Rick / AC30 Settings

[btomlinson]

I wonder if any Rick / AC30 owners are using the AC30 distortion? If so could you share some of your settings? Do you run it at 33 watts or 22? I am getting a real muddy sound. I have to tell you that I am running the head through a 2x12 cab with newer Vintage 30 speakers.

Thank you.

[paologregorio]

I've never heard of an "AC30 Distortion"; are you referring to one of the AC30 CC series heads with the channel volume overdriven?

[btomlinson]

I am playing around with a Chinese made AC30CCH head. I like some (I should say Overdrive maybe). I have a 71 Fender (no master volumume) silverface Twin for clean sounds. I am working the master volume and tube distortion on this amp. I am VERY new to VOX. I own a 660 and a 360 and I want to get some great sounds. Do you think it's possible?

Thank you.

[btomlinson]

I did buy it at North Coast Music and it seems like a well built amp.

[paologregorio]

I have a Vintage AC30, a HW AC 30, and a CC2X AC30. I think the CC series amps ARE great! I usually use my vintage amp for live work, but that's probably more due to the way it looks (grey fawn Tolex) than anything else-it's gorgeous. I can can an equally killer sound out of my CC2X. I used it at the last So Cal Rickenjam session. Everyone who played through it loved the sound. I use the vintage "warm" filtering and operate it at 22 watts. I like overdrive/distortion, but I usually use a pedal for that. I have used overdriven the channel to get tube distortion out of the amp, so it can be done, but I don't do that live; I like to start with a good, clean amp sound and take it from there. I would suggest looking at the card that's attached to your amp by string and adjusting the knobs to the "classic" setting, then overdriving the channel volume and setting the master volume accordingly. You can then fine tune the knobs to your ears' sattisfaction. I've gotten a great overdriven sound out of my CC2X doing this. Happy playing!!

[btomlinson]

Thanks Paul. I went to MARF last year. Those things are the best. Thank you for your recomendation. I am using a Fulltone OCD and it sounds nice but there is a "pedal" sound between that and the tube distortion. I was using a LP Jr and not a Rick. i will try it with the Rick.

thank you.

[britinvasion]

What Paul said is right-on. I would just add that the "Cut" control really works wonders in not only reducing brightness at the Power Tube level, but really helps get rid of muddiness on certain guitar/ settings combinations. The AC30CC2's are really magical amps.

[rsm]

I have a Vintage AC30, a HW AC 30, and a CC2X AC30. I think the CC series amps ARE great! ...

How does the CC2X compare to the Hand Wired AC30? What are the main differences? How extreme? Is the handwired worth the extra money?

Thanks

[paologregorio]

I have a Vintage AC30, a HW AC 30, and a CC2X AC30. I think the CC series amps ARE great! ...

How does the CC2X compare to the Hand Wired AC30? What are the main differences? How extreme? Is the handwired worth the extra money?

Thanks

As to whether or not the extra cash is worth it depends on one's personal opinion. It all depends on what one wants in an amp. I think they're pretty close tonally. IIRC, if one buys a CC series with Blues, and has it converted to a hand wired amp by someone such as "Tone Man", it's still slightly less than the HW model. The Pentode/Triode Mode option and the EF86 channel option are both nice features of the HW model, but it's otherwise a bare bones amp; no reverb, no vibrato, and no master volume, nor any of the back panel features that the CC series has. the HW is able to produce a nice, fat tone at low volume with either channel in the Pentode mode, but, one can achieve a similar tone using a CC amp with the channel volume up, the master volume down, and the back panel switches at the lower wattage setting with the warm/vintage smoothing selected. I really like my CC series amp. I like the HW amp as well, but to be honest, I bought one when I did because I bought a scratch and dent model that ended up costing me about $500 less than my CC2X did; it was a deal I couldn't pass up, and the white tolex looks super cool!

Note: a couple of nice features with the HW series amps that the CC series does not have wrt maintenence are, the speakers plug into the chassis via a 1/4 jack vs. being hard wired to the amp, and the preamp tubes are immediately accessible with the back cover removed; they're on the back side of the chassis board and controls, while on the CC and all other AC 30 amps the preamp tubes are located on the front side, along with the power tubes, requiring that the chassis be slid out of the cabinet to change, which is there the hard soldered speaker wire becomes an issue, as it's too short a length to slide the chassis out completely. There are a couple of options to remedy this, of course.

[fireglo67]

Last week I tried a few different permutations on my AC30 CC2, but I have to say I came right back to where I started.

On the top of the amp the knobs and switches are on the 'classic' setting, then you can easily add overdrive to your taste by just using the top boost volume. This is ideal when playing a gig as you can quickly and easily radically alter your sound onstage with the mimimum of fuss.
If I'm using my 12 string I tend to add extra treble and bass too. But that's just because it fits in with the sound I want in my band.

On the back of the amp the output bias has to be on the '50 hot' setting, and the smoothing set to 'vintage'. Anything else and the sound enters the muddy territory you mentioned.

This is all relevant to using my 3 Rics with the amp. If I'm playing a Gibson or Fender I tend to prefer to use a different amp, but the Vox is the 'king of the hill' for me.

[kennyhowes]

Brett - you were at MARF?

[jps]

Brett - you were at MARF?

+1

[lennon211]

As to whether or not the extra cash is worth it depends on one's personal opinion. It all depends on what one wants in an amp. I think they're pretty close tonally. IIRC, if one buys a CC series with Blues, and has it converted to a hand wired amp by someone such as "Tone Man", it's still slightly less than the HW model. The Pentode/Triode Mode option and the EF86 channel option are both nice features of the HW model, but it's otherwise a bare bones amp; no reverb, no vibrato, and no master volume, nor any of the back panel features that the CC series has. the HW is able to produce a nice, fat tone at low volume with either channel in the Pentode mode, but, one can achieve a similar tone using a CC amp with the channel volume up, the master volume down, and the back panel switches at the lower wattage setting with the warm/vintage smoothing selected. I really like my CC series amp. I like the HW amp as well, but to be honest, I bought one when I did because I bought a scratch and dent model that ended up costing me about $500 less than my CC2X did; it was a deal I couldn't pass up, and the white tolex looks super cool!

I have a handwired Vox AC-30 that isn't the bare-bones model. It has reverb, master volume, vibrato...the works.

[lennon211]

A bit more: mine is a limited edition that was made in England. It sports the master volume, reverb, trem, and tone cut. It has the Vox blues that aren't hard-wired to the amp.

With Rics (and most others), it sounds excellent. The master volume really helps me with this amp as I can get the tones that I want and not have to disturb anyone else...although that takes away some of the fun.

[btomlinson]

I was at MARF briefly. I am rather shy and did not know anyone personally other than in this forum. I stayed for about an hour. I got there when you were all doing the group picture.