Vox AC30C2X 30-watt 2x12" Tube Combo with Alnico Blue Speakers

indeed.

because

there's a pretty nifty little vox amp that they unfortunately discontinued, I believe it was a variation of the pathfinder. SS but it had some cool sounds. Headphone and maybe a DI out. I haven't looked in a long time. I got distracted by the Tech21 Trademark 10 and never went back for the Vox before they stopped making it.

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Originally Posted by phantomman

You don't have a Princeton Reverb?

:wow

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Good question. Why duz I not have one? I am going to check one out online right now.

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Originally Posted by ch willie

Good question. Why duz I not have one? I am going to check one out online right now.

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Bad idea.

For your wallet, I mean :biglaugh:

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Originally Posted by ch willie

With pleasure.

Photo bombed by my buddy Keevo, my half pitt / half lab sweetheart who thinks he's a lap dog.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6d4d7c3d_k.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...51d78eee_k.jpg

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Very Nice !!

Thanks, Harleytech.

Oh mah forkin gourd, What a friggin' monster of an amplifier. I had some quality time with it yesterday and tested each of my electrics: Strat, Tele, Les Paul, and Ric 330.

I was playing a song in 3/4 arpeggios, and I tried it with each guitar. The best sounding, the fullest on the neck pup, the most sparkly bridge pup??? A surprise to me, the Ric. I know the Ric / Vox combination has a great rep, and I thought that it was based on the sparkly sounds.

The Ric was smooth, the Les Paul full but edgy the Tele is great, but it's still not as full sounding as the Ric. My Strat sounds excellent through it but does other things the Ric can't do and vise verse.

The Les Paul sounds better with dirt. Don't get me wrong, though, it sound great through the Vox too. I'm just amazed at what the Vox does that the LP can't do in terms of the smooth fullness.

Nice. The AC30 has always been in the back of my mind- but they get pretty loud, pretty quick.
If I ever need another amp, maybe I'll look into the AC15.
I do have the AC4TV - the baby one with the built-in attenuator - 1/4, 1 or 4 watts. I swapped the tubes when I got it to good ones, that made a difference, and I've been thinking about the speaker, but I don't want to spend more for that than I did for the amp.
Still a cool sounding amp, though.

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Originally Posted by jrgtr42

Nice. The AC30 has always been in the back of my mind- but they get pretty loud, pretty quick.
If I ever need another amp, maybe I'll look into the AC15.
I do have the AC4TV - the baby one with the built-in attenuator - 1/4, 1 or 4 watts. I swapped the tubes when I got it to good ones, that made a difference, and I've been thinking about the speaker, but I don't want to spend more for that than I did for the amp.
Still a cool sounding amp, though.

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I think you'd be pleased with the AC15. I actually can play the Vox at a lower volume and still get a good sound out of it. Of course it shines when it's cranked a little. I guess I never expected to love it as much as I do. Right now, I prefer it to my Deluxe, which is one of the best amps I've ever heard--but I also know that it's the honeymoon period with the Vox. I'll be more objective in a year. I love them both and wouldn't trade or sell the Deluxe. It does some things the Vox does and vise verse, and even though I prefer the Vox, the amps are pretty equal in terms of their ability to get the best tones for what they do.

I see you use a 1spot power supply. I use that too, love it.

I've read this thread with interest, as I own this particular variant of the AC30. I bought this about 6 years ago and I chose it based on heresay and reviews and forum articles I'd read. It seemed reasonable to me that the Alnico Blues and the ability to switch in a real valve/tube rectifier would get me as close to vintage spec as I could get. I played the hand-wired one and hated the dry, crystalline sound, so this was the next best thing to 'authentic'.

I need help (possibly psychological help) because it seems that the whole world loves the sound of an AC30, and even I love it when I hear it on recordings, but after 6 years owning it, I can't seem to find a sound I like.

I've been a player for 40 years, so I'm fortunate enough to have built up a number of classic guitars and amplifiers over the time. My favourite studio amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb and my gigging amp is a Boogie. These amplifiers seem to have rich harmonics and a 3 dimensional sound compared to the Vox. Even with the tube rectifier switched in, the AC30 seems crisp and tight, but lifeless and really doesn't respond to my playing like a Fender. Even my Marshall TSL combo has a character and a richness that is absent in the AC30.

It's not my particular amp, because I've made it my mission to play as many AC30s of different ages and configurations as I can, but I feel the same frustration with all of them. I've tried various boost pedals which do improve the situation, but not nearly enough.

