Vox AC30 6TB

30 watt valve rectified . no reverb .. vibrato.. 2x 12 inch greenbacks

When I bought this amp used I said to the seller.Whats that hum?... Oh thats just the vox hum ... It is noticable at low vol but at real volumes It is not audible ... The sound of a vox ac 30 cranked is realy one of the classic 20th century guitar sounds. The recorded sound of yhe beatles show aquiet musical side of the ac 30 Its darker personna is More a screaming blues shouter .Wailin hard into a cheap bullhorn . ...a good thing. The realm of howling overdriven feedback does not belong to Marshall alone ...a vox howling like a london air raid siren combined with the haunting drone of 4 engined bombers onthe way to show the germans .... well that where the vox sound takes me ......

A vox amp needs to be treated like a musical instument.. ... not a kichen appliance ... Be kind to your vox ..take her out to dinner .. say thanks when she sings for you ... and sleep close to her ... Take the time to turn her on and let her get hot before you get stuck in... And when you finished and shes still purring just let her cool down before venturing back out onto the icy streets of Old London..

Find the name of a good valve amp repair man .. This amp may very well give you trouble ... Fuses means rectifiers carry spares ... dont rely on a vox thats the price we all pay for an old design .... Be nice to your ac 30 keep her warm at night and dry all the time ... limit vibration ... aaai m getting mine a mink coat and some new high heels .

I will not sell my ac 30 Love may not last .. but im keeping my ac30.... I have a 77 les paul with gibson "the Original " humbuckers The rear pickup is my main rythm position ...The front pickup give a smooth silky sustain Both sound good with the vox odriving hard I also use the midle position for clean chorusey non dstortion sounds

I think its a 2000. The first one I purchased from sweetwater and shipped all the way to the Bahamas did not work so I had to ship it back for another one so I had to pay freight and duty twice hence the hefty price tag. The second one came and only the Brilliant channel was working, but I had so much invested I figured that I better keep it. If you are looking for an amp with features, look elsewhere. If you are looking for great CLEAN tone then maybe.IT NEEDS PRE/POST GAIN!!!!!!!!

I play a 72 Strat (stock) a 90's thinlne with Kinman pickups and a L.A guitar factory custom hollowbody with humbuckers. I try to mostlt play blues and blues and blues. I have a small home studio so the invironment is good for sound. I find the amp to be quite noisy even after changing the tube and replacing them with top of the line. I also took out the greenbacks and replaced them with anlicos, Big differance) To get this amp to start to crunch the volume level in the studio is too loud so I have never really experienced it. The clean tone is fat, bellish and a nice bottom end. But all in all I find it boring, I have not yet been able to dial in a sound that im happy with even with the help of numerous pedals. NEEDS POST/PRE GAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I blew one pre tube and when I exchanged them discovered that only 2 of the power tubes matchrd. Whats up with that.!

I dealt with Sweetwater, they treat me very well.

Ive been playing for about 15 years, i own and have owned a few other amps. If it were stolen I would claim the insurance and get a Mesa.
It has a great clean tone but the lack of features and the high cost made it very disapoiting. NEEDS PRE/POST GAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I own what i think is an 1987 ac30 with celestion greenback speakers. It fits all my styles including rock, country western/folk, and experimental rock. It has 3 channels, with two inputs for each channel (total of six inputs). The normal channel inputs both get a great sound using only the cut and volume controls (the only available for the normal channel) and the high gain input on the brilliant channel when turned up gets the most beautiful transparent overdrive i have ever heard. The only downside is the tremelo channel, which sounds frail and is not powerful at all, and although the tremelo sounds good, it only has 3 speeds which are all far too fast for me. But all in all, between the 4 normal and brilliant inputs, it does everything and more than i need it to.

I use a g&l asat special with high output single coil/p-90ish hybrids. It suits all kinds of rhythym rock sounds with nothing but the volume turned up. I also throw a big muff in front of it for heavy riffs or solos and it is very smooth and fluent. With the big muff off, even on half volume (loud!!!!), it has a very small amount of noise, barely anything noticeable. I will never get rid of my ac30 because of it's ability to create so many beautiful sounds.

It appears to be fairly reliable. I have heard they blow up easily...but mine seems in great condition and ready to rock. I would always get the tubes changed fairly often and re-bias.

I have been playing for 7 years now and my setup is the g&l asat special>electro harmonix big muff>mxr phase 90>digitech digidelay>Vox ac30, and it does everything i want and more. I have owned a good variety of rock amps including marshall plexi's and a peavey 5150II, but i enjoy this one more than all of them. If it was stolen i would kill the man.

Mine is a 2001 model with greenbacks, bought new in 2002. Well, by now you know the features of the AC30TB. It has the standard features of the original and best AC30 circa '62/'63. There is a new version of the AC30 comming out soon called the custum classic for those of you who want extra, more '90's features, but i would choose this version if the new one had been available when i bought it....this one is just the standard real deal AC30TB. Personally i never used any FX loops and features like that anyway on my previous amps. In my opinion i have yet to hear a better sound and thats all that matters. Proper effect placement and use eliminates the need for any fancy pants features anyway. Its all about the next section......sound!!! The features provided allow this amp to produce the best guitar sound i have ever heard so its a 10 from me for features.

