Vox MV50 Effects-Loop Mod Tutorial
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- čas přidán 26. 01. 2021
- Credit to Dusan Rybos/Tonsound for coming up with this Mod. I've put a link to the forum where I found it at the bottom of the description box. The link has their original mod instructions.
IT IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU DAMAGE OR BREAK YOUR UNIT PERFORMING THIS MOD, NOR AM I KNOWLEDGABLE ENOUGH TO HELP YOU IF YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS. YOU WILL VOID ANY WARRANTY IN ATTEMPTING THIS MOD. IT IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU HURT OR ELECTROCUTE YOURSELF PERFORMING THIS MOD. PERFORM IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The soldering and electrical side of this mod are pretty simple. The main difficulties are drilling the enclosure and fitting everything in the chassis. The drilling took a lot longer than I thought and is probably the most likely point in which you could damage your unit. The chassis also got quite hot when I was drilling so be careful with that. Having a clamp that you could secure the wall of the chassis so you could press into it without it bending would drastically shorten the drill time (at least I think it would). I believe this mod would work on any of the MV50 units but I've only done it to the Vox MV50 Clean.
Some people may wonder why I wanted to do this mod to the clean version of the Vox MV50. Firstly, I now have a portable power amp that I can run other preamps into and I also can run the preamp into other cab sims (bypassing the built-in cab sim). Secondly, like the other units, you can run the effects after the preamp compression and distortion (The MV50 Clean has a bit of OD when it is cranked).
The reverb pedal is in the effects loop during the demonstration. Lead guitar work is far from one of my playing strengths, but I figured it aptly demonstrates the main situation that someone would want to do this mod; running reverb after the amp OD.
Written Instructions
Cutting and Drilling - (Written as if looking at the open unit for behind)
* The effects send jack will end up on the left of the unit and the effect return will be the right
* First Remove the chassis screws and cover
* Take a photo of the inside for reference.
* Then locate the fourth wire in from the right on the top plug.
* This is going to be the plug that you’re going to cut
* Then remove the lower left plug
* My unit had a black wire in the top space - this helped me remember the orientation of the plug when putting it back in.
* Unravel the wires and make a cut on the fourth wire in (from the right). The cut should be in a spot where both wires can reach the send jack that you're going to put in.
* Twist the wires back up and reinsert the plug.
* Next mark some spots where you will make holes for the send and return jacks.
* It is important to take note of how much room the jacks will need on the inside of the unit when choosing spots to drill.
* Then drill holes for the send and return jacks. I used a power drill with two step drills. The drilling took a long time this way, using a vice to steady the chassis so you can put more pressure on it would probably drastically speed the drilling process up.
* Bend the pins on your switching jacks so they are lying flat.
* The send jack must be a switchable jack so it will turn the effects-loop on and off when a cable is inserted into it.
* Then insert them into the chassis with the pins facing up.
Wiring - (Written as if looking at the open unit for behind)
* The original mod instructions said to use shielded wire - I don't think the wire I used is shielded and I haven't had any problems yet. I'd recommend getting the shielded wire if you can.
* Solder the cut wire from the lower plug to the top right pin of the send jack
* Then, solder the cut wire of the upper plug to the top left pin of the send jack
* Solder the top left pin of the return jack to the top right pin of the send jack
* Solder the lower left pin of the return jack to the lower left pin of the send jack
* Then, finally solder the lower left pin of the send jack to the middle pin of the Headphone out.
Fitting
* I couldn’t shut the cover after putting the new jacks in, so I cut some of the plastic that is attached to the handle on the underside of the cover so I could shut it again. Just unscrew the handle and cut the plastic to fit the jacks
Good luck!
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I've done this mod on a MV50 Boutique & a High Gain, no problems at all both work great, now I've got , reverb, chorus, phaser & delay to add to the great sound of these little amps. My FX pedal also has an IR cab module & that gave me some interesting options when using the boutique, got some extra depth on clean & lots more gain when I cranked it up. The High Gain has enough on its own without using the IR cab. The FX also has an amp IR module as it can be used on its own to mixing desk, recording or power speaker. I've used it as a handy carry about with my Bluetooth speaker & can also record direct to my phone or tablet as it has a dedicated output.
The MV50 didn't like the amp IR module, howled like hell, that'll be left turned off as I don't need it. Thanks again for the info, quite happy I've done them both now 😁👍thanks to @Music Stuffs
A Huge thank you for posting this video. I just modded my MV50 High Gain and going to do my MV50 Clean too. I would not have been confident enough to do it with this video.
This is how every youtube upload should be. Loved it dude!
Dude, you are a life saver. Thanks for this.
Have you tried it sucessfull?
Wow ! Thanks. I’ve been waiting for a new version with effects loop, however I don’t think one is coming anytime soon, so I’ll do the mod on one of my 4 MV 50s, and see how it goes.
Wow! That's brilliant!
Thanks for the tutoríal. It Shoud be better for the other models (ac boutique etc)
U should do some of these mod amps n begin selling them , I'd buy one .. great job well done ✌
I think 'Tonsound' is doing this mod if you're interested in having someone do the mod for you. Follow the link to the forum in the description - its on page 2.
