Vox AC30H2

As previously stated.

It did not make it thru soundcheck so I cant give a good opinion

I bought this amp thinking it would be ok since it is handwired. but I should have known better. It did not even make it thru soundcheck before it crapped out (thank god I had a backup). Took it back to store and swapped for Marshall handwired 1974X made in England. Do NOT buy chinese. I learned the hardway!!

Could not get vox/korg to respond

I have been playing 57 yrs and have used many amps. I have played prof for approx 35 yrs of it. These amps look nice but my experience was not good. I play blues rock.

Sound great! I don't know what every body was talking about?(tubes) Mine came with Tung-sol? is this the problem. It might be they replaced them. I had bought a Resealed amp. It still kicks ass. no scatches, and it was $400.00 dallors cheaper.

Minimum features, but who uses reverb or trem anyway? Very few controls which is good. Easy to dial in a great sound. My friend has a rivera with 30 knobs on it and I could never get it to sound too great.

This is the most beautiful sounding amp I have ever heard. Played next to 65 london, divided by 13 jrt9/15, bogner duende, and this vox crushed them all, in my opinion. I have heard about ten different guitars through this and it can sound absolutely beautiful or very scary.

Mine is a ten! I have had it over 6 months. I have band practice 2-3 times a week and gig at least twice a month. It has never done anything but performed perfectly. I had originally purchased the ac-15 and after only two days it was cutting out. That made me really angry and I thought screw vox. I just could not get that sound out of my head. I bring a buddies tiny terror for my back-up. I play a 57 junior vos and a custom shop 335 and you have to hear it to beleive it. I read alot of people bashing the amps for where they are made, but the korg/vox made in england are not so hot. They CANNOT touch the ef-86 channel. I guess they are becoming collectable. Big deal!

I called one time and was not on hold long at all and my question was answered by a real live human who could speak english. This seems pretty rare in todays market.

You can find these used for pretty cheap. Considering you are getting a handbuilt amp with tone to spare. The put downs I read about this amp seem to be said by very narrow minded individuals. To think an american or european can buildthing so superior to an asian is kind of racist. I mean have you ever driven an american made car. They are built like ****, and I work for an american auto company. This is still the same company that the made in england vox/korg is, it is only now being put together somewhere else. Truly a great amp. Try one out if you can.

The Vox web site says it all. No tremelo circuit, no FX loop, no reverb - so what!? Get some nice stomp boxes!

They say these AC30s are loud - they certainly are. Anyone who thnks 30 watts is not enough needs to try one of these. It'll blow your trousers off!

The two channels, each with higher or lower gain inputs, plus a whole load of very useful switching options that help shape your tone and allow you to change guitar and change the mood very simply.

The AC30 interacts beautifully with the controls on your guitars.

This is an amp for people who understand guitars and appreciate tone.

Totally superb sound quality. Having tried many amps over the last 30 years of playing guitar, this amp is total tone heaven.

You can dial in any sound you want. I play a USA Delux Strat and a Gibson Les Paul Standard DC - both sound as good as you could possibly imagine. I have an Xotic AC+ for boost/overdrive and an Eventide Time Factor for delay and modulation effects. You could never want for anything more.

This amp will bring s tear to your eye.

It broke on the first day! Not a aimple problem either. I cannot imagine having another with the same problem. More to follow in the customer support section below!

I also have a Vox AC15CC1 which seems totally unbreakable!

I bought the amp from Oasis music in Ringwood. They loved the amp and shared my disappointment when it blew up.

The team at Oasis Music were as helpful as I could have hoped for. They did a very thorough check (based on many years of using Vox amps) and eliminated all the obvious possible issues (valves and fuses).

Once they had dismissed the obvious issues, they got on the phone to Vox / Korg and will get a replacement shipped within a couple of days.

So, 11 out of 10 for Oasis and 10 outof 10 for Vox/Korg for their intelligence, empathy and service.

I have been playing guitar for around 30 years. I have other Marshall and Vox as and have played a huge variety of guitars, amps and effects. This AC30 is perfect and gives me everything I want.

My music tends togo from clean and quiet through moderate distortion to highly saturated overdriven solos. The combination of this Vox amp and my Xotic AC+ gives me every possibility within easy reach (I only change the brilliance switch when I swap from Strat to Les Paul.

If someone stole my AC30H2, I would hunt them down, kill them and get my amp back. Seriously, when you have played through one of these, you will never want for anything else.

