Is Vox AC30 a suitable amp for thick jazz tones?

[Sam FuzzCaptain]

I'm nearly done saving for an AC30c2 (limited cream) and I'm wondering does anyone have any experience of using them for jazz or know any players that use them.

[barrymclark]

I've used various Vox AC models and found them capable. Not orthodox, but capable. I very much like them. The only reason I didn't hang on to them was quality of build. It was a real shame as I really dug the tone. ... even if I hated the weight. Never tried the handwired, thought. May be made better.

[Sam FuzzCaptain]

What was wrong with the build quality?

[barrymclark]

What was wrong with the build quality?

I have no idea how they are these days, but maybe 5 years ago back, they were very prone to failure on some level. When I say very prone, I mean it was very easy, very easy to find stories on their build quality. Oddly easy. I mean, even the best, there are stories. But the sheer volume was off putting. Coupling that with my own experiences and that of amp tech friends, I just chose to stay away. Even when I was shopping for a Vox, I had an extraordinarily difficult time finding one that that was in perfect working order. By that I mean every operating feature worked as it should including indicating lights. I chalked that up to amps being abused on sales floors so I took a leap of faith and the one got worked fine for about 4 months. Then indicating lights started intermittently not working. Not powering on. I got it seemingly working then sold it at serious loss.

[feet]

Not orthodox, but capable ... even if I hated the weight. Never tried the handwired, thought. May be made better.

my thoughts on the matter. having two handwireds, i can attest to them being capable (but unorthodox), heavy and superior to the regular line in build and tone quality. i might suggest getting a vox only if you want a vox, not a jazz sound. if you just play jazz, you can get a decent sound elsewhere for less money and weight.

[petermelton]

For what it's worth my main amp is a Morgan AC20 Deluxe. I've used it for everything from duets with a singer, to playing in a big band, to dive bar rock band gigs. I love Vox type circuits. Tube warmth plus class A wiring attack is a wonderful thing.

[Chimera1to1]

I was wrestling with this dilemma recently. I just love the AC sound.

The reliability issue is bad. It seemed like the HW models were the solution but then everyone moans about the ruby tubes. Let's face it if its a vox then it should have blue speakers. And at that price point you would be better splashing out on a JMI.

If you want jangle then Tiny Terrors or H and K Tubemeister do it too. No idea if TT is good clean but the Tubemeister reviews describe it as Vox type drive tone with Fender cleans. I use my Tubemeister 18 for jazz and it is currently the US best selling amp.

And it glows blue. Every guitarist should have an amp that glows

[Sonnyboy]

Brian May's clean tone has always been very nice, even if not used for jazz. I'm sure it would have sufficed for jazz had he decided to go that route.

[D.G.]

The main issue you might have with a Vox (other than weight) is lack of bottom end. You might not really notice at first, but if you're used to Fender circuits, eventually you'll crave more bass than the el84's and the Vox circuit can give you. But as always, YMMV.

[jazzbow]

Check out John Schofield's more recent gigs on you tube, Vox and Tele! Nice...

[willschmid97]

John. Scofield.

Haha, I'll say the same thing, not orthodox but capable. I am not an orthodox guy and love the AC30 sound, played a few and really liked them. However, given a choice, I would probably run through a Fender Deluxe, Twin, or if I'm in a super clean mood, my Henriksen Jazzamp 110 SS amp.

[barrymclark]

There's also the Mesa Transatlantic series which has a very nice take on the Vox sound. That's the one I have my eye on for Vox goodness.

[Daniel Kuryliak]

Strictly my opinion here..but I wouldn't bother with any VOX AC30 MIC (Made in China)..crappy commercial parts
used including the speakers.

If you definitely want to spend money on a Vox, you need to go to a handwired model..

AC30 Handwired (2010)
Introduced in 2010, the amp featured Hand-wired turret board construction (against cheaper PCB construction), Birch-ply cabinets featuring solid bracing and a natural high frequency diffuser (verses MDF cabinets and no high frequency diffuser); All-tube design (different from the Custom series tube pre/power amp but solid-state rectifier); ECC83/12AX7 preamp tubes (x3) EL84 power tube quartet; (AC30 models); EL84 Duet (AC15 models); GZ34 rectifier (AC30 models); EZ81 rectifier (AC15 models); came factory-fitted with matched Ruby Tubes to provide extended dynamic range; maintained the traditional VOX two-channel design (Top Boost and Normal. High and Low inputs for each channel); the Normal channel features an additional BRIGHT switch; The top boost channel features a HOT/COOL switch to achieve even more gain.

