Vox AC15 handwired reissue
I just gave a glowing review, so that bums me out a bit), so while I’m waiting
on my tech to fix it, I started searching for another one. Now, I greatly enjoy
when my amps break down (kinda) because it gives me the excuse to gear hunt
(as if we need an excuse). So I started to look for something that:
a) I could hopefully sell for the same price
b) I could hopefully sell for more than the price I paid so I could use the extra
cash to pay for the repair to my other amp
c) I had wanted to try out
So I ended up with this Vox AC15 handwired reissue.
I got it at Buffalo Brothers down in Carlsbad, which, incidentally, is a really
cool place. I had kind of forgotten about them because when I first went
there I was still playing a bright candy apple red Ovation and a deep black
BC Rich Mockingbird. Oh, ya. It was all about the metal and Yngwie Malmsteen.
It still deeply saddens me to this day. Which is possibly the reason I am such
a gear hound now…..I am trying to distance myself from my past musical
inclinations (read: metal is life) as far as I possibly can.
So, the price was totally right on this thing. They’re pretty new (they just
came out within the last 6-8 months) so with the price I paid, I can most
likely sell it for more than I paid for it.
Now, all I needed was a fairly warm-sounding tube amp to run my loops
through. So, as far as how it sounds live, it sounds perfectly fine. Nice and
warm, with a fairly low noise threshold. But, the real test was to play my
rig through it, and A/B it with the Holland. So….
The findings:
Tonally it’s very good. It honestly surprised me. See, Vox (now owned by
Korg) markets these as being handwired, but actual photos of the circuit
show that it’s a mix of handwired and printed circuit board. Kind of wierd.
Not just an eyelet board, it looks like there is some printed board wiring
going on in there. Probably cheaper. But the wiring looks pretty good anyway,
even though I’m no tech. At least the tubes aren’t wired onto the board. And
they are made in China. But it sounds very good. The EF86 channel probably
sounds the best and the most Voxy.
But the problem with this amp is that it sounds like rather than just building
the AC15 classic circuit, they added in some ‘tone circuitry’ that tries too hard
to emulate the jangly AC15 and AC30 sound. It’s a little bit fake to my ears.
It makes an otherwise really good sounding amp at low volumes really start
to thin out as you turn it up. It’s like, at low volumes it’s warm but not very
clear, and to get the clarity you have to turn it up higher. But then you also
lose some of the warmth.
It has a master cut control, which is actually very sensitive and does work
well to dial back in some of the warmth. And overall it’s a very tight sounding
amp….very little flab in the tone. But just a bit too thin and jangly for my
tastes.
The cab has 1 12 inch Celestion Alnico Blue, and the speaker does help the
amp a good deal. Gives it clarity and highs. For an amp like this, though,
maybe a speaker change would help it to be more warm. Although, that does
sound kind of funny, seeing as Vox were the ones to pioneer the Alnico Blues
originally, and they usually just kill in an AC15 or AC30 type amp.
So, it sounded much better than I expected, and it’s a very good sounding
amp. Upsides are the Alnico Blue speaker, EF86 preamp on two of the channels,
good cut control knob, tightness of the tone, and the ability to half power
switch to 7.5 watts if needed. Oh, ya, and I seriously love the Fawn color on
Vox amps and nothing can beat that classic Vox logo and grillcloth. But it fell
just slightly short of my standards for keeping, with the thin and jangly sound.
So, that’s the Vox review from the guy who’s far from an expert. Hopefully
this helps a bit.
Splendid.
Karl.
