I bought a new tube amp yesterday

jimistone

long standing member
I found a great deal on a Vox ac 15c1 Tube amp (I wanted a low wattage tube amp). It's the new "made in China" generation of Vox tube amps. I wanted to love it. I tried to convince myself it was great. It is a beautiful classic vintage Vox looking amp.
but....
I didn't really like it that much. It does the Beatles "you can't do that" and the Byrds "turn, turn, turn" Jangley clean exceptionally well, but if you dont want that jangley clean sound you're shit out of luck. Also, the overdrive had an annoying high pitched fuzziness. the overdrive would have been good if not for that. I did a quick Google and found out that these concerns were nothing that a $200 speaker swap, and $100 nos re-tube, and a removing of the bright cap wouldn't solve.:rolleyes:
On top of that the tone controls are finicky and it's hard to dial in a good balance of bass, treble, and mids.

I plugged into a used Peavey Classic 30 tube amp the shop had and it smoked the Vox's ass. So, for close to the same money I went home with the C-30.
 
That's how I hear all Vox amps, even the old ones. They border on painfully bright.
How much was the amp? $200+ in mods is weird and suggests people should have picked a different amp. Maybe those people fell for the looks because they do look cool.
 
I've recorded a bit with an AC-15 and found it great, even with a telecaster. It does the Clash brilliantly and sounds excellent wound up. It doesn't suit everybody, I suppose.
 
Congrats on the Peavey. I've always heard good things about the older Peavey tube combos.

I bought the Vox AC15c last year and liked the sound. However a rattle in the cabinet make it unrecordable so it went back. Just two or three months ago I bought the same amp in a head. I like it. There are a variety of tones to be had by playing with the two channels and running the amp into different cabs--especially open versus closed back.

Clean headroom it has not, so if you want that clean chimy voxtone, you're going to have to turn it down. But we're recording, right? So not a problem. Put a mic in front of the cab and it sounds big enough.

I actually find it has a pretty nice, creamy overdrive sound that is more useful for leads than rhythms, for some reason.

Anyway, the amp is fitting well into my palatte of tones and works well in the kind of music I do. If I had to make do with a single amp, this wouldn't be it. But fortunately I don't have that problem...

On the Tone thread I've posted a few clips using the AC15 head. Here's one with my Epiphone ES335 and the Vox head played through the open back cab of my Fender DRRI. Clean rhythm parts panned wide left and right, overdriven lead in the center.

9_22_2017 ES 335 and AC15 open cab SM57.mp3 - Google Drive
 
Last edited:
Thanks. That's an early draft of that song Bored in San Antone that I posted on the Mp3 Clinic a few weeks back.

With this particular guitar, it's always a balancing act to keep that amp on the edge of breakup. It pushes into overdrive at slightest pretext. I actually find the amp a little easier to use with single coils.
 
I've recorded a bit with an AC-15 and found it great, even with a telecaster. It does the Clash brilliantly and sounds excellent wound up. It doesn't suit everybody, I suppose.
I can see where it would be a fantastic amp for some styles. I play mostly blues guitar and it seemed better suited for rock than blues. The classic 30 is better suited for blues than rock.

I already have an amp that is well suited for rock. I needed a tube combo that is powerful enough to gig with, versatile enough to play different gendres, and light enough to grab and go.
The classic 30was a better fit for my needs.
 
There is probably NOTHING else in this world AS subjective as the guitar amplifier! The various Fender/Marshall/Vox/Mesa/Peavey et al camps are rabidly partisan and you just have to try and decide.

For the Vox 15 money* you could have had the Blackstar HT-40 with more features than either I am betting, but! There is no betting that you would like the sound. Guitar amplifiers are "voiced" that is to say their frequency response is 'not flat' by design but it is SOMEONE ELSE's idea of HOW it is 'unflat' and if you don't like 'his' decision, move on.

Speakers are another hugely subjective area. I could not find the HT-20 on the Sweetwater site but the Rocket 50 it uses is almost universally hated. Other speakers, V30s, 70/80s have their fans and detractors. Another 'but'. Gitamps is a VERY competitive market. The Rocket is cheap and a decision has to be made. The 20 is a good amp but really a 'starter' and the noob will know no better and appreciate the saving. The experienced player, wanting a fully featured amp but perhaps on that is easier on the back KNOWS the speaker is poor but can soon swap it out for his fave!

*And not fair IMO to compare amps with a 2:1 power ratio!

Dave.
 
^ +1
I have 7-8 amps and some days I hate every single one of them. Nature of the beast. Next day I twiddle one knob and the sound is suddenly perfect. Subjective is definitely THE adjective.
 
Back
Top