O/P mode switch cuts the amp’s Output Power level in half (30 > 15 on the AC30

Master Volume/BYPASS switch completely bypasses the Master Volume section allowing incredible levels of gain and sustain to be achieved.

The amp’s Output Power level in half (30 > 15 on the AC30, 15 > 7.5 on the AC15) allowing higher levels of saturation to be achieved at lower volumes).

A Vintage fawn-colored vinyl covering, reminiscent of the 1960 classic AC30 and was available with either Celestion Alnico Blue or Celestion G12M Greenback speakers.
A VFS1 footswitch controls the Top Boost channel's HOT/COOL switch was also included

If you are looking for a vintage full jazz sound with the lower spectrum clear..the Celestion speaker is what is needed,

[Daniel Kuryliak]

The main issue you might have with a Vox (other than weight) is lack of bottom end. You might not really notice at first, but if you're used to Fender circuits, eventually you'll crave more bass than the el84's and the Vox circuit can give you. But as always, YMMV.

True, and you can't get that from a MIC product Vox amp. The amp construction, components and it's speaker are just as important in producing those pleasing to the ear jazz tones, as the guitar and it's choice of pickups.

[Broyale]

I was wrestling with this dilemma recently. I just love the AC sound.

The reliability issue is bad. It seemed like the HW models were the solution but then everyone moans about the ruby tubes. Let's face it if its a vox then it should have blue speakers. And at that price point you would be better splashing out on a JMI.

If you want jangle then Tiny Terrors or H and K Tubemeister do it too. No idea if TT is good clean but the Tubemeister reviews describe it as Vox type drive tone with Fender cleans. I use my Tubemeister 18 for jazz and it is currently the US best selling amp.

And it glows blue. Every guitarist should have an amp that glows

I've had my Tubemeister 18 for a couple months and no complaints here. I'm not to studied on amps to say anything definitive about sound quality--compared to my previous amp ($90 Fender Frontman), this thing blows it away. That, and I'm a sucker for that blue glow. I wonder how easy those blue LED's can be replaced.

[Daniel Kuryliak]

($90 Fender Frontman), this thing blows it away. .

LOL! The MIC piece of junk with the Fender name tacked on. I had to fix one of those things..Crappy transistors
and crappy 8 inch speaker. Leo would turn over in his grave if he knew what these idiots were doing to his
good name.

[Franz 1997]

Vox amps and vox-circuit based designs have intrinsic reliability issues, in that they run the power tubes close to their design limits, and the maximum circuit current is close to the limit of the GZ34 rectifying valve/ tube.

Voxes have always been comparatively unreliable because of these circuit features, which stresses the valves/tubes - but OTOH that's how you get that harmonically rich vox sound.

Don't think that whether handwired or PC board affects that basic issue; in fact the SS rectifier on cheaper models should theoretically make them more reliable, not less. Of course, handwired is cooler

[Broyale]

LOL! The MIC piece of junk with the Fender name tacked on. I had to fix one of those things..Crappy transistors
and crappy 8 inch speaker. Leo would turn over in his grave if he knew what these idiots were doing to his
good name.

HAHAH...didn't think those things were worth getting fixed in the first place.
It was my first amp and I didn't wanna deal with having to haul something massive back and forth to school (I don't drive). Last week, I left it at home and used the school's Fender Princeton. The H&K Tubemeister stays at home.

[Chimera1to1]

LOL! The MIC piece of junk with the Fender name tacked on. I had to fix one of those things..Crappy transistors
and crappy 8 inch speaker. Leo would turn over in his grave if he knew what these idiots were doing to his
good name.

True but harsh. We all start somewhere though. I fondly remember managing to convince my OH that because jazz required plenty of clean headroom the 200 watt head and 4x12 cab I had got half price was a really good idea....in our bedroom!