With this amp i use the ?69 Thinline Telecaster (single coils) and the ?72 Thinline Telecaster (wide range humbuckers). The amp sounds fantastic with both guitars. The clean sounds on the brilliant channel are deep and full with a glassy top end. Think of the ping you hear when you lightly flick the edge of a waterford crystal bowl. Chimey, deep with crystal highs all at the same time, making the sweetest guitar sound for accompanying a great singing voice. When the amp is pushed a throaty bark arrives as the natural overdrive kicks in. This rasping overdrive rings like a bell and is the perfect rhythm drive in a band situation??it?s clear, well defined and unbeleivably responsive to your attack making it the perfect amp for a dynamic player weaving between vocal flurishes. Although the volume at which this amp starts to break up is huge and rarely accepted for indoor gigs, it is very easy to get the same sound at lower volumes?..enter the Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker pedal (very cheap but very useful). Set on boost mode for clean(ish) boost, set the pedal volume slightly above your perfect clean sound and it just drives the valves enough to bring on the exact same sound as the amp when it?s cranked but at a reasonable volume. The tone is perfectly maintained at both bass and treble ends and the sparkle is ever present. From there you are free to add your favorite stompers to drive this into the cosmos.

My pedal board goes as follows:- Boss TU-2 tuner, Crybaby Wah, Marshall BB-2 bluesbreaker (boost mode for clean breakup), Ibanez TS9 (on top of boost for full rhythm overdrive), Boss BD-2 Blues driver (on top of overdrive for lead boost), Marshall VT-1 Vibratrem (Tremolo), Boss DD-3 Digital Delay then back on top of the amp i use EHX Holy Grail Reverb (must be last in the chain with just a tad of verb, constantly on, not really needed at all but it does add a nice breath and depth to the overall sound).

I have every thing i need covered with these pedals, with no hums or gliches of any kind only excellent sounds from pristine cleans through my three stages of overdrive to rip roaring leads with the combination of the three overdrive pedals. The AC30 is the perfect host for good quality effects. There is fantastic headroom available at the clean end of the dial.
I've been playing over twelve years...i'm 25 now and i am the lead guitarist and lead singer in a rock band......kind of Radiohead/Jeff Buckley in first impression, I?ve been told,?..it?s not really intentional but I am very flattered by the comparissons. Im from ireland and the irish music scene is on fire at the moment......we're comming!!!

The most important thing to know about these amps before you buy them is that they require regular servicing to keep them in perfect nik. You cannot expect the amp to never require maintenance. These amps run really hot and the valves cause all kinds of problems if they are not monitored and changed BEFORE the problems arrise!!!
Make sure you have some 500mA fuses handy and a spare GZ34 rectifier and you have nearly every problem that these amps throw at you covered.
I have a tech that services my amp so it stays in running order. With all vintage valve gear you must have a tech to keep an eye on it or you will be left down sometime....no question. Keep it serviced and clean like a vintage car!!!
There is a great troubleshoot diagram on the Vox website at the moment and nearly all the problems are easily fixed by yourself by following these guidelines.
A yearly service by someone who knows valve gear well will keep you running sweetly without hassles. I cant stress enough how much this amp is worth the trouble!!! A rating of 10 if its kept in check.

I know the tech that services my amp tried to get some parts off of them and he ended up going elsewhere because tof the wait. However i do think that the company was in the middle of some kind of changeover at the time and maybe the service structures are being handled better now.
At the time, very bad......now, i dont know.

I have had many amps over the years, fenders and a few marshalls. Lots of my friends play music as well so i am very familiar with all kinds of amps, guitars and effects. My last amp was also a cracker...the Marshall JCM602 60W valve amp, very good but not in the same league as the Vox really. Having the AC30 makes every other amp seem like they are struggling to get to where the Vox is already. Its just a professional, mature sound that has that fantastic heritage and really amazing visual impact. There is no other piece of equipmentin the world that looks as cool as a Vox AC30TB. Just stand the two Tele's in front of it and you are impressing the audience before you even take the stage...really!!!

One of the guys in the band with me owns and runs a very good recording studio, we constantly record and reherse at the studio so a lot of gear passes through from other players and bands. I am looking forward to the day a worthy contender enters the studio...a dual!!! Get one, but be fully aware of the amp you are taking on with regards to upkeep!!!

Bought new in June 2004; don't know exactly when it was made. It is plenty versatile for all the types of music I play (or try to play) as I dabble in jazz, blues, rock and popular tunes. If you're reading this you must have some idea of what this amp has to offer. I kind of wish it had reverb but then again I would not want anything in the signal path that could potentially detract from it's tone. I thought a master volume control would be nice as well but after doing some research, I bought a Dr.Z./Trainwreck Airbrake (attenuator) which works beautifully and seems to be accoustically transparent. I hardly use the vibrato/tremolo feature at all. I play in my very small basement "studio/office" and this amp puts out the loudest 33 watts I've ever heard. This beast can stand up to my 135 watt Fender Twin with ease. I've read and have been told then the AC30 does well with all kinds of pedals, effects, etc. The only effects/ pedals I own are a DOD Chorus, a Pod and a Boss Compressor/Sustainer all of which I use with my other amps; I like the AC30 just as it is. In my opinion if you're into extreme distortion and/or metal sounds this amp may not be the amp for you. I'm going to stay 100% neutral in this category because you really need to sit down with the AC30 and experiment with the tone controls to find out if it's right for you.

