Vox AC15TBX

GIJoe

Hi All!  Finally got round to a) Finding this site, and b) Figuring out music radar is not coming back anytime soon.

Great to see so many familiar names though!

So I'm talking with the owner about buying a 1996 AC15TBX.

Information on the interwebs is pretty scarce, but from what I can gather they are nice little amps...

Anybody have any experiences or opinions they would care to share?

Joe

ddlooping

No experience with the Vox but welcome to  theFB , @GIJoe, what took you so long?

GIJoe

@ddlooping I'm not sure...It took a while to accept the loss!  And then I only recently found this place!

Did we ever part cash with each other on MR?  Your name sticks in my mind. 

ddlooping

GIJoe said:

Did we ever part cash with each other on MR?  Your name sticks in my mind. 

I can't remember I'm afraid. :-S 

stickyfiddle

Welcome! 

I don't know a massive amount about the TBX beyond it's my favourite modern AC15. Certainly miles better than the fizzy CC and C versions, assuming you want clean/chime and not full-on dirt.

thermionic

I have a '96 AC15TB2 (2x10") version, which I found in Cranes in Cardiff a few years ago. It sounds more "Voxy" than the knackered '62-ish AC30 I cut my teeth on as a youngster imo. Totally different to the current ones, the overdrive you'll get is a lot subtler. Also unlike the modern ones it has 5 preamp valves (two for the Top Boost stage, tremolo, reverb driver and phase splitter). Mine had generic Chinese ECC83s but the EL84s were JAN Phillips NOS. Lovely tremolo but the reverb is a bit lacking (not sure why, it seems like a decent tank). Vox only existed really on paper then so the amp was designed by Bedrock Amps in the USA, but the manufacturing was done by Marshall.

The speakers in mine are Vox-badged Eminence, I've been planning to put a pair of Alnico blue 10" equivalents into it eventually.

GIJoe

stickyfiddle said:

Welcome! 

I don't know a massive amount about the TBX beyond it's my favourite modern AC15. Certainly miles better than the fizzy CC and C versions, assuming you want clean/chime and not full-on dirt.

Yeah I play a tele into a Laney VC30 (Quad El84) so this seems perfect for smaller, chimey alnico blue goodness!

GIJoe

thermionic said:

I have a '96 AC15TB2 (2x10") version, which I found in Cranes in Cardiff a few years ago. It sounds more "Voxy" than the knackered '62-ish AC30 I cut my teeth on as a youngster imo. Totally different to the current ones, the overdrive you'll get is a lot subtler. Also unlike the modern ones it has 5 preamp valves (two for the Top Boost stage, tremolo, reverb driver and phase splitter). Mine had generic Chinese ECC83s but the EL84s were JAN Phillips NOS. Lovely tremolo but the reverb is a bit lacking (not sure why, it seems like a decent tank). Vox only existed really on paper then so the amp was designed by Bedrock Amps in the USA, but the manufacturing was done by Marshall.

The speakers in mine are Vox-badged Eminence, I've been planning to put a pair of Alnico blue 10" equivalents into it eventually.

Thanks for that.  Have you had any issues reliability wise?

thermionic

I think I might have had to reflow a solder joint on one of the input jacks once, although to be honest, that could have been on some other amp I had. I haven't gigged this amp though, but it seems nicely built inside.

ICBM

I had one for a while. To be honest I found it rather underwhelming. It sounded 'Voxy' but a bit generic at it - none of the depth and 'swirl' of a proper AC15. I tried a genuine old Vox Alnico in it too... but it just didn't sound like the miniature AC30 I wanted it to. Quite small-sounding, no real bass response and prone to mushing out when pushed hard. Before you say that's what Voxes sound like, no it isn't! Not proper AC30s or old AC15s, anyway.

I didn't think the tremolo or the reverb were very good - I especially didn't like the lack of 'Vib' option on the tremolo, but even the actual tremolo was just a bit... boring. Reverb very average.

The first fault it had was a bad solder joint somewhere in the phase inverter which made it run quiet and oddly distorted. Then the power transformer blew for no good reason while the amp was on standby - Marshall generously sent me a replacement for free (it wasn't under warranty) but I decided that was enough, and I got rid of it after fixing it.

If I wanted another 'small AC30', I actually prefer the AC30CC1 I think, despite it having a different set of issues.

ToneControl

I had a Korg Vox AC15 TBX from new for about 10 years, as @ICBM says, Voxy but not ace

7/10 I would give it. 