I don't want to 'just' sell it and spend the money on another Fender, because I do session work and I'm sometimes asked to use the Vox specifically, but I just don't get the 'feel' I want.

Am I doing something wrong??

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Originally Posted by ajwain

I've read this thread with interest, as I own this particular variant of the AC30. I bought this about 6 years ago and I chose it based on heresay and reviews and forum articles I'd read. It seemed reasonable to me that the Alnico Blues and the ability to switch in a real valve/tube rectifier would get me as close to vintage spec as I could get. I played the hand-wired one and hated the dry, crystalline sound, so this was the next best thing to 'authentic'.

I need help (possibly psychological help) because it seems that the whole world loves the sound of an AC30, and even I love it when I hear it on recordings, but after 6 years owning it, I can't seem to find a sound I like.

I've been a player for 40 years, so I'm fortunate enough to have built up a number of classic guitars and amplifiers over the time. My favourite studio amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb and my gigging amp is a Boogie. These amplifiers seem to have rich harmonics and a 3 dimensional sound compared to the Vox. Even with the tube rectifier switched in, the AC30 seems crisp and tight, but lifeless and really doesn't respond to my playing like a Fender. Even my Marshall TSL combo has a character and a richness that is absent in the AC30.

It's not my particular amp, because I've made it my mission to play as many AC30s of different ages and configurations as I can, but I feel the same frustration with all of them. I've tried various boost pedals which do improve the situation, but not nearly enough.

I don't want to 'just' sell it and spend the money on another Fender, because I do session work and I'm sometimes asked to use the Vox specifically, but I just don't get the 'feel' I want.

Am I doing something wrong??

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From a guy who eschews amps in general, I'm probably the last person who should be responding, but I read your post and it sounded to me like you're trying to play to the sound of the amp rather than have the amp sound to your playing. Does that make sense? Put another way, my amps are all combo (solid state) amps, and I tweak and twiddle until I get the sound I want. Too much reverb? Dial it down. More chorus? Dial it up. Etc, etc, etc.

Thanks for reading my post and taking the trouble to answer. To a certain extent, I agree with you. The whole reason I have different amps though, is because they lend a “classic” character to the sound. If I could match the tone on all amps there would be no need for me to have more than one.

I have tens of years of working with different amplifiers and have spent literally hours experimenting with this one.... differing levels of gain, different overall volumes, mix’s through a PA and unmic’d as backline.... I’ve played around with the tone stack like someone possessed on both the normal channel, the top boost and even both channels combined.

I can get to an approximation of a nice tone without the crystalline harshness, but it still feels devoid of soul and appears to be harmonically “dull”.

Which guitar(s) have you played through your AC30?

To my ear they always seem to sound their best with a Rick or a Gretsch.

Just the usual suspects from Fender and Gibson... not a Ricky or a Gretsch. That said, I’m not a fan of jangle and chime, but I love the AC30 sounds from early Shadows, Rory Gallagher and Brian May. I can’t even come close to those sounds though.

Are you able to play it at slightly loud volume? I'm really happy with the sounds I get with my varied collection through the Vox. It is really a different animal from the Fender, and I like them both equally. I ask because these are such versatile amps. These modern ones allow for sculpting of the eq and has preamp for a bit of thickness or outright distortion. I don't mean to be condescending, but have you ever looked over the tubes and electronics or had a pro to do so? Sometimes a player just doesn't like an amp, and what a player wants is what is most important.

Hi ch Willie. Thanks for this; I really appreciate another viewpoint.
I’ve played my own AC30 at an outdoor gig, and both my own and venue hired ones in orchestra pit bands and pub/club gigs. They’re usually played at reasonable volume, although the amp is often mic’d through to the front of house at the bigger places.
In answer to your point about the valves and the overall serviceability of the equipment, the answer is no, I haven’t messed about with that; mainly because I’ve now played a dozen or so different AC30s in a live environment and I have the same deflated opinion of all of them.

Don’t get me wrong; they sound quite acceptable in a mix and I could happily play a gig wit mine tomorrow, but they all just seem to lack the engaging, complex tone and player feedback that almost all the other amps I own have, and some of them don’t need a forklift to transport them as the AC30 does.

Overall, I’ve admired the recorded sound of them for so long, and it’s a bit like meeting your heroes.... a bit of a let down. 😟

I'm sorry you've had that experience with them. But yeah, Fender is the premier clean amp for me, and on those occasions when you can crank a Deluxe, you might as well declare youself in Tone Heaven.

I love what almost anyone else seems to be able to do with an AC30. It’s just me! There’s something in my fingers that just isn’t compatible with one. So sad. 😟

I agree with you though... Fender Deluxe every time. It has no clean headroom and is not very versatile, but there’s no more glorious sound in the history of music than when you plug a nice Strat or Tele into one.