Gibson SG std, Fender USA Strat, Epiphone Sheraton II w/ Classic '57 hbs, Ibanez AS120 full hollow jazz box, Steinberger GT Spirit. Every one of my guitars seems to have been "reborn" when played through this amp (sounds dumb but difficult to describe otherwise.) I can get any sound I want out of it, and then some. Every pickup combination has it's own unique character. Since I need to spend alot more time studying theory and playing and less time playing with the amp itself, I'll say that I havent even scratched the surface in terms of experimenting with pickup combinations and tone control settings. For now, I have bridged the normal and brilliant channels together so I can get a blend of both. The amp has only 3 tone controls: treble and bass, which affect only the brilliant channel, and cut which affects all 3 channels (right now I'm not using the vibrato channel) The treble and bass controls are extremely responsive, more so than I've heard with my other amps. The Airbrake allows me to go from clean to a nice, warm tube saturation rich with harmonics at moderate levels and an awesome bluesy breakup and overdrive at higher levels while maintaining a reasonable volume. I was very surprised to hear how clean this amp can sound. With the Epiphone and the Ibanez I can get what I just call "jazz tone" with a natural compression only a tube rectifier can give. I sometimes like to make my jazz tone a little "darker" than usual and the cut control rolls off the highs nicely. The Strat with it's stock pickups can be a little noisy in 3 out of 5 pickup settings but sounds good just the same, the SG is pretty quiet and sounds great too. Believe it or not, the Steinberger, under $300 from MusicYo.com absolutely screams. It is, of course, a tube amp so expect some AC hum. A previous reviewer directs the reader to an excellent web site where a "lead dress" issue is addressed:
www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/vox/new_amps/30service.htm.
All 3 channels break up nicely at higher volumes. The vibrato channel seems to break up at a lower level than the other 2, at about half way while the normal and brilliant channels break up at about two thirds to three quarters. There is no brutal, extreme distortion from this amp at all.

I don't gig at all; gave all that up more years ago than I care to remember. I therefore will stay neutral here as well. Preceeding reviews seem to tell the whole story from good to bad. If however I were going to gig with it, I'd definitely get a good road case. This is a moderately heavy (70+lbs) somewhat cumbersome amp. Although I have no trouble lifting it I would not want to be moving it around on a regular basis unprotected. I would also keep a complete set of tubes and spare fuses handy as well. Keep in mind that a tube change during a gig could take a considerable amount of time, even if you work fast, because you have to lay the amp down and take the chassis out to get at the tubes. If I were a gigging musician I would not be happy with that aspect of it's design at all. Overall, it seems to be built to last. The cabinet is very well constructed. I installed removable casters and it was not easy to drill into the cabinet. I haven't had any problems with it so far. Eventually I will replace the stock tubes with better ones but for now it's not busted so I'm not going to "fix" it.

No reason to contact the company so far; hope I don't have occasion to do so. The dealer (Guitar Center), a nice fellow who also reviewed the amp here, the aforementioned web site and my guitar/amp tech have answered all of my questions to date. As far as I know the factory warranty is for one year.

Started playing 30 something years ago, stopped completely for many years then got bitten by the bug again. I also have a late 70's Fender Twin, a Polytone Mini Brute IV and a Roland Cube 30. If stolen or lost I'd definitely buy another one. For my purposes, there is nothing not to like about this amp. There are, of course, alot of incredible sounding amps out there. I compared the AC30 to a Marshall Bluesbreaker and a Carr Hammerhead, two very fine amps, side by side at Guitar Center and I liked the AC30's tone better. I was a hard sell - I hadn't heard a Vox amp in many years and I was thinking, "Vox equals rock and roll and that's it." Finally (almost reluctantly) I let the salesman demonstrate it and it ended up in the back seat of my car shortly thereafter. I you think an AC30 might be the amp for you, I strongly urge you to read as many of these reviews as you please, then pick up your favorite guitar(s) and go to a dealer where the AC30 is in stock ready for you to test drive. This amp is a serious tone machine in every sense of the term. A great bang for the buck, this amp is a keeper.

I" bought this amp from aguy off of ebay. We arranged a pickup because he wasn't that far away (saved me $75 shipping!) and he thought that I should try it out. I got it for $1100, which I thought was a great buy, considering that it was a 2001 model. Six inputs, two for each channel, high and low gain. 2X12 Celestion Greenbacks are always great to hear. Class A or AB, I believe, and I think that there is some technicallity to when it is which. No fx-loop, you don't need one. If you're going to use overdrive or distorion, then put them infront of any delays or reverbs or other "time-altering" effects. The onboard Bass and treble control the Brilliant channel, while the Cut controls the normal channel.

Most people do not know just how amazingly versitile these amps really are. There is a little bit of magic inside, and it doesn't matter if it is one from 1965 or 2005. The tone controls and volume are EXTREMELY sensative, and can really get almost any sound desirable, much more than any Fender or Marshall amp I have ever played. This amp will grace you with hours of just sitting back and playing guitar while thinking to yourself, "Damn, this amp sounds so unbelievable!" Tones are easy to dial in, but I recommend really tweaking it to discover all that it can do. I have found, in my opinion, that Single coil guitars work great on the normal channel high gain input, such as stratocasters or the like; while humbuckers come out nicely throught the brilliant channel low gain input. This is most likely because the normal channel is darker sounding, so it takes those jangily singles and puts some meat on their bones, as well as boosting the level. The Brilliant channel takes those already dark humbuckers and adds some sparkle and shimmer to them, as well as lowering the level slightly, as to not muddy the sound. And the Vib/Trem Channel is quite fun to mess around on. No, it is not a serious tremolo/vibrato sound as Fender amps are, or even good pedals;but it is unique enough to be a distinct quality only attributed to that of a Vox AC30! And that should be good enough to justify it's presence on the amp.

Not sure yet. Got it only 3months ago. However, I just re-tubed it with JJ tubes all the way through. Quite astonishing!

Have only contacted them for a querry about parts. They got back with me right soon, so all is well. They seem nice enough.

