So I traded in my old 65w solid state amp, which I wasn’t overly happy, and got myself a Vox AC15 tube amp.
I am now in sonic heaven. I’m still getting it dialed in, but I’ve gotten as far as plug into Normal channel, turn volume to 100, turn master volume to room level and use my guitar volume to move between clean and crunch.
I’ve found room level is what I would say is 2 on master volume, I’m gonna turn it up to 11 tomorrow when everyone out of the house just to get a feel for how loud it can get.
I have an old Vox modelling amp (VT50 - hybrid tube and transistors) that I got for 50 bucks. I keep it at my secondary residence in France. On that amp, the AC15 model is my by far my favourite so the real thing must be great.
lol, fun is an understatement. I ended only paying 250$ USD for the amp. Trade-in + being a floor demo unit got me there. They screwed up; a played in speaker always sounds better. (I will die on that hill)
Don’t blow away man from the air your gonna move .
I kinda got your counter part in the fender version. A prri. I’ve got it up to 9. Way louder than I want to play, that’s for sure. Not sure I’ll ever get down to doing 10 on mine. I find it just plain loud!
Oh, while your family may be away, don’t forget about your neighbors. I’m quite sure when it’s turned up, the sound will go right through your walls of your house…
Yer gonna have a lot of fun with that. If my ss amp ever bites the dust, I could see me going for a ac15 myself. A really good choice imho.
Congrats!
OMG I turned it up and it was glorious! I learned the main riff from “Earth Rocker” by Clutch this morning so I could sing the line “What this about some DB limit, sorry I can’t hear none” while playing at volume. (had to be cheeky)
I found that if I go above these settings (in image below) on the normal channel it gets a bit much on my ears. I honestly thought I’d be a bit taken back playing at volume but I just leaned into it. My body and the guitar vibrating as one was spiritual, is the only way I can describe it.
I personally dislike the clean tone on modern Fender amps (especially their solid state amps). I’ve never played a modern fender tube at volume, so there could be something there still for me to get into.
I don’t think anyone could go wrong with this amp. It’s a huge sound no matter the master volume level, it doesn’t lose anything at low volume.
I can’t wait until I improve my skills enough to justify buying one of these! (It will be a while…I haven’t even defined the bar I need to reach). Thank you for sharing!
You do you, but if you enjoy playing the guitar and think an amp like this would add to that enjoyment, that’s all the skill justification you need. If you are talking about financial justification, buy used (you can find them for about 500usd), buy openbox, blemished, and/or trade-in, find the deal that works for your situation.
That said, I also wouldn’t recommend this amp for most people. Most can’t crank it due to life situations. The real reason to own this amp is to crank it! I work from home, the house is empty from 1pm - 3pm every weekday so I can turn it up as loud as I want during those hours. If you aren’t in that kind of situation, I would recommend stepping down to a AC10 or even an AC4 (10-watt and 4-watt respectively) as they still give you the Vox tone with less top end volume.
Ah, thanks for that advice! I’ll consider it when I get there. I’m not planning to play on a stage or in a large room, so you’re right, even the 10 would likely be more power than I’ll ever need.
It’s funny that I was a teenager in the 60s in the USA, during the height of “the British Invasion,” and I had never heard of The Shadows, or Cliff Richard for that matter, until I joined this community and found out what a big deal they were to Brits of my age.
Its funny, I only knew of them because 3 of my guitar heros are Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, and Jeff Beck who have repeatedly mentioned Marvin as being a major influence on them.
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