Vox AC15CC1 112 Combo

The features are mentioned below. In my opinion it has all, Vox needs.
The Reverb is a bit thin. The Bass and Treble are interactive, so it costs a little time to find the best position. Of course you need different positions for Humbucker/Single Coil. A second input would have been nice!

It sounds just like I supposed it to sound: warm and a bit inspecific, typically brtitish. Not with the force and strength of the AC30 of course, a bit weaker and litte more dirt. In former days i Played a AC 50 and the problem with this amp was, that it sounded fantastic but only with Volume pumped up. with the CC1 you get a veritable valvy crunch at a decent Volume (combined to a AC30). Good for home practise!!!

It?s built in China, so you don?t get a Rolls Royce type Amp of the former british Empire. the Knobs are a cheap Joke. I wouldn?t mind better materials. The input jack is an bit weak. No problems in use so far, no breakdowns.

didn?t need it so far

Playing 20+ Years i heard a lot of tube amps and i Played quite a lot. My first amp was the mentioned AC 50 and I liked it from the very beginning. The AC 15 is a little brother of this ancient sound Monster, it?s more versatile, but hasn?t the strength of a AC30 of course. If you play most of your gigs with bands i suppose you?d better buy the AC30. If you need an amp for Home use and duo/trio-performances I would highly recommend the AC15. But I?m definitely addicted to VOX. I really love that muddy warm sound when it get?s crunchy and the decent brightness if you play clean (watch the interactive Bass/Treble positions.) My guitars are a 1971 Gibson SG Custom, Epi ES 335, and a Robert Cray Strat. Normally i play without external effects, sometimes a Boss DD3, a T-Rex Comp Nova, and s TS9-Clone of a little one man factory in Germany (MEK). With the MEK (as a clean Boost you get close to the fullness of a AC30.

New VOX AC15CC, with which I have tried three different speakers: the VOX Wharfdale (stock in the cc1), the Celestion Blue (stock in the cc1x), and the Weber BlueDog. In my opinion, this amp has the perfect balance of features: Single channel, Reverb, and Tremolo (both footswitchable on/off with the included footswitch). It has a sttandby switch and single input jack (which I like better than having two anyway). I REALLY like the 8 ohm / 16 ohm toggle switch VOX has included, allowing you to swap different speakers more easily. Also, it has 2 speaker jacks, so you can run two cabs or the internal speaker and another cab simultaneously.

I give it a 10 for features because I think VOX really picked the essential features, making this the perfect stripped-down little brother to the AC30. Also ? the master volume addition is great! This has become a perfect sized amp for me to play both at home and at gigs.

The amp in general sounds fantastic! I love the signature VOX sound, and this AC15 has nailed it! Be prepared though ? if you want clean headroom you should buy an AC30 instead? the AC15 does not have much clean headroom. It does have, however, the most incredible light crunch sound that I have ever heard out of any amp, ever. For best results, I keep the master volume cranked and dial the top boost to about 11 o?clock. For playing at home, I simply turn the master volume down to about 11 o?clock as well.

Like I said, I have tried three different speakers in this amp. I bought the cc1 version of the amp, with the Wharfdale speaker installed (because I already own both a Celestion Blue as well as a Weber BlueDog). Here is how the break down:

Wharfdale:
This is VOX?s version of a GreenBack (I think) ? and it does an ok job. Unfortunately, it sounds a little flat and lifeless to me... kind of ?cardboardy? if that makes any sense. The Wharfdale is not a bad speaker though? it will do the trick if you like the GreenBack sound.

Celestion Blue:
Wow ? this speaker truly transforms the amp. It really comes to life and sounds much more organic and musical than the Wharfdale. It has a gorgeous bell-like tone to it that is warm and creamy, without the ?muddiness? that you find in GreenBacks, etc. Definitely MUCH better sounding!

Weber Blue Dog:
The BEST sounding speaker I have ever heard. It is essentially identical to the Celestion Blue ? but even a tiny bit creamier in my opinion! Gorgeous ?bell-like? tones, and the growling overdrive crunch is stunning. Each Blue Dog is hand built to order, which I think is amazing ? especially considering it is $175. I know that sounds like a lot for a speaker, but it is still a lot cheaper than the Celestion Blue!