It was in poor exterior condition- but I was sure to remidy that. The outside was torn in several places, and the handles were scuffed and beaten, while the gold fascia strip was dented and dinged, the gold piping was blackened, and serial plate scratched and mangled. I ordered several new parts and materials, and set out to restore this amazing tone-machine back to all of it's glory- with the help of Antique Electronic Supply and Vox themselves. About a week or so later-it was finished. Looks better than the new ones. I even purchased a dustcover for it-the black tolex will dry out and fade if not covered. Email me at mpisarcik@hotmail.com if you want to see some pictures- I took many before and after photographs. Hope this helps out for all of you prespective buyers! Cheers.

I am reviewing a Vox AC30/6TB Reissue from 2001. I bought it on ebay and it is real beat up (Beware small, grainy pictures on ebay.) I have been playing 60's style Blues/Rock/Pop for all of 10 years and this amp is by far the most versatile amp i've ever played through. Three channels nonswitchable/Trem-Vib/Cut+Top Boost/Class A. Very different but great (40+ year old circuit!) Dream volume for club setting, nightmare for asshole neighbor. This amp is the reason my Bass player is going SVT and my drummer is going DEAF!

My main guitar is a 2002 Gibson Les Paul standard with Burstbuckers and the sound can get a bit muddy on both the Trem-Vib and Normal channels though the sound is quite brilliant (literally!) on the Top Boost Channel. Each channel has two inputs both hi and low. High seems to suit Single coil equipped guitars better. Plugging my late 70's Fender Stratocaster into the Top boost hi input, I almost juiced my Beatle boots! Rubber Soul/Day Tripper!! My Les Paul (Lily)likes both inputs and basically tells me which way to go. A great thing i learned by goofing around with the controls are that since the cut control acts like a universal prescence control located in the power amp section, I can boost the bass and treble in the pre-amp and trim the top off with the cut to get that spongy Anglo/Vox tone. I almost creamed my jeans!! Amp is noisy. I read that you can turn up the volume knobs up on the channels that you are not using to eliminate this but it doesn't seem to work on mine. Vib-Trem channel has some kind of crackly tube noise that i have to get checked out. Truly, I think that the Vox is the Greatest sounding guitar amplifier for Rock ever.

Well, I have yet to gig the amp (show on May 26) and i have heard that the Ac30 reissues are notoriously unreliable and downright poorly constructed. As mine has yet to erupt into a mini mushroom cloud, I say good job!

Never have dealt with Vox Amplification/Korg. Probably never will, they probably wouldn't believe that its a reissue anyway (really, it looks soooo cool!)

I also own a 1970 Fender twin reverb, 1972 Marshall JMP 50w, 1964 Magnatone/Easty M15 Custom, 1960 Fender Princeton, 1963 Gibson GA77 Vanguard. I love all of these amps for their individual voices and would sacrifice my nuts before ever resigning them to some sad fate in the hands of an mediocre musician, but I honestly believe that they will all be ancient history before I give up on my vox AC30.

I thought i should post a some information for anyone experiencing low level hum coming out of their Vox Ac30 reissue's. There is a fix for this at the excellent webpage link below. This fixed the hum in my ac30. As the site say's, do be careful as you are working around high voltages.

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/vox/new_amps/30service.html

I bought this amp in around 1962 in the UK. It was a Vox SuperTwin with a speaker cabinet the size of a normal AC30 and an amp cabinet of the same width and depth and about a third the height, rather like the two-part Fender amps.

In those days the Vox AC30 was what almost everyone played. If you had a record contract Vox would give you a backline. Since it was either this or a Selmer (Fender was very expensive, and Marshall was yet to come), most bands accepted the deal.

This must have been one of the first top boost amps. It was finished in gray and had the normal Vox controls plus a couple of small white knobs in the back of the amp for ther treble and bass boost.

The amp gave you everything a standard AC30 did plus a killer expansion of tone. Vox used to import a totally undistinguished range of guitars from Italy - even worse than the low end Selmer guitars. I connected one of these to the amp and got a halfway decent sound out of it.

The extra circuitry was supposed to give you up to +30db on treble or bass or both. The whole circuit board (including the tube) wasn't on the standard chassis, so someone traced out the circuit for me. It could have been a welcome addition to most of the amps of the period.

As you can gather I owned this amp only for a while. I was trying to use it with a Farfisa compact organ and eventually traded in both. Had I kept it I wonder what it would fetch today - $5,000?

Oh well. At the time I knew a guy who bought a '59 Les Paul and then spent all his time complaining that had he waited he'd have got an SG instead. We just didn't appreciate how these guitars and amps would appreciate in price over the years.

These days I get a good sound for a fraction of the price of a new AC30TB using quality pickups on cheap guitars and a POD 2.

In summer of 2003, I purchased my Vox AC30/6 TB from a Guitar Center in NY on special order. They had none in stock nor any in the Long Island shipment warehouse, so it had to be imported from England. I have owned a Marshall AVT half-stack and a Crate, which were both very good amps and with a lot of punch and sound. But i simply wanted a tube amp... for the balls-out tone and classic crunch they have. My 2003 Vox is the KING of the vintage tone. No real special gimicks or reverb or chorus or delay just straight, pure and simple blessed-by-God-Himself TONE. Simplicity is the greatest feature of this amplifier. As seen in the history of guitars, the simplest designs have been the ones to prevail and flourish throughout the years (i.e. - the Fender Strat). The same goes with Amps, and that is why this one is one of the greatest ever made. Its simplicity and brilliant sound make it just that.

