Vox Amps Big vs. Small

[8mileshigher]

But it might make better sense to order one from Guitar Center, as they have several new HW1's in their system, including one with an Alnico Blue speaker at their Florida store. I could pay $1449.99 up front and have the amp shipped; then I could take it home and audition it with my gear. If I'm not satisfied, they'll give me 30 days to return the amp. Unfortunately this amp is not factory-sealed and has been on the floor for god knows how long.


By the way, several people here have raved about the Heritage Voxes, specifically the AC15H1TV. I assume Gary at North Coast Music sells them, and I'll have to check eBay and Guitar Center for them as well.

Robert

If I am not mistaken, our pal Paulie got his AC 30 Handwired Heritage from Guitar Center, (as a floor-model or return from their ding and dent department) and he had to get something tweaked on the HW and they fixed it for him right away - and gave him a Vox tee shirt to boot. I think Paulie was very satisfied with the way Vox/GC handled warranty work on an amp that was not factory sealed in the carton.

And we know this Handwired with Celestion Alnico Blues is his favorite Vox !!

[Folkie]

That's a ringing endorsement! My experience is that the folks at Guitar Center are mostly kids who don't know much at all about the guitars and amps they sell. My friend has an amp tech at Empirical Sound, which is about an 45 minutes from where I live, and this guy supposedly knows his stuff. If I buy used, I will certainly have this tech give the amp a run-through. Of course, if I buy new from North Coast Music, none of that will be necessary.

[Folkie]

For an extra $70.00, Gary at North Coast Music offers what's called a "Baltic Birch Baffle Upgrade" to the AC15C1. This is how he describes the tone difference:

"In the 1960s, Vox amp cabs were made of 13 ply baltic birch plywood. This is a more rigid, more expensive and more durable material. This contributes to increased bass response and more output per watt when used on the baffle panel. It also helps to duplicate the original tone of the 60s era amps better."

I'd be interested to hear from anyone out there who can tell me how much of an audible difference the cab upgrade would make. Any insights?

Robert

[k43rover]

For an extra $70.00, Gary at North Coast Music offers what's called a "Baltic Birch Baffle Upgrade" to the AC15C1. This how he describes the tone difference:

"In the 1960s, Vox amp cabs were made of 13 ply baltic birch plywood. This is a more rigid, more expensive and more durable material. This contributes to increased bass response and more output per watt when used on the baffle panel. It also helps to duplicate the original tone of the 60s era amps better."

I'd be interested to hear from anyone out there who can tell me how much of an audible difference the cab upgrade would make. Any insights?

Robert

Hi Robert, over the years the cabs used to house the amps have varied markedly in construction material and quality. As you might expect the original '60's JMI amps were very well built with birch cabs. Some of the later amps used cheap particle board construction cabs (e.g. the Rose Morris era of 1980's/early '90's AC30's) and these are generally agreed to be pretty nasty items. When Marshall took over contract manufacture the overall quality and design improved dramatically including the cabs which went back to birch construction. When production transferred to China I believe they used a mixture of particle and birch for different models although I'm not 100% clear on which lines had what. Now that production has moved to Vietnam, for the cheaper amps i think they have particle board...but they've retained birch for the high end HW line. My own view is that whilst birch is clearly much more preferable in terms of making for a better quality and overall more robust/durable cab (which may be an important factor for you if you're planning to go on the road with it regularly), in terms of impact on tone I'd say its a relatively minor factor compared to the other things we discussed above (i.e. the quality and design of circuit/pcb and other key components like the valves/speakers) - I'm really not sure I'd bother shelling out an extra $70 for just the switched out baffle board as frankly I'd be very surprised if sonically you could tell much (if any) difference if you auditioned them side by side (although I am sure the salesman will be only too delighted to tell you it makes for an unbelievable improvement while he lightens the load of your wallet!!)

[Folkie]

To all those interested, I've bitten the bullet and ordered up an AC15C1, with a U.K. Alnico Blue speaker, from North Coast Music. Gary has been very helpful in answering my slew of questions about the amp and about his policies. I've not opted for the cabinet upgrade, as I won't be transporting the amp to gigs, and, from what Eddie said, I concluded that the difference in tone would be negligable. The amp should be shipped on Monday (after Gary has tested the amp for defects and broken in the speaker), so I expect it sometime next week.

This is my first tube amp purchase, so I'm very excited. Over the years, I've gotten by fine with my solid state Fender, but I just thought it was time to try something new. Also my birthday is the 21st, so the amp should be a nice gift!

I'll be running the reverb from my Boss GT-3 multi-effects unit into the amp, as I'm not a big fan of Vox reverb. I hope the new amp sounds great with all of my guitars, particularly my Rics! Will keep everyone posted.

Robert

[Tommy]

Good luck with it. I bought my VOX from Gary and it was a pleasure doing business with him.

If you only had a solid state Fender and now you are moving to the tube VOX, be prepared for a strange experience. If you have only played one amp your entire life and now get something different, your ears will be so accustomed to the one sound you've always been hearing and anything new may sound odd, or worse, disappointing. Just be ready to take time to get used to the sound of your VOX. Because I was only playing out of a Fender amp for twenty years, it took me a long while to appreciate the VOX tones. I stupidly wanted my VOX to sound exactly like my Fender when I got it!

[BuddyDog]

Way to go on the AC15! I think you will be happy with it .

