Vox AC30 | What Makes This Amp So Special?
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- #voxac30 #voxamps #guitar @VoxAmpsVideos
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The history of Vox amps is the story of early British rock n' roll. But what made this amp so cool? Why did it embody the sound of the Shadows, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Kinks and more? Let's talk about it! And special thanks to JP of Henry Amplification for sharing his expertise on the tech side of it. Check him out here:
www.henryamps.com
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I appreciate how your demos aren't just a bunch of guitar solos. You can actually hear the tone of an amp when you strum it, the harmonic overtones of it, and how it reacts to your playing a lot better.
hi jack! I really love the Vox tone! It's the most beautiful sound in the world combined with a Gretsch, it's perfect. I have a Vox AC15 Limited Edition and an AC4 head+cab and they are incredible. My goal is a Vox AC30 HW or a Vox AC30 Blue Alnico...your video was very enlightening and entertaining. Henry's participation was really cool, with very useful notes. Congratulations on your work on the channel... there is a lot of fun and information. Stay calm and play the Vox AC30 forever! Big hug from Brazil 🇧🇷🎸🎵🔥💥⚡🍻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Enjoyable episode of the AC30, especially the segment with JP. My favorite guitarist/group that used the AC30; Jeff Beck/Yardbirds. The last time you featured the AC30, I commented that I have a love/hate relationship with it. I have a 1996 purple tolex TBX, six inputs, 2 per channel; Normal, Brilliant and Vibrato, w/the blue speakers, that I purchased new on 2/27/96. Currently, I must say my relationship has been more LOVE than hate. I found a set up that works for me, using a Boss DS-1 distortion ( sometimes a Dunlop Fuzzface mini ) and a Vox wah. Though using the wah, can add too much treble, to the AC30 which is NOT short of treble in and of itself😆. Lucky for me, I work for a school that is out in the county, more or less and with permission, I get to use their stage and a couple of times I have been there to let the AC30 cut lose! So much fun! Thanks again Jake for your videos!
Super good show Jack. I love my VOX AC30HW60. The ac30 sound has something very special. You described that well in the video.
Thanks for the history talk. It gives a really interesting context to the sound. I recently picked up the guitar for the first time in almost 30 years. Your videos on the Fender Princeton inspired me to get one. What a helpful resource. Thank you!
Excellent and Informative video. The guitar playing is superb. Thank You & Thanks to Henry
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a really great video Jack. And if I buy a Henry SRT+ next year I'll tell him he owes you a commission 😉
Interesting description of the voice... I put 7581A's in a Hot Rod Deluxe III and biased it to 60%. A buddy was using it and kept going back to the fact it was just like an older AC30 he once had. So much so, we are going to put these tubes in his DeVille 410 and bias it to his ear.
In terms of "listening", the Vox AC30 is largely responsible for a majority of my favorite tones. In terms of "playing/recording", I don't know yet... but I'm about to find out. Just purchased a 1996 AC30/6 TBX and sent it to Todd Sharp at Nashville Amplifier Service for modification and servicing. My primary amps over the past decade have been Roland Jazz Chorus and Milkman (Fenderish), so this will be an interesting departure. Curious if anyone has any experiences (good or bad) with power scaling an AC30, specifically impact on tone? Originally considered adding an internal voltage regulator feature, changed my mind, and now considering an external option like Fryette or Ox Box. Thanks for the great video!
wow ... blam ... what great track you did for the intro ... LOVED that ... and exacly why i gravitate to the vox sound
Thanks! Thats an original tuned called Worse for Wear - czcams.com/video/PlGA7s6A5u0/video.html
I agree with what he said about the Ampeg. A friend’s Father had an old Ampeg when I was a kid in the early 90’s and he said he bought the Ampeg to amplify his ‘64 Gretsch Tennessean. He said it was a cheaper option when compared to a Vox of its day and they were easier to get ahold of. We didn’t get to crank it up as much as we would have liked, but he said it’s breakup point was similar to that of a Vox AC30. I wish I remember the name of the model, but it was literally 30 years ago.
