Vox AC15TB2

This particular model was built in 1997 or thereabouts. I purchased it in March 2007 which is exactly one year now. It was one of the first reissue AC15s and came with 2 x 10" Vox speakers. The configuration shortly changed to 1 x 12". This is an all-tube model. The controls are two input channels (low input, higher input), volume, master volume, treble, bass, speed and intensity for tremolo and depth for reverb.

VERY heavy! It's advertised as 21.5 Kg but feels a lot heavier.

Objectively, it has a really characterful sound but people should be aware of what they are getting with this. This ain't the sweet, chimey Vox. It's a full-on growler. Another review nailed it perfectly when he/she said that it's part-way between clean and dirty. And while that is a wonderful sound, it does annoy me that I can't really dial in any clean tones without great difficulty. But that's my preference and nothing to do with the quality of the amp. Think about what tones you're looking for before getting one of these though. If clean is critical to you, this won't work.

Another peeve is coloration. I have a '98 Danelectro U2, a '07 1962 Telecaster reissue (MIJ) and a '07 Gretsch 6120 DSV with Duncan Dynasonics. All 3 sound very similar when plugged into amp. The character of the guitar isn't very well-preserved. I also feel the stock speakers could be improved. They are not bad as such but there is a bit of a muffled tone to them and some degree of ice-pick though not overbearing.

On the positive side, the tone that it does set out to accomplish, it does so outstandingly. It's a great R 'n' B wailer and a solid Garage-Punk snarler. Crank it up full and you'll cease to waste time on fuzz pedals. This is the true way to get a quality dirty sound. On that point though, this is not a bedroom amp. You'll never even be able to play it 9 O'clock position at home without attracting massive complaints. Where it really excels is in the recording studio where you can really push it. Sounds wonderful with the Gretsch - two midrange miscreants roaring away together!

I quite like the reverb. It's not as prominent as a Fender reverb but it does add lushness. The tremolo is a disappointment. It seems too out-of-control but not in a musical way. It just sounds like a unusable racket. Again, like the rest of the amp, you can dial in classic early-Stones/Bo Diddley sounds but only with tremendous effort and experimentation.

I bought this on Ebay and it was a complete mess sonically. Sounded more like a Marshall than a Vox. I took it to a tech who re-soldered the whole thing by hand and also noticed that the speakers had been soldered incorrectly originally! Yes, don't automatically assume that something made in Britain will necessarily be better constructed than one made in China.

One issue that my tech and I couldn't solve is the volume fluctuation on the lower input channel. While I'm playing, the volume on that channel suddenly drops and then re-appears. Makes it totally useless for recording. That's a shame because you have a better chance of cleaning things up with that channel but I guess that's the perils of owning something 11 years old (you guessed it, I don't do "vintage" for precisely this reason).

Since coming back from the tech about 10 months ago, I've had no issues whatsoever.

I do really like the amp and I can't imagine ever selling it as the basic tone is so good. However, I find it very limiting for my purposes. As I said, this thing growls and that's it. I would recommend this product to someone who already has at least one other amp and wants to add some EL34 action to their arsenal. Price wise, it's a real bargain which is why I bagged one. Does it deliver vintage tone? Hmm...well it does sound a lot like a Supro but it doesn't give that classic 60's Vox tone. Occasionally when I'm playing, some early '60s Merseybeat pops out, other times Yardbirds blues licks but in the main, no, it's not very vintage-y which I guess is my main gripe. On the other hand, vintage tone may not be that important to you.

Summary: An outstanding, if limited, tone machine that's an absolute bargain.

Mine is a ac15tb2. Made in England in 2003 at the Marshall factory
& therefore one of the last British-built vox's . It has no-name
speakers that I've read may be Eminence speakers (any help or
confirmation of this would be appreciated ). It has master volume
which works well with the input volume , & the standby switch is a
welcome addition . The reverb blend seems a bit underpowered
especially compared to old Fenders ( I also have a 67 deluxe reverb ), but the tremelo is great very full & lush .

I play semi-acoustic guitars ( Gibson & Epiphone ) with p-90's & an
Ibanez artcore jazz guitar with humbuckers . They all sound different
but fantastic through this 15watt class A amp, especially the Ibanez,
which gets a great Wes octave sound. The tone controls are very rich
& lush & with similar settings as I would use on my old Fender sound
quite different --- deeper & more suited to jazz & blues styles .
I tend to use the Fender deluxe reverb for rock'n'roll gigs & the Vox
ac15 for jazz. Either way I'm a happy guitarist.It took me a while to
get the right set-up between the master & input volumes (master on half , input on just over 3/4), but the end result is perfect with lots of variation according to pick attack .

I've had the amp & played it in different bands for two & a half
years with no problems at all . I never bring a backup with me ---
I'm either confident or stupid .

Not applicable

I rate this amp very close to my 67 Fender deluxe reverb --- which is
praise indeed . I used to have a 75 vox ac30 ( Dallas- Arbiter with
celestion T-1088 speakers ) which became too heavy to cart around when I moved to a 3rd floor unit --- so I gave it to my son . I'm so happy to another great Vox amp , because I do love that British
sound .

Has all the features I need - tremolo, reverb, master volume, 2 inputs, bass/treble.

This is pretty much it for me. I may eventually get one of those high end Vox clones, but for now I'm very happy. Chimey, crunchy...gorgeous.

So far so good. Bought it used.

Been playing for 20 years or so, with significant gaps in there. Also own a Fender '63 Vibroverb RI.

