New Vox AC 4

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:08 pm

Anybody got one of these yet?

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:07 pm

I just got mine, and what a cool little amp. Not the disappointment the Epiphone Valve Jr was, or the mildly amusing Fender Champion 600 was, this thing really exceeded my expectations. The 3 position power switch is cool in ways you wouldn't normally expect, and my 330FG moaned out some very nice and controllable feedback. Well worth the money.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:01 pm

I also just picked up an AC4TV. This is a great little amp, and well worth the $250 that it cost. The tone is borderline spectacular, and the 1/4 watt setting is really cool. I haven't put any pedals through it because it just doesn't need them. This is NOT your typical little practice amp, and I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a "classic" little Vox. Vox has tried so many new products, and this one should be a big hit. Not only will Vox lovers want this amp, but 1st time amp buyers should gravitate to it because of price. What a great 1st amp experience they will have with this. If you are reading this, you owe it to yourself to find one and try it out!

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:09 pm

I just put a DOD OD250(YJM) in to mine with my Les Paul Custom, and when adjusted right, really smoked with an awesome tone. I tried my Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive, but the DOD blew it away. Wow, gonna play with some more pedals and guitars and see what I get. I don't have much free time anymore, but will update as I find things out if anyone is interested.

This amp is still kicking me, and I have the 1x12 cab on the way for added flavor and flexibility.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Sat May 16, 2009 10:54 am

I'm definitely interested to see how pedals play with the AC4. I haven't put any in front of mine yet -- it's so cool without them -- but I'm going to try a few, starting with my Route 66. I know it's not a real popular pedal here, but it's been my favorite.

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Sun May 17, 2009 4:03 pm

Route 66 is a fine pedal, I used to have one of the original Jekyll and Hyde pedals, and was very happy with it. I was lucky enough to be working the day Bob walked in to the store with these 2 pedals. I bought 1,ordered 4, and sold many since. I don't know how the new stuff sounds, but I haven't been disappointed with a Visual Sound product yet.

What a booger this amp is to change the tubes, not hard, just a lot more screws than one would think by looking at it. For the record,the stock tubes, out of the box, sound exceptional with this amp. I like to tink around with things just to see what the result is, and to seperate hype from the real world. So, I swapped the stock Sovtek 12ax7 for an old RCA I had lying around and wow, what a pleasant change. I'm not going to go on about "holy grail of tone" exaggerations like so many who change to an old tube on the web, but it did make the amp shine in a different way. I ordered a JJ el84 to drop in later to check out the difference, $15.00 for a matched duet, why not, the other tube might make that Valve Jr I have sound better.

BTW, that speaker they put in there has a big old magnet on it, and has a great sound too. I could swear sattelites got closer when I took the panel off.

The rest of the components look good, big old trannies and stuff.

While looking at tube prices on the web last night, I laughed myself silly seeing the $500 tubes

being sold out there. "You know the air was different back in the 60s, and sound travelled in a much more musical way."

Sure, some sound better, some are made better, some look better, but $500 for a 12ax7 preamp tube?

Different strokes I guess, but at those prices I could buy a nice used car for what retubing a Twin would cost, or a new one for an SVT.

So, should be getting that extension cab any day now

kiramdear · Post by **kiramdear** » Sun May 17, 2009 4:09 pm

Sounds intriguing. Please keep us posted.

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Wed May 20, 2009 9:21 pm

Ok, just got a JJ/Tesla EL84 for the power, and a Tung Sol 12ax7 for the pre and Holy Moly, best combo yet. Together, they sound more articulate, and responsive then the Sovteks it came with, and the Sovtek EL84 and RCA 12AX7 combo I tried. The new setup gives a little fuller sound, a hint more chime, and the overdriven sounds retain a better clarity, giving palm muting a little nicer "chunk" to it. The gain seems to have a little more versatility between 3:00 and full. I found that the touch sensitivity and guitar volume/tone controls really work well in shaping the sound. I also find that the tone control on the amp works in a useable way, unlike a lot of similar 2 tube amps.

I used a DOD OD250 last week, with the original and RCA setups, and it sounded pretty good. There really wasn't much difference in sound between the effect and bypass(I put a true bypass switch in the pedal years ago)and basically just added a hair grittier drive(not brighter)to the amp. So basically, it was just a drive control I could switch on and off. After playing the amp with the new tube compliment for about a half hour, I plugged in the 250, and it was kind of thin sounding. I moved the gain knob through it's full range, and it never seemed to sound quite right, so I put both the gain and level controls back to where they were when I played the amp last and kicked the pedal off. Upon doing this, the sound of the amp changed back to a full, round bottom low end with very musical mids and pronounced, pleasant highs. The natural drive when cranked sounded much better than the pedal did on this amp, as well as when it had different tubes in it. I find it interesting how different these tubes made the amp sound with the pedal, when clean, it just seemed like a little difference.