I HIGHLY SUGGEST PURCHASING THE CC1 WHARFDALE VERSION OF THE AMP ALONG WITH A WEBER BLUE DOG! This is actually cheaper than buying the amp preloaded with a Celestion Blue ? AND you?ll have a spare speaker laying around afterwards! Find a 20% off coupon for Guitar Center, and the amp is only $480 new, + $175 for Weber, + $35 for a full re-tube set from Eurotubes ? and you have an INCREDIBLE sounding amp for less than $700 (significantly cheaper than you can usually find the cc1x version of the amp for).

Tremolo: Very very nice sounding. I am really impressed with it, and use it very often.

Reverb: The stock reverb tank is only ok. I replaced it with a larger 17? Accutronics tank, and the reverb quality improved drastically! It is now very nice and very usable. I suggest doing this, as a new tank is only about $25-$30, and it is very easy to install. VOX should ship these amps with a better reverb tank.

Speaking of tubes ? I retubed mine with JJ power tubes and EHX preamp tubes (the best tube combo in my opinion). This was a decent improvement in sound quality over the stock tubes, which were EHX power tubes and Sovtek preamp tubes. Definitely a 10 for sound quality!

Perfect so far. I?ve been gigging it and playing it at home for about 4 months now, and I have not had any problems at all. I drag my Traynor YCV20WR along as a backup (also a pretty cool little amp) ? but have never had to use it.

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I am willing to say this is the best amp value I have ever come across, and the Traynor is a close second. I think the build quality is very high ? I was actually very impressed with the internal wiring when I opened it up. It seems very nicely routed and soldered.

With the speaker upgrade, new tubes, and new raverb tank, this amp just blows me away everytime I hear it. Sometimes I even listen to my own half-assed recordings and think, ?Wow ? does my amp really sound that good??

I ended up keeping the Weber BlueDog in this amp, and putting the Clestion Blue in my Traynor. I couldn?t be happier. By the way, I play an American Strat.

Master volume, Tremolo, Reverb, Bass, Treble, Volume. One input, Two rocker switches for On and Standby, Switch fro 8 or 16 ohm. Made in China with Waferdale speaker and tube driven except the reverb and tremelo are solid state. No effects loop and other nonesense.
I use this amp live and have had it about 3 months and play 3 or 4 gigs a week.
I won't mind a mid control and bright switch. Can leave the Master Volume contol out.

I've tried this amp with a Strat,Les Paul and Tele. When I first got it I was somewhat disappointed. It sounded thin and trebley. I had a Weber blue alnico pup, so I tried that and what a difference. It is a great sounding amp now- Night and day. I haven't changed the tubes yet and I expect it to improve more when I do and I have not had any problems yet. The reverb is way over the top and sounds like the Ventures surf party at a pretty low setting. The tremolo seems pretty good but seldom use it. The Master volume they could have left out and I just leave it on 10. I use pedals and a THD Hotplate with the other volume on 5 or 6. I love the sound of my Zendrive through this setup. This is a great sounding Class A Amp for little money. I also have the Celestion blue but prefer the Weber. I paid $500.00 for the amp and $90.for the speaker. It is had to find this good of tone without spending twice as much. I know I have about 25 anmps right now and have owned about 50 others. If I rated this amp with the Waferdale I would give it about a 4. With the Weber I rate it a nine not counting the Reverb.

So far so good. Changing tubes is not to easy on the job. I keep a Rockman for a spare.

I haven't a clue, and would fix it myself or have a local guy work on it. This one area where the point to point is nice.

I have been playing professinally for over 30 years as my means of income. I own a lot of amps many that I will be getting rid of just because it just gets to be to much. This will be a great working man's amp if it holds up. I can buy four these for the cost of some boutique amps that I have, so this is a good value. The cabinet seems to to be Ok and the workmanship seems good. I wish it were a little lighter like my Reverend Kingsnake. If you buy one don't forget to buy a Weber alnico blue for it. In this case the speaker truly is have the sound. I wish they made this in hand wired point to point.

Warning !!
I recently purchased a Vox AC15cc. It was the one with the wharfdale speaker and it sounded great. I did a couple of gigs with it and then it died. Tuned up before the first set and suddenly no lights on and no sound. It was away 3+ weeks and I was told that a valve went down and took out the fuses, but it was fixed. Next gig it went down again. I took it back to the retailer (who was great) and he replaced it with another one (with the Alnico spkr) and it last 3 hrs and went the same way. I've just exchanged it for a 65 Deluxe (reissue).
I can't tell you how disappointed I am, I loved the sound but reliability can't be compromised.

