Vox AC30

This AC-30 is one of the last of the British-built units - circa 2001 or 2002. I own several amps, but this one is my pride and joy. I use it both for concert performance and recording. The AC-30 is a loud amp. Not "Twin Reverb" loud, but loud nevertheless. The feature set is basic - volume & tone controls, vibrato, etc. No single amp does "everything", but this unit, if only because of it's sound, can be used for everything but heavey metal.

The Bulldog Alnicos make this amp the most musical to my ears. Sweet saturation at upper volumes, and semi-clean & melodic at lower levels. I waited years to own one of these. My songwriting style is a mix of R&B, jazz, and folk-rock, so this amp pretty much fills the bill. Driven at high volume, the saturation is very rich and fluid. You could easily use it for SRV blues. At mid volume, plug a Rick-12 into it, and you're in Beatleville. At 25-35% volume, plug in an L-4, and you can jam with Wes Montgomery.

Vox has had their problems over the years. Now, with China building their products, who the hell knows??? I can tell you that I baby this amp, padded cover... the works. I purchased the Vox in 2004. So far... no problems. I should add it's see only light road duty. I have a Peavey Valve King that I use for general work, which performs very well as the day-in, day-out workhorse. The AC-30? it's a "keeper".

Haven't sought support yet.

I'm older than dirt, and was playing guitar before the Beatles appeared on the scene. Besides the Vox and the Valve King, I own a Crate Palomino, and a Fishman Loudbox for my acoustic work.

If the Vox were stolen - don't know that I could afford to replace it - yet another reason I don't take it out much. I might go for a Super Reverb, if I couldn't have the Vox. Wouldn't be the same, but a 'Super' is a very musical amp as well.

The only thing I DON'T like about the amp is the weight. At 75lbs you feel it at the end of the night, when you're loading out. Otherwise, it's everything I look for in an amp. Don't believe in rating any product as "10", but I'll rate this unit a 9+. To my ear, it is simply the best.

I play a 1983 Vox AC30 with it's original Fane speakers i had heard very little about this Vox. I have tried and bought numerous Voxs ranging from 1964-2008 and have to say that i was blown away by the sound of this Vox. It has all the mids, highs and lows you'd expect from a 60's vox only this Vox is less tired sounding, The reverb channel is exceptional it is like no other reverb I've ever heard.

I use a Tele with Lollar pickups it is extremely quiet on stage and when turned up to a loud volume that beautiful Vox overdrive kicks in! I play all sorts of music Blues,Rock,pop,country,indie,classical,jazz and folk and i can tell you that this amp compliments it all! It has a very unique sound that i feel Vox has lost over the years :(

I've only had the amp for a month but it sounds solid and has been well looked after so I'm sure it'll be absolutely fine, i understand Voxs so i know what to listen out for if there is a prob.

I've been playing for 10years and i can honestly say that if this amp was stolen or lost i'de make it my long lost mission to find the same one because these aren't easy to find let me tell you and it sounds like nothing else. Vox!!

Probably 1970 made, but I am not sure of the exact year could be 1967. Very good condition. Build in England, VOX Sound ltd. It has 6 channels, 1x brilliant, 2x normal, 2x vib and 1 channel is devoted for a reverb knob... now that could give an idea for the real age, if anyone knows your most welcome to help.
I was looking for a new made AC30, but luckily I found this one through a connection. Even though it hasn???t the original alnico's it has its great Vox tone that I want to hear and write my songs on. I am more in to alternative rock, indie to punk music. So the clean tone (slightly muddy) and powered tone makes me go on playing till I finish the hunger on it, it is great, fantastic and knowing the age while I play makes me feel good. I mostly use the amp in my home studio and on recordings; don???t want to carry it to venues or stages, but who knows? 10 for the features, for a 40 year old that came a long way.

I use a Strat and an SG, the amp response clearly differentiates on both and I like that. It suits my music great, very satisfying. But I also use fender blues amp for lower power tones, coz you really need to power up the VOX to get what you want from the tubes, considering a home studio facts that sometimes can be annoying for the band set-up.
It is not noisy, its just crystal clean. I use Carl Martin Plexitone pre-amp if I want a distorted sound, while both being linked gives an amazing cranked and a rich brutal sound, can feel all highs and lows. But rather play the guitars raw.
I also use my Guild D40 acoustic guitar on it, at a normal input it is as brilliant as an acoustic amp, just drop the bass and lift the treble several notches, then you are ok.

You know what; this thing came out of a volcano and turned in to a rock, it???s that solid, even its handles havent streached since years. I can depend on this 40 year old another 40 :))
In a gig I am using it with the Fender blues, cleans to the Vox, in other cases both parallel. The amp hasn???t broken down on me yet. But like I said I prefer not to carry this gem too much around since it is a heritage amp.

I really dont know the support in Turkey, but found out several technical people who enjoy their jobs with the Vox. Plus I think for an old amp such as, can you really think you can find a person at the call centers?

