Vox AC30 6TB

I buy a Vox AC30/6 TB(reissue) and i think it was made in 2000. I
mostly play rock'n'roll, rock and blue. For the feature that it have it is versatile, not for all kind of music but enough for what am playing. It have 3 non-footswitchable channel:brillant,normal and vibrem. There is a tone control for all the channel(cut)and the brillant has treble and bass. It has a tremolo and it is great. Each channel have is own color, what is made the amplifier more versatile. I master would be great but when you crank up the volume you can hear
a nice dirty clean. I mostly play in my bedroom and a jam with freinds
one time a week, and it is enough loud for playing in a band situation, 33 loud watts. When a play rock'n'roll a use the vibtrem channel and switch off the vibrato with the egg footswitch. I crank up and get a very good dirty clean kind of rolling stone sound(awesome one). I use this channel because its is less dart than the normal and it is less powerfull. When i play clean i use the brillant channel, the top boost make this channel so clear and you hear all ring out of a chord.

I use a Yamaha Aes-1500 semi-hollow body guitar with the stock pickups(dimarzio q-100)it has a coil spliting that i love, i can choose the humbucker or the single coil, i mostly play with the single coil and play with the humbucker when i use a distortion pedal. The amplifier is a bit noisy, but like other say turn the volume knob of the normal channel to the half way and it disapear. I sold my Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 for buy this amplifier and the AC30 is a WAY better than this fender amp. The AC30 was my frist choose but i check out the other model and i find that it was the better sounding.
The sound is clear and can be dirt, it is not muddy. The nornal channel got a lot of bass i bit too enough for me but still good for putting a overdrive pedal.

Here i dont know, i read a lot of review before buy this amp and some got problems, i choose to buy this amp knowing that it can broke down, but i baby this amp and i take care of it a lot so i think that it would last, i hope!!

I never dealt with the compagny but i hear some bad thing but the is a distributor near of my city at St-Laurent(Quebec)(Canada), so if i have problem i know where to go. The garanti is one year(i think)it is not very much but it ok.

I play for 5 year and i think that i can say what sound good or not, and honestly it a very good amp, not the better there are no better amp, but it a awesome one. If it were lost of stolen i would buy a other one or maybe a matchless buy god they are overated. This one of the better amp a never hear and never have and it will stay with me of life.

This is a Korg reissue made in March of 2000. It has 2x12 Blue Bulldog Celestions. There are 3 channels: vib-trem, normal, and brilliant, each channel has an independant volume control, there is no channel switching built in. This amp has 6 inputs (a high and low gain input for each). The volume on the vib-trem channel is slightly lower than the others, as is common for older style tube amps. It's super easy to dial in a great sound.

The controls on this amp are kind of strange. The vib-trem channel has a volume, a switch to select between vibrato or tremelo, and a rate selector for the vibrato/tremelo. The rate selector is a three way switch, meaning there are only three speeds for vib/trem, fast, faster and fastest. There is a footswitch for turning vibrato or tremelo on on off (you can only use it for which ever one you have selected on the amp, you can't change between vibrato an tremelo with the footswitch)

The normal channel has only a volume knob, and the Brilliant channel has volume, bass, treble and cut knobs.

The cut knob is active over all three channels. What it does is cut high frequencys out, the painfuls ones - the harshness in the treble that will make your ears bleed.

You don't have too much control over tone with the vib-trem and normal channels, the cut know is the only thing that affects your tone. The bass and treble knobs on the brilliant channel are whats know as the top boost - an after market feature that Vox added in the early-mid 60's, after they changed the AC-30's design and people where complaining about the tone.

Anyway, I use this amp for shoegazer/space rock, but I would use for anything except metal (which I never have or never will play). I pretty much exclusivly use the Brilliant channel because of the lack of tonal control on the other two.

This amp is a Class A tube amp running at 33 watts. Don't let this fool you, because it is a Class A amp, it is **very** loud. It has more volume than any sane person would use, it will cut through a full band, and sound men will be screaming at you to turn it down.

(note, the low rating in this catagory is because this amp really does lack features of a modern day amp - not that I care, I don't need features.)

