Vox AC30 and Jazzmaster

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Larsongs
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Re: Vox AC30 and Jazzmaster

Post by Larsongs » Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:55 pm

What Speakers are in your Vox? If you want to cut thru the Mix in your Band I think Celestion Alnico Blues would be the best choice. Totally different sound than what's coming out of the Twin Reverb. They should compliment eachother very well..

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Jestapali
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Re: Vox AC30 and Jazzmaster

Post by Jestapali » Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:26 am

My AC30 is a CC1, it has the Celestion Neo Dog. Reports say that it sounds good but not as good as the blues. A common switch is replacing it with a celestion gold, that basically matches this amp with the double speaker version with blues.

At this point I don't feel the need for a switch , mostly because I really appreciate the light weight of this amp and speaker compared to the C2. In any case, the amp cuts through totally fine, is just that the tone sometimes needs a fuller presence. I have been trying to boost mids and cut bass with some pedals (like popvulture recommended) and, interestingly enough, that seems to help.

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fibreman
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Re: Vox AC30 and Jazzmaster

Post by fibreman » Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:55 am

I've had similar tribulations with an AC30CC head with my Jaguar.

I now use a Double Muff (in normal single Muff setting, between 10 & 12 o'clock) at the front of my pedal chain to thicken out some of those mids, then use the controls on the guitar to pull the gain back to suit.

So I'm adding some gain but rolling it off with the volume on the guitar as needed. For me at least, it seems to solve the relationship between bright pickups and the normal channel.

If, after trying some EQ & compression, working with boost & OD's that help push the right mids a bit, it still isn't working out, then it might be worth getting your amp checked in with a tech and/or investigating some of the Lyle Caldwell mods. As it happens, mine is with a tech currently as it hasn't been very well for some time.

The CC's seem to have a switch for everything, but there's no magic "make it sound better" switch. You've just got to dial it in to work with your guitar and pedals.

Fuzzjunkie got it spot on, you can get them in the ballpark but because of all the functionality that has been added you've got so many more hurdles to negotiate than with most vintage AC30s (noting also that I've also never come across two vintage AC30s that sound exactly the same).

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Larsongs
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Re: Vox AC30 and Jazzmaster

Post by Larsongs » Wed Oct 31, 2018 6:50 am

I've had several Vox Amps with different Speaker combinations. The magic switch IMO & experience is the Speakers... Golds or Creams are good but Blues sound the best in those Amps...

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