I have been a guitar player since 20 years; I write songs and do the vocals at our band. I am not a lead player, but as a front man I use the guitars. I have several guitars (electro and acoustic), with the Vox AC30 I get what I want, brit rock, grung and semi-punk. I love the looks, the strong construction, and the great Vox sound and enjoy the feeling that I am one of those lucky guys who has one of these amps.
I it was stolen I would be hurt, knowing that I wont find the same amp ever.


I enjoy the connection with the audience,

New VOX AC30CC2, current day standard.

This is British rock defined, a sound that's just amazing. I have an Epiphone Nighthawk so it has a varitey of pick-up options and with it i can get everything from Blackmore to Page and when used with a Fuzz Face...My god, fat sound heaven.

I've only had it for a week so i can't comment.

Being a basic amp you have to love it or leave it, personally i love it's sound more than any other amp but without effects is a very basic amp indeed.

To be honest though i love it for it's basic nature, i think that's what rock music is all about.

My ac30 is a 1962/64 im unsure of which. It is probably the most basic of the vox designs. it has six inputs 2x each brilliant,normal and vib trem. i find the way i use it ,with all 3 channels linked, you can get get great tone variation and width. I play alot of 60s style surf and pop so it suits that brilliantly, but i also like to crank it on occasions which is fantastic the best i've ever heard. i find the no nonsense controls are all you need! the later ones dont sound right this is the true ac30 sound!
it doesent have the original blues in it but they rarely do. i have two 15 watt celeston greenbacks in it and sounds very crisp. the covering and the logo has gone, some fool decided it wasnt needed but it has character thats the main thing.

there is alot of variety in the tones, but this all depends on how load you are ( the only way in my opinion ). but you can get several excellent tones from surf to zepplin really. the distortion is rich and dynamic and the feedback is beutiful the harmonics it produces are fantastic you can play the feedback its ace!
i find it sounds best with p-90s as they really drive it nicely i have an old sheraton to and thats great for a crisp almost bb king tone.

i depend quite heavily on this amp and so far it has always devivered.
although my valves could do with changing there glowing blue at the minute (not good)for a 40 year old amp its doing well. better than most modern valvestaty things anyway.

what its from the 1960s the man that ran the phones is probably dead.

i have an old selmer 50 watt bass/lead and a 100 watt marshall super bass stack, but out of all of them this is by far the best. if it was stolen i would hunt that person down and kill them its not replacable.
i love almost everything about it except it weighs 5 tonnes, but its worth it. the only thing i can compare it to is another ac30, i wish i could clone it . buy one if its cheap enough!

Year 1970-80?. I don't know...multiple input but not channel switching.
2 12' speaker. It has too much power for play alone and not enough power to play with a hard drummer. Big, heavy and not very loud.

I use a 57 strat reissue.
It can make only one type of sound between blues and beat.
But tha sound is always muddy. Not fender clean, not marshall rock, only medium crunch at high level. At low level is as someone put it in a carton box.
With other amp, also with little solid state amp my guitar has ringing and quack sound. I think this amp is not for my guitar. I had another guitar, a Les Paul and the sound is better, similar British Blues.
With this my strat....not even go in feedback... also if i put guitar in front of amp!

I think this amp has only a weak point: the tube are el84 and is better if you carry replacement tube with you.
In 2 years i change 2 valve.

I play from 30 years. I pass many type of amp. I have sold it years ago.
Not for my style and not for my gig.

This amp is one of the earliest ones made. It sounded great from the start, but blew two rectifier tubes right off the bat. I use the amp at least three times a week, so I was a little concerned with reliability. (have to carry a Blues Jr. for back up)

I changed the tubes to Russian tubes and improved the tone tremendously. I play blues and was a little concerned about loosing the tone I need,but the first time I plugged in my 335, I was surprised. The Celestion blue speakers sound better than any others I've had in the past.

Couldn't depend on it until I made some mods. Put in Russian tubes, extended the speaker wires (to facilitate head removal) Still carry a Blues Jr. as a back up

Korg sent me a 5AR4 tube after I complained about blowing two in 90 days! Ya-hoo!

Been playing for 40 years. Also own a Fender Blues Jr., Leslie. (had all of my gear stolen in 1997 and had to start over).Guitars are: Gibson ES335, 50th Anniv. Strat,85 Japanese re-issue Strat, Telecaster with Wilkinson pickups.I use a Tube screamer, Hendrix Wah,Big Muff and Danelectro Delay pedal. If I had to do over again, I would spend the extra money and get a Marshall Bluesbreaker.

The amp is a bit of a Frankenstein???s monster, the case and speakers were from my original 65 non top boost, which died in a very spectacular way many years ago. The chassis was bought from eBay recently, its an early 60s model. It has been modified with a standby switch and the vibrato does not work. The control plate has been stripped off it to fit the standby switch so as you can imagine in its flight cased case it dose not look too good. To be honest I don't mind that it has a sort of working man's amp vibe. It has all the rest of the standard 6 inputs and the like.