I've noticed you said you like the recorded sounds of a Vox AC30, have you heard any live (by other players as bandmates or as an audience member) that you really liked?

I grew up with Fender tube amps, practically everybody i knew was either playing Fenders or Marshall or Ampeg. I actually have seen very few bands with Vox on stage. I've probably seen a lot more Kustom tuck and roll amps in the day than Vox.

Reconded sounds are a tricky animal. People often think the goal is to capture the exact sound live in the room, but so much depends on the engineer, the producer and the post-production mixing/mastering of the recording.

Hi Dan. Thanks for your reply.
Erm, I haven’t heard any that I can think of that have just been the raw sound of the amp. Most times when I’ve come across AC30s, they are mic’d through FOH PA... as are mine though, and my own tones just don’t sound as good to my ears.
I’ve been doing this for a very long time and have done sessions on many recordings with very capable engineers. They seem satisfied with the guitar sound, but it always leaves me feeling like “I wish I’d used a nicer amp”. Most of my stage work is sent to very experienced sound guys and some of the time it’s not my amp, but a specific one with which the sound mixer is incredibly familiar. Still I hate the sound.

It seems that me and my Strat just don’t sit comfortably with an AC30 and it’s wiry, brittle sound. Maybe I should just persevere.

Sounds like it's time for you and the AC30 to split the blanket.

If the Deluxe Reverb lacks sufficient clean "grunt" you might look into Fender's current iteration of a Pro Reverb Amp -- it's a single-channel, 1 x 12 platform with 40 watts (powered by a pair of 6L6GC's) and features Leo's traditional reverb and tremolo effects. It's also lighter than an AC30, roughly 35 lbs. if Fender's PR puff sheet is to be believed.

Thanks Phantomman.

I canÂ’t lose the AC30 because sometimes whoever hires me requests it and I have to endure the indignity of sounding like I have no idea what good tone is in order to satisfy the client.

The Vox doesnÂ’t need replacing because I have many other amps which cover all the tones and situations I could ever need. I had to buy one bee cause I canÂ’t have a classic amp collection without one, and people ask for it.

I posted on here because I felt in need of education somehow because I struggled to use an AC30, one of the most iconic and popular amps in electric guitar history. I felt kind of deficient and I wondered if there was some magic sauce I was missing.

No; IÂ’ll stick to my tweeds, deluxes and Mesas. They do everything I want... IÂ’m just a bit frustrated that I donÂ’t know how to drive a classic!

i can understand how a certain amp doesn't "work" for ya. i've had a few like that - Hughes & Kettner for one. it just did nothing for me and i got rid of it. and i once had a Mesa Triple Crown and although it was a great amp, it just didn't work for me. i really wanted to like it, too. now, along with a few Fenders and a Boogie Fillmore, i have a UK-made AC30-TB that is pretty much the amp for me. i dig the raw tone it's sorta creamy; and when i use a tube preamp in front, i can get my tone. it would be great if i could crank it up to overdrive it, but the small bars we play in wouldn't really dig that. ha. i've been using a Mesa V-Twin for a long time, and the combination of it and the AC30 works great for me. i've never tried the AC30CC or any of the newer ones.

Thanks guitartomy. I wish I could get “creamy” tones from an AC30. Are you using the TB channel? What other settings do you have?
I really want to like this amp and I’m prepared to persevere.

i'm not sure if "creamy" is the best word i could use....it's not "round", but it has a nice smooth top end, not too sharp, that sounds good to my ear. i don't have a specific setting for the tone knobs. i sorta turn them a little til i get what i want for the room, and what i'm playing. i get to the "too bright" setting of the tone knob and back off a little.
in the past, i'd use the "brilliant" input, and adjust the tone to which guitar i had. but lately, with my current set-up, i'm using the "normal" input more, and i seem to get what i like....adjusting the tone for the guitar, and/or the room. in the 90s, we did a lot of funk/disco, which was why i needed good clean tone. and for me, it was there. now, even though i'm using more overdrive/dist tones, i stick with the AC30 as a basic tone behind the v-twin. if the C2X doesn't eventually work out, try checking out a Korg-era model. :^)

At the end of the day, we like what we like. I had a great Marshall half stack one with four separate channels and eqs (forget the model now), an array of Marshall tones. I liked the amp, just wasn't me. We're lucky to have such a variety of sounds available to us according to our likes.

exactly! if you're honest with yourself, you'll be ahead of the game.