found my tone....wow. and a question for the fold with vox amps

[evol04gt]

i keep going back to the same setting on my ad30dt... gain at about 3 (9am) vol at 10 (5pm) treble at 7 (3pm) middle at half. bass all the way up/// master vol to control total volume... rear attn set at 50%.


oh--emulation on the ac30top boost..

now heres my question-- if i ever find a real ac30 tp boost---will it sound just like tge ac30 top boost on this amp??

frigging LOVE this tone.

thanks!

 

[evol04gt]

also emulation set to Boutique clean with gain on any setting is gorgeous too for more twang.

 

[Wayne Alexander]

No, it'll make that sound on the modeling amp seem pale and artificial.

The Boutique clean is based on a Dumble.

 

[evol04gt]

holy jesus..... thats a beautiful thing... i cannot get over the tone of this setting....i could not imagine it sounding pale... where can a find an ac30 top boost on the cheap? ha! yeah right.

the boutique gain is a little thin for my tastes, but also playing with a tele at the moment.

 

[JimiBryant]

a Vox amp is a wonderful thing all right!

the day I brought home my AC30 was the day that I stopped looking
for another or any other amp.. I've picked up one or two amps since
then, but only because I was in the right place at the right time not
because I'd decided that I needed another Valco or anything like that.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

It's 1:30am in California and I have just finished building my Vox AC30 clone...

Too tired to test it out and tomorrow's a busy day - so hopefully I can give you some feedback on how a real AC30 sounds tomorrow night sometime

I'll have to wait till next Tuesday to get my hands on my 2x12" Celestion Blue loaded cab though - still in transit

 

[DickensCPA]

I too have been not necessarily been searching for my "tone" since I'm not good enough to need a signature tone. But, something that just sounds good and has a decent range of clean and dirty. I read so many good things about the VOX AD--VT series I bought one.

I hate to praise it too much 'cause I always put my foot in my mouth and gripe later. But I will tell you this. I sold my EVJr to my brother last night. I was thinking about ending the auction on ebay selling the Windsor and just keep it. I'm gonna let it keep on and if it sells, it sells.

The sound this AD50VT makes is so much richer and warmer and to be honest, more tube sounding than the other two "real" tube amps I have. I like have a clean AND volume. The Windsor has no clean. The Epi does, but not enough volume of it live. I mic it, but can't hear myself real well with it clean on stage.

Try this setting on the AC30TB

Gain(2 o'clock) Vol(3 o'clock) Treb(1 o'clock) Mid(2:30) Bass(1:30) and a touch of Reverb.

 

[bowman]

Well, I wouldn't say the modeler is exactly "pale and artificial" in contrast to a real AC30, but there is a certain grind that an AC30 has as you turn it up that the modeler can't completely replicate. I say this as someone who has directly compared the two amps literally hundreds of times. In our band, the lead player uses a British-made AC30 and I use an AD60VTH on the AC30 Top Boost setting, through a 2x12 cabinet. I will go on record as saying that the AD60 sounds incredible - clear, strong, powerful, and it absolutely has the unmistakable Vox sound. I still love it after playing it for years. The AC30 is, well an AC30 - one of the classic amps of all time. I've been hearing these amps working together at least once a week for several years now, and I have never been embarassed by the contrast, nor ever felt my tone was lacking in any way. Does the AC30 sound "better"? Sure, I guess the one tone it does, it does better than any other amp could, and it's a sound so good that a guy could be happy with just that. But the AD60VTH that I have is a quality amp, too, with several great sounds in it. (the Fender models are unexpectedly very nice, too)
Now, I've never even heard an AD30 like the original poster has, so I can't say much about it - but I think it's safe to say that a 30-watt AC30 would probably smoke his 30-watt AD30. My AD60 is 60 watts, and if Chris really cranks the AC30, even 60 watts won't keep up volume-wise.

 

[joinpobob]

All I know is that I love my AC15.

Would you consider Vox amps "twangy?" I tend to want to switch over to my Fender amp when i really need some twang. Opinions?

 

[klast]

I've had an AD30VT and it sounded good for a hybrid. However, it sounded nowhere as "tubey" as my Epi VJ.
I've since also bought a Vox AC15CC and although it's not a genuine AC30 TopBoost I think it sounds so much better than the AD30VT.
So, if you test a tube Vox, you are likely to find that the real deal sounds better than the simulation.

Klas

 

[IronJoe]

I think Paisley used an AC30 on some of his songs. So, yeah, I'd say it can be pretty twangy.

 

[Wayne Alexander]

I'm not suggesting that the Vox modeling amps don't sound good, just the contrary. They sound great. But none of them capture all the magic of an AC30 (has to have broken-in Celestion Blues). I'm trying to say that if you like the modeled AC30 sounds on a Vox modeling amp, that you'll like the real amp a lot more than that.

 

[echale iii]

i keep going back to the same setting on my ad30dt... frigging LOVE this tone.