Good thing I've got a lot of different distortions and fuzzboxes to throw at this puppy, it should be a gas to find out what really works well with it. This amp really doesn't need any of these things, as the natural sound of it is so good and useable, but that isn't gonna stop me from having a good time!

paologregorio · Post by **paologregorio** » Wed May 20, 2009 9:40 pm

Sweet! Thanks for the evaluations, especially those with different tubes, and with/without the stompbox.

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:15 pm

Ok folks, more findings for ya.

I thought I would give the VooDoo Labs Sparkle Drive another go, since you can blend the clean signal back in with the overdrive. Loss of bass response was my biggest disappointment with the OD250, and the Sparkledrive brought back the bass and some low mids. On and off sounds were very close, and I was happy to see it come back. Unfortunately, the overdrive sound was now very thuddy with no dynamics or touch sensitivity. I went through all of the knobs, on both the amp and the pedal, and found it to be quite unuseable in all but the lowest drive settings. Even then, the tone and dynamics were pretty sad. Really couldn't find a sound that was better than an old solid state practice amp.

In defense of the Sparkledrive, it sounds great through my Vox Pathfinder using my 360/12FGVP. Go figure

Next on the menu, the Vox Cooltron Brit Boost. Oh how stoked I was when they came out with this, as I was wanting a good treble booster pedal, and this one has a tube and is made by the guys that know how these things should sound, right? I get this thing in all of it's chrome beauty with the cool blue light, yippee, plugged it in to a few amps, and on the shelf it's sat, being quite a lovely paperweight. I was hoping things would be different with this amp, but no. It just sounds like a thin fuzz pedal to me on all settings, both amp and pedal. It's in mint condition and would love a new home if anyone has something they don't use to trade for it. Not selling it, as I hate cash, only because it never gets put back in to gear.

Last, but certainly not least today, is the Radial Tonebone Plexitube. I cannot praise this pedal enough. Incredible versitility that sounds like you added another channel to you amp. Some really spectacular crunch and sustain that doesn't sound like a pedal, and distortion available to go all the way to the moon. It actually has 2 channels, with seperate eq notches and level controls. Channel 2 has an effects loop jack on it so you can hook up pedals to it that can be switched on for boosted leads, then out of the circuit for rhythm. True bypass, solid steel case, and 12ax7 tube, this baby takes the cake. I also have Radials Classic Distortion pedal, but have yet to try it. I'm sure it will sound great as well as different, since it is not voiced for that "hot British" sound the Plexitube is. Next review will have that one in it, and I'll start to check out some of my fuzz boxes through it.

paologregorio · Post by **paologregorio** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:46 pm

Thanks again for the update, Mike.

Oh, just an idea, but have you considered swapping out the tube on the Vox Cooltron Brit Boost? It may or may not make a difference, but it's probably worth a try, if you haven't done so already without success.

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:02 pm

It's in such pristine condition I wouldn't want to mess it up. I honestly think that a tube change wouldn't make this pedal more desirable to me. Some folks absolutely love this pedal, so it really needs to go to a loving home rather than stay on my island of misfit effects pedals-haha

whojamfan · Post by **whojamfan** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:54 pm

Britboost has a new home, I wish it well

rsm · Post by **rsm** » Sun May 31, 2009 11:14 pm

I just ordered one yesterday. Should be here this week. I plan to try it with my JangleBox too. I have the Tech 21 Liverpool which does provide a great range of vintage Vox tones (I'm still amazed at how good it sounds for a pedal). I run it into my Bose L1 and it gives my Rics the classic jangle and chime; with the JangleBox in front, sweet too!

Any AC4 owners compared the tone to an AC15 or AC30 (especially handwired, or real vintage)? I don't expect the AC4 to match or beat these, just does it have a real range of classic / vintage Vox sounds with your Rics? Thanks

ricardo_vicente · Post by **ricardo_vicente** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:00 am

Here's a great demonstration of the AC4 I found on You Tube. The guy demonstrates all the different wattage settings. He is speaking Dutch but I think that's an American Strat so you should all at least be able to understand the English-speaking guitar!

Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

New Vox AC 4

New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4

Re: New Vox AC 4