Its as good as I remeber. What ever guitar I throw I plug into it just sing. The clean sound through the normal channal on my les paul has what they call the classic VOX chimmy sound, and when its cranked it roars. Strats and tele's just sound fantastic, it just complemetents everything. Although not channal switching, an AB box into the Normal and bright channals allow for big volume changes making it very versitle, and with the right dirt box infront you can get very heavy and mean.

OK its a 40+ year old amp reliability is always going to be an issue, as I mentioned my original died in a very spectacular way, and too be honest it was not the first time it failed. So a backup at a gig, I doubt I would ever take it too a gig, I have a THD Bivalve for that, great sound and reliability guaranteed.

Well Jennings is no more so not really an option

This is not the sort of thing you can replace so this is not an option. I have collected a huge ammount of eqipment over the years, far to much to list and at the moment this is the star of the show.

This AC30 was a rental amp for a gig in New York City, on the riverfront, playing guitar with Rodney Crowell. This was one of the new AC30s, not exactly a reissue, but rather an all tube 2 12 Vox with Celestion Blue speakers, and instead of the traditional AC30 "one channel at a time" setup, these new ones have channel switching and mini switches on the back for alleged "versatility". This amp crapped out quick! I am hearing the same thing about the new AC15s. The discontinued AC15 and AC30 reissues, although circuit board based amps, sounded great and seem to be pretty darn reliable.

It sounded good until it crapped out! Since it took no time at all for this brand new amp to die, I'm giving it a one.

Did not even get me through the first few notes of sound check.

Tried to contact Vox once, through Korg, but never could get anyone.

I have been playing for 32 years.
I use silver face fenders, Dr Z Maz 18, and pawnshop delights like Airlines and Silvertones.
Play Gretsch, Fenders, Gibsons.
Use a few pedals, looper, not too much on the floor.
Overall, I'd say---WHY DID VOX DISCONTINUE A PERFECTLY FINE MODERATELY PRICED LINE OF REISSUES AND START MAKING THIS JUNK?! ARE THEY INSANE?

I just bought a VOX AC30 cc2 2x12 with GSh12-30 speakers.

The AMP has two channels:
1x Normal - and 1x Top Boost channel
It is quit a basic AMP with some tremelo/reverb features
It unfortunately has NO headphone jack

I use this AMP mainly in small music bars. So the 30 watts offer enough power.

I mostly play blues/funk/soul/jazz stuff. The AMP is certainly versatile enough.

So this AMP doesn't offer a lot of features, but what it does, it does best: producing that warm/sparkling sound I need!

I use a custom made "Strat-a-kind" guitar, made of solid ash with a maple neck. The three pickups:
Neck : Seymour Duncan Fender Vintage
Middle : Seymour Duncan Fender Vintage
Bridge : Seymore Duncon Screaming Daemon (George Lynch)
So it is obvious my guitar offers a lot of attack of its own. In combination with the warm sound of the AMP it is just good.
To boost up the sound I use a Fulltone OCD overdrive (GREAT). And to enhance the sound when needed I also use a H2O Chorus/Delay and a Dunlop Cry Baby. That's all.
As mentioned, I mostly play blues/funk/soul/jazz stuff.

Don't know yet. I just have the AMP for three days. I hope to submit my experience after, let's say a year.

Don't know yet. I just have the AMP for three days. I hope to submit my experience after, let's say a year.

In comparison with my former AMP, a Line6 Spider, a world of difference. Why did I ever bought the Line6 ?????
I've been playing for over 30 years now. I've played on Fender Twin reverb-, Sessionette-, Music Man- and lately Line6 AMPS. But I never had this feeling right away after hearing/playing the first tones on an AMP.
So at this point I'm really pleased and very excited with my VOX AC30!!

2x3 Inputs Low/High

Just the most important knobs you need ;-)

One Footswitch

I use a solid body Hoefner (Gibson Les Paul Copy) with Diamond pickups.

I recently plugged a Crybaby Wahwah and a Ibanez Tubescreamer into the AC30 and cranked the AC30 up. I almost cried because of that sweet, harmonic tone after moving the Wahwah pedal up and down. Unbelievable.

I used the same effects with a solidstate Marshall a few years ago and it sounded just awful and gave me headaches.

I could'n imagine how beautiful the AC30 could improve the Sound...

Never had a broken tube yet but i hope that this does not happen during a live-session...

Never had to use it.

The warranty of the amp was 1/2 year. Hey it's a used amp - what do you expect!?

I first bought a small Fender solid state amp for home use.
It's just a little noisy box but with impressive power.

Then the mentioned Marshal 30 Watt solidstate amp for home use
Nice to use for clean Sounds, built in effects are not very useable compared to real stompboxes exept echo and reverb.