That's amazing! Thank you so much!!! Do you know if this would work on a mini superbeetle too?? Or if it could be easily adapted somehow?
Thanks! I don’t know sorry.
Ecellent thanks, it works a charm. too bad the headphones out bypasses/ignores the fx loop, or it's just me? Thank you none the less. My days of wishing Vox will make a version with FX loop is over, this solves so much many of my issues.
Nice! Yeah, the effects loop is between the preamp and the speaker output so it does bypass the headphone out.
Excellent mod and I think everyone who have these great amps will agree. Question though, what happens when nothing is connected to the send and return? Does the amp function like normal?
Hi, yeah when nothing is inserted the amp functions as normal. The send jack functions as a switch that engages the effects loop so when nothing is in there the loop is taken out of the circuit.
@@musicstuffs9130 Cheers for that. I will make the mods! Happy Christmas mate
Hi!! Thank you so much for this video!!! Can I ask if the switching jacks that you used were stereo (6 pin) and if is it necesary? Could be mono switching jacks intead? Because the pins at the middle weren't used after all. Thanks in advance!!!
Hi! No worries. I believe that mono switching jacks would be fine, but my guess is probably as good as yours!
@@musicstuffs9130 thanks a lot!
I did some deep dive on this mod.. mono jacks will be fine just make sure the hot signals are soldered correctly.the other which is connected to headphone out is just a Ground return
Thanks to music stuffs for figuring the right wire to cut!
Dude, This is really cool job! Why is it soldered to the middle pin of the headphone jack? I followed this tutorial and it works fine when connected to the speaker cabinet. However, fx loop does not work when connected to lineout.
Hi, I didn’t come up with the mod just made a video for it, I think it’s maybe an earth connection there. The loop isn’t a part of the headphones out circuit so it won’t work from that output, though if you have some other cab-sim with a headphone output you could run the effect-out into your effects then into the the separate cab-sim etc. Hope this helps
Thank yoh very much!!!
Can I ask you one thing? I want to use speaker out not the headphone out. If I do the same mod to my mv50 clean just like you, will it work properly if I use speaker out?
Thanks, I’m a little confused by your question. The effects loop will work with the speaker out. The loop isn’t a part of the headphone-out circuit so you won’t be able to hear it from that output. I hope that answers your question.
@@musicstuffs9130 Thank you very much your answer is the one that I wanted to know!
Hi again. I've tried this a few times and just can't get it to work. The problem is that both the sleeve and ring are live and I can't figure out why. Also, why solder to the middle pin of the headphones? Surely you want the ground pin?
Hey, it's hard to troubleshoot something that I don't have physical access to and also as I stated in the description, I just made a video how to do the mod, I didn't come up with the mod itself; I'm just following someone else's instructions. Quite a few people including myself have done the mod this way with success. I would double check if you put the plug back in in the correct orientation, cut the correct wire; if there are any metal parts creating a short and that all the soldering is making good contact. Good luck!
Also, you have the correct jacks yeah? They need to be switching jacks.
does it have any signal drop problem? am i right there is no buffer like a factory send return amp
I haven't noticed any signal drop. The mod doesn't add a buffer, it just intercepts the signal before it hits the poweramp. I haven't had any issues with it so far.
This looks brilliant, thanks for sharing. Attempting this mod using 2 conductor wire, didn’t mean to buy it. Not a wire guru…where would the red and white go? Thanks in advance!
Hi, if I understand you correctly you have wire that has two wires within it. I recommend just buying some regular hook up wire, since I think winging it with that 2 conductor wire could lead to problems. You’ll want some regular hook up wire a similar thickness to what you see in the video, it’s not very expensive, you’ll be able to get some at an electronic store.
@@musicstuffs9130 Thanks for the reply and that's what I ended up doing, works great. The only thing it won’t do is send the fx loop via the headphone output. Have you experienced this?
@@mindcrime86 yeah, the loop is placed between the preamp and the power-amp, not between the preamp and the headphone/cabsim. If you have a device with a stand alone can-sim and headphone jack you could run it into that (I sometimes do this with my DSM ‘simplifier’)
Glad you had success with the mod
@@musicstuffs9130 Thank you, that answers it. Appreciate the video and replies.
I’m a bit of a layman with all this - is this simply a case of plugging your guitar in and reverb is automatically on? Is there any control over the amount or type of effect?
Hey, no worries. This mod itself doesn’t add any effects to the amp, it creates a new way of using your effects (pedals) with your amp. A lot of people don’t like to have effects like reverb or delay before their distortion/overdrive and a lot of people like to use their amps distortion/overdrive for their ‘dirty’ sounds. An ‘effects loop’ sends the guitar signal (after the pre-amp distortion/od) out of the amp so you can put effects on it and then send it back into the amp to be amplified and sent to the speaker.
So this mod allows you to place any effect after the distortion/od that your mv50 generates.
Hope this helps
@@musicstuffs9130 ahhh I totally get the concept now, thanks so much for taking the time to explain this to me 👍
Hi! me again, I wanted to ask you before the modification of my mv50 clean, seeing the unit from its back panel, the left added jack is the send and the right added jack is the return of the effects loop right? thanks again!!
