Can the Vox Night Train 50 do METAL? Girth Channel Demo / Review ~ NightTrain!

[2012usmcrecon]

if you want to do anything high gain and responsive on a vox you have to run distortions and overdrives through the clean channel of the amp with a little delay.. vox makes a great coffee but it needs a little sugar for modern music

[sgbigsby1989]

it could do metal, just depends on the deffenition of metal, once upon a time wasp were metal.............. now they have been demoted to classic rock :( . so yeah sounds good just not for anything in thepost thrash side of things, not that metallica don't use clean or anything without a sniff of gain or god forbid a sitar.

[paki46]

It sounds like crap. Vox are great for jazz, blues and rock. Absolutely not for metal.

[SparcoC4]

@paki46 You sound like crap. It has VOXish crunch.

[Blader999]

No it can't do metal. Maybe it's just the wrong ex-setups and the riff, but -

It sounds way too woofy. Not enough distortion.

My opinion. MINE. You don't get any of it. ;)

[deathcore1239]

so. . . . . . it can kinda do metal. whelp, cross this one off the list. thanks for the help TTK (thats not sarcasm, you really did help show that this is not the right amp for me)

[nicolasrivera]

It really can do a great metal sound, thank you for this test. I didnt like the tone cut, should read TONE SUCK as all the way up takes al the great sound out.

[bandthesurrendering]

Can this bad dude do stereo?....as for all the "it's almost metal but not quite" comments....like you aren't going to through a pedal on there and drive it anyway....give the guy a break....it's clearly not just a vintage clean amp...Nice Job ttk...you da man

[glezzery62]

Jeeeez, turn the tone cut up all the way, turn the trebles up a bit and the mids down a little and CRANK the MASTER, if you want to demo Metal. That's grungy and i KNOW you can be tuned in better than this. Also, metal uses a lot of palm mutes. You could try that a bit. Also, that open back cab is not helping demo metal.

[aronchas]

amazing review, thanks alot. Subscribed!

[hisroyalsucculence]

I'm gonna say that the answer is "no". But the distortion is great for that fuzzy thick and heavy rhythm guitar sound that can work for bands like Fu Manchu, Foo Fighters, or Weezer. There's just not enough definition for tight metal riffs. Sounds like an extra creamy and way better version of a big muff pedal. I use to get my Mesa Boogie Mark IV to get this sound by rolling off the highs and turning up the bass on the lead channel and I loved that sound.

[dudewhosaysarrh]

@hisroyalsucculence now that you mention it, I just realized that the NT 50 sounds a lot like my Hughes and Kettner when I play a Way Huge SwollenPickle Mk II through it...

[tonellojohn]

I love my night train for rhythm playing. I get sounds akin to those of Metallica's St. Anger with My G-400 custom and a Deltalab MD-1. A little change in the gain, and then I'm pulling off Mastodon style chugs. Awesome amp, awesome company.

[mamuldoon1]

What speaker cabinet did you use? Would Celestions sound good with this amp?

[TheJayspray]

This is an amp im definitely interested in... It has that ALMOST gainy tone which can be the BEST for really capturing warmth and NOT just gain for gains sake. I demo'd one in L A the other day, and have been wanting to go back n do it w a good O D pedal and my own axe. Pretty impressive for being portable

[purplecricket07]

I absolutely adore that tone, what cabinet are you going through?

[SpankyMcGrits]

Where do you live? I want all your guitars stuff are belong to me lol

[thejigsawmurdersyou]

Hey Im looking for a head that can give me a warm retro hard rock sound like clutch, qotsa etc and I cant decide between the night train or an orange. Theres not many dealers of either here in ireland so I have to rely on videos like this one. My main concern is that I dont want anything too saturated, "scooped" or aggressive sounding. I have a heavy right hand and I use emg 81s so I need something warm and toneful. Which would you recommend?

[DementedSquirel]

you suck at guitar, im not a troll!

[2STManuel]

I think this guy likes the alexi xD

[AdamRainStopper]

I'd have liked to hear it with high-output passive pickups, and with the tight engaged more. An EL34 based amp can in theory "do metal", or at least make some "heavy" sounds if it has a well controlled preamp and eq section, but this thing seems to fall apart a bit down low at high-gain settings. With a single-hum strat with a full-size steel trem block and a strong bright humbucker, tight switch on, bass and mids pulled back a bit, treble at 2 o'clock-ish, it may work. Or swap in KT77's.....

[JohnBertotti]

Downand dirty great additional review!

[kevmofo]

Good enough fer me...................Vox Rocks!!

[RuXTaR]

Again,, any soloing? we wanna hear the amp in solo.. not only in power chords..

[Conbryvas]

Can this do punk? Silly question but just wondering. maybe if i have a pedal or something right?

[Symphox85]

speaker?

[13rylo]

cool, thanks.....Rock on Tone King!!!!!!!