I moslty play a MM Albert Lee...also own a LP Faded DC with P-90's, a Us strat, US tele, and a Surfcaster 12-string. All of them sound great, though I prefer a slightly hotter pickup like the Gibson P-90 over the strat single coil through this amp. But of course, that just depends on how you play and what you like.
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I like the fact that it's fairly light...it's no hassle to drag it over to my friend's house to jam. It also starts to break up at fairly low levels if you have the master set right. I'm generally not a master volume fan, but this one works fine.

15W all-valve (including tremolo & reverb) class-A combo based on the brilliant channel of a top-boost AC30 (but with master vol, trem & reverb). 2 inputs (one slightly higher gain), line out, double footswitch for reverb & trem. 2x10" "Vox Bulldog" speakers which are apparently made by Eminence.

I use this amp at home, purely for pleasure and some low-key recording projects, usually with a Mexican 50s Tele and sometimes an Epi Dot. The kind of stuff I like is early REM, The Smiths, Galaxie 500, Low, Mogwai, alt-country... This amp is clearly aimed at players who want the Vox tone at a slightly lower volume and a smaller package, and as such is not competing with high-gain channel-switchers or digital modellers. What it does very well is that warm clean sound with an edge that gets spikier the harder you hit the strings. The volume/master arrangement lets you play with variations of this at different volume levels, although with volume up and master at bedroom levels you're getting crunchy overdrive at most. It's great for slightly distorted chords, with each note ringing out clearly. Play softly and it cleans up, a very dynamic amp to play. Obviously cranking the master to get those EL84s cooking brings it alive but I haven't had the opportunity to really run it flat-out. The tone controls are very responsive (being early on in the signal chain I believe) and it's hard to find a bad tone to be honest, except perhaps with both at zero. Turning down the treble sounds warm not muffled. The tremolo is superb with a wide range of useable settings (handy to have it on a footswitch as well) and the reverb is pretty good (much much better than my old Marshall DSL201 but nowhere near as nice as a silverface Twin I once played). It's quite buzzy but I can live with that (my next project is to shield my Tele) and possibly to do with a valve rectifier not being as efficient as a solid state one. At high volumes I get a hint of microphonics so I suspect the preamp valves could do with a change. The preamp valves in mine are unbranded, with the EL84 and the rectifier being JAN Phillips. NOS valves - not bad!

The 2x10" speakers sound fine and are probably a better option for gigging, although I do wonder what the Blue Alnico version sounds like.

I don't gig these days so my amp will not have a hard life. It does get noticeably hot, and there's a lot of metal inside to sink that heat. That's the price you pay for a class A power stage so if you do gig with it I'd be careful not to leave it switched on uneccessarily. Changing valves is a bit of a nightmare. Remove back panel, remove 4 screws holding chassis (once it's loose the chassis immediately gets pulled by the speaker magnets so hold on tight!), then remove the metal cover (another 5-6 screws). The pcb looks very tidy and solid, with most caps & resistors at least appearing to be good quality, and blobs of glue holding some of the bigger caps. Drake transformers. I would say that at this price you should be getting ceramic (not plastic) valve bases and metal jack sockets not plastic pcb-mounted ones!

In the six years between leaving the factory and coming into my posession the tolex had taken a few knocks and scrapes. Ten minutes with a tube of superglue had it looking like new.

When I tried it at the shop the salesman was unsure whether they could find the footswitch (according to the serial number it was made in 96!) so I emailed the customer support page on the vox website to ask how much a replacement would cost. No reply. Not good.

On the other hand I seem to have succesfully registered my warranty through the site, so we'll see. I also downloaded the schematics out of interest (I'm an electronics engineer).

My formative guitar-playing years were spent with a JMI copper-panel AC30, which I sold when I had no job, no band and no money. Since then I've had a couple of Marshalls (a valvestate and then an all-valve 20W combo) which were great little amps but not really "my sound". The Marshall did a decent clean and a great rock overdrive, but I was after the in-between sounds. This is where the Vox delivers! When I saw this in the shop I pondered for a week, went in and tried it and it was like meeting up with an old friend. After a bit of research I found out they were being discontinued, so I went straight back to get it before somebody else snapped it up. In these days of pressing buttons to get a digital simulation of anything you want this is an amp with character, and like a guitar, you have to learn how it works and how to play it to get the best sound out of it. I can't see me ever getting rid of this one, for me it's perfect. It even smells like my old one!

The AC15TB2 was issued in 1997, the first year of AC15 reissues. It's identical to amps of that year, but with two 10" Bulldog speakers, rather than 1-12". Vox made an AC10 in the '60's which was a twin as well. I guess this is what they were after. IMHO, it sounds better than the single speaker versions. It's tighter and doesn't break up at high volume like the 12". Its smoother and tighter. Loud enough for clubs. I play a sort of brit-pop. Features reverb, vibrato, master volume, volume, treble bass. Two inputs and footswitch.

Great cleans and overdrive. Overdrive is exceptional, nothing smoother or creamier. The amp can be very warm. I play both a Tele Plus and a Starcaster. The Tele can twang or growl through this amp. The vibrato is incredible, the reverb is ok. I also have a '65 Twin, and it is unsurpassed in the reverb category.

The only complaint with the amp is that when I first got it, there was a noisy rattle at higher volumes. Very annoying. Upon research, I found that it was the riveted posts in the reverb tank. They are there to keep the spring tray from moving too much during transport. To fix the problem, I put epoxy on the top of the rivets and inside. NOTE: these are not the mounting screws! Don't glue those. After that, no other disappointments.

I wrote vox about the rattle. They were useless in helping.

I've been playing about 15 years. Seriously about 3. I play lots of pedals and severl Fender guitars. This amp is great. I will always want it. Plus it's loud and light. Great features for club gigs.