The AC15 H1TV on sale on here is way way better, a real 9/10 amp, I owned one of these for 2-3 years, when I was getting really fussy about amps too, can't remember if its arrival caused the sale of the TBX or not, but the difference is night and day

maw4neu

I had the Korg era Vox AC30 TBX, in fact I've foolishly owned two of them . . . . I also had the opportunity to try the AC15 of the same era and to be honest the AC15 was the better of the two By a long way . . . The AC30's ran way too hot and both the ones I owned were not overly gig friendly . . Good choice !!!!

GIJoe

Thanks @ICBM and @ToneControl

So I have a chance to pick one up cheap...serviced, new valves and flightcase + alnico.

Would the consensus be that it is better than most amps less than £400, but not as good as a JMI or handwired?

ICBM

ToneControl said:

The AC15 H1TV on sale on here is way way better, a real 9/10 amp, I owned one of these for 2-3 years, when I was getting really fussy about amps too, can't remember if its arrival caused the sale of the TBX or not, but the difference is night and day

I hated those. I didn't like the sound, which I found quite harsh and edgy, and I particularly detested that it was marketed as a "hand wired" amp, when it was built with a PCB! (Just do a Google image search if you don't believe me . ) Whether it affects the tone or not is a different issue, but it just isn't right to market something so untruthfully.

maw4neu said:

I had the Korg era Vox AC30 TBX, in fact I've foolishly owned two of them . . . . I also had the opportunity to try the AC15 of the same era and to be honest the AC15 was the better of the two By a long way . . . The AC30's ran way too hot and both the ones I owned were not overly gig friendly . . Good choice !!!!

I can't possibly disagree more .

The AC30TBXs I've played (the guitarist in my band owned a couple at different times as well) have absolutely blown away the AC15TBX I had for tone, and they're pretty reliable - AC30s run hot, it's the nature of them, you can either use decent valves or accept going through cheap ones at a fair rate - or if you really want, change the cathode resistor value. They sound very similar to an original 60s AC30 - big, vibrant, ringing and chimey, and yes loud! - but such a great tone even with pedals for dirt. The AC15 didn't even come close.

Personal taste, obviously! It sounds like what you're looking for is more the AC15 sound, not the AC30 sound.

ToneControl

yes, the AC15 H1TV was handwired in a very cynical way, using a PCB with posts here and there, so you should not pay the same as for a real hand-wired amp, but they are better made than the normal PCB ones as far I could tell

We should probably use the phrases "point-to-point", "turret-board", "tag-strip" a bit more

the Chinese-made Alnico blue was brighter than the UK-made Celestion one, but the amp seemed tuned to match. It was bright, but it was supposed to be, I really liked the EF86 channel. If you want the jangly chimey sounds, the H1TV was much better at that for me, since it does use an EF86.

It's worth trying a few amps with the EF86 and non-EF86 preamps, and making sure you know which you prefer

NB: the H1TV contains the EF86 and the top boost channel (the ECC83 one), as does the Matchless DC30

I use the ECC83 channel about 2% of the time, so you can see where I stand, hence the EF86 is a must

I had a Ceriatone Marshall/Vox hybrid with an EF86 channel, and that too had the EF86 sound - so I am pretty sure there is something special about that valve 

ICBM

I don't like the EF86. It sounds too shrill and metallic, to me - it's a very clean and hi-fi tone really, it never overdrives at all normally when it's used as an input stage. The Top Boost circuit is miles better for what I want - far more harmonically complex and jangly. The 'chime' comes more from the power amp compression than the preamp though. The AC15TBX does use the Top Boost circuit, but it still doesn't have a big enough power amp sound.

I have an EF86 in my Centurion too - pretty much an AC4 circuit - and it's... OK. Most of the character of that amp is from the power valve.

I didn't find the "hand wired" amps well-made either - the quality of the soldering to the turrets was poor in the one I looked inside. The CCs are better made, in fact.

ToneControl

Style-based personal preference for the EF86 then - since I don't use it for overdrive - so a different objective for me, and it is true that it's too bright for some stuff

15w is not often enough for me either,  30w seems better for EL84s

GIJoe

So it seems very much a personal preference thing.

My current amp can do the 30W El84 thing.

I do like the AC30 sound, but it's not necessarily what I'm after, AC15TBX's have their own little sound?

ICBM

GIJoe said:

So it seems very much a personal preference thing.

I do like the AC30 sound, but it's not necessarily what I'm after, AC15TBX's have their own little sound?

Yes, exactly. If that's what you want then it's all good. But I suspect that most people (including me) buy them because they want an AC30 but don't want the size, weight, cost or in some cases volume… since on paper, they do look like they should be the same basic thing but less of it.