiers, and has a higher level of gain in its preamplification signal. This model, along with the Hot Rod Deville, were originally designated as F.A.T. amplifiers but this moniker was dropped in 2002 when production of this series of amps was moved from Corona, CA to Fender's Baja-Ensenada, Mexico manufacturing facility.
The Epiphone Valve Junior is a small 5 watt class A electric guitar amplifier.
The Fender Bassman is a series of bass amplifiers introduced by Fender during 1952. Initially intended to amplify bass guitars, musicians used the 5B6 Bassman to amplify other instruments, including electric guitars, harmonicas, and pedal steel guitars. Besides being a popular and important amplifier in its own right, the Bassman also became the foundation on which Marshall and other companies built their high-gain tube amplifiers.
The Portaflex is a line of amplifiers for electric guitars and bass guitars created by Ampeg and originally designed by Jess Oliver. Portaflex referred to the amps’ portable reflex baffle system. The innovative ‘flip-top’ amplifier head design helped dissipate heat and reduce chassis and tube vibration during use, and inverted to store inside the cabinet for portability. The speaker cabinets were carefully tuned with ports and baffling. The introduction of the Portaflex series established a new standard for bass amplification and completely replaced Ampeg’s previous amplifier lineup. The Portaflex line has many different configurations.
The Fender Champ was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1948 and discontinued in 1982. An updated version was introduced in 2006 as part of the "Vintage Modified" line.
The Marshall Bluesbreaker is the popular name given to the Models 1961 and 1962 guitar amplifiers made by Marshall from 1964/65 to 1972.
The Fender Deluxe guitar amplifier is a range of non-reverb guitar amplifiers produced by Fender. The amplifiers were originally produced from early 1948 to 1966 and reissues are in current production. Its predecessor was the Fender Model 26 "Woodie" produced from 1946 to 1948.
Amplifier modeling is the process of emulating a physical amplifier such as a guitar amplifier. Amplifier modeling often seeks to recreate the sound of one or more specific models of vacuum tube amplifiers and sometimes also solid state amplifiers.
Trainwreck Circuits is an American company that manufactures boutique guitar amplifiers. The company was founded by Ken Fischer in 1985. Trainwreck amplifiers are made in Colonia, New Jersey.
A keyboard amplifier is a powered electronic amplifier and loudspeaker in a speaker cabinet used for the amplification of electronic keyboard instruments. Keyboard amplifiers are distinct from other types of amplification systems such as guitar amplifiers due to the particular challenges associated with making keyboards sound louder on stage; namely, to provide solid low-frequency sound reproduction for the deep basslines that keyboards can play and crisp high-frequency sound for the high-register notes. Another difference between keyboard amplifiers and guitar/bass amplifiers is that keyboard amps are usually designed with a relatively flat frequency response and low distortion. In contrast, many guitar and bass amp designers purposely make their amplifiers modify the frequency response, typically to "roll-off" very high frequencies, and most rock and blues guitar amps, and since the 1980s and 1990s, even many bass amps are designed to add distortion or overdrive to the instrument tone.