I used it for small rooms and I ran it with a TS-9. Too easy. sounded great. When it worked.

This amp has no reliability. I've had two in 5 weeks and they're both dead. I even checked to see if they came in different shipments in case there was an accident. There was no accident.

I am in Australia, they're imported by Yamaha here. They replaced the first one and that was the most I could ask for. The second one died and I;m sure the retailer will get some joy from the wholesaler as well. The retailer replaced it (+$) with Fender 65 deluxe reverb. It's a beautiful amp and more than 2x the price. It has a great sound but is very different. It's reliable.

I can't rate an amp that doesn't work

Has all the features I need, tremelo and reverb. 15 loud watts

With my sg the sounds are incredible, pushed to a slight crunch is where it shines, with my Mosrite its bright and twangy just like I like it, my Les Paul is a bit muddy trough it but its kinda muddy through anything. Perfect for garage/retro rock.

No problems yet. Seems pretty solid.

Haven't used it

I have been playing for about fifteen years and I love this thing. I currently just use the Vox and my Orange combo. The vox and orange sounds really compliment eachother. No heavy metal sound here {thank God), just awesome chimey crunchy goodness. The only thing I will do to it is replace the wharfdale speaker, and upgrade the tubes.


I would definatly get it again if it were stolen

Reissue of vintage-style amp, so no channel switching, effects loop or other goodies. Just a simple single channel amp with reverb, tremolo and a master volume.

I bought this hoping to get AC30 tone at a lower volume. I use a homemade Strat with SSH pickups and a vintage tremolo. At lower volumes (for miking in close quarters) the sound is thin and brittle. The amp warms up when cranked, but doesn't have the magic of an AC30. It was impossible to get a good preamp distortion using the master volume at the levels I could play at. The pedals I used in front of the amp came out thin and lifeless. This is not an indictment of the amp, just my personal experience. A new AC30 with a power brake would probably do what I want at the volume I want, but I don't have 2 G's right now, so it's off to Ebay. In the amp's defense, it sounds very good clean when cranked to a decent (loud) volume, and would probably sound a lot better with the Celestion Blue and some different tubes. The reverb is too deep and tubby sounding for my taste, but the tremolo is excellent.

Out of the box there was a strange crackling sound when I hit a Bb on the 4th string. It seems to have completely disappeared and there have been no other problems since.

Vox has been just so-so in the past.

I've been playing too long and have owned too much equipment, from blackface Princeton and Bandmaster to a red Plexi and various Boogie and Carvin combos, and most of the amp modellers. The overall sound of this amp is thin and bright, with almost no warmth. I attribute part of this to new tubes/speaker and the speaker design itself. I question a tube amp with only 2 12AX7A tubes and no rectifier tube-there must be a bit of solid state circuitry somewhere inside. If I could play louder and upgrade the tubes/speaker it would probably work for me, but I'll probably try the Laney VC15 to replace it.

perfect features for me, except that the sound of the reverb is not acceptable.

i use alot of pedals and it takes them very well. ill mainly be using this with a rickenbacker 330-12 and an eastwood airline and also a 2004 american strat. it sounds awsome no matter what i play through it. has elements of fender tone in it..bright and twangy and not at all muddy unless you turn the bass up and treble down. then it does gett very unclear. the tone controls seem to be very sensitive. unlike my fenders, or any other amp i have ever had, witht he vox i notice that very slight movements of the tone knobs makes a sudden and veyr obvious difference and its fun to listen to all the ways that you cant change the overall sound of this amp simply be turning the two tone controls.

when my pedals are not being used, the amp is nearly silent. the clean sound is really nice. in my opinion quite fender-like. but, this is my first vox amp and i can hear the obvious tonal differences between this and my two fender amps, a deluxe reverb and a twin reverb. the vox has a sweet sound but with a touch of something that i cant describe. i hear occasional ghost notes or harmonics which i really like. the distortion is ok. i have never owned a tube amp that had a distorted sound that i loved.. i usually use one or a combination of my 3 distortion pedals. i prefer to have my amps tone clean, and then color the sound with pedals. there is not a lot of head room on this amp. seems to be a little more than my deluxe reverb for some reason..which is 22 watts.