----

I added a Behringer mixer between the FX chain and the AC30 to overdrive the tube preamp for home use. The equalizer of this mixer is just perfect to model the desired sound.

If you like the sound of U2, Heather Nova, Kathleen Edwards, Stones and many more this is just the amp you are looking after.

If you can afford the high price go and get one - you won't be disappeared and discover new sounds every new day !!!

Tube amp with 30 class A Watts, 6 inputs (brilliant hi/lo, normal hi/lo, vibrato hi/lo), blue speakers, vibrato/tremolo. Made in year 1991, bought new.

Some spring reverb would have been nice...

I played this amp with prs standard 24 and home made alder telecaster. With old boss overdrive and warm settings, it's just great. But clear sound, don't like it at all. Theres something odd with the middtones. Just don't fit to my ears...

No bigger problems, just those ordinary tube-ones. But they are expected when dealing with tube amps. Tubes are been changed quite often...

Great, had once questions about the amp, and i writed email to vox in english. Next day i got the answering email, with finnish, my mother language:)

Well, this only my opinion, but i would not buy this amp now. It's ok with some overdrive and some blues guitaring, but since i need clean sound that fits my ears... Too loud to my taste.

i have owned a 2003 ac 30 vox with bluedogs for 3years and it is an extremely versatile amp with an incredibly clean sound and a nice distorted sound when past half way!The tremelo is by far the best trem i've ever heard. i use this amp live and for rehearsals in my band and it cuts through with ease at a low volume!

i own a 2003 ac 30 vox with bluedogs, i use a gibson es325 with 7 differnet effects pedals and the amp screams when need to be and whispers when it needs to! the only thing i wish it had is a distorted chanel but u can use a preamp and keep the amp running hot!

my vox has never broken down on me and i've toured with it for 3 years but it does make a high pitched funny noise when i play certain notes which is annoying when you are recording! I replaced the valves but the problem is still there but the amp sounds beautiful with the new valves! get a good roadcase!!

i've never had to deal with custome support!

i've been playing for 13 years and owned 4-5 amps(orange,fender twin,ashton,messa boogie) in my time all in bands and the only amp that is responsive to my playing is a vox.....

We estimate it to be built around 1973, and it is still in pretty damn good condition. (In fact it looks like it was babied its entire life.)

Still stock, no mods that I am aware of, and it's got the standard AC30 combo features. 212 Vox speakers, vib-trem circut (with the original foot switch to switch from vibrato to tremelo) the three volumes for the three seperate channels (vib-trem, normal, brilliant) two band EQ and a cut switch which works in reverse. (I believe this is normal for the AC30 according to the manual for my Vox AD60VT amp.)

Class A 30w...but man is it fucking loud!


Features are a 8 considering when the amp was built. I don't know much about vintage amps, but I'm guessing that back in this era having three sepearte channels (even if they are not switchable) is still quite versatile!

My main rig consists of an Epiphone ES-335 with Gibson Burstbucker II and 500T pickups. I used to run into a mesa boogie with a plethora of effects until recently. Currently my pedal chain goes: 1970's Vox Wah (or Union Jack reissue), Fender PT10 tuner, Daddy-O overdrive, Ibanez Lo-Fi...however this is where it gets messed up. To really make this amp work overtime I did something really messed up... Apex A/B/Y box. The A channel goes to a Voodo Lab Tremelo, then to the Brilliant channel of the AC30, the B channel goes to a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, and then to the Normal channel of the amp.

So now that I explained my setup, I can explain the sound.

When I plug in dry, and setup for a nice growly drive I find the amp is WAY to loud for my basement suite or most of the venues I play (and they thought the Mesa was painful!) so I use the pickup booster to add tons of gain but still keep the volume down. By hitting the preamp this hard I can still get a huge crunch, but without the police showing up at my door for being too loud. And man, does this amp growl! Its got such a deep throughty voice it just seems to be made for my customized ES335!

When I want a clean tone I use the brillant channel (since it doesn't break up till much later when you crank the volume) and delivers an almost fender like sparkle when activated.


However with all of this great tone their is one problem... when powering up there is no standby switch, so there is a spike of high voltage hitting the preamp that makes a loud crackling noise when its warming up. This crackling really messes up the tone of my guitar and sends it awol. For this reason I will probably install a standby.

Other than that this amp is great for my alternative rock styling!

Dependability is a very big question when dealing with amps that are 30 years old... However it has been babied and I did get a tech to look it over before I made the purchase and he says it's tip top! I would probably gig without a backup if I had to, but most of the time my Vox Cambridge 30R comes with me as an acoustic amp anyways.

Vox are owned by Ericson music, who in turn owns Marshall...and this is definatly not a bad thing...as long as you find the right people to talk to. I've never inquired about this amp inparticular, but when I couldn't download a manual from the Vox site for my Tonelab and AD60VT units, I did get a quick reply by E-mail from a Vox rep who mailed me the manuals overnight and sure enough...they were in my hand within the next two days! Very great company to deal with indeed.

