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School me on high gain AC30 toanz, HCFX.


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I'm seriously considering getting rid of my JCM900 MKIII for an AC30 combo, but I'm kinda iffy on its ability to get the high gain tones I like, only because all I ever hear about is how awesome the RAT is in front of the AC30 :cop: So AC30 guys, what are some distortions/OD's you guys like to use with your amp to get nasty, over the top distortion in the vein of bands like Converge/Spitfire/The Minor Times/etc etc.

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I personally don't like the high gainz on an AC30....


I'd much rather have a Marshall combo or something.


The AC50, however....

 

 

I've had a bit of a love affair with the AC30 ever since I heard the epic toanz Thrice got on the Fire EP from the Alchemy Indexes. I'm looking for something kind of in that ballpark, but with a bit more grind and less fuzziness. I think the closest tone out there to what I'm trying to achieve is the guitar tone on Converge's You Fail Me.

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I've had a bit of a love affair with the AC30 ever since I heard the epic toanz Thrice got on the Fire EP from the Alchemy Indexes. I'm looking for something kind of in that ballpark, but with a bit more grind and less fuzziness. I think the closest tone out there to what I'm trying to achieve is the guitar tone on Converge's You Fail Me.



While Thrice's later albums had an AC30 all over (Beggars), the Fire EP was actually recorded mostly if not entirely with Marshall JCM800's and sometimes a Fuzz Factory for added craziness. You can cope a similar tone with a Turbo RAT or modded RAT into an AC30, or maybe try a treble booster like the Catalinbread Naga Viper that allows you to emphasize the low end and not just treble frequencies.

Or try a Naga Viper into a modded RAT. :idea:

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AC30 will do high gain, but it will always be middy and forward sounding so you won't ever get massive sounding, smooth walls of distortion from it. The biggest it sounds for me is when you crank it up, then use a reasonably bright and tight pedal to push it a bit more - the louder it is, the more girth it has. If you keep it clean and use pedals for all the gain, there's a tendency to brightness, fizz and a lack of low end unless you've got a flexible EQ.

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Nay. It was a Rat -> JCM 900

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An ac is going to sound different from your typical fender platformed sound (which = a bit of a mid scoop). The ac-30 is about the opposite of that. You can get some awesome sounds, but they aren't typical.

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The Morgan 30/800 would probably be right up your alley, it's a combination of the "classic voicing of Vox AC30 with the grind of the JCM800", I haven't had a chance to try one but have heard great things so far.

 

 

This

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That's what bass players are for



Exactly. I sometimes get frustrated trying to make the amp sound huge when I'm at the practice room on my own messing around, but I've never had trouble in a decent mix when the bass and kick are filling out the bottom end. It sits just right then.


Oh, one thing I've just thought of - you can make AC30 distortion much tighter by putting it through a closed back cab. I preferred a 2x12 to a 4x12 for that.

At the risk of inviting terrible ridicule and derision, here's a relatively high gain tone from my ac30cc combo with a crunch box.:lol:

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The Morgan 30/800 would probably be right up your alley, it's a combination of the "classic voicing of Vox AC30 with the grind of the JCM800", I haven't had a chance to try one but have heard great things so far.

 

 

F*ck. Why did I never heard of that amp? That's what I get for turning my back on the maps forum.

 

That's exactly what I always imagined my dream amp would be. I'm good on amps right now though, plus it's way way way over budget...

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