i have always been a fender player and always will be, specifically, a fender twin player. however, i cant carry the twin to practices all the time so i got the vox as a band practice amp and for small gigs, having always loved the vox sound. i think it will work out perfectly for this purpose.

however, the reverb is horrid. its there, but thats the problem. its strong but leaves this trail that colors the sound, sours the sound and in a way that actually hurts my ears. sorta reminds me of my old Kustom 50's reverb....though that one is totally uncontrolled. the vox reverb is tight but unfortunately ruins the tone by coloring it

im going to replace the tank with an accutronics to see if things improve. this amp would be great for everything i play if the reverb was great...i tried to play some paul butterfield blues style stuff...you know, 60's reverb drenched psych blues riffs.. no way can you do that with the stock reverb. its terrible.

i will note that when i got this amp, i played it for about 45 minutes straight before i realized the reverb was not even on...it sounded that good to me. i usually ALWAYS have my reverb on, at least to 2, or 3...for a little ambience. i dont play for long periods with a dry tone. so, i was really shocked when i looked and noticed the reverb was off. i was very impressed. in the way that my fender twin sort of sounds like there is a chorus pedal on, when in fact there isnt, is the type of thing going on with this amp although i cant describe it. its pretty rich and 3 dimensional and complex sounding for a $600 amp

for $600 im blown away.

The trem is just as good as my fenders, and even as good as my Kustom. no complaints there

I have the regular speaker, by the way. So far, I love it. Unlike my fenders, this little amp has a very noticeable tight and punchy bottom end. the bass is really well defined and pleasant...not sure if its the circuit, speakers, cabinet or what. i suspect its a little of everthing..but i noticed it right away and i love it

i have no idea. i will keep fuses and tubes with me. i dont anticipate any major melt downs with this. i left it on all day and it doesnt get very hot. i leave it on with my loopstation playing through it for hours to break in the speaker and everything and also to test it to see what it can take as far as constant playing and abuse etc..

so far, no problem. im not nervous about it at all. the build quality seems awsome...i got mine unopened in a vox factory box. i removed it from the box myself and noticed 2 imperfections. 1, the gold metal strip had a small dent in it and the grill cloth was not put on symetrically....its a little uneven. I can see how this would piss some people off. i dont really care. im more concerned with the tone and reliability of the electronics.

the foot switch is plastic. it looks nice from a distance but im a bit concerned about it. im very careful with my gear though, so im pretty confident it will last

I have no idea. never dealt with them

If the new reverb tank makes the reverb at least a little bit usefull, I will give it a 10.

As it is, with the shit reverb, I give this amp a solid 8, considering the price, the size and the power and weight etc.. I do not believe that you can get a better amp in this price range. The only thing that competes with it is the fender deluxe reverb - similar weight, size cost, tone (somewhat).. I can get an awsome twang from both the vox and the fender.

2006 vox ac-15 w/blue speaker. one of the best looking and sounding amps on the market. i play rock and roll slanted towards the indie side and this amp gets all the right sounds. so much cleaner than the fender hot rod deville that i had prior and the crunch when cranked up is the best. i also enjoy that it comes equiped with tremelo and that you can switch it on or off with the foot pedal (and also the reverb, which i personally think sounds really good). i use this amp mostly at home in my apartment, but i also play with a couple of friends once a week and this amp really cuts through the mix and is plenty loud enough to be heard over my drummer who plays hard and loud.

i play a 1996 fender american telecaster through my vox and they sound great together. it sounds great at low volumes in my apartment and even better when cranked up. it takes really well to my effects pedals too. i use a american big muff and boss delay and with a little bit of tremelo and reverb i get some really awesome sounds. i tried both models of the ac-15, the one with the more expesive celestion blue speaker and the one with the factory wharfdale. i will have to say both amps sound great. the blue has a different quality that is hard to explain that i personally liked a little better.

so far i have had my amp for about 2 months and every thing seems to be great. it feels sturdy and seems well built.

never had to deal with them.

overall i would definitely recommend this amp. i tried several other smaller tube amps such as fender pro jr, blues jr. and hot rod deville before i realized i wasnt getting the sound i was looking for. the price was definitely a litle steep, but to finally have the sound i have been looking for is worth it. if it were lost or stolen i would do what i could to get it back.