I've been playing for close to a decade now, and have always been a huge fan of budget guitars (Epiphone and the Japanese Squires) but have always sought after an incredible amp...and I feel my wait is finally over. After playing through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rec for over a year, and almost buying an orange Rockerverb 100, I must say that this amp was probably the best purchase I have ever made!

I just can't wait to record and use it on the road!

If it were lost or stollen... I don't know what I would do... probably buy a reissue or something.

I recently buy a AC30 TB from 2002 with Greenback speakers (# 900,-) to replace my old ac30 from 1960-62 with (replaced?) Rola-Celestion G12 speakers. This amp was in a very bad condition when I bought it (# 570,-), and it has a (later buildt in) bas and treble on the back.
I find both amps very good, if not the best, for blues and rock. I use to play Fender Blues De Ville and Blues De Luxe, Marshall JCM 900 halfstack, Marshall JTM60, Trace Elliott and Musicman amps, but the AC30 beats the hell out of all these amps.

Mostly I play Gibson Les Paul Costum and Fender US Standard Stratocaster with it's standard Pick-Ups, which I find gives the best variety. These guitars simply sounds great and different on AC30's!
I find the increased distorted sound at higher volumes very cool, and the warm and crystalclear bright sound before 12 o'clock at the volume great for my music style.

The AC30 is a very relieable amp, and it wont let you down. I chance tubes every 2 years, and i only use American NOS (Sylvania, RCA, GE) or Westeuropian (Philips, Mullard, Telefunken) tubes.

I allways get my repairs done by a nearby living tube-doctor, who also happens to be a great guitarplayer. In his younger days he'd listen to The Shadows, The Yardbirds and many other Vox-playing bands live, and he knows exactly how the AC30 should sound.

This is the ultimate amp for me. I'd tried tons of different amps, but I find the AC30 the best.

I think mine is a 1961. I once took it to an amp repairer who used to work in the old Vox factory in Dartford and he reckoned that date tho apparently it's not possible to tell exactly. No features, even the Vib/Trem channel was bust in 1976 when I bought it, for #50 ($80?). An AC30 only really suits 'earthy' sounds, but is unsurpassed at those.

I'm old so I've used many guitars with it. All good but it sure does love a Strat in particular, and pretty much any Strat at that. All the twang plus all the power, all at the same time. The bottom end is probably the most impressive aspect, very full but well-defined, though you can pull out all the harmonic squeals you need if you want them. I only ever use the 'normal' channel and boost the top-end externally, the 'bright' channel is too 'poppy' for me and lacks a bit of guts (though good for 'jangly' chord stuff).

I'm a bit nervous abt dragging the old girl around nowadays, though she's never let me down at critical moments. She blew once (only) at home and after a quick overhaul was fine, but I wld carry a backup amp now if i used it on gigs. Trouble is, the sound of any backup is always going to be very different unless it's another AC30.

N/A.

I'd been playing 4 years when I got this and it was my first real amp - I thought they all sounded this good LOL. An AC30 will not be versatile enough if you're required to do a range of styles but if you play vintage pop (natch) or blues/rock then this is not going to be beaten, though you will need to boost it a bit (a simple power boost, not a distortion box) for the latter to get it to really sing. But sing it will, from a deep throaty growl to a needle-sharp squeal.

I think mine is a late 70s model, back to valves after a transistor period? It's a non top-boost, classic three-channel affair, with a plastic pedal switch for the trem channel.

When I bought this opld AC30 sometime in the late eighties, it was the holy grail for me. back then everyone was into angled-headtstock guitars and transistors amps with ultra-clean, ultra-processed sounds. I wanted vintage, creamy overdrive and tube grit and for a paltry #200 i got that and more. It was quite simply the holy grail. For Brian May, Jimmy Page, Edge tones it was everything I wanted. The sound, when cranked, was simply awesome. Lush, thick overdrive, harmonically rich, just beautifulloy musical. And then my dog chewed through the speaker cover, wrecked one speaker, which i replaced with a celestion and since then it's never been the same. the richness simply isn't there anymore. To anyone buying one of these, have a look at the speakers, check what they are and if they're not original, think about replacing them with correct ones. The celestion I put in sounds weak and too clean. I have to find an alternative. I'm giving a 10 for sounds cause i remember it pre-canine canines

I've had it repaired once, which took ages and i was happy with the repair job done. Now I feel it needs a complete overhaul, though I'm reluctant about replacing the tubes cause i reckon the inefficiency of age is what gives the amp half its tone

never been near Vox. would love to know what year my amp is though

I play a variety of electric guitars through the Vox (Epi G1275, Fender Telecaster, Strat, Hohner ST57, 59) and they all sound great. Using the amp I just go through an Ibanez Tubescreamer, a Sovtek Stone Stone and a DOD stereo Turbo Chorus and it all just used to sing. These days though, I'm mostly home recording on PC and through a Roland VS2480, so I tend to put the guitars through amp sims etc. The Vox is, sadly, just too loud to use at home. But I will never, ever sell it. It's a family heirloom at this stage!