More seriously though, an AC30 is a very loud amp and there are lots on Feebay because people didn't realise just how loud they are

[Daniel Kuryliak]

Vox amps and vox-circuit based designs have intrinsic reliability issues, in that they run the power tubes close to their design limits, and the maximum circuit current is close to the limit of the GZ34 rectifying valve/ tube.

Voxes have always been comparatively unreliable because of these circuit features, which stresses the valves/tubes - but OTOH that's how you get that harmonically rich vox sound.

Don't think that whether handwired or PC board affects that basic issue; in fact the SS rectifier on cheaper models should theoretically make them more reliable, not less. Of course, handwired is cooler

I can't disprove your theory Franz, but you CAN push a 6L6 or EL34 pretty close to its theoritical curve plate current and if biased correctly (balanced cathode bias) for a MATCHED pair of power tubes and the O/P transformer has adequate plate current capacity built into the primary windings..she will be good no matter what you throw into her as far as signal.

As far as the GZ34 rectifier tubes..I really don't know why users want this piece of ancient
crap. For a few bucks, you can get a semiconductor plug in full wave rectifier and get rid of the GZ34...old technology!

PC boards can crack on the circuit tracks leading to the tube socket because of speaker vibrations. A good turret hand build with good caps, transformers and adequate wattage resistor, plus good hand wired CTS volume/tone pot and the hand wired amp will probably outlast the owner.

[Daniel Kuryliak]

True but harsh. We all start somewhere though. I fondly remember managing to convince my OH that because jazz required plenty of clean headroom the 200 watt head and 4x12 cab I had got half price was a really good idea....in our bedroom!


More seriously though, an AC30 is a very loud amp and there are lots on Feebay because people didn't realise just how loud they are

Some do have a class A power level pot, that you can turn down to about half of the RMS power available at the
o/p transformer.

[Franz 1997]

I can't disprove your theory Franz, but you CAN push a 6L6 or EL34 pretty close to its theoritical curve plate current and if biased correctly (balanced cathode bias) for a MATCHED pair of power tubes and the O/P transformer has adequate plate current capacity built into the primary windings..she will be good no matter what you throw into her as far as signal.

As far as the GZ34 rectifier tubes..I really don't know why users want this piece of ancient
crap. For a few bucks, you can get a semiconductor plug in full wave rectifier and get rid of the GZ34...old technology!

PC boards can crack on the circuit tracks leading to the tube socket because of speaker vibrations. A good turret hand build with good caps, transformers and adequate wattage resistor, plus good hand wired CTS volume/tone pot and the hand wired amp will probably outlast the owner.

Well Daniel, it's not really my theory, it's pretty well documented. In any event Ac30s use EL84s. I'm not sure what you mean by a ''theoretical curve plate current'' - the design runs close to class A so current is drawn all the time, which makes it run hot. People like the GZ34 because of the slight "sag" it gives, rightly or wrongly. "Ancient crap"? not sure about that..by that token, are all tubes ancient crap??

OK, don't answer that

[feet]

a few notes to re-rail things slightly:

-the newer handwired voxes are both hilariously large and heavy. with all that extra cab space, they put out a butt load of low end. even the ac4hw is like twice the size of the ac4tv. they get noticeably fuller and bassier as you move up the product line. and, if you're playing a semi or hollow body, your guitar is pumping out a lot of bass already. you can easily rattle a cab with one.

-while ceramics are (very) nice, a g12h30 or scumback h75 still give up plenty of voxyess while imparting a little more versatility than a blue type speaker.

-again, i think the real question is this: do you want a play through a vox, or do you want a jazz sound? either can be achieved for less money, weight and hassle. but they may not be as awesome as a vox.

[Daniel Kuryliak]

a few notes to re-rail things slightly:

-again, i think the real question is this: do you want a play through a vox, or do you want a jazz sound? either can be achieved for less money, weight and hassle. but they may not be as awesome as a vox.

I agree, there are a lot better amps for jazz out there than a Vox, which became popular when the Beatles (aka "British Invasion") started. For jazz you don't need a 200watt ear melting head and 4 x 12 speaker cabinet.

[Al_F]

Totally out of the box but Fender Mustang III or IV, cheap , light, great Vox tones for when you want some dirt & incredible clean Fender tones for jazz and all the rest.