I Succumbed to Temptation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zaphod B
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Zaphod B

Zaphod B

Raccoons-Be-Gone, Inc.
Weekend before last I went to the local devil's lair (GC) to demo some amps. I was particularly interested in the Vox AC30CC. I've been looking for an amp that isn't too big to play in the house without running everybody off, and that I can use for recording or stage (if I ever get back on a stage again).

They had two AC30CCs there, both 2X12 combos. One had the GSH12 30-watt speakers and the other had the Celestion Alnico Blue 15-watt speakers.

I demo'd both amps with a nice MIA Strat that was close by. I started with the combo loaded with the GSH12 speakers and then moved to the one loaded with the Blues. I spent a good 15 minutes on each amp, and a salesman was helping me tweak for tone, blending channels, etc.

(I'd like to say that this GC has some knowledgeable people working in the guitar / amp area - most are musicians and they have a good working knowledge of their product lines.)

Both combos sounded very good, but the combo with the Blues just blew me away. Those speakers just sing. The difference is immediately noticeable.

I came back the next night with my own Tele and LP to do a little more side-by-side comparison. With the Tele I was able to dial in a very brilliant Fender-ish tone, with some nice crunch with the guitar wide open that cleaned up well with the guitar's volume backed out a little. The LP really pushed the amps well and I got a nice full overdrive - with the channel volumes pushed up you can get a very Marshall-y sound. The amps both have a great tone when the channel volumes are down and the master is pushed - the power section has a lot of sag, and it sounds like a compressor. Pretty cool stuff. Again, the combo with the Blues had simply outstanding sound.

Guess what's sitting in my bedroom? (No, it's not some big hairy guy named Brutus.) :D
 
HHHMMMMM..........Vox..........now you'll need a Gretsch Tennesseean and a Ricky 360.
 
:D :D

I tell ya, that amp sounds sweet with a Fender guitar plugged in.
 
That's the real dilema ain't it? EVERY amp sounds good with a Fender guitar plugged into it.
 
mikemorgan said:
That's the real dilema ain't it? EVERY amp sounds good with a Fender guitar plugged into it.
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Point taken. :cool:

This Vox makes a Fender guitar sound a shitload better than the Fender Super Six I used to own.
 
What was the price difference between the two amps? I know alnico blues cost quite a pretty penny.
 
Ok, now I've got to give you rep for having class, and timeless guitar mojo.
 
The difference is $600.

I rationalized it by telling myself that I would retrofit with the Blues, anyway, so I may as well just fork it out now.
 
mikemorgan said:
Ok, now I've got to give you rep for having class, and timeless guitar mojo.
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Thanks, Mike. :)

(I like "timeless guitar mojo." Got any more where that came from? :D )
 
jonnyc said:
Congrats and welcome to the family. I absolutely love my ac30cch. Now I'm thinking I might need the alnico blue 2x12 cabinet.
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Thanks, JohnnyC.

I think Avatar might be able to build you a 2X12 Alnico Blue cab for less than the $999 that Vox is asking for theirs.

At any rate, if you haven't had the opportunity to hear these speakers, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
Tonight I'm going to run my Pod XTL in front of the Vox as an effects unit - no amp modeling - to see how that sounds. It will be cool if the XTL turns out to be a good configurable pedal board.

The Pod XTL is set up with 4 pedals per programmable bank. One of the pedals is the amp model ON/OFF so that leaves one for a "stomp" effect (one of various overdrive pedal models), one for a modulation effect like chorus, flanger, phaser, etc., and one pedal for a delay effect.

The cool thing is that you have access to many banks of these three effects pedals, so some thoughtful setup could give you access to lots of variety, if only three at a time.

I eagerly await comments from modeling haters, who I predict will now claim that modelers not only cannot model amplifiers, but they can't model effects, either! :D
 
POD XTL question

Do you have to set it up with one of each, meaning, could you have no overdrive, but 1 mod & 2 different delays, or 1 od & 2 mods, etc.?

