Vox AC30

[msmith4432]

I was looking online today and came across the vox ac30 handwired head. It seemed real interesting so I looked at it further and saw that it is a 2 channel. I have never owned a vox amp besides the little modeling amp they have and have also never played one. So I've really never given them much thought even though I've of course always been familiar with the famous "vox chime".

Anyway I saw that the 2 channels look completely separate, like you have to plug your guitar I to one output or the other and to me that somewhat defeats the purpose of having 2 channels. Anyway can anybody tell me if this is how the amp is set up? I have owned several mesa boogies, a couple Marshall's and a few fenders and a few orange amps and never seen an amp with this set up.
I would love to get some clarity on it if a y of you out there have one or are familiar with them.

[TESLA_EL34]

I own one and im very happy with this amp. I just had it modded... i have a crazy friend who is kinda modding them for fun, we just changed some chinese parts for better ones and converted the TB channel back to JMI specs. In the end it just sounded a bit better, like going from regular tubes to NOS. A bit less harsh and more dynamics a bit more 3D&open tone. The mods are cheap and its a cool thing, because you can make a good amp even better.

Anyway... You can use the Normal and the TB channel with an AB pedal. That way its almost the same as channel switching. The Normal Channel is a lot cleaner but breaks up around 12 and sounds fantastic with boosters and fuzzes...The TB has a lot more gain and is very unique with the EQ because it alters the tone a lot. You could use the TB as a clean and the Normal as OD, or the other way around, or even two different cleans or breakups...

The master works for both channels. You can also play without master. The Cut control works for the highend, on both again... depends a lot on the speakers you are using but works very good.

In my experience i personally like the normal channel better (with bright switch on) and im very happy with it right now.It has been fun, fun, fun. I would NEVER sell this amp. I also own bigger amps and a rocker 30, but the vox has a character that is so damn cool and i love the way it sounds with wah, delay and fuzzboxes (on the normal channel).
This amp kills. Buy it.

[msmith4432]

Cool, thanks. I wondered if the problem could be solved with a simple ABY pedal. That would make it much more useable. Not looking to get one anytime soon. But I may in the next few months. Thanks again.

[fiveightandten]

I'm going to go against the grain and say embrace the amp for what it is. It's not a channel switcher. If it was intended to be used as such, they would've engineered that feature into the amp. I have several old Voxen, and while I will agree that you can definitely use the 2 channels the amp has with an ABY box, i'd urge you to embrace the amp for what it is. It's a pure old school tube amp with some versatility added in. The dynamic response of that amp, its touch sensitivity, and its ability to be clean or dirty just based on pick attack alone are sold short a bit if you set up a "clean" and "dirty" sound on 2 separate channels and use an ABY box to switch between them.

It has the ability to dynamically and fluidly transition between different amounts of breakup very easily. You'll love it. Great amp. But if you're looking for a channel switcher, there are plenty of other amps out there that do that game a lot better and are specifically designed to do that. I play through an AC-30TBX most of the time. I go from clean to overdrive either with a volume pedal or just with my pick attack. These amps are wonderfully responsive. You'll love it.

-Nick

[TESLA_EL34]

I think its funny that people think a vox is very dynamic. Same for the newer Orange amps.
They are dynamic but not too much. The Matamp GT-1 for example is super dynamic.
I have yet to hear and feel another amp that is so dynamic like the matamp.

[Gtr_Pkr]

I have an old JMI AC30 and I just recently applied a little Marshall style to it with great success. No, no, no, I didn't mod it......You know how you can bridge the channels on the four input Marshall's? I tried the same thing with my Normal and Bright channels and it worked! I should also mention that this is a Bass version AC30. It's really cool that I can now use the bass channel (normal) for the low end and then mix in the Bright (guitar) channel for highs. I'm not familiar with the newer AC30, but I wonder if it would work?

[fiveightandten]

I think its funny that people think a vox is very dynamic. Same for the newer Orange amps.
They are dynamic but not too much. The Matamp GT-1 for example is super dynamic.
I have yet to hear and feel another amp that is so dynamic like the matamp.

Arguing that the Vox AC-30 isn't dynamic? That's a first. I'm not impressed by the dynamic response of the Custom classics and new AC-30 iterations. But the traditional AC-30 circuit with a set of blues not being dynamic? To each their own.