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Its just too darn loud!!!!!! I bought this as a practice amp. Ive had two vox amps in the past and theyve both been pretty good. So as theyve both broken now (dont ask!) I thought Id splash out on an AC15CC1.

Id actually read all the reviews here first before sending off for the amp and made the unusual decision to buy it without trying it out first! Doh!!!

So after agerly awaiting its arrival confident that it would be the coolest amp ever I was shocked at quite how impracticably loud it was for home use.

Its pretty much either off or f**king loud! I like playing with gain and I would just have to have cracked it up to ear splitting to get any break up.

So basically Ive sent the amp back :( and Im gonna get my Vox VR30 fixed (a vv good amp which Id heartilly recommend and at 30 watts is a full three times less powerfull than the AC15 - go figure!)

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Too loud as a practice amp. also the tremolo and reverb sucked!!!

This amp is the 2006 Vox AC-15CC1, a reissue of a reissue (of the old AC-15TB and TBX, which were damn near impossible to find when they were out, I only saw one at Guitar Center, sounded great but the price tag almost killed me!). This amp is as basic and as cool as it gets, it has every feature most guitar players would need (great tremelo, nice smooth reverb)and the very useful master volume. I bought the model with the ceramic Wharfedale speaker because I have a blue alnico Celestion sitting in a drawer, so I decided that this would be THE AMP to use it in. This review concerns the amp with the Wharfedale speaker, I might do one after I put the Celestion in. The amp has only one input (the old AC15TB/X had two), which I always prefer--keeps people from wanting to plug in with you (hey, get your own amp, buddy!!), there are no effects loops, headphone jacks, nada. Just a plain Vox AC15, very versatile, it does the trick for me, since I play mainly in smaller clubs, so I can bring this in and use it, rather than the British-built AC30TBX (with the Celestion Blues) I used to own, which was more of a coffee table than a guitar amp, it was too big and heavy for normal daily use. This AC15 is loud enough to temporarily paralyze small game at 20 yards, and all the Vox harmonics are there, it just sounds like a Vox amp, which is superb. I mainly play older rock, surf music, 1960s American garage and folk-rock, older British rock (Beatles, early Who, Rolling Stones, Pretty Things, the Yardbirds, mod bands like Small Faces and the Creation, etc, some 70s punk and new wave as well), so it fits the bill perfectly. The amp has a tube pre-amp and power amp, the reverb and tremolo are both solid state, and so is the rectifier circuit, and it uses some kind of sag circuit to approximate the sound of a tube rectifier when it's pushed to sag. Some guitarists swear by tube rectifiers, I've used amps with both solid state and tube rectifiers, I say they're both fine. Here's my take on this issue: the less tubes in a Vox amp, the better, since Vox amps are notorious for overheating, since you had, I think, 11 tubes hidden inside the cabinet on an AC30, maybe 9 in the AC15TBX, with these little vents on top of the amp cabinet which do little or nothing to push the heat out, so you've basically plugged your prized guitar into a fire hazard. Besides, we've come to that point in electronic engineering where we can produce a solid-state reverb and tremolo that sound fantastic (yes, they do), and a solid-state rectifier doesn't really faze me in the least, remember that the Twin Reverb also has a solid-state rectifier, and no one's ever complained about them, the 1980s Paul Rivera-designed Fender amps also had solid-state rectifiers, I had a Fender Concert that sounded great, so there you go, no big deal.

I'm currently trying the Vox out with a few different guitars, mainly a Fender '62 Jazzmaster reissue (my number one guitar, sounds and plays like a dream), a Squier Telecaster (great cheap guitar, great twang, and I can take it out and drop it accidentally and not care!!), and a borrowed Les Paul Special. Needless to say, all guitars sound amazing through the amp. I usually run everything through my 1968 Fender Princeton Reverb as my main amp, but with the Vox, it's apples and oranges. The Fender amp gives the sweet Fender tone it's known for (a great sound), and the Vox gives out the brittle, multi-harmonic, "blizzard of nails" tone that Vox is legendary for. Man, what a sound! It's as sweet or as agressive as you want it to be, and considering I play a number of styles (surf music, early US and British Invasion rock and roll, some folk-rock and psychedelic rock, going up to pub rock, punk, new wave and beyond that), the sound fits all of them. Believe it or not, running a Jazzmaster through a Vox amp is not only just for playing Elvis Costello or Television songs. It's a versatile combo, the Jazzmaster pickups really shine through the Vox, it sounds good with the blues or any rock style, I'm sure it would sound great through a big-bodied Gibson for jazz runs as well.