I use a 1971 Mosrite Mark I Ventures model with the AC30 with no pedals, gimicks or anything. Need I say more? Well fine, I will. The sound is incomparibly sweeter then any amplifier and guitar combination i have ever tried. I've run a Les Paul Std. and an early '70s Fender Mustang (which i still own) through all kinds of Marshalls, Fenders, Mesa Boogies... those sounds do little to deter me from the AC30/Mosrite combo. Absolute pure VINTAGE

No problems at all with the AC30... even gigged. I have hauled it to and from jazz practice 4 times a week for several months and have played it at least 50% volume on Brilliant channel each time. 0 problems.

Never had to.

With my Mosrite, this amp needs no pedals, effects or anything to polish the sound. It's all right there. I highly suggest that musicians who are searching for classic, vintage tone able to be played with just about any style music (cranked out with distortion even) and are willing to dish out the few extra hundred dollars needed to nab one of these, get the Vox AC30. I know it's pricy, but I've always believed that you get what you pay for. Its the same reason why a person today would buy a Mercedes over a Toyota. They both get you from point A to point B... but there is no comparisson in quality, features, and overall satisfaction. You simply get the best with this Amp.

I HAVE A REISSUE BLUE SPEAKER VOX AC30TB. 3 CHANNELS 6 INPUTS. WOW AND YOU CAN EVEN CHAIN THE CHANNELS. THATS VERY UNIQUE AND YOU CAN GET ALOT OF DIFFERENT SOUNDS!

I HAVE A G&L ASAT CLASSIC(TELE STYLE)WICH I THINK IS BETTER THAN THOSE FENDERS! I PLAY ALTERNATIVE ROCK MUSIC. STYLE IS RADIOHEAD,OURS,U2,BEATLES, NIRVANA AND OTHERS. AND IT DOES SUIT MY STYLE.AMP IS SOMETIMES NOISY BUT YOU CAN CONTROL THAT BY PUTING THE AMP ON STANDBY SWITCH AND PUT IT BACK ON, NO PROBLEM. I SET MY AMP NORMAL VOL AT 9 O'CLOCK, BRILLIANT VOL AT 8 O'CLOCK TREB AT 11-12 O'CLOCK,BASS AT 7 O'CLOCK,CUT AT 12 O'CLOCK PLUG PATCH CORD FROM THE LOW NORM. CHANNEL TO TOP BRILLIANT CHANNEL AND PLUG GUITAR TO THE LOW BRILLIANT CHANNEL. MAN THE SOUND IS X-CELLENT FOR ME. AND ALSO DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF GUITAR YOU HAVE. I ALSO USE EFFECT PEDALS AND ALSO DEPENDS HOW YOU USE THE PEDALS......

I HAVE PRACTICE AND GIG WITH IT AND NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS. I THINK IS GOOD TO CHANGE THE TUBES EVERY YEAR AND ALSO DEPENDS HOW OFTEN YOU USE IT LIKE ME THAT I USE IT PRACTICLY EVERYDAY. MAKE SURE YOU GET ELECTRO HARMONIX TUBES BECAUSE THEY COME WITH SUCKY EI TUBES. YOU CAN ALSO BUY A SMALL FAN TO PUT ON THE BACK SO THE TUBES WONT GET TOO HOT. BUT I DONT USE ANY FANS AND HAVE NO PROBLEMS. I OFF COURSE AND STILL DEPEND ON IT.

I HAD EMAIL THE GUYS OVER AT KORG/VOX AND THEY REALLY SUCK. NEVER HAD ANY RESPONSE BACK. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IF I CALL THEM ON THE PHONE I GET A VERY GOOD RESPONSE AND VERY GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICES. I HAVE CALL THEM LOTS OF TIMES AND THEY HAVE NOT FAIL ME AT ALL. THANX JOE GILMARTIN FOR THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

ID BEEN PLAYING FOR ALMOST 12 YRS AND I ALWAYS WANTED ONE OF THIS MONSTERS SINCE I WAS YOUNG. AND IT TOOK ME 10YRS TO GET ONE. I GUESS BACK THEN I DIDNT HAVE A 10 DOLLAR AN HOUR JOB HU!FINALY I GOT IT AND IM VERY HAPPY WITH IT AND I MEAN VERY. MY AMP IS RUN BY MY GADGETS. AMP/DANELECTRO DTE-1/SOBBAT PB-2/EHX-SMALL CLONE/VINTAGE RAT/MAESTRO FUZZTONE REISSUE/BOOS DS-2/MXR DYNACOMP/SONGWORKS REVERB CHAMBER/MARSHALL SHREDMASTER/VOX WHA TO MY BEAUTIFULL G&L ASAT CLASSIC. MY EXTRA EFFECTS THAT ARE NOT REGULARS ON MY BOARD ARE A MARSHALL DRIVEMASTER,VOX VALVETONE,VOX REPEAT PERCUSSION,AND A BOSS TR-2. WITH ALL I FEEL I HAVE THE BEST EQUIPMENT FOR THAT STYLE I PLAY, AND FOR A BAND THAT PLAYS ALTERNATIVE ROCK.

I think it's a 1999 amp. It's a simply amplifier, with only 2 regulation ( bass, treble ) for each channel ( vibrato, normal, brillant ) and without reverb...

The tree channels works great, especially the normal channel.

I'm searching for this amp so many years...
And finally I've found it!!!!
In Italy or you buy a new one or you must be very lucky to buy a used one. Infact I buy a used one

The sound of this amo is something incredible. If you play at lowest volume it sound a great clean.
But if you try to turned full up the volume, this amp is pushed into natural valve distortion, with so incredible sound.