This amp is actually more versatile than meets the eye. With the 4 inputs and the ability to A/B between any of them at any time, you can really set it up to do whatever you'd like. As mentioned, it does lack an effects loop and standby switch. This was a concern to me at first, but the natural tone of this amp is so full and rich that these features took a back seat for me. The lack of master volume is also easily rectified by using the appropriate triode/pentode setting on each channel. Very easy to coax classic Vox tones out of this amp. The only thing I wish it did have are white washers for the inputs, but cosmetically I am not complaining one bit. Everyone who sees it compliments on the creamy white tolex and the chocolate brown grill. Add some tanned leather handles, and you have the sexiest amp ever built! :)

I play two Telecasters, a Highway One with a Duncan Lil' 59 in the bridge, and a 72' Telecaster Deluxe RI with custom wound pickups set up as my slide guitar. Both guitars sound absolutely incredible through either channel of the Vox. I find the Top Boost channel can accentuate the treble much easier (obviously), but it's always a battle between the lows and mids. I find the lower I keep the bass knob, at higher volumes the amp will really bark the low mids out but lack bass giving it a honky sound. Spinning the bass knob around gives it alot of lows for an open back cabinet, but lacks the midrange I like to hear. For this reason, I use the EF86 channel exclusively. Very balanced tone all the way up and down the neck, humbucker or single coil considered. I also find that this channel breaks up much more naturally without having to crank the amp to ear-splitting levels. I usually keep this channel set with bass shift 1, triode operation, and the top cut control all the way up, leaving the treble wide open. Beautiful chimey sound!

The amp has been very dependable so far. I've heard many horror stories from AC30CC2 owners regarding this, and to be honest it's a large reason I spent the extra money for the H2. I am still running stock tubes with no issues, although I plan to upgrade to a Mullard quad and a Weber Copper Cap in the near future. I am taking my H2 on it's first tour this week, and expect it to sound great and strong at each gig along the way. (And not to worry, I've picked up an ATA case so that the white tolex will stay in brand new condition! haha)

I have never dealt with Vox directly, but my local shop who had sold me the amp were fantastic and got me a very good price through their Vox representative. 100% satisfied, and I am confident that I won't have to act on the warranty.

I've been through quite a few amps in my 10+ years of playing, ranging from Marshall and Laney to Framus and Mesa/Boogie. Constantly trying to find my voice as a guitarist, it wasn't until picking up my AC30H2 that I really feel that I am ready to push my own envelope tonally. The Alnico Blues sound better than any speaker I've ever owned, and the 30 watts this amp puts out is almost too loud for me! (I keep the amp's volume around 9 o'clock on the 15 watt setting, and it still keeps up with my drummer!). I plan to own this one for many, many years to come and look foward to what direction it brings my playing. My only complaint: it's incredibly heavy! But whatever, what amp isn't? :)

I gave it an 9 because I felt that for the price and all the trouble of being a handwired amp it should have an effects loop, channel switching, maybe a standby switch. Having said that, it was this simplicity that I was attracted to in a way. I'm a Fender Tweed/Blackface guy to the core. Have been for 36 years. I do like simplicty. I just felt that at this price, Vox could have taken it a step further, raised the bar, so to speak. Here's the run down by channel. Channel 1 EF86 Preamp.This channel is based on the 1957 AC30. Two inputs, the front one is the higher gain, the rear has a 6db cut.Volume control, Brilliance switch, with off, 1 and 2 positions. Vox modified these settings from the '57 model as they were too extreme. Off=flat, 1=treble (new position), 2=brilliance (original circuit). These settings are very dramatic and you'll find yourself switching them depending on guitar being played, piece being played, etc. Very useful. Bass Shift is a 2 position slide switch. Position 1 is the original circuit for bass response while position 2 gives a tighter bass response very useful at high volume to keep the mud out! Really cool in conjunction with a Stratocaster or other single coil guitars. Dang funky! EF86 mode, this slide switch reconfigures the EF86 from Pentode to Triode mode. Triode gives lower gain and higher headroom while the Pentode gives you that famous sweet high gain that sounds only like an AC30. Not Marshall, or any of the others. Just that beautiful creamy AC30 warm sustain, and all the even order harmonics that come with it. This setting has less headroom. Channel 2 has the volume treble and bass controls which by the way are hugely interactive. Move them a little and get a lot of tonal variations. It can be a bit tricky at first but once you get the hang of it, no worries. Channel 2 is a clone of the 1963 AC30 Top Boost amp. And if you've played vintage AC30's you'll realize at once that Vox really nailed it on this one! Beautiful chimey tones for days! With that wonderful breakup we all love so much. No dissapointments here. Top Cut switch just like the originals, very handy. O/P mode changes the power tubes, (quad of EL84's), from the normal operation position of Pentode to triode which cuts the power in half to 15 watts and alters the tone so as to be somewhat smoother.