Regarding the amp noise factor, I think they finally figured out how to quiet these beasts down. The amp is not noisy at all, it's dead quiet, and noise is one of the big problems with Vox amps (of course, reliability is the biggest one, it has been for decades). However, two things I notice about this amp: one, it hates cheap pickups (it'll buzz like hell if you put a cheap guitar through it with cheap pickups), and two, possibly due to the 2nd- and third-level harmonics Vox amps put out (which is part of that amazing Vox sound, thank you Mr. Dick Denney), you will sound like crap if your guitar is even the slightest bit out of tune (anyone of you out there who know the quirks of Vox amps already know this, but if you don't know about this aspect of Vox tone, make sure your tuners don't slip while you play--oy vey!!). As far as the SOUNDS the amp makes, well, pull out your Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc. LPs and give a listen. Hell, pull out your Queen LPs while you're at it, and dig out your R.E.M. CDs, that sound is on records right to the present day, that sweet harmonic and thick breakup is there in spades. The reverb is not like a Fender reverb; it's not the big, crashing reverb you can get lost in. The Vox reverb is a different sort of animal, it's a subtle nuance, a smooth echo that follows the note, you can adjust the length of time that it reverberates, but it's not a Fender reverb, it never has been, not on any Vox amplifier, but it is still a great sound, and the tremolo is as great as any Vox I've ever heard, maybe better. I really do wish it had the Vibrato feature the old AC30s had, but it's just too complicated a circuit, you can get a cheap pedal that approximates the sound, so I can live without it.

The distortion is, well, distorted. The master volume is really needed on this amp, because if you didn't have it, you couldn't get that great Vox crunch without going deaf, this amp is damn loud for 15 watts (due to the innovative Vox circuit, once again, thank you Dick Denney). But it has the Vox crunch for sure, and if you crank it up, it goes flat-out screaming distortion. So you really have to know what kind of sound you want to get out of this amp, since you can really overdo the overdrive on this thing, and it gets really gritty. I think this is probably due to the Wharfedale speaker, it's a decent speaker but it's completely mismatched for this amp. First of all, it's not a Blue Celestion "Bulldog" speaker (ha ha), but that means a couple of things, mainly the old blue Bulldog is an alnico speaker, which makes all the difference in Vox amps. Since the Wharfedale is ceramic, it results in more of a hi-fidelity sound, the sound is clearer and punchier, but not as warm and round. The bulldog has more midrange as well, which is important in getting the tone right. The Wharfedale sounds great, but the speaker emphasizes the top end of the sound, it's more trebly, so the breakup is more jagged. Second, the impedance and wattage are wrong. The classic Blue Bulldog is an 8-ohm speaker that handles 15 watts. The magic sound that Vox was known for was due to those blue Celestion speakers, they were always closely matched to the amp's output, especially in the case of the single-speaker AC15 and the twin-speaker AC30, where the blue Celestions were perfect, they matched the amp's output wattage perfectly, so they could be pushed to the hilt. The Wharfedale is a 30-watt speaker, 16 ohm impedance, so it not only has a different impedance (this does supposedly influence the sound somewhat), but since it's capable of having 30 watts pumped through it, it doesn't go to the top of it's output range, so the amp won't get that "holy shit, it's about to blow!!" sound that an overdriven Vox amp has. However, the Wharfedale sounds good, it gets that nice chime and squishy overdrive, so it's a great bargain (especially since the Celestion costs about $275-300 street value), and once the speaker breaks in, it'll get warmer. So a nine for the Wharfedale, I dig it.

