Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I recently played through a new Vox AC15 and was very pleased with the sound. I've always loved Vox amps, have played through older British made AC30s, but have never been able to afford them. I have three silver face Fenders - a Champ, a Deluxe Reverb, and a Bassman - all of which I love. One of the reasons I love them is that I know that even if parts break or tubes blow, there are firewalls in the construction to ensure that I will always be able to repair them. This is in stark contrast to younger, mass produced tube amps, like the recent Fender Blues Juniors, Deluxes, DeVille's, etc. I have seen blown tubes completely fry circuit boards on those amps, completely totaling the amp. What I'm getting at is, does anyone know the nature of the wiring and construction of the new Vox amps? Are they assembly line jobs from Korea or Mexico or China like the lower priced Fenders? I don't want an amp which is gong to sound good for 5 or 10 years and then fry out. The price on the Vox AC15 seems too good to be true at less than $900, but then again, they SOUND a lot better than those lower priced Fenders, too. Anyone know the scoop????
Thanks,
Chris in Philly

Hi Chris,

As far as I know, the AC-15 and AC-30 are made in China using PCB construction. The heritage series are also built in China, and use PCB construction, but the PCBs are used more like a tag board and ground rail on these series and they have separate tube holders, pots, etc and are hand wired to the PCB.

I don't know about longevity issues on the Chinese Voxes or ease of repair, but they sound great.

Chris -- you might want to check out the VIntage Amps forum, which has specific boards for different brand Amps. The link for Vox amps is

http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewf ... 3c1ba59264

There are lots of threads there on Plexiboard about the construction process on the Chinese made Vox amps and lots of comments and opinions from pureists and newbies alike. They might have all the answers you need .... and if you have a problem with a Vox, there are lots of nice folks on that forum who will give you advice for fixen it.

There are also several good threads here on the RRF pertaining to Vox amps.. check them out

thanks for the tips, fellas.