[13rylo]

Hey Tone King, what kind/where did you get the purple and leopard print stool?? It looks pretty sweet!!!!

[lmsjr]

@13rylo I slayed a leopard with my bare hands. Oh, wait - I ordered it online :-). It's made by Pork Pie

[callousedxfingers]

This is a great amp for Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal. I love the hell out of this amp, but I definetly wouldnt use it for Death, Black, Prog, Grind or whatever else you can come up with. I've got a Crate Blue Voodoo 120w thru a H&K lifeson cab that I use for that (actually a great Doom amp too, I play in Bb standard with a dropped G# and it gets very chuggy and handles the bass well.

[ichi612]

Hi tone king is this fix bias or cathode bias thanks..

[1madaxeman]

I think it does a nice metal sound..but guess it depends on what your definition of metal is? Is it ubergained Rectifiers/5150's ?? Or what about the CLASSIC metal amp...the JCM800 ??? That amp is positively TAME compared to modern day amps. And ANY amp is capable of it with a boost in front. Heck even the mad high gain amps tend to sound better with a boost in there tightening up the sound. So for me yes for sure that Vox can do metal...and if you want more boost it!! Great amp IMO.

[mark12ax7]

Great demo # 2 could you demo a little U2 type chime on the clean side?

[GearVault]

Add a Bad Monkey to tighten it up. I think it could reach a new boundary.

[Inverted314]

Nice amp; clearly not suitable for modern "metal" but would cover some pop punk hard rock type stuff and lots in between.

[markymarc180579]

Thanks for the demo TK. I really didn't like the tone of the NT50 it sounded flubby and gritty, I'm not really surprised as I didn't really like the lil Night train. Thanks for doing the demo thought :-)

[MrJasin30]

if you only had the gain level on three then you wouldnt be able to tell if its metal or not.and use the bridge pickup instead of the neck.

[ironzeppelin44]

@MrJasin30 i think the alexi model ONLY has a bridge pickup o_O i could be wrong though

[Ningirsutyr]

@ironzeppelin44 No, you're completely right;it only features a passive EMG on the bridge position. On another note, if that's what this amp can do in Drop C tuning, then no, I think the furthest point where this amp can go is to pretend doing metal where I can still hear some notes sounding like a blues-rock tune..

[jazarstevens]

reminds me of my two channel dual rec i used to have...

[ihategirls13]

I wonder how this amp handles pedals? then we'll talk.

[mikeygheetarz]

maybe with a tubescreamer, but even then i cant see it being essential for metal. however anything that requires less gain it seems to accomplish with great success.

Great review TTK, keep em coming.

[dbenc]

I was hoping for a tube screamer in front.. Good job as always.

[mortu777]

This amp was realy nice low sounding eq so it would be perfect for a metal sound kind of like rammstein,but you ll need a distorsion pedal for that ofc :P

[JBL8863]

I was watching a very interesting VH1 documentary about the actual history of metal music and all the differant lables that metal bands have been thrown into over time...

Metal music has so many variaties that interpute bands music metal sound.

Lables for metal are; dark, speed, thrash, death, power, speed, new, old school, hair, glam, the list went on and on...I was blown away by seeing it... power rules!

One amp can't do it all especially if your looking for a certain metal sound.

[Ajt8000]

Got a nice gritty metal tone, not exactly high gain insanity, but id happily do a metal gig with it

[j12elliott]

your volume levels in the video on you tube are way to low dude.

[MrZerox123]

As for this amp i was excited for its release. I think that its harder to get a metal tone but they tried to over come that with the girth and other tone cutting things. Sounded like a lot of extra bass boost but bad treble. But again your sound qaulity is no where as good as it used to be. Even your web cast things have been horrible with sound and video reacently in the past it was way better. Again i love your channel and reviews but u miss that extra effort. ------cheers

[MrZerox123]

Hey ttk i think your older reviews were funner to watch your last 10 videos or so have been for me just okay. I just miss the ranting and talking about the amp more because your audio qaulity of the reviews have been ehhh dropping since the pedal reviews 30 pedals in 30 days. I dont know if you dont like the talking or maybe you dont have the time but i perfer it. I get almost no feel for the amps you review anymore it kind of sucks. Still a strong supporter but the old is better

[lmsjr]

@MrZerox123 Hey MrZ - thx for the candor. I appreciate it very much. Hmmm ... audio is the same as 30 pedals, maybe just levels? But - I do take all feedback into careful consideration, so thx for that. I was a bit frantic w/ the pedal thing too, b/c a video a day is a lot of work :-) ... maybe that franticness came out in the videos :-). But, keep the faith - I'm always trying to improve things! As for the webcast - just picked up a Saffire Audio Int - so that should be better! Thx

[GuernB2]

probably would have been better for metal if you would have boosted it with a ts type overdrive or something similar

[TheOzzk]

Part 2: To be honest, yes there are a few amps that can get you there easier… but in reality, if you know what you’re doing, even an AC30 can give you a metal tone with proper eq-ing, a decent distortion pedal and tuning down. You do not need extreme amounts of gain… when you play with a band you realize, extreme gain sounds thin and noisy, far from the desired low-end punch and full sounding tone we all know and love. Cheers!

