Which AC30?

[JSett]

I'll start this with the admission I know close to nothing about Vox AC amps. I briefly had an AC15 of some ilk that sounded good but I have no idea what model it was. Maybe 'CC2'? Anyway, I want to buy myself an AC30 in the new year and have no idea what to look for. Would prefer vintage for ease of self-servicing and mojo points but happy to take suggestions for modern ones.

Obviously the 60s ones are pricier than the 70s ones, but the 70s dont seem to be much more than recent models. Do any have a master volume? That would be useful with modern stage volume requirements.

So, those that know, what should I aim for? Definitely going to buy used, budget around £1200 but would prefer sub-£1000

[fortytwo]

Not sure what they go for in the UK, but I'd grab a 90's Marshall built one over the newer asian built ones any day.

Getting a real vintage one is great, but they all have their own problems, some big some small.
They 90's one also have problems, but most of that comes from the original design.

[stevejamsecono]

Not sure what they go for in the UK, but I'd grab a 90's Marshall built one over the newer asian built ones any day.

Getting a real vintage one is great, but they all have their own problems, some big some small.
They 90's one also have problems, but most of that comes from the original design.

This seems to be the general consensus amongst the Vox literati, yeah. The 90s reissues have a really nice rep.

Honestly, the modern hand-wired stuff seems to get good marks too. Made in Vietnam or not, they look and sound great from my experience.

If you want to go a little left of center and get something that won't give you a hernia just by looking at it, the Victory VC35 Copper head seems to do the thing quite nicely while having a bit more of a modern gain profile. I'm fixing to pick one of these up myself next month.

[JSett]

I've seen a couple of the 90s ones listed in my recent travels actually... Prices seem to range from £600-1000 which is absolutely fine by me. Good to know they're pretty solid.

Not really interested in clones or alternates, just the OG vibe/sound

[beauzooka]

Don’t forget to consider the speakers. Celestion Blues are the consensus best speaker for Vox. Celestion Gold and Greenback can work well too.
Vox has their own branded speakers that can vary a from rebranded Celestion to cheap crap. Hopefully someone that knows more about speakers can “chime” in.

[Domm]

The vox handwired series ac30’s are real nice. As are the 90’s era vox ac30tb made by Korg, they are also spectacular

[fuzzjunkie]

I’ve had a vintage Top Boost AC-30 and a Korg AC-30. I replaced the vintage with the Korg after it blew up one too many times. I couldn’t afford to keep fixing it and half the parts were Marshall by the time I did anyway.

The Korg is a ‘93 and sounds as good or better than the vintage one did, but the controls aren’t always in the same orientation to get the same sound. The early Korg are made with birch plywood cabinets like the early ‘60s models. I hear the newer ones are MDF or particle board?

The Korg doesn’t have master volume and some other modern features; like reverb, so it feels more like an original to me in that regard. Also the chicken head knobs are full size and don’t spin around when you blow on them. It just feels more substantial than the Vietnamese amps I looked at.

Point to point wiring would be nice, but I haven’t had an issue with the PCB in the Korg. I also don’t understand why they decided a bright switch was preferable? To save panel space?

[Larsongs]

Don’t forget to consider the speakers. Celestion Blues are the consensus best speaker for Vox. Celestion Gold and Greenback can work well too.
Vox has their own branded speakers that can vary a from rebranded Celestion to cheap crap. Hopefully someone that knows more about speakers can “chime” in.

British Celestion Alnico Blue speakers would be the #1 most important Spec for me in any of the more modern Vox Amps..

Great Amps, but, Are you sure you want to lug around a 90 lb. Amp that is ear shattering loud? A good AC15 is about 45 lbs. & really loud.. Great for most applications..

I have an older AC15CC1X with British Alnico Blue Speaker, Reverb, Tremelo & the all important Top Boost.. It’s been bullet proof since I bought it about 13-14 years ago… Great sound & plenty loud!

[JSett]

Great Amps, but, Are you sure you want to lug around a 90 lb. Amp that is ear shattering loud? A good AC15 is about 45 lbs. & really loud.. Great for most applications..

I have an older AC15CC1X with British Alnico Blue Speaker, Reverb, Tremelo & the all important Top Boost.. It’s been bullet proof since I bought it about 13-14 years ago… Great sound & plenty loud!

