Buying a Vox Amp?

[Ilikewater]

I've played an AC30 with the wharfdale speakers in it, and I wasn't too impressed. It was all tube, but I passed on it. I slightly regret that now because I am falling in love with the vintage AC30's. My main question is to do with pricing. I am looking through the North Coast Vox catalog and seeing some great looking amps, but the prices seem on the high side. One amp head is built from an AD100VT head that is a 2 or 300$ head plus a cab for 1500$. What am I missing? How much is actually done at North Coast? Are they scratch building amps? What should I be looking to spend on an AC30? Thanks for all responses in advance.

[teb]

What North Coast is doing is building Vox-licensed replicas of sorts for some of the vintage Vox amps. They won't be exact replicas as most use modern heads and speakers transplanted into vintage-style cabinets (which they build from scratch) but they're really neat amps and being custom work, they aren't particularly cheap. They also do some grille and logo badge replacements on certain current Vox models to give them the vintage Vox look from various periods, and I believe thay also carry some current, stock, unaltered models. I haven't ever sat down to compare their prices on stock amps to other retail outlets like GC, but if you want something special that's well built and has that vintage Vox look in a brand new package you can't do any better. Gary is kind of like the P.W. of Vox amps. You dream it and he can probably build you one. Like Pick of the Rics and some of our other favorite vendors, the company is first class all the way.

[8mileshigher]

Jimmy ---- if you want to get lots of info on different Vox models and historical attributes and styles of their products, you might want to check a couple of on-line resources:

First the Vox company website has their own Forum:
http://www.voxamps.com

And the Plexi Palace Vintage Amps Forum is a wealth of knowledge and user's input. Probably could get some help on price expectations for vintage models, there too.
http://vintageamps.com

The Vintage Amps Forum has different sections for different manufacturers like Vox, Marshall, Fender, Orange, etc.

Happy hunting !

[winston]

Sorry Rich..........I have disabled the links to other forums that you posted.

See RRF rule #7 - Links to other chat forums are not allowed.

[scotty]

So go to the corner of the room and its no supper for you young man

[8mileshigher]

Apologies Brian... I thought we could post generic links to other Forums, so RRF-ers could do their own research. I guess I was under the impression that the prohibition was on specific topic/links/threads and quoting other people onto this Forum.
Sorry about that.

[winston]

No problem Rich. The rule is in place to preclude the chance of cross pollination of discussions that originate on other forums. The problems that that can arise are not insignificant as you can imagine.

[paologregorio]

NCM tests the AC30s it sells. Check out their website; IIRC they make sure the tubes burn in before they ship them and also replace any bad tubes. I don't think it's applicable with the latest models, b/c, IIRC the speakers have a plug in jack, but on the AC30 CC2 series, NCM would mod the speaker hookup so that the speakers were not "hard wired" (and with too short of a speaker wire lead!) to the amp circuit. The NCM mod allowed one to unplug the speaker leads and thoroughly remove the chassis when replacing the tubes or servicing the amp. I performed this mod on my own and Rich Ferguson's CC2X thanks to Mike Snow's sending me the instructions for the NCM speaker mod. Worked like a charm!

There are a number of different AC30s, so 'm not sure which one you tried. I own three different variations, and am pretty much happy to play through any one of them, though I do favor my most recent purchase; an AC30 H2 handwired, not because it's handwired, but because it has both an EF86 channel, and a "pentode/triode" mode switch option. The amp has a lot more bottom end at lower volumes in pentode or on the EF86 channel.

Speakers make a difference too, though I've happily played through both Wharfie, and Bluedog-equipped AC30s.

The latest AC30 C2 is constructed with a particle board cabinet, at least the last time I checked, and a solid state, rather than tube, rectifier, for reliability. A birch ply cab is more resonant, speaking from experience; my first `73 AC30 was similarly constructed in both respects; I ended up having a new birch ply cabinet constructed, and had the amp rewired to 60s top Boost specs, complete with a tube rectifier. The amp was good before, but it was superior afterwards!

I predict that after you've played through a few more Voxes and reading up on them, the heading of your next related topic point will have the same title, save for an exclamation point instead of a question mark.

[winston]

I just bought a Vox AC30VR (Valve Reactor). I could write a book about how versatile it is. Let's just say........I love it.

[8mileshigher]

I just bought a Vox AC30VR (Valve Reactor). I could write a book about how versatile it is. Let's just say........I love it.

That's cool, Brian. Can you clarify a little bit on the the difference between the AC30 VR and the AD Valvetronix series amps (which I have). I know the Valvetronix has the "modeling" functions of several famous amps and it has an A-B footswitch to go back and forth between, say, a clean Fender sounding amp and a High Distortion UK 80s brand that you can save in the memory.

But is the ValveReactor just based upon the tradidtional AC-30 sound in a chime channel and an overdrive channel ? Does the VR not have the various "modeling" choices of the Valvetronix line ? I was reading up on the VR on the Vox site, but it wasn't real clear to me what the differences are between the VR and Valvetronix line....

Is there a technical difference between the 12AX7 valve circuitry on the VR compared to the Valvetronix ? Aren't they both using the tube in the Pre-Amp stage and then solid state circuitry is used to boost that tube tone ?

How about volume output on your VR ..... I have the AD 50 watt Valvetronix version, but its volume is nothing compared to my tube AC30CC2x volume output..... my Valvetronix 50 watter pales in comparison to the lesser wattage AC 30.

I know the AC30VR sure looks much better/traditional than the Chrome Bar B Que grill Valvetronix models (but I took care of that on my AD-50 with the authentic Black Diamond grill cloth from North Coast Music and Paul W's instructions for covering the chome face).

[whojamfan]

I bought my AC30cc and chrome amp stand from Noth Coast Music, and at ther time, 3 years ago, his prices were the same as everyone elses, and they were a pleasure to deal with.
On a different note, their chrome amp stand has the little guide post thingys that stick up to help the amp be a little more secure, and reportedly, are just like the originals. According to NCM, they are the only ones that sell that stand with the guides.
They also sell the all UK Celestion Blue replacement speaker, and not the hybrids that pretty much everyone else sells, for around the same price as about everyone else.

[whojamfan]

me lurn spell sumday

[winston]

Rich,

I bought a Vox Tonelab ST for direct recording and to add additional tonal requirements that I may have when using the Vox AC30VR. The AC30VR is plenty loud enough to play on stage. I don't know if it sounds as loud as a regular AC30.

Here's a demo of the AC30VR



Here is a demo of the Tonelab ST



I am not an expert on the technical differences between the AC30VR and the Valvetronix. I ordered my AC30VR through a local dealer who had to bring it in for me. In other words it was sight unseen. But I did research the unit thoroughly in terms of the sounds available and comments by recent buyers.

I tried a Vox AC30CC2 and a Vox AD120VT Valvetronix a few years ago and I did not like either at all. The AC30VR sounds a lot like the 1963 AC30TB that I used to have many years ago. Again I am not sure about the perceived volume aspect.

[winston]

An idependent review of the Vox AC30VR

http://magazine.dv247.com/2010/02/09/vox-ac30vr-review/

[8mileshigher]

Thanks for posting the review and links Brian.
That's a great comment in the Tone Lab You Tube "I wonder what Simon Cowell thinks !

Just to clarify what the article said ---- The footswitch on the AC30 VR is only for Trem and Reverb --- not for switching between Normal and Over Drive channels ? Or does the Tone Lab give you that flexibility to punch up the gain for the solo, etc. ?