I own a 1992 ac 30 TB and have recently had enquiries for selling it. Although it's not a 1960s holy grail, it does have a Motherboard with the tube bases soldered on. All the other components are either on that single board, or are very neatly wired onto it giving rise to excellent reliability. No, really, this amp has been driven at full pelt, and believe me, it almost was laughing at me to turn it up even louder. As it's been a studio amp for the time I've had it, it's still in near mint condition, so I suppose my twenty minute ear wax removal excersise doesn't count for much, but I like it.

I use a standard American Strat, a Guild Starfire and a Maverick Extreme through this amp so pickup variants don't faze this amp too much. Single coils can be a little buzzy, humbuckers are creamy and the pickups in the Maverick give a real gutsy, hard distortion. I find that mixing the bright normal and the normal bright channels together (through a Pod Processor, wierd eh?), gives me the best results when playing using the Strat. The settings I use for the Guild mostly go through the bright normal channel as I require a rich sound which I get by the truckload, for jazz, blues and a small tweek on the volume can send the amp to give that hair tingling lead break sound no one else can get when this amp is warmed up and firing through my Bluesbreaker speakers. the Maverick uses the bright channel settings. Enough said!

It's never broken down on me. I've replaced one of the smoothing capacitors as it was getting a little noisy but reliability is the key word. I would say that If I ever gigged this amp, I wouldn't need a backup

N/A

These amps are expensive. I've been playing for twenty six years as a guitarist, tutor, session player, engineer and rock guitarist and I've come accross some fantastic setups, but for sheer reliability and versatility, you can't beat a vox, so you get what you pay for. I'll love 'em till I die!

This is a review for a 6 input 1962 vox ac30b with the factory installed top-boost module. It is a 2x12 combo laoded with celestion silver alnico speakers. Theya re not original, but the original blues were destroyed by a previous owner. It features 3 channels (trem/vibrato, normal, and brilliant -- which describes both the tone and the design). I'm sure everyone knows what the controls are on an ac30, but just in case: universal tone control (labeled cut on later models), 3 independent channel volumes, trem/vib toggle rotary, and trem/vibe rate control. On the back there is a silver plate with treble and bass knobs that are some of best centered controls on any amp. All the channels can be run together and both the high and low gain inputs sound stellar depending on what sort of sound you're looking for. I could try to descrine the sound of the channels, but you just have to play one and see for yourself how perfect it is.

Now for complaints: the vib/trem rate control does not go slow enough for my liking. It needs a wider range, especially for the tremelo. The amp also has an atrocious ground. Whoever soldered the gorundpoint made a msitake somewhere ebcause there is a ground loop that is very audible when the amp is cranked. Its still a very quite amp as tube amps go.

I've used the amp with 2 different alder body strats, both loaded with hot single coils, an es335, and an ash bodied tele. The results? OUTSTANDING. All the channels lack headroon, bu the overdrive is transparent and very touch responsive. Its sometimes tough to tell if you're drigving the amp or if the tone is just really compressed. Humbuckers are a little mroe overtly overdriven at low volumes, but extremely rich in useful harmonic overtones. I own 3 marshalls including a plexi and a jcm800 and this amp shames them both. Its so ahrd to describe the sound of this amp and its amazing versatility from jazz to full on british growl. You just have to hear it to believe it.

This amp is designed to run HOT! As it turns out, mine runs hotter than spec. The schematic for the '62 ac30 appears toc all for a power transformer that can put out 280 volts... mine does 320! My tech and I (alright, just my tech, but Iw as in the rom with him) calculated that after the voltage drop from the tube rectifier it was still withing safe operating parameters. But not by much. You can fry an egg on this amp after the first few mintues of play and the 2 little vents over the pwoer section don't inpire a lot of confidence. I have been told not to worry about, just to baby it and change the pwoer tubes regularly. It hasn't ahd a problem yet, but its one seriously scary fire haz--- I mean amplifier!

the Vox company that built this amp no longer exists, the name is owned by korg... sicne JMI vox used to upgrade their odler models to top boosts during the '60s I can only assume that the customer support would be great if they were still around

to sum up: if you see a 60s JMI vox that has been top boosted or IS a top boost model at a price udner 2 grand, BUT IT! I don't care if you have to sell your mother on the streets to pay the creditcard bill off, when she hears this thing she will understand! On the other hand, it is a lot of money for an amp that seems likely to burst into flames every time you strike a chord. Its not for the faint of heart and not a worthwhile investment for a palyer who will not love it and take care of it.

