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Just a quick note to say that I bought one of these out of curiosity and quickly decided I was keeping it.
I was sick of seeing our bass player with his ultra light Mark Bass gear so I began to look for solutions.
I first tried it with my lightweight Mesa Boogie 1 x 12 cabinet, loaded with 8ohm Eminence Lil Texas Neo speaker, it sounded fabulous, even though at 8ohms only half the power is available but even 25 watts did the job with my band at the pub.
This led me to sourcing a 2x12 cabinet, in which I placed two 8ohm Celestion Neodog speakers, one a vintage, the other not. With a total load of 4ohms the Vox MV-50 delivered it's full 50 watts of crystal clean power and I will be using it instead of the back breaking AC30s that I am putting up for sale, that's how good they are.
You can get nice Vox matching cabinets for these amps, but I'm happy the way I did it to suit my purpose.
For a home or bedroom player, there's a small 8" cab available, which at last is something to give the Vox tone at a low price and with little weight or bulk. There are also dedicated larger cabinets for gigging.
I chose the CLEAN version of this amp, but there is an AC version which runs into distortion just as an AC 30 does when cranked up and there's also a ROCK version, but I don't envisage there will be any interest in that one here. Costing between £179 and £199 depending on which model you choose, these are recommended.
The amp fits on the palm of your hand and weighs 1lb 1oz. There are no frills such as reverb or tremolo, it's just an amp with three knobs. All effects need to be added via pedals or echo boxes, but most people here have those.

I saw those come out a few months back & was very impressed with the YouTube videos, the output, & the weight. Thanks Dave, for doing your usual thing of testing stuff for us, like you did with the 'Katana' . This seems to be another great product that not only sounds good, has better reliability than our old valve amps, but also is very considerate of us old men & our lifting capabilities.

Cheers, Tony.

Having bought the Boss Katana, I had to ask myself if I needed one of these, as I'm delighted with the Katana 100 2x12.
I did however sell the 50watt 1 x 12 as it wasn't being used. For our autumn theatre tour I used my Vox AC 30 and it was hard work moving it around, which is why I investigated the new Vox MV-50. I honestley thought that I'd be sending it back when I first saw it, as it looks unbelievable and my first thoughts were, it's a toy.
I couldn't have been more wrong and as I had already ordered the used 1x12 Boogie cabinet to match my Boogie MKIII, I decided to pair them and was amazed by the quality of sound.
Because I can get the sound from the Katana as well as the MV-50, my heavy Voxes are obsolete for me, as they are too heavy at my age. To pacify my love of aesthitics, I have made Vox fronts for my Katana and the 2x12 cabinet that I acquired for the two neodymium speakers, so I end up with great looking gear that's easy to move around whilst retaining my sound - it's what I call a result.

I tried one of these when they first came out but I have 2 big issues with them.

For starters finding a 4 ohm cab is extremely hard as most are 8ohm, why they did this i have no idea but on an 8ohm cab they are too quiet for gigging use as it cuts down to 25w

Also the price i think is too high for what it is. The Katana 50 is an amp with speaker with effects much more versatile etc, there isn't a lot of weight difference and they are available for £163 so cheaper than one of these. For me the Katana wins hands down

I think these should be around £100 bracket same as the Orange Micro terror etc then they may have more appeal.

Dave, I know just where you are coming from with this. You don't have anything more to prove about having a Shads / 60s sound with your AC30s & Fenders, so move on to a comfortable position where you can enjoy making a similar noise without wrecking your limbs & back carrying it. Most of the audience will not be able to distinguish a difference, if any, apart from the nerds like us, & even then, who cares.
I have a very nice Vox AC15 HW in the Cream Tolex TV front cab at home, but it hasn't ever seen a gig stage yet. Yes, it sounds nice, but it's heavy & I can't be asked. I think you have the right idea using the Vox fronts on your cabs etc. They still are one of the most aesthetically, iconic looks in amps, even today in the 2000's.
I am more than happy to use my Katana 100, & any of my Fenders or Squier Classic Vibes for Shads/ '60s / '50s music.
I also have the Roland Artist 'Blues Cube' which is similar to the Katana in many ways, but without so many options. It is slightly heavier than the Katana 100, but produces a very nice sound in a similar fashion, with the graduated break-up sound, even on the clean channel

Tony.

Hank2k wrote:I tried one of these when they first came out but I have 2 big issues with them.

For starters finding a 4 ohm cab is extremely hard as most are 8ohm, why they did this i have no idea but on an 8ohm cab they are too quiet for gigging use as it cuts down to 25w

Also the price i think is too high for what it is. The Katana 50 is an amp with speaker with effects much more versatile etc, there isn't a lot of weight difference and they are available for £163 so cheaper than one of these. For me the Katana wins hands down
I think these should be around £100 bracket same as the Orange Micro terror etc then they may have more appeal.

Hi Steve,
I believe, (not being an electrician) that you can get the 4 ohm resistance in a cab by having two 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel. Yes, I agree the Katana is the best , quality, value for money out there at present, by far. And ..... it's a BOSS product. Not sure how much the Vox MV-50 is at present, but give them a few more months & they will inevitably reduce in price, as most products do. The other consideration is the weight. At 1.1 lbs, you stick it in your guitar case. And .... even put it straight into the PA without any backline amp. After all it is basically a modelling pre-amp.

Tony.

HI Tony

I imagine there are ways round it but looking at the Vox 2x12 cab that looks like an AC30, that is 16ohm so even less power if you plugged it in. I agree it is a great piece of kit though as a backup etc and it is exciting technology when we dont need to carry so much gear around. My band use Boss Katanas for most gigs these days and we are getting great results and we dont have back aches etc when we get home after a gig!

The MV50s are currently £199 or £249 with the little cab

Hank2k wrote:HI Tony

I imagine there are ways round it but looking at the Vox 2x12 cab that looks like an AC30, that is 16ohm so even less power if you plugged it in. I agree it is a great piece of kit though as a backup etc and it is exciting technology when we dont need to carry so much gear around. My band use Boss Katanas for most gigs these days and we are getting great results and we dont have back aches etc when we get home after a gig!

The MV50s are currently £199 or £249 with the little cab

A Vox AC30 type 16 ohm cabinet has two 8ohm speakers wired in series to 16 ohms. All you do to make it 4ohms is to re- wire in parallel.
I chose not to do that, as I wanted neodymium speakers which I acquired for £60 each from Korg, along with a Harley Benton cabinet that I found on ebay for £60. I made a Vox front for it yesterday and it looks the biz, so I have the choice of two lightweight rigs with the 2x12 Katana.

There is apparently a potential problem running the MV50 into 15/16 ohms at high volume: it stops working as some internal protection circuit cuts in. This is well documented on the internet. e.g.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AajBHjhz0uU
So it might be wiser to stick to 8 ohms for a gig.

Paul.

No doubt that the VOX Clean and the Katana 50 are good amps, but have one of you tried the Fender Champion 40?
I have one for some years and I must say that I enjoy it very much.
In combination with my ZOOM MS50 I have a great sound.
Very versatile, light weight, yet powerful, 12 inch speaker and cheap, less than £140.