Vox AC15C1 users, still happy?

[echodeluxe]

honestly, if you really want an ac30 for home playing, do it. but its just hard to get it cookin and sounding awesome.

 

the ac15 is hard to push at home too. those things are super loud. if we wanna split hairs here, you shouldnt have anything over 1/2 a watt for home use. its impractical...

[Parah Salin]

I have not tried the AC15c1 yet, but in theory, and as an AC15cc owner, I do like some of the changes they've made... such as the separate normal and top boost channels, as well as the tone cut on the master section. The tube access is supposed to be a bit easier on the new models too. But the choice of speaker kind of baffles me.... (edit: no pun intended! ) a Celestion Greenback? That seems more appropriate for a "Marshall" than a Vox to me. Those of you who own one, how does it sound? I mean, I KNOW how Greenbacks sound, but how does it sound in an AC15? Mine came with the Wharfedale speaker in it stock, which wasn't horrible, but it sounds MUCH better (and more traditionally "Vox" to my ears) with the Weber AlNiCo Blue Dog I have in it now...

Didn't the AC30's in the 90's come with Greenbacks?

[echodeluxe]

Didn't the AC30's in the 90's come with Greenbacks?

 

 

yep. the ac30 tb/6 i played on tour had a pair of greenbacks. sounded amazing.

[ponch]

ive finally decided on getting the new ac30c2, im hopefully gonna get it within the next month or so, so looking forward to that.

 

 

i think the new vox amps are awesome !!!

[Offthiscentury]

ive finally decided on getting the new ac30c2, im hopefully gonna get it within the next month or so, so looking forward to that. i think the new vox amps are awesome !!!

 

 

Word. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. I think I'm going to stick with the 15. It'd be nice to have the extra power of the 30 but seems like it'd be overkill for my needs.

 

I really like how the 15 lets you have either just and external cabinet or and external and the internal speaker at the same time.

[ponch]

Word. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. I think I'm going to stick with the 15. It'd be nice to have the extra power of the 30 but seems like it'd be overkill for my needs. I really like how the 15 lets you have either just and external cabinet or and external and the internal speaker at the same time.

 

 

thats aweosme, i take it the 30 can do this too ?

 

yh i need to the extra power and the headroom and stuff !!!!

[Offthiscentury]

thats aweosme, i take it the 30 can do this too ? yh i need to the extra power and the headroom and stuff !!!!

 

 

I would think so. I think the ac30 has all of the same features but it has an effects loop? You might want to double check that before buying though.

[Fendert]

So its not loud enough in a band situation? Even for rhythm guitar?

I dont know who is saying its not loud enough for a band situation, this thing is loud how many times can I say this?

YES it is way loud enough, unless you are playing metal, in a garage, and the amp is on the opposite end of the room from where you are, and you have ear plugs in.

[ambient]

So does anyone use an A/B switch to change between the normal & top boost channels on the fly?

[goodhonk]

irg, check out the trace elliot velocette.

 

 

 

ebay velocette $350 bin

 

INTRODUCTION

The Velocette is a no nonsense, compact, purist valve guitar amplifier. It has the

minimum controls necessary to produce a good range of sounds, from clean to

overdriven, into its single 10

[-Andrew-]

*spam alert*

buy my ac30cc1!! its right around the price of a new ac15 and you get 2x the power

edit: and has the fx loop and is way lighter than the ac30c2!

[IRG]

So, unlike my Fender that has separate gain and volume, the Vox essentially has two volume controls. So you can dime the master, and play with the regular volume for one kind of sound, or dime the regular volume, and play with the master for yet another kind of sound. Is this correct? I like the clip on Vox's website a lot.

[eerock]

So, unlike my Fender that has separate gain and volume, the Vox essentially has two volume controls. So you can dime the master, and play with the regular volume for one kind of sound, or dime the regular volume, and play with the master for yet another kind of sound. Is this correct? I like the clip on Vox's website a lot.

 

 

The two volume knobs on Vox are basically gain knobs. They control preamp gain so if you crank those - you get distortion. The master controls overall volume of both channels. The top boost channel has a little bit more gain than the normal and distorts earlier.

[IRG]

The two volume knobs on Vox are basically gain knobs. They control preamp gain so if you crank those - you get distortion. The master controls overall volume of both channels. The top boost channel has a little bit more gain than the normal and distorts earlier.

 

 

OK, thanks for the clarity. Do you happen to use a Hotcake with a Vox?

[comrade_jon]

*spam alert* buy my ac30cc1!! its right around the price of a new ac15 and you get 2x the power edit: and has the fx loop and is way lighter than the ac30c2!

Sorry to spoil your spam, but it's not actually all that lighter. The weight difference is I think about 10lbs but you only get one handle as opposed to the CC2 which cleverly comes with three.

That one handle thing is so bloody annoying.

Although, I would recommend this amp, it's amazing and the stock speaker pwns the {censored}e out of the stock speakers in any of the other Chinese made AC30s, and the AC15.

[eerock]

OK, thanks for the clarity. Do you happen to use a Hotcake with a Vox?

 

 

Yeah I've got a Double Hotcake on my board for dirty sounds. Just got the Vox and the HC was actually harder to tweak with it than my Blues Deluxe. It got really thin if the Vox was already breaking up, couldn't get almost any usable sounds that way. Obviously The BD doesn't have that problem except on the drive channel, it does the same thing. So the key to the Hotcake/Vox goodness is to keep preamp volume just below where it starts to break IMO.

