What happened to the AC-30?

[paologregorio]

Kenny knows more about AC30s than I do; it would be interesting to read his thoughts on this thread. At NAMM he was the one who pointed out that the new amps had a SS rectifier to me. Kenny has every era Vox AC30, IIRC, while I have no JMI or 90s Korg era amps-hey, I only have so much $...and space. I also started buying additional amps later than Kenny did.

No no, I don't have one of each. I have one JMI and four '90s Korg AC30s (one of which is for sale, see "The Others").

I bought a CC and found it too crispy and with too many knobs. Maybe it needed to be broken in.

Maybe I should have just said a JMI and one of every colour available...

The CC probably needed breaking in; mine sounded way too crisp and clean...more like a FenderTwin, for the first few weeks. I changed the setting on the "smoothing" switch and flipped another to the low power option, and all was well. I know what you mean about all those knobs though. I do like the master volume control on the CCs, but the hi/lo drive switches on the reverb, the "standard/custom" tone switch, and the "channel blend" switch instead of the extra inputs to blend the channels manually, could be visually disconcerting. I must say I do like the sparseness of the control layout on the H2; two channels, no reverb, and no vibrato. Vox vib/trem is inferior to Fender's IMO, and I use a Van Amps "Sole Mate" outboard spring reverb pedal.

[Ric-O-Buc]

A solid-state rectifier is not a bad thing per se, but it is a travesty to change the specs of a classic amp like the AC30

You said it! "Let's take that classic design and improve it....."

[arrow201]

Over at a friends house, he has an early 2000 or late 90's UK made AC30, he borrowed a AC30CC2x and
there was no comparison when put side by side, (we tried the normal channel only, for the cleanest possible
sound) The AC30CC2x sounded muffled compared to the UK made which sounded bright and chimey.
I'm curious to know if the new "C" series has a sound similar to the UK made or "CC" series or is the
only way to get a early clean Beatles sound is through a UK made one ?

As far as tube vs ss rectify, wouldn't that only be at rediculously loud volumes that the sag
would come into place ? ...i don't think my ears would notice the difference. Same
with the MDF cab or does that make a diff even a low volumes ? What i do like about the "C"
series is being able to change tubes easily aka Fender.

[soundmasterg]

The tube rectifier doesn't come into play except at loud volumes for the sag, that is mostly correct....however, the tube rectifier also causes a voltage drop that the solid state rectifiers don't have, so the overall voltage throughout the amp is lower with the GZ34 tube. Generally there is about a 17v drop on the B+, but the preamp and other stages can drop at different levels....not necessarily a 17v drop everywhere. This does affect the tone as the higher voltage with the solid state rectifier throughout the amp will give slightly more headroom and more gain for each stage, and less sag overall.

The MDF cab is certainly heavier. Some amps have sounded good with MDF cabs, such as some of the Silverface Fenders, but overall MDF is not very resonant, so the plywood cabs will generally sound better. I've got a 1993 AC30 made in the Marshall factory in England and I've compared it to the newer amps that are made in China, and also to some old JMI ones. For the price, I think the Korg ones are a great middle-road option and sound extremely good. The JMI vintage ones are the best, but they're also less consistent too, and you may not get a nice one everytime. And of course they cost the most too.

Greg