Members michaell Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Any experience with this one? Plusses? Minuses? It's discontinued. Its an AC30 with just one speaker. There's a used one with broken reverb for sale where I live. Curious to learn more. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cirrus Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 I had one. And a cc2, and a cch. Plusses: - A bit lighter- A bit quieter- A bit smaller Minuses; - Still bloody heavy, except now there's only one carry handle rather than the 3 on the cc2, so you can't get a mate to help you.- Still loud, but the narrower cab and single speaker makes it a bit less rich and thick sounding. Also the stock neodyme speaker is ok - not as good as the alnico blue option. I think that's it. Honestly I don't think the trade off for the slightly smaller size is worth it in comparison to the two speaker version, though with a decent speaker and valves it's still a great amp. If you're looking for vintage ac30 sounds, the trick is to keep the master up and remember that good speakers are EVERYTHING. Oh, and the reverb isn't all that great so you wouldn't be missing much. And if you get it, don't use the standby switch - gz34 rectified amps don't need them and using it might stress the amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michaell Posted September 7, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Cirrus, Thanks. I'm researching for my buddy. He's quite enamoured with this amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members almightycrunch Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 And if you get it, don't use the standby switch - gz34 rectified amps don't need them and using it might stress the amp. Now, why is that?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cirrus Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Now, why is that?????? Good question! It turns out that on AC30 amps there's no need for a standby switch because the valve rectifier ramps up the voltage safely and slowly as it warms up. Using the standby can actually stress the rectifier valve and shorten its life - if you look at original 60's and 70's ac30s, they don't have a standby switch for this reason. What happens is if you use the standby switch, the rectifier gets up to temp, then you flick the switch and all the caps in the amp are empty. That means there's a huge inrush of voltage with can be higher than the GZ34 is rated for, and over time it can blow the rectifier. If you do some research you'll see that a lot of the reported issues with CC amps stem from blown rectifier tubes. Here's some more info so you don't need to take my word for it; http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75667 http://www.voxamps.com/forum/topic.php?id=1025 http://www.thegearpage.net/board/arc.../t-697768.html http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboar...=90672&start=0 And here's a thread posted today; http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=99143 I've had three of these amps, for my gigging amp I've not used the standby switch for 3 years and it's not caused any harm at all to the amp. I think it was just put on in the first place because Vox thought it's what people expect to see on a valve amp. This does only apply to valve rectified amps of course - I'm not saying that you shouldn't use standby switches on other amps! Hope that covers it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Slaymoar Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Get one, do all the mods to it, then you will get the actual real vintage Vox intended tone (or thereabouts). Without mods, it still sounds good though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plawren53202 Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Truth about the standby switch, as odd as that is. When I used the standby switch on my AC30 CC2 in the normal way in the past (turn power switch on, then turn standby switch on), I was blowing tubes and fuses all the time. Since someone told me about the standby switch issue and I stopped using it (it just stays on all the time, and I just turn the master power switch on, making sure volume is all the way down before turning on), presto....no more blown tubes or fuses. Also ditto on switching speakers. In my experience, speaker choice makes more difference to my AC30 than any other amp I have owned. When I took out the stock Wharfdales and replaced them with a Weber Blue Dog and an Eminence Red Fang (both alnico), it really brought my CC2 to life. As far as the CC1, I don't think unfortunately you will save much weight from having only one speaker...my AC30 is a heavy SOB even with the speakers out. I don't think you will miss the reverb much. If someone is offering a good price on the CC1, I would definitely hit it. I think even the one speaker version, with a good speaker, will sound great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cirrus Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 Get one, do all the mods to it, then you will get the actual real vintage Vox intended tone (or thereabouts). Without mods, it still sounds good though... The mods are fun - taught me how to solder, use a multimeter, drill through metal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drewl Posted September 7, 2011 Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 I removed the standby on my '93 Korg AC30 w/Celestion Blues and installed a master volume in it's place.Come in handy sometimes.Yours already has the master, can't add much more than the advice above, but they are great sounding amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members michaell Posted September 7, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 7, 2011 great info....thanks again to all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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