Yeah, you're right. If you look at the video thumbnail (or just at the back of the unit) the send is the top left jack and the return is the top right jack.
@@musicstuffs9130 thanks a lot!!
@@musicstuffs9130 Hi!! Today I did the mod, totally successfull!!!, IT works really great!! Thank you so much, I Don't Know If It suppose to be like this, but If I Want to run a preamp pedal entering on the return jack I Need to put a Jack (without cable) in the send jack to get audio, but It works perfectly, thanks a lot for your video!!!
@@arielcappelletti8725 Awesome! Yeah that’s how it is supposed to work. The send jack works as a switch that engages the effects loop when a cable is inserted into it.
Just out of curiosity: would you really need an fx loop with the clean version? Isn't it supposed to work well with pedals?
Hi, I addressed this in the description, but I’ll expand on it since you asked.
Firstly, you definitely don’t ‘need’ an effects loop for MV50 Clean and it does take pedals really well, however you gain a lot of options/abilities in adding one.
The MV50 clean gets a bit of grit to it once you take the volume past about 12. This grit seems to attempt to mimic the sound of a (somewhat) cranked Fender amp, although this break-up comes from the preamp section of the MV50 clean as opposed to coming from the power amp tubes in a classic Fender amp. So, in having an effects loop on this unit you can get your reverb etc running after this break-up or before it. Both ways can sound great; you just have more options.
Adding the effects loop gives you the ability to use the unit as a power amp for other preamps (I run the preamp of my Simplifier into it). The loop also gives you the ability to go direct while bypassing the built in cab sim, so you can use the preamp of the unit with other cab sims/IRs (Again I run it into my Simplifier’s cab sims if I want to go direct).
@@musicstuffs9130 @Music Stuffs hey, sorry that was my fault. I didn't read through the whole description text cause I thought you'd only explain the technical/electronical details of your mod :/
But thank you for going further!
I'm thinking about getting the mv50 clean as a pedalboard solution for quite some time now and always wondered if it would break up at all since I've never seen a demo of that.
@@labadal No worries! For what it’s worth I really love the amp. It definitely does the 100% clean pedalboard amp thing with a lot of volume. There’s just also a bit of grit as well if you want it. I have the amp dimed for the demo in this video if you wanna hear the break-up level of the amp, though I definitely wasn’t ‘digging-in’ on those notes.
@@musicstuffs9130 so the effects loop mod would be ideal for using a laptop + amp sims/irs and the MV50 + cab as a pure sound driver?
@@roundy72 Yeah, the mod makes it possible to use the mv50 as a power amp to run amp sims (without cab sims) through. (Just a note that you need to have a cable in the effect send jack for the return jack to function)
Can this mod be done on the new Brain May version which has the treble booster?
I'm not sure at this point sorry. It has an additional treble boost switch that might alter the circuit layout etc. Then again the circuit might be essentially the same or simmilar enough for it to work.
hi budd, what kind of jacks did u used? stereo or mono? thanks
Hi, I believe I used a standard TRS switching jack
I wonder how long did it took to find out how to do it :)
When I activate the delay it makes a loud click.
I can't use it that way.
Did anyone have this problem?
My delay is a Dispatch Master by EarthquakerDevices
I'm guessing you're saying that this is happening more when it's in the effects loop as opposed to in front of the amp? The earlier Earthquaker pedals had switches that were loud (in comparison to their new silent switches) when activated. It might just be that a loud switch going straight into the power amp makes a loud click.
I have a bunch of switching jacks - can I use them on both sides or does one side have to be non-switching?
I used switching jacks on both sides; so yeah you’ve got the right ones.
@@musicstuffs9130 Thank you! Mine are 4-pin, so I ordered some 6-pin, but I did notice you didn't use the center pins here - I assume that the 4 pins on my jacks correspond with the 4 you used? I hope so - I'm not waiting for the 6-pin jacks to arrive! LOL
@@BBGreek1 Yeah I believe your switching jacks are just mono, so they should work, but I've never tried it so can't say for sure. The four pins on your jacks should correspond to the four pins I used.
@@musicstuffs9130 I did this mod using my 4-pin jacks and it worked great. Thanks again for this awesome mod!
does this work on the MV50 AC model ? Great video!!
Yes, it should work on the AC model. The only model I'm unsure about is the new Brian May version as it might be a bit different on the inside.
@@musicstuffs9130 thanks!
Does it works for katana mini too?
The circuits will be different so this won’t be applicable sorry
Would this work on all mv50 models?
The mod was presented to work on any of the MV50 models, I've only done it on the clean. If you follow the link to the forum in the description you can see that it's been done on the other versions of the MV50.
@@musicstuffs9130 oh that's cool, thanks!
@@musicstuffs9130 I've just had the jack sockets delivered, just waiting on the shielded wire to arrive, hopefully tomorrow I can do my MV50 boutique, see how it goes & I'll do my MV50 high gain, thanks for the info 👍
@Music Stuffs Thanks for the info, done my Boutique & High Gain 😁👍
Too fast for me to follow the connections! You need to slow it down some