Ha ha ha, reliability with a Vox?? BLEAH-HA-HAR-HAR-MWAH-HAHAHAH!!! Personally, I really don't give a crap if a classic Vox amp is about as reliable as an old Jaguar (speaking of old English craftmanship...), which is of course, not that reliable. They just look so damned beautiful and sound so extraordinary, I would devote myself foolishly to its care and maintenance, just to hear myself playing through one!! I'm actually an amp tech in my spare time, so I've been under the hood of a lot of old and new Fenders, Voxes (both tube and solid-state), Ampegs and some Marshalls, so I can fix an amp if it blows up. However, I'll tell you this: I did something smart this time around. Rather than buy my Vox amp from your usual music store chain (name your favorite/least favorite, folks!!), I bought mine through North Coast Music (www.northcoastmusic.com). It's a one-man operation, and the owner goes through the amps he receives from Vox, checking for weak tubes, bad cosmetics, and burns in the amps for 12 hours before he sends them out. The amp arrived double-boxed, well-packed, and it was perfect, no blemishes, no mars, no nonsense, and it worked perfectly right out of the box. I've heard stories about these amps and the new AC-30s having problems, well, so what else is new?? The old British-built AC-15s had problems with bad transformers, the output trannies would blow out within a month, and the replacements would also blow up. No, it's not the amp's fault, it's the fault of the component supplier. Remember, all the British stuff (this goes for Marshall, too, as well as cars, motorcycles, whatever else the Brits made or still make) is not completely built from in-house parts, there's lots of farming out of transformers, cabinets, trim, pots, what have you. So you have a good chance of getting bad runs than if all the parts are built in-house, which doesn't really occur in amp manufacture. However, now the Vox amps are built in China, apparently it's all built in-house, and here's the kicker: this amp seems to be built impeccably. I pulled the back off the amp to check out the guts, and the build quality seems to be first-rate. I have never seen a Vox amp where the wires were so neatly routed, all the tube socket filament wires were neatly routed to the board, nothing connected together to cause any noise, the solder joints are perfect, the boards are neat, the parts are installed neatly and securely. It's almost as if they have to really, REALLY prove themselves here, you know, "Listen, guys, this is a classic British amp now built in China, people are grumbling, let's show them how well we can do it, okay?" The British AC-30 TBX I owned was quiet at first, then suddenly got very buzzy (bad tube filament wire routing, typical problem with the old Voxes), then the standby switch started to go bad. This amp was built by the folks at Marshall amps, and it was constructed like shit. Horrible solder joints, of course, the standby switch went dead after maybe 4 hours of playing time, and all the components were installed very sloppily, the silicone they used to keep the parts seated was squirted all over the place. What a mess. Just to think, it was built by Marshall! So, let's see what the Chinese can do, maybe once all the kinks are ironed out, we'll have Vox amps that will actually last the whole gig!! And if you're wondering about the quality of the components they use, the resistors, caps, diodes, and wiring are the same as the British amps, the small parts come from the same suppliers, the pots look a little cheaper, but the pots on the British AC-30s were lousy, and Vox has used cheap plastic input jacks since 1960, so what the hell, for an amp that's a thousand bucks cheaper, I'm willing to take my chances. So I'll have to get back to you on the reliability on this amp, but I'm optimistic, I already used it more than the Brit AC-30 I had, and it's still working, so 10 for now...

I called Korg for a manual for my British AC-30, and Korg was very helpful, they took my info, sent the manual out in a week. I personally think they're as good as any other company out there, I had good luck with ordering parts from Fender, Ampeg is fantastic, and the Korg people were fine. And remember, I bought my AC-15 from North Coast Music, I just didn't walk into a local Guitar Center and buy an amp (I couldn't find one in my local Guitar Center even if I wanted to buy one there!), so my amp was already checked out and put through it's paces, and my chances of getting a lemon were significantly reduced. If you're seriously considering getting one of these amps, I would say to contact North Coast Music, especially since you'll be lucky if you find a Vox AC-15 at your local music store. I'm not plugging anyone here, I just tried a different route, which turned out to be the best one for my needs. I tried ordering an AC-30 CC1x (the single-speaker AC30 model) from a local store, I waited at least two months, and of course, the amp never arrived, the store never called Korg about the order status, oh well, I took the money I put down on the AC-30 and bought a Telecaster with it. The warranty for the amp is a year, so what, if it breaks after the warranty expires, I'll fix it myself. I'll give a 10 for customer support from my past experiences with Korg, not sure with this amp yet, hopefully I won't have to call them for a long time.

