Members metalheadUK Posted March 4, 2010 Members Share Posted March 4, 2010 Hopefully, later on this year, I'm gonna bag meself a new amp. It's currently a toss up between a MIC AC30, with decent speakers and tubes, or one of the 40 watt Fenders (Blues deville?). Not really relevant to the thread, but hey!...I need something that isn't a Marshall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 4, 2010 Vox or Fender...both are great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flummox Posted March 4, 2010 Members Share Posted March 4, 2010 The Vox AC30cc2 is very big and heavy. If you are gigging it might be worth lugging around. If you are playing at local jams it wouldn't. My AC30 sounds pretty nice clean at bedroom volumes. It can be slightly overdriven at lower volumes since it has a master volume config. I've played AC15s at guitar shops. Probably not the ideal place but I wasn't too impressed with the ones I played. IMO it sounded closer to my Crate Palomino V8 than my AC30. It seemed to break up pretty low and to me it was not a very pleasing overdriven sound. It sounded "boxy" to me, not open and chimey lie I was expecting. I can't resist shamelessly plugging the Bugera V22. I would definitely try one out before making a decision. To me the V22 sounds much closer to the AC30 than the AC15, although I'm not in love with the digital reverb. The Wharfdale speakers in the CCs sound boxy as hell until they break in. That's something that turned a lot of people off of the AC15CC initially. But play it for a week or two and it opens up nicely. With a Blue or a Blue Dog it's even better. For a while, Vox offered a 1x12 AC30CC that weighed about the same as the AC15. Sounded great, with a somewhat more manageable size and a birch plywood cabinet. Still heavy as hell, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 4, 2010 I need to try another 15...it's been a year or so since I played through one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willyguitar Posted March 4, 2010 Members Share Posted March 4, 2010 The AC30 is not that much heavier than any other 2 by 12. Let's face it, you are very unlikely to ever have to take it with you on a hiking holiday in the French alps. Nor will you probably be packing it in your rucksack for a sight-seeing trip to the Eiffel Tower. Put you back into it my boy, and bend the knees with a straight back when lifting, and as long as you are not made of straw, you should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 what transformers do they use in the valvetech? I don't recall what comes stock. Nothing fancy, I don't think. You can however have Rob build it with whatever transformer you want. I know it's fairly common for guys to get them with MM transformers as an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 The AC30 is not that much heavier than any other 2 by 12. Let's face it, you are very unlikely to ever have to take it with you on a hiking holiday in the French alps. Nor will you probably be packing it in your rucksack for a sight-seeing trip to the Eiffel Tower.Put you back into it my boy, and bend the knees with a straight back when lifting, and as long as you are not made of straw, you should be OK. Oh, trust me...I can lift it...I just don't like toting it around. So, it never leaves my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 The Wharfdale speakers in the CCs sound boxy as hell until they break in. That's something that turned a lot of people off of the AC15CC initially. But play it for a week or two and it opens up nicely. With a Blue or a Blue Dog it's even better.For a while, Vox offered a 1x12 AC30CC that weighed about the same as the AC15. Sounded great, with a somewhat more manageable size and a birch plywood cabinet. Still heavy as hell, though. True. I forgot to take that into consideration. I got my AC30CC2 used, probably about 7 years old. The wharfdales sound good to me, although I'm very tempted to put in a pair of Weber Blue Dogs or Eminence Red Fangs just to see if there is a marked improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 The AC30 is not that much heavier than any other 2 by 12. Let's face it, you are very unlikely to ever have to take it with you on a hiking holiday in the French alps. Nor will you probably be packing it in your rucksack for a sight-seeing trip to the Eiffel Tower.Put you back into it my boy, and bend the knees with a straight back when lifting, and as long as you are not made of straw, you should be OK. It's worth the effort for Gigs in large rooms. Not worth it for local jams, band tryouts etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 agreed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duffy1 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 You know what? I tried two amps lately that really blow my mind even at low volume. One: Marshall Class 5 really nice little loud amp, didn't a b it to a ac15 but I bet it sounds better. Really nice class A Marshall tone with not much clean headroom with humbuckers and better with single coils. About 350. Made in England. Two: A really great amp - Fender Supersonic, lots of tubes, all tube pro design with two voices, not digital but switchable: vibrolux and bassman and has reverb for both two sounds for each voice, switchable; and, most impressively, a BURN switch for either voice that is the best overdrive I think I've ever heard. Has a stock Vintage 30. On sale here for 1000. Made in the USA. Also, a lot of the amps made overseas, in Asia, etc., do, of course use Chinese and Asian components; but, where they source them from is often a mystery, lowest cost, smallest quantity, resulting in the absence of replacement parts when you need your amp fixed. American or English amps source from overseas places but usually know where they got them and have arrangements with the mfg's to provide and produce replacement parts, thus making the amps fixable far into the future, maybe for the rest of your life. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is made overseas but will also probably be fixable for the rest of your life. It depends upon the expected lifetime of the amp and the priority that the mfg places on having it being repairable. I would expect that an AC15 will be repairable for a very long time, same with the AC30. If not I would be highly unimpressed with Vox. Nonetheless, a lot of amps will be obsolete soon after the production run is complete, with no critical replacement parts available and no record kept by the overseas mfg'r as to where to get them. They might have been specially ordered and made in only specified quantities in order to fill the initial order. USA Peaveys and things like that will have replacement parts indefinitely, and for a long indefinite time. This is one of these areas where it is hard for the consumer to determine which amp is going to be capable of having a long period of longevity. The pro Fenders are another example of amps that can be still fixed even though they are old and the new ones are also supposed to be fixable for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 You know what? I tried two amps lately that really blow my mind even at low volume. One: Marshall Class 5 really nice little loud amp, didn't a b it to a ac15 but I bet it sounds better. Really nice class A Marshall tone with not much clean headroom with humbuckers and better with single coils. About 350. Made in England. Two: A really great amp - Fender Supersonic, lots of tubes, all tube pro design with two voices, not digital but switchable: vibrolux and bassman and has reverb for both two sounds for each voice, switchable; and, most impressively, a BURN switch for either voice that is the best overdrive I think I've ever heard. Has a stock Vintage 30. On sale here for 1000. Made in the USA. Also, a lot of the amps made overseas, in Asia, etc., do, of course use Chinese and Asian components; but, where they source them from is often a mystery, lowest cost, smallest quantity, resulting in the absence of replacement parts when you need your amp fixed. American or English amps source from overseas places but usually know where they got them and have arrangements with the mfg's to provide and produce replacement parts, thus making the amps fixable far into the future, maybe for the rest of your life. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is made overseas but will also probably be fixable for the rest of your life. It depends upon the expected lifetime of the amp and the priority that the mfg places on having it being repairable. I would expect that an AC15 will be repairable for a very long time, same with the AC30. If not I would be highly unimpressed with Vox. Nonetheless, a lot of amps will be obsolete soon after the production run is complete, with no critical replacement parts available and no record kept by the overseas mfg'r as to where to get them. They might have been specially ordered and made in only specified quantities in order to fill the initial order. USA Peaveys and things like that will have replacement parts indefinitely, and for a long indefinite time. This is one of these areas where it is hard for the consumer to determine which amp is going to be capable of having a long period of longevity. The pro Fenders are another example of amps that can be still fixed even though they are old and the new ones are also supposed to be fixable for a long time. Yeah, Class 5's are nice...but I already have a Haze. Also had a Fender HR Deluxe...nice amps...but not made overseas...made in Mexico... May have to try out a Supersonic...anybody have one of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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