Vox AC15 TBRX

Late 1990s Marshall made AC15 with single Celestion alnico blue 12" driver. Single channel, tone, tremolo, reverb, input gain and master volume. Footswitchable reverb and tremolo. No effects loop, but who cares when the sound is this good?!

Used mostly at home for recording.. plenty loud enough for that, although it might struggle against a heavy-handed percussionist.

The sound of this amp is truly astonishing. I've owned many amps over the years, and this is the one.. you'd probably want an AC30 if you're regularly playing with a band, but if your drummer has a degree of finesse, this will do you just fine..

I play exclusively with single-coil guitars and, played hard, these drive the input stage just enough for that perfect Vox creamy overdrive. A subtle shift in input to the guitar strings produces glassy smooth and crystal clear chiming tones.

Tone controls offer a great deal of variety, although some might prefer the presence of a mid frequency tone control.

Not tried changing the valves yet.. don't know what's in there at the moment. Reverb is fine but unremarkable. If you're after a really deep reverb it might be worth changing the tank.

I play various styles.. melodic blues influenced 60's style pop/garage, straight blues, folk, jazz... all sound good!!

No idea.. I've had it for 6 months and it's been fine so far. It's approaching 10 years old and appears to be in perfect shape.

No idea.

Have been playing 21 years, and after many years of various amps, this one has re-ignited my interest in electric guitar! My former amp, a Vox Cambridge Reverb, was so broken I just gave up electric and played acoustic for 5 years...

I play numerous guitars through this amp: 1963 Gretsch Tennessean, 1969 Fender Mustang and a 1994 Fender Jazzmaster.. each is well complimented by the Vox. Really need to get a pickup fitted into my resonator...

I tried many amps before settling on hunting down a used British made AC15.. the Chinese made AC15s sound ok, but reliability horror stories put me off. Also, absurd as it sounds, I really didn't like the plastic power switches on the current model.. cheap and nasty! The UK made AC15 has good quality switches and pots. I seriously considered an Orange Tiny Terror... wonderful sound, but lack of effects or effects loop make it something of a one-trick pony. Nothing else really came close to the sound I wanted.

It has a master volume which the original did not have, only the single channel class A, it has a line out for recording, no effects loop (which i never use myself) it has enough power for a rehearsal but will be limited for gigging, unless you can mike it up through the PA, it has a footswitchable spring reverb control and tremelo.
2 inputs and has Bass, Treble, and volume.

I pretty much use Humbucker pickup guitars and the tone from this amp is astonishing, i have used a lot of amps in my time, both valve and tranistor and a mix of the 2, ive used heads and combos, amp sims, and sim pedals, and this is by far the best amp ive ever played through, the hotter the valves get the hotter the sound gets, once realy warmed up this amp sings, a lot of that is down to the 'Blue Alnico' 12" celestion speaker, it doesnt have a lot of clean headroom but for rock guitar i dont think you can beat it.

I noticed a few buzzes when i first got it, and found that the spring reverb unit in the bottom of the cabinet was poorly constructed, i made a few adjustments and now all is well, ive never had one of these amps break down on me (sold my first to buy an AC30 for more clean headroom, but now am back with the AC15), they need the regular valve amp maintenance checks, but never had a Vox let me down.

ive never had the need to contact customer support for the Korg Vox, i once phoned Marshall amps in Milton Keynes UK (the manufacturers of VOX valve amps until late 2004) for a circuit diagram, and they was reluctant to send me one but did free of charge. Ive never had reason for sending one off for repair.
12 Month warranty.

I have had Vox AC30's and still own a Hiwatt head and THD BIvalve head, the hiwatt is for gigging, the AC15 is for rehearsal and home use and the BIValve just puts a smile on my face.
Korg have now redesigned the AC30 reissue and have moved production to china, as far as the AC15 goes i think they have stopped production altogether, which is a great shame, so if you want one, get a 2nd hand one made by Korg, they rock.

1 Channel, with 2 input sockets normal channel - tone, input volume, reverb, vibrato depth, speed (+ f/switch turns on vibrato& reverb), + master volume 12-inch alnico speaker ECC83s, + valve rectifier (& EL84s)
Un-like other reviewers I have found the AC quite versitile. The tremelo is lush, the master volume enables clean and crunchy sounds and the tone controls are very responsive.

How can words describle the sound of a Vox ? I have been looking for the right sound for two years now and as soon as I plugged I new I had arrived. I'm using a Gibson ES135 with the std P100 pickups and I can get anything from an acoustic sound right up to a resonable overdrive. The most amazing thing is control you have just by the way you play. Attack the strings lightly and there is no overdrive. Go a bit harder and there is the most pleasing crunchy sound imaginable. No need for two channels!
So how do you describle to sound. Warm, lush, full, shimmering, glassy, alive, resonant, pleasing and so on - or as a friend said recently - you Gibson sounds like chocolate!!

Quite new so can't comment

Bought from a main Vox dealer with on site servicing so I'm not too worried

Playing electric for about 4 years now (acoustic much longer) The AC15 works suprisingly well with my Boss GT3 and I get no noticeable tone loss as you do with many effects. I have tried loads of amps over the years and none cut the ice like this. I think I'd have to replace it if lost.

My only complaint is that the master volume is not very controlable so it is hard to set it at a low volume.