I have been playing guitar since I was about fifeen years old. I spent the first few years banging on it more than playing with a pick and my fingers, but hey, I got some lessons, and I now bang my guitar with a pick (I guess you can tell I play mostly rhythm guitar, huh?). I spent years using Fender amps, I owned three Deluxe Reverbs, I found a Super Reverb in the trash and restored it. Then when I was about thirty-five, I started thinking, "you know, I really like the sound of Vox amps, why don't I get one?" I liked the look of them, really stood out from the workmanlike Fenders, they sounded different, and being that I've been a fan of British products for years (MGBs, BSAs and Triumphs, oh my!) so I decided on getting a Vox in the near future. Then I went to Little Steven's Underground Garage Festival on Randall's Island (New York) back in the summer of 2004, and I checked out the backline on stage: Fender Twin Reverbs, Marshall JCM stacks, and Vox AC-30s. The Fenders looked like tree stumps on stage, the Marshalls were enormous, ugly and sounded like typical modern-day Marshalls (hmm, hard to get clean sounds on them, and I don't think people really know how to set them just right, except for the Ramones, who turned everything up to 10 and sawed away), but then there were the Voxes. I noticed them right away, and they sparkled on stage. I saw how much the light flickered and flashed off the gold fascia strip (fancy word for trim strip)and VOX logo on the front of the amp. They looked like dandies at a burger joint, just standing out boldly and glowing, winking, dying to be noticed. Then one of my favorite British mod bands, the Creation, got on stage and played. Eddie Phillips (the Creation's guitarist, he was the first one to use a violin bow on the guitar, before that Page guy, and Eddie was so good that Pete Townshend apparently wanted him to be second guitarist in the Who. Pete was also joined the Creation's fan club, so there!)had his ES335 plugged into the Vox amp, he had his violin bow ready, and the band started to play "Making Time" (You can hear this song in the film "Rushmore," if you're interested). Well, the day after THAT, I went out and bought an AC-30, I couldn't be without one. My god, the sound it made was incomparable to anything I ever heard, I would just play simple guitar chords through it, I had never heard open and barre chords sound like that before. I'll tell you, I never heard D major the same way again! However, the amp was too heavy (71 pounds), too big for anywhere I would play it, so I never used it (then the standby switch started to act funny, such is a Vox). I also needed a keyboard for a band I'm in (I'm primarily a keyboard player), so I figured the Vox had to go, I bought a Yamaha Motif, all was well. But damn it, that Vox still gnawed at me, then when I found out about the AC-15 getting reissued, I said, "NOW is the time," so I bought one. Best damn musical purchase I've made in years. Okay, so it's still heavy (50 pounds), but it's not the behemoth the AC-30 is, it's the size of a Deluxe Reverb, so I can bring it to a club, and the rest of the band can still stand on stage without my amp getting in the way. I also have the Princeton Reverb, a Squier Tele butterscotch Affinity series (great cheap guitar), and my Jazzmaster. I really cut down on my gear as of late, due to space and financial needs, but the sound of this amp inspires me, it just looks and sounds amazing. If it were stolen, I would definitely get another one, hopefully it won't get to that, but at least now I could afford one, as opposed to the last British Vox AC-15s. I would avoid the British AC-15s for the most part, I know some people like the older ones better, but I know how they're built, and I wouldn't touch one, especially not for the prices they're currently selling for. This amp has the typical Vox quirks, the extremely thin tolex covering (actually it's called Vynide, I only know that because I had to order some for an amp restoration) is there as usual, so you need an amp cover (I've got one), and the amp is a Vox, so you've got to baby it a little more than a Fender amp, or else parts will strip, fall off, get bent or broken, get ripped up (sometimes that happenens even when you DO take care of a Vox), or whatever, but that's the price you pay for owning the Jaguar XKE of amplifiers (big deal it's built in China, it's still a British amp, I don't care where it's built, no one else could ever have created such a beast as the Vox amplifier but the Brits, it's a masterpiece). You eventually have a love-hate relationship when you use Vox amps, I've had some Vox amps going all the way back from the JMI years to the present Valvetronix series (a great line of amps, if you ask me), and the older ones were always a little dodgy. However, I think the Vox people have come a long way with this amp, if not with the design, then at least with the build integrity. It looks like they put time into the redesign of the amp, the electronics look solid, it'll take time to work all the kinks out, but it's the same for any production line. The amp needs nothing else to make it great (maybe the Blue Celestion, but save your pennies and dimes, get it when you can, this amp sounds great with the Wharfedale speaker, so you can wait a while), just take care of it, don't throw it into the van carelessly night after night, and you'll be rewarded. And if you have it under good lighting, you might just see that gold flashing, it'll be winking back at you.