NAD: JMI-era Vox AC50

[Andy J.]

Hello gents,

I've been gassing for one of these for quite a while now, and yesterday I picked this gem up: AFAIK it's from around '65-'67, if anyone can give me better pointers as to the vintage, I'd appreciate it. Solidstate rectified, no Brimistor and when I opened her up yesterday to take a look, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the preamp (and PI) tubes, V1-V4: Telefunken, Valvo, Telefunken and Mullard... The power tubes were recently changed by the previous owner to E-H, I think I'll try some of those JJ kt77's in this one; taking it to a tech for a going-through next week.

[Andy J.]

Bumping once to show off my lovely new amp...

[wingwalker]

Very nice!

A 60's AC-50 is on my must have list for sure!

[goodtone]

JMI AC-50 is a special vintage amp. It only does two things well Like beautiful cleans and cool distortion ! I read AC 50's run hot & they need ventilation to keep cool. A really nice amp ! Sound clips are always welcome .

[Andy J.]

Originally Posted by goodtone

JMI AC-50 is a special vintage amp. It only does two things well Like beautiful cleans and cool distortion ! I read AC 50's run hot & they need ventilation to keep cool. A really nice amp ! Sound clips are always welcome .

Yeah, I've understood the vintage Voxes tend to be and for them to sound their best, SHOULD be biased quite hot. With the vent right on top of the power tubes, I'm not expecting major issues, but tips regarding the ventilation are always welcome.

I'm not really equipped to do clips, but my friend, who runs one the top studios in town was interested in hearing the amp; we'll see if we can cook something up for you guys!

[Stratobuc]

So it only does clean and distorted well.............. bummer !



Congratulations on scoring a mega-cool Vox!

[ROKY]

Originally Posted by wingwalker

Very nice!

A 60's AC-50 is on my must have list for sure!

Same here !

Congratulations on the score Andy !!

[v-verb]

I had one of those - under-appreciated Jems IMO. Way underpriced for the tone they put out!

[foureyes]

Awesome find!!! i love me some Vox tone...

[RCCola]

You can date it by unscrewing the chassis from the wood shelf and checking the pots or electrolytic caps. They'll have date codes. I have two of these AC50s. Definitely undervalued. I try and snag one whenever the price is right.

[Andy J.]

Originally Posted by RCCola

You can date it by unscrewing the chassis from the wood shelf and checking the pots or electrolytic caps. They'll have date codes. I have two of these AC50s. Definitely undervalued. I try and snag one whenever the price is right.

Thanks for the dating tip! The thing is, all music gear is pretty expensive up here and nowadays people think that every crappy old item they have is "vintage"... 80's no-name transistor combo? "Rare vintage amp"! I've been keeping my eyes open for a while now, and definitely got a more-that-decent price on mine! I actually found another one for even cheaper , but it was re-tolexed and the seller wasn't willing to provide decent pics, so no deal there.