I got the VOX AC10 n I do love it
@MacMFer you should try Voz Ac10 at left n Fender Twinreverb at right , magic combination , sorry for my English mistakes ✌️
What a fantastic video have a good weekend also what is your favorite year from the 2010s 😊
You're make for a fine player and journalist, Jack - subscribed!
Thank you kindly!
My favorite AC 30 player is definitely Rory Gallagher
great video.. i now get the vox sound after years of using marshall.. the face you make while playing is hilarious tho.. nothin wrong with that its just funny sometimes..
You do this so freaking good and considered. Is there any chance that you could get your hands on a Fender Prosonic ca 90s and do a video? Would love to hear your input on it!
Thanks! If I can get my hands on one I certainly will.
Prosonic is a unique & fantastic amp! I own an early custom shop combo that I bought new. I mainly use the clean channel in Class A mode.
Strangely enough, my purpose for watching this video is to learn how to properly use my new UA Ruby pedal. Great stuff, thanks man!
I used to own a VOX (AC 30) STR. It was old, trapezoid shaped as a head only unit. It had the top boost channel, and was a bit of a mess inside ( although it had groove tube ECC83's added) and a reverb that didn't work, but it sounded so good. Of course ,like a fool I traded it for a groove tube studio tube preamp (which was a great amp) but soon wished I still had it. It wasn't that loud, but was enough for the function/showband I used it with. I guess that STR means something like "tremelo - reverb." But I've never seen anither like it in New Zealand.
STR means Super Twin Reverb. Super=head, Twin=2x12 cab, Reverb self explanatory. Very cool amp.
Every thing makes it special ❤️!!
my favourite AC30 player, or in this case players, are Jim Hartridge and Adam Franklin from Swervedriver. They pair up AC30s and JCM800s and use both as pedal platforms for glorious Brian Eno meets Stooges beauty. Thick where it needs to be and beautifully chimey where it needs to be. One uses the Alnico blue variety and the other uses a greenback loaded one i believe.
I don’t know what is is Jack, but I really love your AC30 content. Love my ac30c2 to death. Also like this pseudo-podcast format with an interesting guest - but not making the chat the full video. Nice job 👍
PS - I remember a prior ac30 video where you said blues guys sort of dismiss it as a blues amp. I find I can get blues tones that I love with a pedal into the normal channel.
Thank you kindly! I did say that - I've definitely seen the AC15 pick up some popularity in the blues crowd over the years, but not the AC30. Most blues guys I know sneer at them. But I totally agree with you, there are great tones to be had across the genres.
What a great opening song!
Thank you! Thats an original called Worse for Wear - czcams.com/video/PlGA7s6A5u0/video.html
It's great. Thanks for the link.
Fantastic video!
Glad you liked it!
That’s SG with P-90s pairs so well with that Vox.
I like the way vox amps sound in videos always but i feel the same about orange amps and ive owned a couple but always regret and sell them because theyre just too dark sounding for me. I worry they might not work with all the pedals i use also, fender amps seem to be the ones that always work for me. Love the sounds though and id still try one if i had the money lol
Bernard Sumner is my favourite AC30 player.
I wonder if it is really 30 watts clean? My Vox Pathfinder 15’s test out on my oscilloscope at about 10-11 watts squeaky clean- and those are loud as you know what plugged through a 2x12!
There were a couple of instances during a fest for Beatles fans when I got to plug into the AC 30 for the battle of the bands. I understood it was the amp of choice for the Beatles and would later be the one favored by Brian May for the main Queen timeline and recent reunion tours. If I knew better when I plugged in, I would have requested they put me in the top boost channel instead of the clean channel. Live and learn, something which isn’t going to change in this dimension.
Even though I understood what is coveted about this model beyond its association with the Beatles and with Brian, I never felt inclined to get one for myself. I was felt they were better ways to spend the amount of money that would have fetched.
