Vox has rolled out a couple of new combo amps that offer its tone-sweeting Nutube tech for two specialist applications. The first is very on-brand for the British amp giant, and it’s called the Clubman 60. The second is called the Ukulele 50 and it is a 50-watt amplifier designed for ukuleles.
Of course, you can plug any electric guitar into the two-channel Clubman 60 and get a tone out of it, but this has been specially voiced to pair well with semihollow and fully hollowbodied guitars. Designed for stage, studio or home, it has a dual-input design, with individual onboard chorus and reverb sections for each channel.
Channel 1 has chickenhead knobs for Volume, Bass, Middle and Treble, with a single effects dial controlling both effects. Fully counterclockwise, the effects are off, as you turn it clockwise the chorus comes online, peaks at 10 o’clock, then it is reverb. At two o’clock you’ve then got a mix of both chorus and reverb.
Channel 2 is voiced for more traditional Vox sounds, warm crunch and drive, and here you will find controls for Volume, Bass and Treble, and the Effects dial, plus a slider switch to turn on the overdrive circuit.
Once you’ve dialled in a sound, adjust the master volume. There are all kinds of helpful features here, not least the abundant headroom, which you will be able to hear, with a red LED on hand to alert you when the signal starts to clip, which could be very handy for a jazz player in a club.
The diamond pattern grille cloth speaks to Vox’s heritage, but the Clubman 60 is very much an amp of today, with a convenient headphones output for silent practice, and an aux in, both located on the top-mounted control panel.
There is a 1/4” line out located on the back of the amp, which allows you to go direct to a mixing desk or through a guitar audio interface and straight into your DAW. Pretty cool. As the name suggests, the Clubman 60 is rated at 60-watts, and it is priced at £319, available now.
The Ukulele 50 is a change of pace, and it might be an opportunity to give your acoustic guitar amp the night off. Like the Clubman 60, it too has onboard chorus and reverb, controlled via a single dial, the aux in, the headphones out, the line-level output on the back of the amplifier for going direct to the desk for recording or live performance.
Again, this is a two-channel design with an XLR input for adding a microphone – ideal for the budding George Formby. As with acoustic amplifiers, the Instrument channel has a phase switch to help stop unwanted feedback, and is a three-band EQ, and the red LED once more to let you know if it’s clipping.
The Mic channel has a slider switch for phantom power, a three-band EQ. A master volume governs both channels.
The Ukulele 50 is available now, priced £299. For more details, head over to Vox.