[IRG]

Yeah I've got a Double Hotcake on my board for dirty sounds. Just got the Vox and the HC was actually harder to tweak with it than my Blues Deluxe. It got really thin if the Vox was already breaking up, couldn't get almost any usable sounds that way. Obviously The BD doesn't have that problem except on the drive channel, it does the same thing. So the key to the Hotcake/Vox goodness is to keep preamp volume just below where it starts to break IMO.

 

 

So at that point is it very loud, or still controllable via the master volume? Reason I ask, I don't often get to really crank up an amp at break up (weekends yes, but otherwise, not at night - family thing) so if a pedal is only going to be useful for this, then I don't want it. I have a Maxon ST-Pro+ that has its own mid controls, very versatile pedal, it might work well with the Vox.

[aeon]

I like the Celestion Greenback well enough in a modern AC15, but I think the Celestion Alnico or Celestion Century Vintage are very worthwhile upgrades.

 

I also found that my Analogman Sunlion's Beano side really delivered with the modern AC15 - it's been a few years now, but the sound of that amp driven with the Sunlion, Les Paul Jr. w/P-90s, and recorded with a Beyer M160 is heavenly to my ear.

 

 

cheers,

Ian

[eerock]

So at that point is it very loud, or still controllable via the master volume? Reason I ask, I don't often get to really crank up an amp at break up (weekends yes, but otherwise, not at night - family thing) so if a pedal is only going to be useful for this, then I don't want it. I have a Maxon ST-Pro+ that has its own mid controls, very versatile pedal, it might work well with the Vox.

 

 

You can control the overall volume with the master volume so you can get nice break up at lower volume levels. So no, you don't have to crank the master volume to get it to overdrive.

In PGS's demo they have master volume up to 2 o'clock and that's really loud! Mine is around 10 o'clock at rehearsals altough I've got a Celestion Alnico Gold as a speaker which may be little louder than the Greenback.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Hey Phil, have you ever used the AC15 in a band situation?

 

 

Yes, lots of times. By itself, it will hang - but just barely; especially if you want to play "clean" a fair amount of the time. Pair it with a second amp (such as my Princeton Reverb II), running in stereo, and it becomes a lot more viable. If you have a particularly loud band / drummer, and you play clean a lot, you may find it just slightly underpowered for your needs. Of course, the efficiency of whatever speaker you have installed will be a factor as well...

[Offthiscentury]

Not that it needs to be confirmed, but the ac15c1 sounds with an alnico blue. I've got one in a Valve Jr. Cab that I use either by itself or with the stock speaker and it sounds great either way.

btw, I didn't really care for it with my TW Muff. Sounded really harsh, although that might just be how I had it dialed in and the fact that I'm not much of a fuzz guy in general. YMMV.

[Phil O'Keefe]

How are you liking the Class5 btw? I may want to try one of them too.

I like that little amp a lot - but it's not going to hang with a band - at least not for clean tones. But it's a baby Marshall all tube amp - clean tones are really not what it's all about.

Don't get me wrong - it will play clean if you lower the volume far enough (although it is not terribly loud when you do), and even with the volume past noon, it will clean up very well (and sounds really good) if you drop the volume on the guitar... but at 5W through a single 10" speaker, unless you're going to be playing cranked / dirty all the time, it's not going to hang with a band.

Even if you DO play dirty all the time, it's probably going to struggle to hang with a band. I measured as high as 107 dB SPL (A weighted) from the Class5 cranked at a distance of about 2 meters. Yes, that's pretty loud, but that's with the amp tapped out, and a good drummer will probably exceed those levels... especially if they're playing the type of music that would go with the sound of a cranked Marshall amp...

IOW, small gigs, home practice and for recording are probably the situations where the Class 5 is going to feel most at home. I'd feel underpowered with it at a bar or club gig unless the amp was miked up and running through the PA.

[IRG]

I like that little amp a lot - but it's not going to hang with a band - at least not for clean tones. But it's a baby Marshall all tube amp - clean tones are really not what it's all about. Don't get me wrong - it will play clean if you lower the volume far enough (although it is not terribly loud when you do), and even with the volume past noon, it will clean up very well (and sounds really good) if you drop the volume on the guitar... but at 5W through a single 10" speaker, unless you're going to be playing cranked / dirty all the time, it's not going to hang with a band. Even if you DO play dirty all the time, it's probably going to struggle to hang with a band. I measured as high as 107 dB SPL (A weighted) from the Class5 cranked at a distance of about 2 meters. Yes, that's pretty loud, but that's with the amp tapped out, and a good drummer will probably exceed those levels... especially if they're playing the type of music that would go with the sound of a cranked Marshall amp... IOW, small gigs, home practice and for recording are probably the situations where the Class 5 is going to feel most at home. I'd feel underpowered with it at a bar or club gig unless the amp was miked up and running through the PA.

Thanks Phil, about what I expected. I almost wish (and I know this goes against what this amp is about) it had something like a Master volume, or a 1 watt option, as 5w turned up all the way to get that good amp distortion, is still quite loud for home/studio use, and yet not enough for live use, so it kinda falls in no mans land it would seem.

[scud133]

I was going to get a 15w Hayseed... until this came along... but maybe the Valvetech guy can find a way to cut expenses a bit for a recession-buster model of the Hayseed

[IRG]

What fuzz works well with the AC15, a tonebender perhaps? Fuzz face? I was looking at some of the MJM and Throback stuff, seems pretty cool. The HC is definitely on my short list for overdrives, but I want to try a different fuzz too.