so i just got my vox ac50 combo amp in the mail today which is a huge step up from my old beginners marshall. anyway, i have a big muff and while ive done horrible things to my old amp (play with feedback for hours at high volumes and such) i was wondering if my muff will hurt the speakers in my new amp. its my baby, vox isn't making them anymore for at least a while so i got it for a crazy deal. i dont know if it was the muff or my other activities that caused the downfall of my old amp and would hate to do something bad to this baby.
just for common senses sake i do realize a fuzz makes your amp sound "fuzzy" like the speakers are broken. but can it do damage if combined with massive gain/ volume (this baby is loud, i've only turned up about half way so far/ while playing from a different room btw)
if anybody knows the answer that would be sweet. oh yeah should i strictly use the effects loop or can i just plug straight in
oh yeah what do you prefer? wah before fuzz or fuzz before wah, both sound kinda crazy and good in their own ways
come on help me out. somebody has got to know. will fuzz plus massive gain kill my speakers/ amp. desperately in need of fuzz in my life, i just want to know how far i can push it. are lots of gain/ distortion + fuzz a bad idea at epic volumes? :shock:
This is kind of a shot in the dark as I'm fairly new to the guitar. However, I have about 10 years experience with speakers/amps, etc. (although strictly as a hobby).
Common sense says, with any amp/speaker if its turned up to high and you're distorting it, you will eventually destroy it. However, from the guitar side of things, it may be very dependent on your setup and what you're doing. It looks like the ac50 is a tube amp; I don't know a ton about tube amps, but from what I've read if you're constantly using overdrive at high volumes you will seriously shorten the life span of the tube. I believe there are some remedies for this like possibly using a power attenuator so you can get overdrive without cranking to amp to 11. It looks like the Vox you're using has separate volume and gain controls so you might be able to get the same effect by turning up the gain and not turning the volume all the way up. It also appears that the amp has 2 12" speakers with 50 watts of power. I would think that would be enough to get plenty loud without destroying the speakers. I would think half way on the volume with 2 12's would be pretty loud so you're probably not doing the speakers any harm. This is pretty consistent with what I've read about amps as well - 50 watts should be loud enough to do just about anything you want until you get large enough that you need to mic the amp anyway.
thanks i dont turn up most often past half way anyway. its a loud beast.
just if i have the gain up high and engage the fuzz it almost sounds as if the speakers are shorting out. think white stripes noise when theyre fuzzing out
Lets see .......... Guitar into Guitar FX Pedal into Guitar Amp. I think they are made to be used together. :lol: I have the same problem, I am always worried about hurting my prized gear. I have a Gibson Les Paul that hardly sees the light of day. What if I scratch it? :shock: And I've had that since 1992 and still baby it. I bought a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp, (almost got the Vox you have) and was avoiding using that for a bit too. What if it breaks? :roll: Well, I play it everyday now cause thats what I bought it for. Now for that Les Paul ..........
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I really don't think that the big muff will do anything to damage your Vox. To the speaker, a fuzzy guitar tone is the same thing as a clean, it can't tell the difference. The only thing that could damage the speaker over time is volume.
Also, you could always just throw your wah pedal away forever? :mrgreen:
One chord is fine.
Two you're pushing it.
Three and you're into jazz.
Wah BEFORE fuzz. Wah after fuzz sounds pretty bad in my opinion.
To the speaker, a fuzzy guitar tone is the same thing as a clean, it can't tell the difference. The only thing that could damage the speaker over time is volume.
not true. heavily clipped signals contain far more high frequency energy which can heat speaker voice coils. in the case of an entertainment sound systems (stereo, AV ...), with tweeters, that leads to the possibility of blowing a tweeter when the combo of clipping and volume level are too high. fortunately, electric guitar amps do not have quite the freq response range to amplify heavily clipped signal harmonics components -- and guitar speaker cabs rarely contain tweeters. this all makes electric guitar amps pretty tough and compatible with heavy fuzz/distortion/clipping. but ... avoid running heavily clipped signals into acoustic guitar amps (which do have tweeters) and cranking the volume way up.
-=tension & release=-
gnease, you're explanations of things are always so enlightening thanks for your contributions.
Any speaker maxed out all the time will die on you eventually, but an amp should be able to cope with being maxed out some of the time. If you just want to see how loud it can go, try it and find out.
If I remember my algebraic formula correctly:
(AC50 + Muffπ) + (Volume * 10) = (Hearing * 0)
Enjoy your new amp!
Dwayne
thanks ive been playing soo much i took today off cause i cant hear. i will probably invest in some earplugs soon. ps volume on 5-6= 0 for hearing. its that loud (plus my music room is pretty small)