Those VOX Valvetronix amps are extremely cool, aren't they?

I keep playing the AD30VT at the local music shop, and considering ways to get the scratch to purchase it set aside...

But the AD60VTH that I have is a quality amp, too, with several great sounds in it. (the Fender models are unexpectedly very nice, too)

I was hoping somebody would mention how nice the Fender models are on the Valvetronix amps, too. I like the AC30TB model, but for me, the Blackface model with the gain tuned up and some volume behind it has just enough grit behind it to sound ultra-sweet to my ears. Use some P-90s, add a hint of chorus, and hold onto your hat!!!! The Tweed setting is another awesome sounding model.

I can't really say how close those two models sound to the real McCoy, but even if they are not particularly close, I really like the way they sound nonetheless.

Anothing thing I found with that amp that I wasn't really expecting was a decent level of touch sensitivity. You can get the sound to clean up by going lighter on the pick attack and dirty it up by working the strings harder, which is something I always thought was the exclusive province of a tube amp.

All in all, a cool little amp!

 

[evol04gt]

also consider im not in the position to go buy a real ac30, a twin and a boutique amp to really get a good solid opinion of the amps as they are.

i am really suprized that i pretty much dont take the amp off the top boost. you really have to play with knobs to get a good sound from the fender amps on there though (gets really floppy on the e string almost muted?) im sure vox does this to showcase their own amps...(duh).

i know nothing really replaces a good tube amp and etc, but i love versitle tones that i can get the clean, the dirty and the drive of a multitude of tones out of an amp on the quick--- my mood and tone choice can change quickly that its a little more than-- hey, what sounds vintage today?. im still finding my home for tone and some songs i write require something specific that im always trying to find.

im a huge fan of playing several amps at the same time too. i always wanted a vox till i heard all of the vox amps on youtube... so many people just have CRAP for tone choices out there.

 

[teleamp]

i keep going back to the same setting on my ad30dt... gain at about 3 (9am) vol at 10 (5pm) treble at 7 (3pm) middle at half. bass all the way up/// master vol to control total volume... rear attn set at 50%.


oh--emulation on the ac30top boost..

now heres my question-- if i ever find a real ac30 tp boost---will it sound just like tge ac30 top boost on this amp??

frigging LOVE this tone.

thanks!

That is the best sound on those amps, I wish Vox would make a SS AC30 using that mode and leave the rest of the modes out.

There used to be schematics on the net for an AC30 similator, but somebody bought him out and the schemo's were pulled...I bet that is where that part of their circuit came from.

 

[teleamp]

I think Paisley used an AC30 on some of his songs. So, yeah, I'd say it can be pretty twangy.

Dr Z has built three different models chasing tone of Brads old AC30.

 

[64Strat]

It's 1:30am in California and I have just finished building my Vox AC30 clone...

Too tired to test it out and tomorrow's a busy day - so hopefully I can give you some feedback on how a real AC30 sounds tomorrow night sometime

I'll have to wait till next Tuesday to get my hands on my 2x12" Celestion Blue loaded cab though - still in transit

JC,
you're on to it! have fun! if it's true to the original recipe you're going to like it. did you put the TB circuit in?

 

[tele_jas]

I think Paisley used an AC30 on some of his songs. So, yeah, I'd say it can be pretty twangy.

Yeah, Brad Paisley's first album was all AC30 and the 2nd was alot of AC30. I read somewhere that, in some ways, every album was recorded with the AC30 on it...even though he mainly used Dr. Z's on the last 4 albums, including the Christmas one, the AC30 played a big part.

As another poster reply'd, the Mazerati was revoiced for Brad to be a "road" replacment for his old AC30, and then the RxES was revoiced to sound more AC30-ish, and of course the Stingray/Stangray was based off of an AC30 pre top boost.... and it's my favorite all time amp.

Now to answer a question I read...... My lead singer has an AD50, and I dialed in the AC30tb setting on his amp and it sounds pretty close... The EQ is a little more responsive on the AD50 than the actual AC30, but it gets pretty close in tone. But nothing is a beautiful as the real thing, but part of the setting on the AD50 would be the AC30 cranked pretty loud so that's where you get in to comparison issues.... Getting a cranked tone at low volume without an attenuator.

 

[DickensCPA]

Now to answer a question I read...... My lead singer has an AD50, and I dialed in the AC30tb setting on his amp and it sounds pretty close... The EQ is a little more responsive on the AD50 than the actual AC30, but it gets pretty close in tone. But nothing is a beautiful as the real thing, but part of the setting on the AD50 would be the AC30 cranked pretty loud so that's where you get in to comparison issues.... Getting a cranked tone at low volume without an attenuator.

You wouldn't happen to remember the settings you used to get that sound would you?

Brad

 

[tele_jas]

You wouldn't happen to remember the settings you used to get that sound would you?

Brad

Oh man, I was afraid that question would come up..... I didn't use my eyes, I used my ears and set it up how my AC30 sounded. Sorry I can't tell ya more.