OffsetGuitars.com

I mentioned in the perfect amps thread I've picked up another cool old amp, this time a 1962 (I think) Vox AC4. I saw it pop up on FB ads and had agreed to buy it for the paltry sum of £300 inside about 6 minutes!

This is how it looked in the ad:



Picked it up the other night from a friend of the original owner who said he'd recently passed away and was selling for his wife. The chap was also seriously into cigars so it was coated in a thick layer of cigar tar and stunk. It appears completely original (including tubes) and untouched, with the exception of a missing footswitch.

You can see how stained it is in this photo I took when I got it home:



I started cleaning it by rubbing a layer of hard soap over the tolex, then rubbed it off with rough cloths and warm water, being careful to not score the tolex.



Starting to look good:



One side done:



90% complete:



Still got a way to go with it, and the inside will also need doing when I've got time. I'll order new electrolytics today and hopefully have it up and running shortly.

Cool score and a great wee amp for the living room. Will post clips when it's fixed up.

Tommy.

Fantastic

Ahhhh, well done! That's part of the estate I got the Franken-Tele from (you can see the pictures I got of this amp here). I decided to walk away from this and the AC30 but I'm super pleased you got this one!

I'm eager to see how the inside is as I know where it had been stored for the last 30 years!

That is so cool! I'm also glad you didn't pick the AC4 up!

The guys are completely untouched:



Valves are original, it's not going to take much to bring it back to life but I'm not going to plug it in until the caps are changed out.

Tommy.

NICE SCORE! this is a rad amp!

It was partly a) I didn't need any more projects b) someone else was getting involved with the selling and wanted to maximise money and c) I kinda felt I'd had enough luck with the Tele and thought someone else deserved a break. Good to see Steve took back control and sold things for a good deal.

Guts look good but, damn, that cigar smoke even got in there and on the wires! The Tele still smells a little of it too - and the gigbag it was in went into the bin as I couldn't shift the stench. What valves did it come with?

Dr Noel Brown was a cool cat but holy fuck he smoked too much

I'm going to have to clean the outside of the tubes and wipe down all components with cotton buds dipped in an alcohol solution!

I know I can 100% get it back to great condition though and it'll be worth it.

Tried baking soda on the Tele?

Tommy.

ziess wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:04 am

Tried baking soda on the Tele?

No baking soda (that's always worked for me with fabrics) but I did clean it pretty well with just some scented wipes and some isopropyl in the nooks and crannies. It's mostly gone now unless you stick your nose right up against it...it's 100% part of the wood now It's not noticeable unless you're looking for it now.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this project turns out (and I'd love to hear it)

Remind me to never start smoking!

panoramic wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:00 am

NICE SCORE! this is a rad amp!

Score indeed at that much $

I've got two Vox amps now, this one and a '64 AC30 - full story here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=82235

I'm probably in for about £1500 in them, including replacement parts etc. These things are definitely out there!

Tommy.

thats hawt!
EU people! help me get a vintage vox!

ziess wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:37 am

I've got two Vox amps now, this one and a '64 AC30 - full story here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=82235

i've still got a picture of me playing the jazzmaster in that photo. you can tell it's been a while since i still have hair in the photo.

terminalvertigo wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 3:00 pm

thats hawt!
EU people! help me get a vintage vox!

They’re not uncommon over here…

s_mcsleazy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 3:07 pm

ziess wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:37 am

I've got two Vox amps now, this one and a '64 AC30 - full story here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=82235

i've still got a picture of me playing the jazzmaster in that photo. you can tell it's been a while since i still have hair in the photo.

Yeah, still got that one too.

Tommy.

Nice find at £300! And great job on the resto too