Done bought a vox ac30

Pickups, pedals, amps, cabs, combos

Moderated By: mods

User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

Years and years ago benecol advised me to get a ac30 as it was a good pedal platform. I never did.

But a ac30 cc1 came up locally with a bust speaker for cheap.
I swapped out the speaker from my epiphone Triggerman cab. And it's sounding great. I love the limited eq and options.

Need to try it with the band to see if it's staying but so far it sounds great. Pairing it with a rat pedal is insanely good sounding at least to my ears.

Image
User avatar
plopswagon
cutesy tag
Posts: 18521
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: 3rd Fret
Contact:

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by plopswagon »

Jealzzzzz
► Show Spoiler
ekwatts wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:53 pm The word "moisty" has made me irrationally angry.
User avatar
NickD
.
.
Posts: 6003
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Sheffield, Innit

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by NickD »

Nice. At least once turn it all the way up, it’s a glorious sound. Super loud though.
User avatar
NickS
.
.
Posts: 13524
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:08 am
Location: Close to the edge, down by the river

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by NickS »

Very nice!
Personal pronouns he/him
User avatar
Mike
I like EL34s
Posts: 39154
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Mike »

Always wanted one. Looks mint. Jealous!
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

Cheers guys!
Been looking up proper speakers to go in it. Fucking hell speakers are well expensive!
User avatar
Bacchus
Whatever's handiest
Posts: 23431
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:10 am
Location: wandering

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Bacchus »

AC30/Triggerman stereo rig?
Image
User avatar
Thom
lamp
Posts: 6987
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:23 am
Location: Exeter, UK

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Thom »

Nice!
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

Bacchus wrote: Sun Dec 04, 2022 6:53 pm AC30/Triggerman stereo rig?
Unlikely. Gonna see how it works with or instead of the blackstar silverline at practice this week.
User avatar
Bacchus
Whatever's handiest
Posts: 23431
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:10 am
Location: wandering

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Bacchus »

Forgot about the Blackstar. You've had a good year for amps!
Image
User avatar
Mike
I like EL34s
Posts: 39154
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Mike »

Get a greenback
User avatar
ekwatts
A series of tubes
Posts: 24489
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:35 pm
Location: Bongchester

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by ekwatts »

Mike wrote: Sun Dec 04, 2022 9:03 pmGet a greenback
Don't do this. Sounds like shit. I don't care what anyone says. We had an anniversary model with two greenbacks that was gifted to my brother by Bernard from New Order. It had a busted transformer, so we thought it sounded shit because of that (for the five minutes it would stay on before the sound just faaaaaaaded ooooouuuut...), but we got that fixed and it still sounded like shit. So we plugged it into a Sound City cab with Vintage 30s and it sounded incredible.

Greenbacks are wank. I don't understand why people like them. They're proper shit. Total shit. Really, really bad.

I'm joking, they're not that bad, I just didn't like the way they sounded. I think it was something to do with the totality of the setup rather than "just" the speakers, but it was also the first time I'd ever fully realised what a difference different speakers actually made when I was A/B'ing the differently-equipped amps and cabs we had available. The AC30 was fucking skull-crushing at high volumes, and something about the Greenbacks made that kind of painful in a way that I can't quite explain (not least because this was way over ten years ago and I used to be wasted near constantly so WHO THE FUCK REALLY KNOWS), and plugging it into literally any other speaker smoothed that out in a much more pleasant way. From that point on I sort of never really "got" the appeal of Greenbacks. Specifically, I never got why they kept being loaded into AC30s. I can actually fully imagine them sounding great for all kinds of other amps, but the AC30 just seemed ill-suited to them. Another thing I appreciate now is mixing speakers, so a Greenback paired with another with differing characteristics... that could probably sound ace. Obviously not an option if you've got a 1x12 model.