This is the sound I have always wanted. It sounds amazing. I play a Fender Jazzmaster thru a lot of effects, and I love it. Playing these in a store won't do the amp justice, after a couple of months of use, when the speakers are broken in, they sound infinatley better.

As others have written, this amp isn't very versitle, the only real sound you get out of it is that sweet, midrangey Vox sound, and god bless it. I've played around with a lot of amps, and I've nver heard anything that holds a candle to the AC30. This is one case wher e you can believe the hype.

The previous post mentioned noise. Yes, the amp will make a lot of noise on its own, - but, there is a simple fix. I was told that the hum is beacuse the channels on the AC-30 are out of phase with each other. To conteract the hum on one channel, simply turn the volume **up** on another channel! This sounds illogical but it works. When When using my brilliant channel, I turn the volume up t o1/3 on the normal channel, and the hum dissapears.

I haven't had any problems with it. It's Class A, so it will eat tubes, I don't really consider that a fact reliabilty issue. It's a fact of life with any tube amp that there are going to be maintanence costs.

I gig with out a backup because I certanily can't afford another. With regular maintence, I'm not too worried. If your concerned, change your tubes before they go. I've read that about 300 hours of use is all you can expect.

Anyway, I've heard both really good things, and really bad things about Vox reliability. Most of the horror stories I've heard happened "straight out of the box", so it's probably more of a quality control issue.

I've never had to deal with Vox, and I never will. The store I bought it from supports there customers. But, I'm sure the people at Korg are all very nice

This amp is the only piece of gear I own that is everything it's cracked up to be. I researched this amp for over a year while debating about dropping that much money. I have never read a single review of an AC-30 (except for the 70's and 80's models's) where the reviewer had anything bad to say about the sound.

look who uses these amps - u2, radiohead, my bloody valentine, almost every britpop/britrock band, Brian May of Queen, the Beatles, etc, etc, etc.

If it was stolen, I'd by another one - thats what insurance is for.

1999ish reissue, bought used. 12" Blue Bulldog speakers. 6 Channels, 2 for each - Vibrato/Tremolo, Normal, and Brilliant. Brilliant is the channel I play through the most, mainly because the tone controls don't have any effect on the Normal channels. The range on the brilliant channel is amazing, it's got a bit of a blues feel to it, but it gets the whole spectrum.

I'm into "that britpop thing" so I use this with my only guitar - a Rickenbacker 330, the classic setup for getting all those sounds. The sound itself is amazing, it's so clear and running clean, it has a great sound to it, especially for rythym. My one complaint is that it hums at low volumes, and you have to crank it up to a 4 to get the right sounds coming out. I've cranked everything up to 10 a few times to get natural distortion out of it, but I never really noticed any change.

I've had this amp for a few months now, and someone else owned it before me, but I haven't experienced any problems with sound or anything else, although I haven't really hauled this thing around alot .

Being bought used, I have no warranty, and I suppose the amp would be pretty expensive to repair, but I haven't had to experience that yet.

I love it. I'm a student and after payments I barely have anything left, but I'm still happy I bought it. I got lucky with this amp - being in the store the morning it was dropped off. I heard rave reviews from others about the Fender Twin Reverb, but trying both out consecutively, the Vox was such a clear choice. I'm completely satisfied and plan to keep this amp for a long time.

this is a 2000 korg r.i. It's got a boxy, flat kinda sound which makes it really versatile. Crank it up and you'll get a good rockin' tone, kinda like Son Volt, Matthew Sweet, obviously Queen. I use both the Brilliant Channel and the Vib/Trem channel, a/b'd through an old MXR loop selector. This seems to work well for me. I never use the normal channel. or the normal setting on the vib/trem channel. Being a reissue, a don't expect, nor do I need channel swithching or reverb. This model has the "Long" Ei preamp tubes.

I use a Les paul special w/ p100s. It's totally raunchy with my rat, and totally creamy with my fulldrive 2. it just keeps getting louder every time I step on another overdrive or dist. (unlike my marshall jmp 50w, which simply became more fuzzy) the tone controls are very versatile. it will distort naturally, but only at high volume levels!

I don't know what these other guys are talking about! This amp is well built and expendable (I gig heavily with this amp!)