[TheOzzk]

Part 1: Awesome tone brother! That sounded pretty metal to me. Moreover, you touched on one of the best kept secrets in metal… tuning. You know, over and over again the question about what amp is better for metal, or can this amp do Metallica or Pantera or whatever, seems to be the most asked question on guitar related videos... (Cont.)

[lmsjr]

@TheOzzk Thx Ozzk! You're right - that's why I grabbed the Alexi :-)

[Paulaum1]

This question would be better answered with a Standard tuned guitar. Even my 50$ strat does metal (it's Drop B tuned)

[ihategirls13]

not a metal amp at all! and it really sounds like crap ... well ... for a metal sound anyway. the heaviest I would go (and still be serious) would be soundgarden or pear jam and the like. should be able to do van halen real good. I wouldnt even try it for COB though. I think we all knew that before you started playin. thank you for all the many great reviews! I would love to here the alexi guitar on your rm100!

[mhmmdrynr]

@ihategirls13 yes it's not a metal amp, but i doesn't sound like crap mister :-)

[ihategirls13]

@mhmmdrynr I agree. It does not sound like crap. only crap for metal. and thats for only most types of metal! My friend has a nighttrain and its ok but my randall kicks the crap out of it!  to the point where he doesn't want to jam when I bring the randall. but his nighttrain will kick the crap out of my line 6 spider. ... well duh huh.

[BobSince1981]

Are you a lawyer or something? How do you afford all this lol.

[hawg427]

Sounds like Metal to me :-) Now you have to do a shoot out between this Vox and the new Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic. Traynor also come out with a new 40 watt lunch box style amp. The Mesa TransAtlantic TA-30 would be another good one. Great video.

[ibanezman007]

All knobs on ten! How very Van Halen of you.

[BummerCZ]

You need much less gain to rock hard with lower tunings. I'm pretty sure this baby would not handle standard E based metal.

[morbideddie]

out of interest didn't you have a solando in the space you have the jet city. why switch, isn't the city just a budget version of the solando or did you think it was better value and sold the solando

[lmsjr]

@morbideddie I still have the Soldano - just switching things up a bit!

[gunsproof]

sounds great but not really COBHC or something liek that

[yatindimebag]

This is a great great review! Wait. All your reviews are great! :P

The Night Train is I guess not that suited for metal, but more for hard rock! I mean you can easily get those old school Slash tones out of these, but I think it has a less amount of presence for the 'METAL' Metal sound. But the tone cut feature is awesome! That's really something I'd go for. But yeah. Great Review. And I would say, its a 6.5-7/10 for Metal on the Vox Night Train 50. :)

[lmsjr]

@yatindimebag Thank you!!

[Treggify]

I prefer peavey's for metal :)

[ImmortalDestructor]

It seems to get less focussed the more it's distorted, not something you want for metal. It just doesn't have that percussive chunk that is absolutely needed for metal.

[theendofacircle]

It could do metal with a nice distortion pedal through the clean channel. The amp has a touchy eq but you could play metal on it but it's not going to give you that Mesa dual rectifier sound, if that's what you're looking for, buy a Mesa. No matter how dirty you get this it has that vox sound

[JURGMANDR]

chuggy  but not godly for metal

[tonellojohn]

@JURGMANDR I got 2 vox night train full stacks, and it's pretty good for metal. get a Deltalab MD-1, and you'll be surprised by the riffage that comes out of those speakers.

[AbsentProductions]

It sounds alright for metal, I guess. It's not exactly a gainy amp, though.

[Ejaydog3]

Nice!

[creation23]

But awesome vid TTK.

One question tho, I know you visited the peavey booth at NAMM, and there was the XXX 2 (i think) which was released after the discontinuation of the JSX line.

Would you be able to get a comparison of the two amps (JSX and XXX ii), it would be interesting to see how much of a difference there is.

Rock on \m/

[lmsjr]

@creation23 Thx creation! To my knowledge - the Triple XXX is not yet available. When it becomes available, I'd like to get my hands on it. As for the JSX - I don't have one, but will certainly keep your comment in mind - if I ever see one in my travels, I'll be sure to get a review of it. Rock ON!

[lmsjr]

Fourth (and first :-)

[creation23]

Third? :O

[TheRedeemedMusic]

SECOND :/

[lmsjr]

FIRST! YeAh!!!

[Sergioterol]

@lmsjr Lol you were lucky to get to the video before i did... ¬¬ IMO This amp can do metal...

[Sergioterol]

@lmsjr Lol you were lucky to get to the video before i did... ¬¬ IMO This amp can do metal... i mean, it sounds round... big... way overdriven.