On stage I use this configuration:

Burns Red Special Brian May >
Dunlop cry baby Wha >
Boss DD-5 ( Digital delay )>
Boss PS-2 ( Pitch shifter/digital delay )>
Boss CE-3 ( Chorus )>
Vox Valve tone ( Overdrive )>
Tubescreamer Ibanes TS-5 ( Booster ) >
AC 30 6TB ( normal channel with volume turned full up for a natural valve distortion)
I control the volume from the guitar ( Brian May is a good teacher...)

This version is with celestion greenbacks.

I've also use an american Stratocaster, the sound is quite different, but with the Burns the sound is perfect...

Fot the tone control I cut the BASS, turned full up the TREBLE and the CUT.

In studio I change the tone distortion from the pickup settings and from the tone control. It is very versatile, for the clean tone I put the volume at least 30% for a beautiful clean sound.
Like Brian May use to do, I use a 6 pence coin: the sound is very different to use the normal pick, try it...

I use this amp in two different way:
I have a Queen cover band and my personal rock band.

Always works fine. No problem.

Never deal.

This is a dream come true. Before this amp I had a Marshall Valvestate S80, Laney S200 and POD 2.0.
Marshall was my first amp and i was very happy when I play with it.
But something was missing, the distortion was very creamy, the clean channel was orrible.
The laney amp works great but was enormous!!!!
The POD 2.0 is a little jewel, especially for studio recording, but on stage the only thing that sounds good was the distortion, the clean sound was terrible...
And finally I've bought this wonderful amp, and the dream come true...
Either it amp have basic control, haven't reverb and is very heavy ( about 30 Kg ) it is the best amp that I ever try.
Try it and then you love it forever...

Mine is an early 90's reissue I bought in '94 with celestion greebacks. The features are pretty basic and the tone controls are counter intuative but once you get used to them you can pretty well dial in your sound.

A couple of minor complaints is that the power chord is not permanently attached and therefore could get lost if you move the amp a lot. Also the tremolo - while very cool - only operates at fairly fast settings and only when patched into the tremolo channel (which is not the best sounding channel). Additionally, true to the original, there is no reverb on this amp.

This amp is the one I would pick if I was stranded on a desert island (with electricity of course). It just sounds great. It is warm and bright at the same time. It breathes and sounds wide open. I also have a Boogie Mark IIIc, '64 Fender Deluxe and Vibrochamp, Marshall JTM45 reissue and POD for recording, but my AC30 just sounds the best!

I am not presently playing out (I am a full-time music composer), however, when I was this was my stage setup:

'64 Strat > Boss Reverb > Boss Chorus > Mesa V-Twin > Vox Valve Tone > tremolo pedal > AC30 (bright channel) for smaller venues I used the Marshall Power Soak to bring the volume down.

Note: This amp is LOUD, and must be run at at least 50% volume to get the good AC30 tone.

For recording, I just crank it up and put an sm57 up to the cone and a Neumann 10 feet away or so and it records great. It is a little noisy but that usually isn't an issue as long as it is run at a good volume.

Note: when I bought this amp I also checked out an AC30 with the VOX bulldog speakers side by side with this amp and I liked the greenbacks better - probably just a matter of personal taste. The bulldogs were I bit bright for me and lacked some mids.

Mine has never broken down.

Never had to.

When I bought this amp, I'll admit I was swayed by the undeniable coolness of the look of a VOX AC30. It has been associated with so many great players (past and present). But once I got into the amp and worked around its shortcomings (features), I was hooked.

If it were not for it's fairly primative features and lack of reverb I would give this amp a 10 on the basis of its tone. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another, but I would check out the AC15 just because I don't really need the firepower that the AC30 has for recording. However, I bet the AC15 couldn't match this amp.

I take good care of my equipment, and I suspect that this amp needs constant TLC to stay healthy which is why I have had no problems. However, I have heard of reliability complaints and would suggest a Mesa Boogie for those of you who need bullet proof gear. But you will never get the tone this amp has.

2002 Reissue AC30/6 TB with Celestion Greenbacks. Class A 33 watt RMS all tube.

Great sound for the styles of music I play. Radiohead-ish rock with bands, and some Jazz on my own.

3 channels, no switching. Daisy-chain the inputs or use splitter boxes. 1 channel is a Vibrato and Tremolo channel, the effect can be switched on or off.

Not versatile by today's standards of digital effects, 10 channel, programmable amps. But... it is a versatile amp if you can shape your tone and sounds with volume pedals, stomp boxes, etc.

I use this with a band, gigging. Loud enough for small and large venues. Really loud! Make your ears bleed, loud.

I use a Gibson SG Standard and a G&L ASAT III. The G&L is basically a tele body with strat-style pickups and sounds almost identical to a '64-68 Fender strat, tone-wise.

Not too terribly noisey on its own. However, when you start strumming through it, this thing makes some evil sounds! The actual sound coming out of the speakers is great, but the amp chassis, tube springs and retaining clips sound like they are about to fall apart.

This amp will never be a metal amp. However, I use a Voodoo Lab Overdirve with it, and it sounded fantastic.

If it wasn't built with shotty components, I would love how this sounds. But because I can hear rattling and buzzing from the inside at low, moderate, and even semi-high (normal practice) levels, I hate it. Makes me want to cry. Such great tone, made with such crappy parts that sound like they are about to fall apart.

This is why I give this a 6

Total shite. Reissues = shite. Well, Vox Reissues = shite. I had a 1962 Bluesbreaker reissue, with tons more low-end than this puppy and it never sounded like it was going to piss itself.

I'm sending it back. Bought it from Zzounds, highly recommend those cats, super nice, great prices, allow 30 days for return, etc. etc.

Can't gig with this bastard. It will short out, fry the tubes, and then fall apart. And don't even think about going on the road with this, unless you got a guitar tech that has a van full of spare parts for these.