Sell your peavey and buy one of these. It will make you smile every time you plug in! Hey! Everlast endorses it! (Maybe this is not a good thing....)

I bought a brand new junky Vox AC30, which was stuffed with
Greenbacks. I think that this amp sounds good enough that a good
guitar player could get whatever he needs out of this amp. It has a
brilliant channel as well as a normal and vibrato, all of which sound
really good. This amp can get quite loud, but seems a little thin. I
think that it would sound ten times better ran out of a 4x12 closed
back cabinet.

I play a Les Paul Custom, which sounded fantastic out of this amp.
The clean sounds were amazing and the even harmonic distortion was
rich and full. You can't get heavy metal type distortion out of this
amp with some pedals, but i'm sure any hard guitar player could
use this amp.

Here's the bad news! I paid an ass-load of money for this amp. I have a band that tours and plays shows constantly, so i really count on my amp being there for me. About five minutes into my first practice with it i begin to hear this rattling sound coming from the amp. After closer examination i determined that it was coming from one of the speakers. The next day i called the music store and told them to order
me one and leave it in the box. This one had been on the floor at Mars
supercenter, so i figured that it must have been abused. Anyway, i get
a new one and this one seems to be ok, even though it seem to be smaller in height and width...don't ask me why, but i know it was smaller??? At this amps first practice (one day before a gig) i noticed a beautiful humming sound. Toward the end of the practice i
had some nice microphonic tube shit going on, which drove me crazy...
Plus this amp seemed to put out less volume than the first one. So i
drive an hour back to the music store the next day and said...here's
my receipt, now give me me $1380.19 back so i can buy something that
isn't a piece of crap. I'd read that the newer re-issues stink and
now i too can back it up. Don't waste your money on these amps! If you
have to have an AC30 spend your time on finding a real one, you'll be
glad that you did. I went out and bought back my old 100 watt Marshall
JMP from a guy i sold it to as well as a Marshall 4x12. I know that
it'll be there for me gig after gig. I'm sorry i tried to replace
them with such a sorry re-issue!

Vox gives a one year warranty on these crap-sters! Which you more
than likely will have to use. Luckily i had 30 days at the store
and could still return it for a refund. Don't waste your time and
money on these!! I happend to see a real 60's AC30 at another store
and it looked like a tank compared to my junky re-issue.

I've been playing guitar since i was 5. I'm 24 now, and i know a
good amp when i see one. The great tone of the AC30 fooled me at
first, but i could see that this was not the amp to haul around
from city to city. It just couldn't take the abuse. If you want to
play it in your bedroom on the weekends at 1 on the volume knob, then
this is your amp. Professionals, buy a Marshall. They keep on going
and going!

This is a reissue with the Celestion greenbacks. I'll save space on spec info due to the fact that it's been stated upteen times already. True to the originals, nice addition of standby switch, wish the Tremolo had greater range of speeds (does anyone know how to modify without damaging the amp?). The amp has enough features for it's character and intended user.

Not a broad range of sounds, however this is a moot point due to the fact that the Vox delivers it's indescribable signature sound. Clarity of notes at full gain, sustain, fat midrange, tone tone tone. I play though an Epiphone DOT modified with PAFs, and it's like a slice of heaven with the brilliant channel at 8. Allows the players' "finger tone" to shine though, and even sounds tubey and nice with the volume rolled back (no drive however). Not for everyone, but you'll know when you play one if it's for you. Vox players don't like their tone, they love it.

Here is the bane of all Vox owners. My recently purchased AC30's brilliant channel (the best one) broke down halfway through it's first practice. They run hot, burn through the tubes (ie expensive) and are unpredictable in the best of times. I've read that the new ones have had most of the bugs worked out, although they seem to have skipped over mine.

They shop that I dealt with were wonderful, and gave in-store warranty. I've never dealt with Vox/Korg directly.

Call me crazy, but like hundreds of other guitarists, I would get another AC30 if mine were to be stolen. For some reason, I can look beyond the ridiculous price tag, the break downs, the weight (70lbs!), The finnickiness, the expensive tube replacements, the absurd design which makes tube access practically an all-night-affair. "And why?" you might ask. Well that answer is simple. It's all about the tone! That glorious classic Vox tone that is more addicting than that girfriend you know will cause your eventually mental breakdown, but catch yourself calling over and over again. The tone that makes you close your eyes after hitting that one note and forget that you're the one playing and not simply outside, listening in. Tone baby, glorious tone.

