barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 Picked up Vox. I once had one of the AC50 Classic Plus combos about 7 years go. Loved the tone but it had serious gremlins problems. Talking to a tech friend of mine (amp designer at Orange), he said that Vox amps are better these days than when I had mine and the handwired ones even more so. A good deal came up so I snagged the AC15.
Yooper Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 Congrats! That would be my top choice for a Vox.
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 3 minutes ago, Yooper said: Congrats! That would be my top choice for a Vox. Thanks man. I've been playing on it most of the evening. Found that sweet spot for me between a nice saturation and clarity.
smokedtires Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 1 hour ago, Yooper said: Congrats! That would be my top choice for a Vox. Me too. Nice choice, enjoy!
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 Me too. Nice choice, enjoy! Already being enjoyed. Funny thing is I actually have a picture in my gallery of this very guitar with that AC50. Amp weighed a ton.Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
smokedtires Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 So ever since your Swartz reviews, I have been tempted but haven't pulled the trigger yet. How does the Vox compare for Jazzy cleans?
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 So ever since your Swartz reviews, I have been tempted but haven't pulled the trigger yet. How does the Vox compare for Jazzy cleans?Depends on what you mean by "jazzy" and what you mean by "cleans". Lol. The Vox is a very different animal from the Swart. The Swart is a fantastic amp but much different sounding and feeling. The Vox has a fantastic "squish" to its saturation that I like.Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
smokedtires Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 Depends on what you mean by "jazzy" and what you mean by "cleans". Lol. The Vox is a very different animal from the Swart. The Swart is a fantastic amp but much different sounding and feeling. The Vox has a fantastic "squish" to its saturation that I like.Sent from my SM-G955U using TapatalkExcellent, thanks. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 Excellent, thanks. Sent from my SM-G930P using TapatalkI sent you a PM with a sound sample. Let me know if you don't get it. I don't have the best luck sending IM through Tapatalk. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
212Mavguy Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 Did you find a handwired one or did you go PCB?
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 Did you find a handwired one or did you go PCB?Handwired. The big appeal of that was a couple things. If a mod if wanted, it's more doable. ...that and if the tubes crap out, I know they aren't buried in the board. Lol. Not sure if the PCB vox amps are like that but I've seen plenty (Marshall comes to mind in particular) that have done it.Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
tulk1 Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 I can tell you from experience that on the PCB Vox not only are the tubes buried! but it nearly takes a mechanical engineering degree to get to them. I've wondered if the handwired were different. But I thought that was part of the mystery surrounding the Vox amp - that tubes are in there, baby! I have one of the Bogner design AC30CC1's from a few years back. That is my favorite amp, period. It can do chimey clean, nasty od and surprsingly - sweet od's, as well. Very versatile. And loves Single Coils as well as it loves Humbuckers. It's just too.danged.heavy. What's the weight like on the handwired? I'd assume its close to the same with the heavy cabs that Vox has used in the past.
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 I can tell you from experience that on the PCB Vox not only are the tubes buried! but it nearly takes a mechanical engineering degree to get to them. I've wondered if the handwired were different. But I thought that was part of the mystery surrounding the Vox amp - that tubes are in there, baby! I have one of the Bogner design AC30CC1's from a few years back. That is my favorite amp, period. It can do chimey clean, nasty od and surprsingly - sweet od's, as well. Very versatile. And loves Single Coils as well as it loves Humbuckers. It's just too.danged.heavy. What's the weight like on the handwired? I'd assume its close to the same with the heavy cabs that Vox has used in the past. No buried tubes here! This one, according to specs, is about 49 lbs. Not a paperweight. What's really surprising is the sheer size of it. This is like a slightly less wide AC30. One of the attached pictures shows the Vox next to my Roland Cube 80x... also a single 12 amp. Lol. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Gitfiddler Posted November 29, 2017 Posted November 29, 2017 2 hours ago, barrymclark said: No buried tubes here! This one, according to specs, is about 49 lbs. Not a paperweight. What's really surprising is the sheer size of it. This is like a slightly less wide AC30. One of the attached pictures shows the Vox next to my Roland Cube 80x... also a single 12 amp. Lol. That VOX is one slick looking rig, Barry!!