Warranty is short, I think like 1 year. Last I checked most high-end amps have a 5 year warranty on everything but tubes and speakers.

You are SOL if you have these break on you. Only like 5 places around the US can service em.

These are JUNK!

I have owned several Marshall reissues and orignals, every last one built like a tank. Hell, even Crate uses better parts for their crappy amps.

If it were stolen, I wouldn't buy another. I would praise God, and go get something else.

Love the tone. Hate the shit components they used.
Cabinet construction = good
Speakers = good
Signal path components, and tubes = CRAP!

I researched them for a while, about a year. Read every last review I could. Bought it in hopes that I would get the luck of the draw. I didn't.

If you gig, tour, or want to never worry about your amp blowing up on stage, DO NOT BUY A VOX.

Tis amp is a '93 reissue that I bought used. All of the featrues of the AC30 have been described here in detail so I no need to elaborate any further. It is just great sounding amplification!

I'm using it with three differebt telcasters, Hame T51, Hamer Newport, Gibson LP'56 RI, '62 strat, '66 ES335. I think the AC30 is the ideal tele amp. It is brings out the best of the tele. I use the billiant channel and run the volume between 1/4 and 1/2 depending on the venue.
The humbucker equipped bring this amp into overdrive heaven and the tone is sweet, defined and will put a smile on most any players face with the exception of a metal player.
I've played Fender, Boogies, and Marshall amps for years but this amp is the tone king!

I must have gotten a good one or I am one of the lucky ones. It seems that many here have had some reliability problems with their AC30's. Mine has been gigged every weekend for 6 years and I have not had a problem. The secret according to the guy who sold it to me?
Get a NOS retifier tube for it. Most of the Vox troubles come from the rectifier frying as these amps run hot. A NOS tube will do the job for you.
Still, I never play without having a backup. Something I learned way before I every owned this amp.

Never had to use them.

I've been playing guitar for over 35 years. I've played the road for years and have been through many different amps. Tone wise the AC30 is what I really like. I never had any amp please me more. tone is very subjective so what works for me may not for you.
If it were lost or stolen I'd pickup another one.
The one thing I would do to improve it would be to make it lighter. This thing is heavy and a bear to move around

Made in 2001, reissue, 3-channel, easybake oven.
versatile enough for me, but may be a bit limiting for-whip your hair and high kick- type folks.

I'm using a 62'strat, and a 76'les paul. Suits my style perfectly,(classic rock, blues, jazz,etc.) can be noisy if you dont turn the vib-trem and normal channels up half-way,while in the brilliant channel. The clean sound is full and crisp, almost slighty compressed.
the dirt only comes into play when you get it up to about 1/4 or 1/2
way up. I really only use the brilliant and vib-trem channels, i end up running an a/b box between them, with the brilliant channel set for
a clean tone and the vib/trem channel at 1/2, with the vibrato footswitched off. it will compensate for not having a clean and diry channel. (the vib/trem channel doesnt have as much volume as the brilliant channel so even though its halfway up its the same volume as the brilliant channel but much more overdriven.)

This seems to be a real heartache for people who really like this amp.
When i first took the amp out of the box i noticed that one of the
connecting wires to the speakers was not attached. and after only 2 gigs one of the speakers had quite a bronchitis like rattle.
I bought the amp from musicians friend and they are sending me a new one, in exchange for this one.

n/a

been playing since i was 5, im 23 now. I own everything from plexi marshalls to bassmans to boogies,etc.
if it were stolen, i would have to just ball about it because i could never afford another one.
you either hate the tone or love it. this is the sound i have searched
my entire life for, i feel privileged to be able to still buy a reissue of the original. no other amp compares in looks or tone or instant gratification.
i hate that i have to wait for a new one, and send my old one out because of a *&^%^^% blown speaker.

It is followup time, boys and girls! my ac30 reissue blew up again, the 2nd time after owning it only 75 days. I got new output tubes under warranty from the company, but after installing them, it burned out the rectifier immediately after powering up. So, I got really pissed, and got the company to send me a brand new factory sealed model. after waiting a couple weeks, I finally got it. plugged it in, turned it on, heard beautiful sounds... for all of two minutes. then I smelled something like hot glue melting, and horrible noises came from the amp. I know it was just a blown capaciter in the tone circuit... but when you pay almost 2000 bucks for an amp, burning a cap after 2 minutes is simply not acceptable. so... I got all my money back, and am looking for something new. I would strongly recommend staying as far away from these reissues as possible. I know I won't even consider any type of new vox for quite a long time. I'm just thankful that the store I bought from (edtronics in oregon, WI) was on my side with this, or I would have been stuck with a 2000 dollar unreliable box of electronic components.

is a brand new reissue. not really a very versatile amp, just gets a nice sound. 3 inputs, 33 watts or so. there is a significant drop in volume on the vib/trem channel, but since the amp is freaking loud anyway, I doubt that it would ever be an issue for me at least.