It's an original mid-60s Ac 30 displaying the brown-reddisch front panel with the JMI signature on top and 6 inputs (vib/normal/bright) each for high/low impedance. Speakers are Celestions 12-30 H pre-rola Greenbacks, datet 1966, which were thew first Celestions containig ceramic magnets. I bought the amp to cover just one style of playing ....Blues, and it kicks. The normal channel had been modified with a top boost unit as well as an effect loop, which makes sense, if you want to apply a chorus pedal. The amp rates just 36 watts but has an awfull durability and realy sings, when it's cranked. Its not as versatile as a modern amp, but who cares, it' s an AC 30, not just a digitally modelled AC 30 sound.

I use it mainly with my EvH Music Man, the sound is fat and compares directly to Brian May. Using my '66 Strat you can originally get the sound, Rory Gallager once had, great stuff, great blues feeling.

Had so far just minor problems, but its like an old car, it needs continious maintaineance.

I've close to my home town an amp and tube dealer, which is speciallized on vintage gear, so far, no problems.

I've been playing since over 30 years and own an Marshall TSL 2000, a Digitech GSP 2101/Engl Stereo Rack, an old Teisco amp, a Reussenzehn Leo Combo amp, and a Trademark 60. Over all the years I played as well Fender, Mesa/Boogie and some German gear, but to me as an guitar an amp maniac its essential, to own some of the amazing vintage gear. If this one would be stolen, I'd buy one of the reissues, which seem to be quite good.

94 model Not versatile in general, but it does everything I want to do, which involves a big, fat, smooth overdrive and an equally fat clean sound. 6 inputs, 3 channels in a strange setup without many controls, but this is 1964 technology, after all. Small sacrifice for the gorgeous tone. Would be great to have a master volume. I play it in small clubs for the most part, and the only complaint I have there is it can be TOO loud--33 watts, but your ears will bleed in a small room if you crank it enough to get the amp to overdrive. This is a mighty 33 watts.

I play an Epiphone Riviera (humbuckers) and a Jap. Strat through it. The tone with the Epiphone will make you weep with joy (instant Beatles with more juice), and the Strat is a mighty smokin second, though with new pickups I get the feeling it will transcend all contenders. My style varies a lot with different incarnations of my band--this amp works in all three--thick hollowbody beef for rockabilly, overdriven heaven for rock and roll of a sort of alternative variety, and clear cutting rhythm sound for a Pogues-esque turbo Irish sort of thing. This amp sounds really really big--I'm in a trio, and there's definitely no need for a rhythm guitarist. The amp can be noisy--very susceptible to bad wiring--usually fine live, but for recording can be a real nuisance. There is no clean channel--there's brilliant, normal, and vibrato, and it overdrives at high volume in all of them, usually in the middle of the volume knob range. There's volume to spare for anything shy of an arena, though. The distortion is not metal/hard-rock distortion--fat midrangy overdrive is pretty much it. If you push it with cranked pedals you get a 60's style distortion, a sort of Hendrixy explosion. With just a little help from pedals you get a warm overdrive, sort of a U2-ey sound.

With the price of this thing, I HAVE to use it without a backup. No problems so far, though. Never broken down, though it had to have the output transformer replaced when the amp was still new in the shop. Starting to have a few weird problems that just mean new tubes.

no contact so far

Been playing for 15 years, and I've gotten rid of all my previous amps in favor of this one--a Marshall and a Roland. No comparison at all. If it was stolen I would find out who did it and go beg them to give it back because I couldn't afford to buy another one. I would have to quit playing until I had that much cash again though--this amp is that essential to my sound. I love it like a long-lost child. Please don't steal it. I love the sound of this thing--it makes me happy to play. I hate its infinite mass. I compared this to a Fender Twin, and the Twin just couldn't give me that inexorable Vox quirky quacking attack. Stunning sound, too expensive, too heavy. The controls are limited, but that's not a problem so far.