I have a couple of vintage ac30. The older was built about in 1969 (grey bulldogs equiped), it is in quite poor conditions, I shuld restore it..but when I record the hum is not that matter (sometimes it gives you that oldish atmosphere...). The second is an early '80ies one: cleaner than the other, is more flexible, but it could never give that particular tone of distortion of the other one. the reedition is more powerful: I think it's bad, for you have to play at a very loud volume to obtain the tipical sound vox is loved for: on stage you never need that power. I don't like too heavy playing..old vox suit to me

You can set these amps as you want: warm blues sound, clean and bright a-la Shadows, a little bit crunchy with echo...and you play u2 covers!!! But if you turn the volume of the bright channel to 10, use the effects you want, you can emulate Hendrix or Lou reed in Metal Machine, you can do everything else to break down glass. The vibrato channel is good on my elder one, it has a very lo-fi sound which takes me away from every politelyness in playing..is romantically broken and raw. The normal channel is dark enough to cancel the eccess of hi-middles that I heard sometimes while searching for the good sound during strange recording sessions. In the newer, there's an anonimous reverb, not bad but not unforgettable, also the vibrato-tremolo is a little too dark to use it without mixing with the bright channel; anyawy, if you have a reedition, mean not to use anything but the bright channel: the only good one. If you want very clean sound on clean channel and so on, don't buy an ac30, but you don't know what you are losing.

Once I used to play out, but not very often in the last 4 years. I'm very nasty with my amps, but I've never had particular problems with'em. I used to have a '90ies vox, I used to have a fender bluse deville 212, but now I don't play if I don't have an old vox (ok..I can play on a new one if there's nothing else, at last is a very very good vox too...)

never needed

I own a Rickenbacker 330/vp and a standard strat (both lefty!!!), I put a digitech 2112 between the guitar and the amp. I like '60ies beat rythm guitars, I like surf (do you know Dick Dale?) I like Jimi Hendrix and U2, I put everything into my two vox with the help of the right setting of effects, and I guess I could do a lot more with the ac30. I admit that you have to love that kind of amps to appreciate it

im planning on getting a ac30 myself i heard its the best tone in the world for all out rock....

i use my gibson custom with an emg-81 and just the stock for rhythm....i think it would fit anyone whos looking for that jimmy page rawness ;)

i can depend in it a lot...you can use it anywhere and i think it has an external output for a cab...i think..and its raw tone and the tubes that it has:5 ECC83s and one ECC82 in the pre-amp stage, 4 EL84s in the power stage, and a GZ34 rectifier tube its an all out war in this amp ;)

this amp gives you 110% and you will be satsified if you want that crunchy zeppelin tone :)and its good for any types of rock

I have owned this amp for about three years. It's a 1993 model(the first year Korg took over). I play Christian Rock and for this style there is no other. If your reading this article then you are already familiar with the amps features! Though not extensive, the features get the job done. Rather nicely I might add!

My main choice is an American Tele. I also use a Gibson LP Standard. The tele sounds more "VOX" than does the Gibson, but the LP still sounds amazing. The Vox AC-30 is one of the most sought after tones in the history of electric guitar. What more can I say? If you do not play larger venues, then I would recommend the AC-15. The AC-30 is too hot to get the tube saturation that is needed for that Vox patented sound! Still yet at lower volumes, the quality is better than most.

Like I said previously, I've owned the amp for three years. The only problem I've ever encountered has been the fuses. But any quick fluctuation in power current can cause a fuse to pop. Aside from the fuses (which I keep extra on stage) the only other purchases I've made concerning the Vox have been, of course tubes, and a flightcase.
Fuses are going to go out, tubes are going to go bad, all in all the Vox AC-30 is very dependable.

I contacted the company to inquire about some n.o.s. mullard tubes. They never e-mailed me back. That was about six months ago. Hey, maybe they are busy. I'm neutral in this category.

I've been playing for about 15 years, and no other amp compares. At the time of purchase I was debating between the Vox and a Boogie. Yeah the Boogie has more features and sounds great, but the Vox still hails in comparison. This amp is not for metal. Instead, it caters to the British/Southern Rock sound!

My AC30 is a 1965 non top boost model. I have owned it about 4 years. I got it with no front grille, so I had to buy a reissue grill for it As for features it's pretty well known, except mine has the footswitch missing and so the tremolo doesn't work. It has hardly any 'features' just three channels, each with a volume, and an overall cut which cuts out the high frequencies.
So no rating because you don't buy one of these for features, if they made a split channel super EQ version it probably would sound awful.

I use this amp with a strat with EMGs and a boost switch, and a tele with EMGs including a bridge humbucker. There is a bit of hiss when loud but less than a high gain type amplifier (I have owned loads of amps, and currently own 7)
The sound is ace, quite different from Fender or Marshall. For clean it makes a good pingy/chimey clean, that sounds 'rich' but not distorted. When turned up all the way it does a great overdrive sound. It is also good for 'touch responsive' playing, if turned up loud and you back off on how you hit the guitar, or turn down the guitar volume.
Has to be a 10 for me, but the sound is not very adjustable, you either like it or you don't. It works well with distortion pedals for gigs where you can't turn it up full. Also works ok but not brilliant with a power soak (mine is the THD which is ace with the Marshalls I've got)
It is very loud. If there is a weakness it is that even at quite large gigs up to a few hundred people it is still too loud!
In the studio situation, it is really good for that 'slightly distorted' sound, for picky parts or chords etc.