I use a heritage 150p les paul copy with it, and it sounds fantastic. just a spectacular tone. has way to much volume for my needs, but I'm ok with that. very receptive to the effects I've tried it with, just a wah, distortion and chorus. the vib/trem input is particularly nice for getting some beautiful textures. I've heard that you can bridge the inputs together, but I'm not sure if that's healthy for it or not... I did it the first day that I had it, and a capacitor in the tone circuit blew up. I dont' know if those are related events or not. was an easy fix though, and has been running fine since then. beautiful sounding amp.

well, I'm kind of worried about that because of the incident on the first day... I think that it will be alright now though. I take good care of it, baby the hell out of it actually. planning on upgrading the tubes to mullards or something like that because i've heard the factory ones aren't so great. sounds spectacular anyway, but I have read that cheap tubes don't fare so well in the ac30 because of the amount of heat that is generated. anyway, it sounds so good it's worth the worrying.

when it broke, the guy who sold it to me fixed it up just fine without any hassle at all. the warranty is good for a year, so if anything else is going to go wrong, I sure as hell hope it happens soon. I'm not too terribly concerned though, I think it just had it's glitch and is now ready to go.

i've been playing for about 4 years or so now, and this is my first all tube amp. stepped up from a solid state peavey and a 5 watt crate... so as you might surmise, this was quite a freaking improvement. I actually miss the amplifier while I'm at work, and contemplate running home on my break to play for 15 minutes, so that should tell you that it sounds alright.

My AC30 is a 2000 model Korg NOS: 30 watt Class A tube power, 2x12 Vox/Celestion Greenback speakers, 3 channels: Brilliant (which is practically all I use), Regular and Vib/Trem. The Brilliant channel incorporates the famous Vox "Top Boost" circuitry that gives the AC30 its trademark chime. Plug a Rickenbacker into the Brilliant channel and you have 1964 all over again, my friend. The Vib/Trem feature works OK, but you cannot switch channels on the fly: You either need an A/B channel switchbox pedal or you need to unplug from one jack and plug into the other. Or, as I do, you use a Boss Trem pedal on your pedal board and just stick with the Brilliant channel. No reverb in this amp, but if it was good enough for the Beatles, it is good enough for me.

Sound is what this amp is all about. It is the real deal that all the tube amp emulators are trying to mimic. Brown, earthy tone that is thick enough to stop traffic. Saying the tone is "creamy" does not do this amp justice. Sounds like a guitar amp should. What more can be said. Also, this amp is unbelieveably loud. Don't let the "30 watt" label make you think this amp is not gig worthy. On the contrary, it blows away 50 watt tube amps from other manufacturers. Don't ask me how, just check it out at your nearest Vox dealer. This thing smokes. I play a Rickenbacker 330/6 and a Fender Standard Telecaster and the AC30 makes these instruments come alive in my hands. For the most part, I play classic rock from the 60's up through current Top 40. To say the least, the AC30 is ideal for 60's and 70's pop rock - but more than that - it is a REAL guitar amp that gives you REAL tone.

Well, I have had my amp a couple of months gigging 2-3 times a month and practicing several times a week. No problems of any kind with my unit. The AC30 has a reputation for being delicate and requiring high maintenance, but so far so good with mine.

Korg USA is the US distributor. They have a very helpful web site. Have not needed warranty service or assistance from the factory, so I cannot really rate their help in that dept.

The AC30 is a dream to own. It sounds like no other amp on Earth - especially not the digital "recreations" of what an AC30 is supposed to sound like. It is one heavy bitch to haul around, but it looks and sounds like a million bucks.

This is a reissue of the classic 60's vox ac 30. Mine was made circa late 90's and is a slightly different setup than the original. The tues are set up sideways, instead of vertically (this sucks when it comes to changing the tubes.) the standby switch is added (which helps prolong tube life). It has six inputs, hi and lo's for normal, a brilliant and a vib-trem channels. It has a class A setup, blah blah blah. They basically kept it simple, that the beauty of it!

Well... its a God F*cking VOX!! It is the classic awesome tone that many respected and revered musicians use today, U2, Radiohead, the BEATLES, and its F*cking LOUD, you crank it up and natural distortion kicks in!! I use a Fender Duo-Sonic with Duncan mini 59's on the bridge and neck positions and a Epiphone 335 Dot with Gibson Hardwarw and each channel has a personality all its own, the vib-trem sounds awesome, and is used by Radiohead in their song Planet Telex and by the Beatles in their song Flying. The volume for the Vib-Trem is weaker than the other Volumes, but I've heard about this complaint before. The Normal Channel is perfect for a well rounded tone, for rhythm and some lead work, and again it sounds like a vox. The brilliant channel, this is where the amp excels, as if it didn't already, The highs can cut through you so harshly, in a good way, and it's bright, very bright, (i.e. not ideal for metal). It sounds classic and earthy, it's sounds like an electric guitar should sound, it brings out the personalies of both my guitars, combining its unique tome with my guitars unique settings. One gripe, it does seem to hum rather loudly and I've heard about this problem before. Apparently the inputs are out of phase with each other and they interfere with one another. To fix this I've heard that you should turn up the volume settings on the other inputs while using the current inputs. It works, but I think my amp is like this because it was a floor model that had been at a Sam Ash store for a couple of years and the tubes probably need to be changed (this is how I got this amp so cheap, and with the original warranty), but nonetheless, it sounds awesome.

I've had it a few days and it has not given me any problems yet, and i've heard some stories both good and bad...

This bad boy has a 1 yr warranty on the hardware, 90 days on the speakers and 90 days on the tubes. Haven't had to call them yet

On the average, you will pay between 1400 and 1700 us dollars for a new one, but this is well worth the price! I've been playing for 8 years, my music ranges from Classic Rock to Modern Rock to Blues to Jazz, and this amp covers it all. I've played various guitars and variouis amps, fenders, crates, tube peaveys, but nothing comes close to this. The Vox AC30 TB is the best Tube amp out there, period. Tube amps out there are trying to copy this amp, but fall short. It has a tone all it's own and is perfect for any type of music, except metal. If it got stolen, I'd bash my AC 30 over the thiefs head, take it home wipe off the blood and play til the cops show. Try one out and you'll see this lives up to the hype

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.