I have an old JMI AC30 and I just recently applied a little Marshall style to it with great success. No, no, no, I didn't mod it......You know how you can bridge the channels on the four input Marshall's? I tried the same thing with my Normal and Bright channels and it worked! I should also mention that this is a Bass version AC30. It's really cool that I can now use the bass channel (normal) for the low end and then mix in the Bright (guitar) channel for highs. I'm not familiar with the newer AC30, but I wonder if it would work?

It depends. The 1st iteration of the AC-30HW only had a high and low input, so this isn't possible without an ABY box or Y cable. Even then, the input jacks may disable one another. I'm not sure, I haven't tried it.

The newer ones may allow this, as they have 4 inputs. However, Voxes traditionally have the gain stages in the normal channel and top boost channel set up differently and wired in a manner that they're out of phase with one another. This means that you do get some phase cancellations when you jumper the channels. I haven't cared much for jumpering channels on a Vox. But trust your ears. If it sounds good, it sounds good. I haven't seen a schematic of the new HW version to comment on phasing between channels when blending.

[danbond]

Try going through both inputs at the same time from a stereo effect. The way the effect washes across both pre-amps (like delay) is great, and when you have the effect off, you get both channels on all the time. It's a blanacing act to get them both at the same volume, but I think it sounds great.

I think setting the amp cleanish, but when you play hard it gets dirty, is great - I think it's very dynamic like that. A simple booster or overdrive can kick it right up if you need it.

[a.hun]

I have an old JMI AC30 and I just recently applied a little Marshall style to it with great success. No, no, no, I didn't mod it......You know how you can bridge the channels on the four input Marshall's? I tried the same thing with my Normal and Bright channels and it worked! I should also mention that this is a Bass version AC30. It's really cool that I can now use the bass channel (normal) for the low end and then mix in the Bright (guitar) channel for highs. I'm not familiar with the newer AC30, but I wonder if it would work?

+1. Literally!

Yeah I can take that one stage further. I also have an old JMI era AC30 ('65 - '66 head), also a 'bass' version, but mine is a Top Boost model, so has three separate channels, Normal, Bright and Tremolo. These channels are three totally separate preamps, each with two inputs. You can also use these extra inputs to link the channels together with short patch cables and I always run it with all three channels bridged.
http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.p ... ge#p513821" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also almost always bridge the two channels (Normal and Brilliant) on my Hiwatt. That way the separate channel volume controls effectively work as additional tone controls and it is very easy to set a different overall tonal balance without even touching the actual tone controls.

Stuff channel switching, channel blending is WAY MORE FUN!


Andy.

[a.hun]

I think its funny that people think a vox is very dynamic. Same for the newer Orange amps.
They are dynamic but not too much. The Matamp GT-1 for example is super dynamic.
I have yet to hear and feel another amp that is so dynamic like the matamp.

It all depends what you mean by 'very dynamic'...



http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.p ... 32#p581632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Andy.

[savage8190]

I really need to try blending the channels on my TBX....

[Gtr_Pkr]

I have an old JMI AC30 and I just recently applied a little Marshall style to it with great success. No, no, no, I didn't mod it......You know how you can bridge the channels on the four input Marshall's? I tried the same thing with my Normal and Bright channels and it worked! I should also mention that this is a Bass version AC30. It's really cool that I can now use the bass channel (normal) for the low end and then mix in the Bright (guitar) channel for highs. I'm not familiar with the newer AC30, but I wonder if it would work?

+1. Literally!

Yeah I can take that one stage further. I also have an old JMI era AC30 ('65 - '66 head), also a 'bass' version, but mine is a Top Boost model, so has three separate channels, Normal, Bright and Tremolo. These channels are three totally separate preamps, each with two inputs. You can also use these extra inputs to link the channels together with short patch cables and I always run it with all three channels bridged.
http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.p ... ge#p513821" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also almost always bridge the two channels (Normal and Brilliant) on my Hiwatt. That way the separate channel volume controls effectively work as additional tone controls and it is very easy to set a different overall tonal balance without even touching the actual tone controls.

Stuff channel switching, channel blending is WAY MORE FUN!


Andy.

Andy, thanks for the info man. Mine has the tremolo channel too. I'll try it out. AWESOME!!

[sidvicious]

to make the channel switching footswitchable you can use an a/b switch to go back and forth.