This is one of my concerns, not going to lie. In my band I'm using a 90s Hot Rod Deluxe and it's usually set to about 3/4 volume during rehearsals to be loud enough to clear the drummer (a relatively hard hitter) so my concern was that if I'm using 75% power of a 45w amp then 15w wouldn't be loud enough. The AC15 I had a decade or more ago I don't really remember being particularly loud - but my memory isn't great.

[tequila_in_teacups]

AC15HW with Celestion blue is an excellent amp. Top boost channel, master volume. Great looking amp too.

[Unicorn Warrior]

I had both Vietnam HW versions of the 15 and 30. I preferred the 15 for 2 reasons. 1. The gain was better at manageable volumes. 2. The weight. Carrying an ac-30 sucks….my major influence for going with the 30 was better clean tonz! …Not that the AC-30 didn’t have more headroom, it’s just that the clean tones were so similar to the 15. I found out that the 15 already good clean headroom. But you know how we are, we must see what’s the next best thing etc…

Now I play a Matchless Spitfire and I’m more than happy with the tones I’m pulling from it. While I love vox amps, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a vox again. The Matchless contains those sweet and chimey cleans and sounds great

[redchapterjubilee]

This is one of my concerns, not going to lie. In my band I'm using a 90s Hot Rod Deluxe and it's usually set to about 3/4 volume during rehearsals to be loud enough to clear the drummer (a relatively hard hitter) so my concern was that if I'm using 75% power of a 45w amp then 15w wouldn't be loud enough. The AC15 I had a decade or more ago I don't really remember being particularly loud - but my memory isn't great.

Speaking as a former AC15 owner and a drummer playing behind a current AC15 owner...if you are playing places where you are always mic'ed, play with a drummer that is sensitive to volume and dynamics, or you can stand relatively within the throw of the amp then an AC15 will be plenty. I have changed my playing dynamic and sometimes even my parts so I don't drown the AC15 player out. It's 50/50 on whether we play places that he's mic'ed. I think if he had an AC15 head with a 2x12 cabinet it would take care of the problems he's had with throw and volume. He still uses the AC15 when we have to pay attention to volume, but he eventually went with a Marshall Origin 50 and 2x12. We recently took on a second guitarist and he uses that AC15 at practice. It is certainly "good enough" for practice but he has almost no headroom against the rest of us. So...I'm gonna be the guy that says you might want the extra speaker and the extra little bit of headroom of an AC30. I know it's heavy but...it might be worth it.

[JSett]

I've just found out they now make one called a AC30S1 which is only 1x12 and 54lbs. Which is only 6lbs heavier than an AC15.

No tremolo or top boost channel though, which is disappointing, but the weight is fine at that level. 54lbs is a semi-comfortable 1 arm carry.

[cestlamort]

Not helpful advice:
I (briefly) had an AC30cc1 (one speaker) a while back. It was great to have that sound in a smaller, almost portable package. I never did quite get my head around the amp itself. It seemed like a friends stock ac15cc1 was easier to dial in, etc. Also: I only used it in our tiny rehearsal space at the time, which made everything sound strange, but I think I liked either the more speakers of a "normal" ac30 or the lower wattage + 1 speaker of the AC15.

I later (briefly) had one of the AC30hw2 combos, which sounded great, but I ended up sticking with my twin reverb for the big + clean sounds.

Funnily, I just used the folding hand truck this morning that I'd gotten to haul around the AC30cc1 to take a bunch of packages to the post office.

[Surfysonic]

I've just found out they now make one called a AC30S1 which is only 1x12 and 54lbs. Which is only 6lbs heavier than an AC15.

No tremolo or top boost channel though, which is disappointing, but the weight is fine at that level. 54lbs is a semi-comfortable 1 arm carry.

A lighter, manageable amp that won't cause you back problems with a tremolo pedal and boost pedal (or a pedal with both!) is what I'd go with instead of the 90 lbs. amp with the onboard tremolo and boost.

I have the AC15C1-TV with a Celestion Greenback. Sounds fantastic. Still a beast to lug around. I haven't had the chance to play with it in a band setting, though.