I also think I have a problem in that I seem to be absolutely fucking addicted to slapping Celestion Vintage 30s in everything. I bought an Ampeg GT50 that had this Celestion 7080 speaker in it. It sounded fine. So I slapped a V30 in there and it sounded amazing. I have an Orange Tiny Terror combo with a V30 and it sounds great. I used to love my Peavey Classic 30, even with the stock Blue Marvel speaker. But I tried a friends with a V30 in it and it sounded so much better that it made me depressed. I had a custom Zilla cab built and loaded it with... well, Eminence speakers, actually, but one of them was basically just a copy of a Celestion V30. It sounds great.

So maybe don't listen to me. I just think everything should have a Celestion V30.

It would sound good with a V30, though. Maybe.. maybe look into that.

And yeah, speakers are fucking insanely expensive now. As I remember, back when I was building shit and doing things, I was picking proper Celestions/Eminence speakers up for somewhere around £60-£80. It's been 10 years since I replaced a speaker but that doesn't feel like enough time for the prices to have literally doubled... I dunno, maybe it is. Cost of living crisis, Hurb.
Last edited by ekwatts on Mon Dec 05, 2022 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
Brandon W wrote:you elites.
User avatar
sunshiner
.
.
Posts: 8028
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:05 pm
Location: Around the corner

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by sunshiner »

As it's a 1x12 AC30, to do it right, you have to sell your neighbours' children and buy a proper Alnico Gold
matte30is wrote:Someone man up and get a balloon.
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

So you really don't like greenbacks Eric? Haha
I think they are too low wattage for the 1x12 anyway from what I've looked into it.

I have brought my silverline home from the practice space to have a play about. Firstly to see if I can get it to sound anything like the ac30 (which would kinda make the ac30 redundant as the silverline is way more practical) and then try it through the blackstar cab v12s. My bass player has the cc2 vox amp with greenbacks in so will get to try it through some greenbacks anyway.

For the places we will play up here this setup would be too big...but it looks pretty!
Image
User avatar
NickD
.
.
Posts: 6003
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Sheffield, Innit

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by NickD »

I’ve got an alnico gold in my Vox style amp - probably more bottom end than the archetypal Vox sound though. Alnico blues sound great in an ac30 too.
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

Definitely would have to save up for any of the alnicos though. They would have to sound amazingly better than what's in there currently.
User avatar
Bacchus
Whatever's handiest
Posts: 23431
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:10 am
Location: wandering

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Bacchus »

That is very pretty.

viewtopic.php?t=70411
Thom wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 6:16 pm I think the “stupid” must be catching.
It's been a good year for stupid.
Image
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

Multiple amps for the win!
User avatar
benecol
Best Poster 2010
Posts: 8264
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:12 pm
Location: Westcountry

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by benecol »

Nice purchase Hurbert. Been a long time since I've done any more than skim over a Wattspost (I'm not getting any younger, I only have so much time left to me), and think he maybe pulled a "just kidding" in the middle around the 500 word mark, but the Greenback sounded pretty good in my old AC15; the CC1 series (which I think came after this one?) were designed around the Greenback, apparently. I really rated that AC15 I had - was better for doing the cap mod to make the Top Boost play nicer with fuzzes, but the Rat > Vox combo is hard to beat (try an AC Booster too, that's another lovely combo, as is the Crowther Hot Cake).

And a stereo rig with a ping-ponging delay; now we're talking baby.

Also: do an perm, Brian.
User avatar
Hurb
Peanut the Kidnapper
Posts: 7176
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:47 pm

Re: Done bought a vox ac30

Post by Hurb »

So tried to make the blackstar sound like the vox. I could get it pretty close actually. Although the vox still had something better going on. However adding the rat the vox was soooo much better and I couldn't get the blackstar to compete.

Both amps together as cool as it looked kinda just made everything sound worse. Don't know how much the M9 I was using to split things had to with that.
Trying the vox through the blackstar speaker was perhaps a bit better or bigger. But not worth bothering with bringing both along to practice or a gig I don't think.
I do hope I am not becoming a tone/tube snob. I am really not comfortable with that.
Image