Looking for sound bite

Bluesyzep · #1 January 25th, 2007

I'm trying to tune my Vox AD30VT with a Les Paul. I've hardly used it since I bought it 7 months ago. Total newbie at it. I managed to shut off the effects but the distortion is killing the chords. Sound like one jumbled mess. Been trying different things but part of the problem is that I don't know how the chords are supposed to sound with an electric.

I'm looking for a G chord with minimal or no distortion preferably. C,D,Em,Am,or Dm would also be helpful. Thanks.

allthumbs · #2 January 25th, 2007

Play a G chord unplugged first. Sounds like you need to spend some time with the manual. That amp has to have a clean setting or a non distorted tone somewhere. Try tuning your guitar to the online tuner here.
Sounds like your overdriving the amp if the fxs are turned off. Make sure your master volume is set higher than your volume on the amp. Also turn down the volume on your guitar if you have it cranked as loud as it goes.

737blues · #3 January 25th, 2007

Don't have one of those amps BluesyZep but a guick look at the Vox website tells me Vox AD30VT amp has what they describe as an 'output control', enabling 'overdriven sound at a reduced volume'. That suggest a built in attenuator of some sort to me and I'm guessing you have that enabled. Your user manual should tell you how to set it 'off' or simply how to set the amp for a clean, unmodified tone.

737blues · #4 January 25th, 2007

Lol, looks like AT got in whilst I was typing. We must be on the right track or both wrong, but thumbs obviously type faster than mere fingers.

allthumbs · #5 January 25th, 2007

The online tuner here has the sound of the open E chord. That could be your sound byte chord.
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/onlinetuner.html

Bluesyzep · #6 January 26th, 2007

All of this helps. I feel like I've started learning all over again with the electric. I'm reading the manual but not comprehending everything. Also, I found a site with a list of pre-sets. Kind of like cliff notes but doesn't really teach me anything. This amp does have an attenuator. Whatever that is.

737blues · #7 January 26th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesyzep

... This amp does have an attenuator. Whatever that is.

That's what you probably want to turn off while you tune-up.

cshude · #8 January 26th, 2007

I've got the 50watt version of that amp. If you're want completely clean, all you do is press the "Bypass" button right around your master volume control. That cuts out all the onboard effects.

It takes a bit of fiddling to figure out the knobs, etc. but you'll get there. If you have specific questions, throw them on here or you can pm me. I'll try to help with any answers I've got.

The attenuator knob, by the way, simply limits the overal wattage of the amp. You can go from having a 1watt amp to a 30watt (in your case) amp depending on your playing circumstances. If you're just playing at home, you can turn it most of the way down. This allows you to crank the master volume all the way up and max out the knobs on top as desired. This allows you to have a good, meaty, overdriven sound even at low volume levels. Pretty cool feature in my opinion.