P. S. Since you mentioned the Rickenbacker and the toaster pickups it’s loaded with, I have a question. What is the difference between those and other single coil models, please?
When push comes to shove, I don't disagree with that - there really are better ways to spend the amount of money that they are. The thing is, like I was talking about in the video, Vox amps just do "that thing" that they do and no other amp does. So it depends on how badly you want that thing.
Thank you, Jack. To repeat a question that I edited my above comment to include, could you elaborate on the difference between all three sets of pickups in the Fender, the Gibson and Rickenbacker you played?
So the SG has Singletone P90s, Alnico 5s I believe. The Stratocaster has Singletone 60s style pickups which are voiced like a Hendrix set, and the Rick has a set of Gemini Toaster pickups which are higher output so they balance well if Im using it with other guitars. Traditionally toaster pickups are very low output so if you switch to another guitar you'd have to adjust settings.
Thank you, Jack. So, they are really single coil. I appreciate that.
What timing Jack 🤣 Just uploaded about my two JMI's 😆
I saw that! I wish mine were a JMI
I understand a key difference is the AC30 is a Class A amp, other guitar amps like Marshall are Class B amp. The difference is the harmonics and overtones that are produced by the Class A. The Class B amp as it gets louder rounds off these harmonics, the Class A not so. So the AC30 just gets louder and louder as you turn it up. You will notice AC30 vs another amp at home that the AC30 will rattle the furniture (and your fillings) not so (to the same extent) other guitar amps.
I myself had an AC30 (1974 model with 2 x 14 inch greenback speakers) for a period of 10 years. The amp is a beast. My particular amp was a "mongrel" of the time ... in fact it was an export model - at that time they were built with different circuitry to the UK market models.
My overall impression of the amp (which is why I sold it) - too loud for use at home, too heavy to be moving around to gigs.
Sooo heavy. I don’t gig but i own 64 ac30. Getting mine to and from my amp tech is a major pain in the ass.
What's your opinion of the AC-30S? I loved my AC30 head and 2X12 cab with Black Shadows, but it's too much to carry at my age. So I picked up the 112 AC30 and love it. Do you agree? I miss the tremolo, but I can substitute for that. Appreciate your opinion.
The S1 is a really solid amp - the thing I miss the most actually is the tone cut
@@JackFossett Yep. Appreciate your comment!
Did you sell the AC30 with the eminence red fang Alnico speakers?
Traded that one for my Super Reverb 5 years ago.
What's up with people shaking their guitars in these videos the past few years it does nothing lol😂 what is this trend?? I'll shake the guitar on my knee and bend tone ?lol
?
Your remark about presence being the opposite of the tone cut is not quite right. All the amp circuits I have looked at with a Presence control, have it placed in a negative feedback loop, taken from right at the end of the signal chain and fed back to the preamp stages. With Presence set at zero there is maximum negative feedback, most controlled, with Presence set at maximum there is minimum negative feedback and the amp is at its most aggressive. The Presence control is located in a completely different area to the tone stack circuitry. It does 'brighten' the amp but is not a normal 'tone control'.
Are thode still made in England?
No, they’ve been made in China for quite a while
@@JackFossett thank you.
Does VOX make anything in England any more, other then tea at tea time?? Very Sad@@JackFossett
@@timmotel5804 I don’t believe they do. Unfortunately Vox seems to be mostly Korg’s side project that’s content to just bring in money off of the name. It’s not junk, but it could be significantly better.
@@JackFossett I'm sure it's an excellent amp, BUT it Should be Made in England! I might buy one with "the BLUE Alnico speakers" anyway.
My new Fender Super Reverb has 4 Alnico speakers and I love um. Thanks
Interesting video Jack, but I just don't like the Vox thing.
Its definitely not for everyone.
So would you say this is a good bedroom amp? 🤣
Lol believe it or not, i have a vintage 64 ac30 that I use in my home. If you don’t use an attenuator it’ll blow your windows out and you’ll get the police called on you by your neighbors.