Even if you have to do that on the pc and download the patch?

I really wanted an MM4, but when I found out it could only do 1 at a time, that kinda ruined it for me.
 
Zaphod B said:
Tonight I'm going to run my Pod XTL in front of the Vox as an effects unit - no amp modeling - to see how that sounds. :D
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NOOOOOOO!!! that totally defeats the feeling of using a tube amp. what is the point. FYI, the pod is not true bypass. which means, even though your "amp modeling" is off, it is still going through the freakin process. i absolutely hate modeling technology.. you could probably tell. give me a tube able and analog delay pedal any day, that is all i need to whip it up.... ;)
 
to add to that, would you send your guitar signal through a noodle maker before going in to your vox ac30? didnt think so... :D
 
Here's the way it works. There are 128 channel memories, arranged in 32 banks of 4 channels.

Each of the 128 channels can have all of the following 4 available:
-- Amp model
-- Stomp effect (one from a selection of distortion, compressor, autowah)
-- Modulation effect (one from a selection of choruses, flangers, phasers, trems, etc)
-- Delay effect (one from a selection of analog and digital delay models)

All of the above are in addition to other global settings per channel for reverb, comp, gate, EQ, etc.

Each of the four assignable effects has an ON/OFF foot pedal.

There is also a foot switch for Bank+ and Bank- to switch between adjacent banks of four channels. When you have a Bank selected, you have immediate access to four channels, A - D.

So, let's assume that the amp model will be turned off, and that leaves the other three types of effects that can be assigned to the other three pedals.

So on Bank 1A, you could have, for example,
-- (amp model off)
-- Ibanez Tube Screamer for stomp effect
-- Analog chorus (modeled on Boss CE-1) for modulation effect
-- Tape delay (modeled on Roland RE-101 Space Echo) for delay effect

On Bank 1B, you could have:
-- (amp model off)
-- Arbitron Fuzz Face model for stomp effect
-- U-Vibe model for modulation effect
-- Straight-up digital delay for delay effect

And on Bank 1C, you could have:
-- (amp model off)
-- Ring modulator for stomp effect
-- Leslie rotary drum model for modulation effect
-- Reverse delay for delay effect

.....and so on, and so on.

As you can see, even though you only have access to three types of effects at once, you can easily switch between effects configurations.
 
foreverain4 said:
NOOOOOOO!!! that totally defeats the feeling of using a tube amp. what is the point. FYI, the pod is not true bypass. which means, even though your "amp modeling" is off, it is still going through the freakin process. i absolutely hate modeling technology.. you could probably tell. give me a tube able and analog delay pedal any day, that is all i need to whip it up.... ;)
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Hah! I knew it! Got a bite!

You are correct that there is no true bypass in these units. However, when you disable the amp modeling, you also disable all parameters associated with amp modeling - there is no cabinet, mic, eq, or room ambience emulation, so all you are left with is the effects modeling. So yes, you are still sending an analog guitar signal that has been routed through a digital signal processor and reconverted to analog, to the front end of your amp.

Would you mind telling me how that differs from using a Boss digital delay stomp box in my signal path, which I have been doing successfully for years, with my Matamp vintage tube amp?

At any rate, that's why I'm going to try the fucking thing out!!!

Edit: I got so excited I forgot to add some smiley faces and other suitable emoticons.
:p :rolleyes: ;) :D :cool:
 
Zaphod B said:
Hah! I knew it! Got a bite!
i dont use the boss digital delay, but it is true bypass. this means your main signal is intact (analog) while a split is taken off to produce the delay fx, then blended back with the pure analog signal. BIG difference. happy noodle making anyway... ;)
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all that being said, i really wonder what the guitar modelers would sound like with top notch AD/DA conversion. i have a feeling this is the biggest drawback to these systems anyway.

btw, i have the ac30cc as well. with a 2x12 ext. love it! my dream amp...
 
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