I have a spare, but I've done about 100 gigs with it over several years, not even new tubes. In fact after about 2 years of gigging about every week, I decided to take it to a repair shop and get it cleaned up. So maybe I'm lucky, but it's never broken down.
I have had crap in the pots making them crackle though, but that will happen to any amp.

Never needed repair, but easy to fix, except for finding original components, transformers etc you'd have to replace with new ones.

I've been playing about 15 years, i own 2 vintage marshalls, JTM45 and superlead, a Marshall JCM2000, a fender Princeton (transistor one), and a vox Climax (looks like an AC30 -125 watt valve 2x12 combo)
None of the other amps do what the AC30 can do (and vice versa)
I am very glad I bought it. If lost or stolen i would definitely buy another

Mine is a 1992 RI ac30...bought it second-hand in 1994 for $750. The fellow selling it to me had a second identical ac30 and I kick myself for not having bought it, too. It came with 2 Celestion "Greenbacks", but I hear the Bulldog speakers kick every other speaker's ass...don't know personally, never played through them. It has the typical 3-channels, but I only ever use the Brilliant channel, the others are too limited for my needs.

I used to play a Rickenbacker 360 through it...couldn't have asked for a more pure, magical sound. Of course to achieve that beautiful Vox distortion you gotta crank it up pretty loud, which doesn't go over very well in a small club setting...I used to turn the amp around (facing the back wall) to curb some of the sonic assault. Also, it has such a sparkling high end, borderline shrill at times...cutting back on the guitar's tone control usually curbed some of that...in the end I found the lack of overdrive to volume ratio to be too limited for me, so I had a master volume custom installed on it. I also had a switch put on which allows me the option of toggling between the drive of a standard ac30 and that of an ac15, a subtle tonal difference, but nice to have the option. This amp is pretty near perfect, though being "class A" it demands consistent tune-ups. I now play a Les Paul and an SG...best sounding amp ever. I custom-made a little door to put on the back of the amp which allows me to close the amp for tighter low end...I find it nice to have that option when I need it.

Had a lot of tune-ups over the years and a few small minor repairs (tube replacements aside). I blew a capacitor onstage once, but it was easily repaired and I haven't had any breakdowns since. Had a master volume installed which didn't affect the tone one bit. I looked into having a "point to point" done to it, but more than one repair person told me it wasn't worth the price, being that the circuit boards used on the RI's would have to be totally ripped apart, etc. I'm not giving up, though. I think every ac30 is different, and I've heard many others complain of the unreliability of the later RI's under rigorous use, but my ac30 has been going strong for 10 years. Just like any temperamental piece of equipment (musical or otherwise) it's good to bring it into the shop for tune-ups on a regular basis. If you have the means and are particularly cautious by nature, buy a second ac30 for backup. Nothing's better than an ac30, except perhaps 2 ac30's!

Never dealt directly with the company as far as repairs were concerned, though a few years ago I called for a schematic and had no problem at all in getting one. I've been lucky in having dealt with some fantastic tube amplifier repair people, so before purchasing one of these amps, make sure you have someone reliable and reputable at hand.

I've been on the quest for the best sounding amp forever now, and I keep thinking that this or that amp might be better than the ac30, but I always come back to the source. I choose to run a stereo rig onstage; I've paired the ac30 with an Ampeg v-4, with a Marshall 50-watt and most recently with an Orange Retro50. I like the combination of a fat closed-back amp with the ac30 tone, but either way, I'd never part from the ac30.

It is a Korg re-issue bought in 2001.It was the greatest sounding amp
ever. I used delay and distortion for leads in a 60's dance band.
Never used the Tremolo channel it didn't really do the kind of trem
I like,plus enormous lack of sound in Trem.It was plenty loud.I used it 5 nites a week in my lounge band, never pushed it.

Sound was the greatest in the world

It stopped working exactly one year after I bought it.I have been
devestated, The stand by light stayed on after it was unplugged and no sound, believe me I loved this thing,and I really babied it.It has
been in the shop since February 2002.In retrospect I have learned that these R.I. Vox A.C. 30'S are printed circuit boards and the chasis design is so bad that no one can really work on them.I regret this but if I can alert one person I feel that it could be helpfull. It is heart breaking.In retrospect I would buy a J.M.I. Vox from Plexipalace for $2850.00 because in the long run that's what it will cost to get my Vox back.

Forget it they are in England and I live in Florida,plus I bought it thru Musician's friend,so no one locally would help.The warrenty is one year.

I still want one,but it is a very expensive venture.