I play Strats most of the time, having a Custom Shop '62 Relic, a Vintage '57 Strat reissue, a Hiway One Telecaster with Fralins, a PRS MCarty, Gibson Les Paul and a Gibson ES335. This amp will take each of these guitars and bring out the absolute best tone each one has to offer. I feel that it particularly shines with a Stratocaster. It loves single coils. I play in a Jazz/Funk Fusion trio and I run the AC30 in Stereo with a 1966 Fender Blackface Super Reverb. What can I say? Pure tone heaven! Some shows I'll just take the AC30 and my Lee Jackson Mr Springgy reverb pedal and a Keeley Boss Blues Driver. I'll use my Radial Big Shot amp switcher and use both channels of the AC30 and at times switch them for solos, etc. This is really an unreal setup! All Vox and I just can't say enough about that tone. I mean, when I first played through it I was like in a daze for an hour or so. I had no idea how good an amp could sound, at least an AC30! I was hooked, no turning back. If you cherish outstanding tone you really owe it to yourself to try one of these out. I had one of the AC30CC2X with the Blue Bulldogs. Cool amp, but this one buries it! No contest at all. There is something to not having circuit boards in your amp.

When I first got the amp, I took it home and played on it for three weeks. Then, with no warning it died?!? Took it to the warranty repair place, more later, and it turned out to be a dead Rectifier tube. It took them 2 full weeks to get the tube, put it in and get my amp back to me! I even offered to bring in one of my own GZ34's to speed up the process as I had gigs up the ying yang. They could have cared less. Got the amp home, pulled all the glass out, replaced the EL84's with a matched quad of NOS Telefunkens, changed the ECC83's to Telefunkens and changed the EF86 to a beautiful Lorenz, made by Telefunken in 1961 to Lorenz's strict specs and lastly changed the GZ34 to a NOS Bugle Boy. Not only is it reliable but the change in tubes blew my mind! The amp was stronger, a bit more headroom, louder! But the overall tone was just sweeter! So much better! If you get one of these, toss the Chinese glass as well as the Russian power tubes. Whatever your pocketbook will allow, go for the best you can get. eBay has page after page of fairly priced NOS and lightly used high quality tubes. You'll be surprised. So worth it. I'm going with a 9 because of the potential meltdown with these garbage tubes. What if it happens at a show?

Have not dealt with Vox so I can't comment. Had some work done...changed tube, if you can call that work. Was done under warranty with no problems. The people were rude, made insinuations that I opened up the amp and "broke" the tube!! Yea right! Warranty is one year. I believe it's like 90 days for the tubes. I'll give them a 6 because they were unwilling to really be helpful. They knew I had not only a show but some recording sessions the following week. They did nothing to speed it up. I called the shop where I bought it and they called Vox and built a fire under these lame asses! The tube was overnighted and in my amp the next day. I ask you...what kind of electronic repair shop runs out of GZ34's or any tube for that matter? Rookies...

I've been playing since 1964...saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and the die was cast. I also own a '59 Fender Tweed Deluxe, '66 Fender Super Reverb, Strats, Tele's, a PRS, Les Paul, ES335 and a bunch of fx boxes, all non digital. I am under the spell of this amp, no kidding. It just has excatly what I have been looking for, likr for the past ten years or so. I wish it had an fx loop and a standby switch. But other than that, I wouldn't change a thing (except the tubes!). Yea, if it was stolen, knock on wood, I would buy another. I'm in too deep now! We're all searching for the "Holy Grail of Tone" and I feel very fortunate that I found mine. It might not be for everybody, but you really should check one out. It's not a Marshall or a Fender...Matchless comes close to the Vox sound, but you know, with all due respect cause I love Matchless, they haven't nailed the AC30 sound, not really. Very close, but put this up next to one, I did, and you'll see what I mean. I wish you all the best in your search for the "Grail", but also in your search to get your art out there for everybody to enjoy. Peace