NAD: Vox AC15 (royal blue), Sweetwater Deal

[stormsedge]

Awesome amp! I GAS'd over it like crazy, but resisted .

HNAD!

 

[RoscoeElegante]

It will only get better, too. My AC15C1 had the stiffest speaker I ever used. It was harsh and spikey and on the to-be-sold list. I gave it one last concerted loosen-up effort, complete with playing a baritone through it for many hours on end, and voila. It finally reached that bloomy threshold. Became very musical, very expressive.

Congrats and enjoy.

 

[bluescube]

I'm trying to find white or cream knobs for mine. Haven't been able to find push-on 6mm ones, only ones for solid shafts with a set screw.

 

[gridlock]

Congratulations, love the look.

I’ve never owned or even really played a Vox amp. I believe that an AC15 like yours, would be the one that I’d want.

Enjoy.

 

[brookdalebill]

Cool!

 

[JIMMY JAZZMAN]

Your Vox AC15 C1 is the finest amp in all the land. Had mine for years and all my guitars sound
great thru it. Ramble on.

 

[G Stone496]

Way cool. I saw this same deal and ordered one a couple days ago. It’s supposed to arrive Monday. When you try the Top Boost, post about it and tell us what you think. About the “honeymoon period,” if you keep playing it long enough and put enough hours on it, the Greenback speaker will break in and give you a fuller richer sound. Kind of a reverse “honeymoon period.”
Cheers

It will only get better, too. My AC15C1 had the stiffest speaker I ever used. It was harsh and spikey and on the to-be-sold list. I gave it one last concerted loosen-up effort, complete with playing a baritone through it for many hours on end, and voila. It finally reached that bloomy threshold. Became very musical, very expressive.

Congrats and enjoy.

Had mine for almost 3 weeks now and been playing it for 3 or 4 hours every day. The speaker is starting to break in and the sound is getting better. I’m expeshally loving the Top Boost channel. Like one of the other posters said, the Top Boost channel works good with the treble rolled back.

 

[G Stone496]

The reverb tank swap is totally worth it, by the way.

Did you replace the reverb tank for maintenance because it didn’t work correctly, or just because it sounded better that way. What reverb tank did you use to replace the original reverb tank that came with the amp?

 

[ahiddentableau]

I love the blue tolex. That looks pimp. Not a fan of the white corners, though, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

 

[kneedtospeed]

Did you replace the reverb tank for maintenance because it didn’t work correctly, or just because it sounded better that way. What reverb tank did you use to replace the original reverb tank that came with the amp?

“MOD” Reverb Tank.
8EB2C1B

 

[KC]

what kneed said up there. sounds much better to my ear; original tank was washy & weak. cheap easy swap so you can go back if you don't like it but you will. 8EB2C1B is the one I bought.

 

[Dismalhead]

Very nice. Congrats!

I like the Marshall too.

 

[G Stone496]

Thanks, will check it out

 

[Chmason85]

I’m the same, I landed on Vox kind of by accident and I love them. I had the AC15 twin with two 12” greenbacks and foolishly sold it in 2018, lived with my Princeton for a couple years and now have the best amp I’ve ever had, the AC15 handwired with a 12” greenback. No problems with the greenback in my book, I have the sound pretty much dialed so I don’t want to mess with it. There are so many tones on tap with a Vox, you just have to play with them over and over. Some say to upgrade the reverb tank, and that’s a good upgrade, but my local tech clued me into putting a bigger and better output transformer in; the stock one is like the size of a quarter, a bigger one just opens it up and gives much much better cleans.

 

[Chuckster]

Welcome to the family!

 

[ZackyDog]

 

[zhyla]

I've had mine a couple weeks. I got one of Sweetwater's demo units so it was extremely cheap -- $540. Didn't have a scratch on it though.

I need to do my standard put it in a closet with a drum pedal going into to beat the speaker up a bit. Maybe that will mellow it out just a little bit.

I've not gotten much use out of the top boost channel yet. I know there's good tones in there, but it's hard to find and impossible to remember where exactly to point those bass and treble knobs. Does the top boost channel bypass the master tone? And why does the top boost settings affect the normal channel? Why is there a master tone that does the same thing as a tone knob on a guitar? Those aren't real questions, just an illustration of how odd the controls are for such a mainstream amp.

This is very subjective but for my particular set of ears I have to say -- I don't think it sounds great with a tele. Maybe part of that is it's sitting next to my Vibrolux Reverb which sounds amazing with the tele.

However, with my Casino and with a random Les Paul knockoff (a Sire L7 I have temporarily) the Vox is awesome. Those thicker sounding guitars really shine with the extra treble/chime. And being able to dial a little (or a lot) of dirt on the normal channel is great. I don't think I'm in love with the cleans from this amp but for dirty stuff it's everything I wanted the Supro Delta King amps to be.

 

[Terrygh1949]

I'd been in the market for a new amp for months now. I love my Marshall and JC22 but just wanted something a little different to mix things up. I was actually looking at higher end stuff like Mesa and Friedman. But I was having trouble justifying the cost, considering I really love what I already have and was mainly just wanting something for a different flavor. Also, given my aforementioned amps, I knew you can sstill get really great tones without having to spend 2 grand.

Enter the AC15. While I obviously was plenty familiar with the AC series and a lot of my very favorite artists use them, I'd just never seriously considered them as an option for myself, for whatever reason. I saw the deal on Sweetwater and basically purchased it on a total whim. Really I was tired of hemming and hawing over my next amp purchase. I figured why not. It was a hell of a deal and in the event I hated it Sweetwater has a great return policy.

I've only spent a few days with it. But so far I'm absolutely loving everything about this thing (and damn just look at that color). The tone is just glorious and I haven't even got into the Top Boost yet as I wanted to really familiarize myself with the normal channel first.

I'm always wary of honeymoon periods but I honestly have a feeling this one is the real deal. It's exactly what I was looking for and didn't even realize. Funny how that works.

Cheers guys! Love this forum and looking forward to participating more.


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Never had or played a Vox. May have to try one.

 

[tweeet]

If you are between 20 and 40 and gigging ...fit as gym instructor...and can bench press 48lbs regularly then go for it....if you're between 20 and 70...unfit and can barely lift 48lbs but the amp is going to stay in one place in your bedroom for 20 odd years...go for it...if you're unfit and gigging every week pass on it cos it weighs the same as a small car and you'll end up in hospital !!

 

[FunkyWill]

I'm trying to find white or cream knobs for mine. Haven't been able to find push-on 6mm ones, only ones for solid shafts with a set screw.

My Vox AC4TV came with cream colored chicken head knobs. Maybe those would fit.