Time For Change
I finally gave in, and traded my Mesa/Boogie TA-15 head. The primary reason was the lack of an effects loop. Without an effects loop, an amp just can't be anything more than gain, tone and amplification. The TransAtlantic has incredible tone, but it always felt like I was playing in a vacuum. The old adage that an amp needs to sound good without any effects is true - but after finding that tone, I at least need reverb to enjoy playing. The idea I had was to offer the amp for sale, but with a preference for "interesting trades". Considering I have a Mesa/Boogie Express 5:50 Plus, I am really looking for a more vintage-type amp with lower gain. The TA-15 had very impressive tones that mimicked the sound of vintage Vox and Fender tweed, so this was what I was hoping to trade for.Enter the Vox AC30
I have never been happier with an amp.
I never thought I'd actually like an AC30, they seems so odd to me. But considering the guitar tones of the Beatles, many of Jimmy Page's Led Zeppelin studio recordings, The Edge (U2), and Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) and are made with Vox AC30s - I should have known this would be the amp for me. All of these artists are the most influential to my playing.
What's in the Package?
The AC30 Custom Classic came out in 2005. It was designed at Vox UK, but was the first Vox all-tube amp to be manufactured in China. Much like a lot of Asian-made guitars, the quality is spectacular, and any cork-sniffing "Made in USA/UK"-types can shut up. While there are some flaws, they are not in the manufacturing, but in the design itself.
The amp produces 33 watts with a quartet of EL84 tubes, a GZ34 tube rectifier, and has three 12AX7 preamp tubes with a gorgeous spring reverb (footswitchable), a classic tremolo circuit(footswitchable), and.... an EFFECTS LOOP.
The finish is the classic AC30 styling - black Basket-weave patterned Tolex, brown Vox diamond grille cloth, white piping, gold accents and the purple anodized control panel.
At 70lbs., this amp is nearly as heavy as a Fender Twin!
Versatility
The AC30 Custom Classic is a reissue of many features an tones of AC30's of the past. It has more switches and options than any other Vox AC15 or AC30 ever made.It has two channels, Normal and Top Boost, which require an A/B switch to use them like a typical two channel amp. The Normal channel has a volume knob and a bright switch. Top Boost has a Volume knob and a Bass/Treble tone stack with a Modern/Custom switch that changes the way the tone knobs interact with each other and the apparent level of midrange. You can also "stack" the two channels with a Link switch and play through both channel simultaneously - every side of the 12AX7 tubes in the preamp at once! There is also a very controllable Reverb with Tone, Mix and a Dwell switch, Speed and Depth of the Tremolo. a master Treble cut knob and Master Volume. It is very different from your typical Gain/TripleToneStack/Master setup, and it is so sensitive and nuanced that you could spend a very long time experimenting with how it all works together. In fact, I've never seen a preamp that is so dynamically different when going from a single-coil Stratocaster to the PAFs in my Les Paul.
If that isn't enough - it also has some options hidden on the back. The Output Bias switch allows you to switch from Warm(82Ω) running at 22 watts, to Hot (50Ω) producing 33 watts. The Smoothing switch changes the rectifier filtering from Vintage(22µF) to Modern (44µF).
Defining My AC30 Sound
This amp is LOUD. It effortlessly competes with the Mesa 5:50+. The two amps together are like Yin and Yang. The Mesa has incredible depth and punch, while the Vox has glassy brightness and presence and fills in the mids.
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