which vox ac15 to team with a fender amp?

dean111music

Hi guys

i'm interested in a vox ac15 but which one? There seems to be lots out there....different speakers? Headroom?

Also what fender amp would this team up nicely with? Princeton, Deluxe or vibrolux?

Got a bit of inspiration from Josh smith who uses a super and a ac30 or uses his morgans which are based off these two. But for me who does smaller gigs the ac15 with a smaller fender amp should give me a good tone.

ICBM

The current AC15C1 is the best I've tried - better than the older CC1 and the 'Korg' (built by Marshall) AC15TB or TBX, which I had one of and which was a disappointment. The Blue speaker is worth having if you want the classic Vox chimey tone but does add quite a lot to the price.

(Oddly, although the AC15C1 is better than the CC1, I found the opposite with the AC30s - I'm not sure why!)

If you're using the Vox clean or very nearly clean, the Deluxe Reverb is a good match for volume. If you're using it cranked and you want the Fender to stay clean, the Vibrolux is better.

I also worked on an AC10C1 yesterday which was really nice-sounding despite being fitted with a fairly poor speaker, but the internal build quality was a bit cheap - although the actual fault was just a blown valve.

dean111music

ICBM said:

The current AC15C1 is the best I've tried - better than the older CC1 and the 'Korg' (built by Marshall) AC15TB or TBX, which I had one of and which was a disappointment. The Blue speaker is worth having if you want the classic Vox chimey tone but does add quite a lot to the price.

(Oddly, although the AC15C1 is better than the CC1, I found the opposite with the AC30s - I'm not sure why!)

If you're using the Vox clean or very nearly clean, the Deluxe Reverb is a good match for volume. If you're using it cranked and you want the Fender to stay clean, the Vibrolux is better.

I also worked on an AC10C1 yesterday which was really nice-sounding despite being fitted with a fairly poor speaker, but the internal build quality was a bit cheap - although the actual fault was just a blown valve.

Cheers! Are they quite reliable?

I have a tone king falcon grande so i may keep up that for my fender tones and get the vox for the chime. The tone ing has a lovely reverb! Whats the vox like? Tremolo any good?

Is the blue speaker a limited edition version or do you mean buy one separately.

ICBM

Yes, the modern Voxes are pretty reliable. The biggest issue is rectifier valve failures in the AC30CC, which happens because the standby switch is in the wrong place in the circuit! But neither the AC30C or either of the AC15s has a valve rectifier, so it's not a problem. They all suffer from EL84 failures, but so does any hot-running EL84 amp.

The Vox reverb and tremolo is perfectly functional but nothing special unfortunately - and also the tremolo is nothing like the original Vib/Trem circuit in 1960s AC15s and the classic AC30s.

The blue speaker is available in the 'X' models - AC15C1X, AC30C2X etc - and for the AC15 is an extra £120 roughly, which is about the price difference between a Greenback and a Blue, so you could do it either way.

daddyash

Ac15hw1 or ac15hw1x. Brilliant amp, I foolishly sold mine to fund another purchase, and now I’m back on the hunt for another! No trem on the handwired though. 

seans

Korg era AC15 tbx is a fantastic amp. I had one for many years.

57Deluxe

the twin - nice chimes and focus