barrymclark Posted November 29, 2017 Author Posted November 29, 2017 You oughta hear it!Warning: I'm not playing any Beatles or Queen tunes in this video nor trying to emulate similar tones. Lol. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
212Mavguy Posted November 30, 2017 Posted November 30, 2017 It might be heavy, but it ain't no boat anchor! That big cab helps the tone, the extra volume adds fullness to the notes coming out of it. The fact that you chose a handwired version is much better from the long term. You might get to cut your teeth on modding with this one! Niiiiiice Snaaaaaaaaaaatch!
barrymclark Posted November 30, 2017 Author Posted November 30, 2017 1 hour ago, 212Mavguy said: It might be heavy, but it ain't no boat anchor! That big cab helps the tone, the extra volume adds fullness to the notes coming out of it. The fact that you chose a handwired version is much better from the long term. You might get to cut your teeth on modding with this one! Niiiiiice Snaaaaaaaaaaatch! Oh not at all. Definitely had heavier! AC30. JC120. Hot Rod Deville 410. Definitely has a big sound to it. I played Rumble by Link Wray on it today and it sounded GREAT overdriven. I really like the Hot/Cold switch on the Top Boost channel. It bypasses the EQ knobs and gets REAL gainy. Not like a Soldano SLO or anything. ...but plenty for me!
212Mavguy Posted December 2, 2017 Posted December 2, 2017 I am SOOOO proud and happy for you. You did it! Hope you have this one for a loooong time. Some who know you might be thinking that this is just a passing phase, you have gone through a fair amount of amps in the past IIRC...But this circuit is great sounding as well as simple. And if the amp is brand new, the tone caps and output tranny will be breaking in, as well as the speaker and tubes. Expect warmer, yet more complex tones within 25-100 hours of play time. This might be one of the first amps that you might feel comfortable with doing your repairs or mods on...yourself! Yaaaay! Boutique amps for boutique guitars!
barrymclark Posted December 2, 2017 Author Posted December 2, 2017 I am SOOOO proud and happy for you. You did it! Hope you have this one for a loooong time. Some who know you might be thinking that this is just a passing phase, you have gone through a fair amount of amps in the past IIRC...But this circuit is great sounding as well as simple. And if the amp is brand new, the tone caps and output tranny will be breaking in, as well as the speaker and tubes. Expect warmer, yet more complex tones within 25-100 hours of play time. This might be one of the first amps that you might feel comfortable with doing your repairs or mods on...yourself! Yaaaay! Boutique amps for boutique guitars!Definitely owned a few. Since joining the Heritage forum (9 years ago maybe?) I've owned:Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 (owned it when I joined the forum) - sold it as I found it to be too harsh for my ears.Picked up a VOX AC50CP2. Sold it as it was having reliability issues and I apparently wasn't the only one. Loved the sound tho.Picked up a Roland Cube 80x from Marty Grass. Still own it. Really a great sounding little amp.Got a Jet City 20. I was starting to play more rock for a little bit and this fit the bill. Traded it for a JC120 after the phase passed.Got the JC120. Liked it but it started having some functional issues. Which is odd. Roland JC amps are typically old reliable. Traded it.Got a Fender Excelsior for the JC120. It was ok. Returned it. Got a Peavey 5150 half stack. That was more of a nostalgia thing. Sold it after the nostalgia passed.Got a Mesa Express from Marty Grass. It was VERY nice but eventually I fell out of love with the flavor of the amp.I got an old Gibson amp that was basically just the cabinet and chassis. A friend of mine that works for Orange built it up. Me moving to Vegas really slowed progress on that. Now that I'm back in GA, that is going again. It is back with my friend getting tweaked. Still own it.Now I got the Vox.10 amps over the 9 years. 3 of which I still have.Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
myoldfriend Posted December 2, 2017 Posted December 2, 2017 Enjoy!!! Been jonesing for a vox type amp for ever and a day
barrymclark Posted December 3, 2017 Author Posted December 3, 2017 Enjoy!!! Been jonesing for a vox type amp for ever and a day [emoji4]They definitely have a distinct flavor!Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
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