Vox tone controls are not like your Fender. They are very interactive, so take some time and play with them to dial in your sound. Also, they are "backwards" from your Fender. The tone cut decreases power tube treble as you turn it clockwise.

[Badanovski]

I'm really not sure I'd bother shelling out an extra $70 for just the switched out baffle board as frankly I'd be very surprised if sonically you could tell much (if any) difference if you auditioned them side by side (although I am sure the salesman will be only too delighted to tell you it makes for an unbelievable improvement while he lightens the load of your wallet!!)[/quote]
One of the bands I play in now has these 2 guitarists that are tone nuts. Always tweaking the littlest things. So much so that I always tell them the tone would be improved if they change all the straight slot screws in their amps for phillips head. Still I'm always amazed by things that logic tells me should make no difference, that turn out to improve the sound. You just never know!!!

[Folkie]

Way to go on the AC15! I think you will be happy with it .

Vox tone controls are not like your Fender. They are very interactive, so take some time and play with them to dial in your sound. Also, they are "backwards" from your Fender. The tone cut decreases power tube treble as you turn it clockwise.

Thanks, Steve. After having played an AC15 at Guitar Center, I'm still getting used to the "interactive" controls. For instance, to get more clean headroom, I found I had to raise the Master Volume and lower the Normal Volume; and to get dirtier tones, I discovered I had to back down on the Master Volume and increase the Normal Volume. I'm already accustomed to the Tone Cut, although it takes some getting used to. As I said, I won't be using the onboard reverb, because I like the Boss ones better; and I can't imagine I'll ever really use the Tremolo effect. I've been very happy with my Fender amp; it's an amazingly versatile workhorse; but I'm looking for a different sound, and I'm hoping the Vox with Alnico will deliver!

Robert

[Folkie]

As a newcomer to Vox amps, I got the knobs mixed up in my last post. I should have said that, to get more clean headroom, I found I had to raise the Master Volume and lower the Top Boost Volume; and to get dirtier tones, I discovered I had to back down on the Master Volume and increase the Top Boost Volume. Sorry about the mixup.

Robert

[8mileshigher]

Congrats, Robert !! Welcome to the Ric and Vox club

[Folkie]

Rich,

Thanks for the welcome. I'm honored to be a member of the club! One question: I typically use my Janglebox whenever I play my Rics through my solid state Fender Princeton Chorus amp, but one member has suggested that you can approximate George Harrison's tone without a compressor. When you play your Rics through your AC30, do you typically use a Janglebox?

Robert

[8mileshigher]

Rich,

Thanks for the welcome. I'm honored to be a member of the club! One question: I typically use my Janglebox whenever I play my Rics through my solid state Fender Princeton Chorus amp, but one member has suggested that you can approximate George Harrison's tone without a compressor. When you play your Rics through your AC30, do you typically use a Janglebox?

Robert

Some folks like the natural Vox chime without effects pedals. As with all things tonally, its a matter of taste and what your amp settings are. I always use a Janglebox for that Byrdsy Beatley type of 12 string chime with various amps. My JB is the original edition pedal. With some amps that have more natural compression and chime, (like with Alnico Blues) you will probably be able to scale back the amount of JB effect. It's all a matter of trying out what sounds good. I'm sure your two different Ric 12-strings will sound different through the amp too. And probably no two Jangleboxes sound quite the same either .....

Maybe you'll want to use your Ric-o-Sound function and run one cable through the Vox AC 15 and the other cable through the Princeton with the JB for a glorious stereo effect.

[Folkie]

Rich,

Thanks for the welcome. I'm honored to be a member of the club! One question: I typically use my Janglebox whenever I play my Rics through my solid state Fender Princeton Chorus amp, but one member has suggested that you can approximate George Harrison's tone without a compressor. When you play your Rics through your AC30, do you typically use a Janglebox?

Robert

Some folks like the natural Vox chime without effects pedals. As with all things tonally, its a matter of taste and what your amp settings are. I always use a Janglebox for that Byrdsy Beatley type of 12 string chime with various amps. My JB is the original edition pedal. With some amps that have more natural compression and chime, (like with Alnico Blues) you will probably be able to scale back the amount of JB effect. It's all a matter of trying out what sounds good. I'm sure your two different Ric 12-strings will sound different through the amp too. And probably no two Jangleboxes sound quite the same either .....

Maybe you'll want to use your Ric-o-Sound function and run one cable through the Vox AC 15 and the other cable through the Princeton with the JB for a glorious stereo effect.

I tried out a Greenback-equipped Vox AC15 with my 330/12 (and without a Janglebox) and it sounded pretty good to my ears, although that was before I put toasters on the guitar. A few folks here have said that with the Alnico-equipped Vox amps, it's easy to reach treble overload. I have no worries about this, because I like lots of treble under the hood, and the Tone Cut knob is designed to reduce any harshness. Another option would be to use only the first channel of my JB2. That way I could dial in the Bass and Treble knobs to my liking, and I wouldn't have that ear-piercing treble that the Jangleboost channel can sometimes produce. As for the Ric-o-Sound function, I'd love to try it out. I'm just wondering what special cables I would need. JimK raves about the feature, so it's certainly something to consider.

[Tommy]

As for the Ric-o-Sound function, I'd love to try it out. I'm just wondering what special cables I would need.

Get a Hosa stereo Y cable (one male end, two female ends), 1/4 inch. You can get them at Guitar Center, Radio Shack, or just search the net, they are sold everywhere. Cheap, too. About five bucks. Well worth it to give the Ric-O-Sound a try.