Vox AC10C1 Owners Club

[3-Chord-Genius]

Hi all. I´ve been trying to join the club for a while, but it has not been easy. I will try to explain as good as i can with my limited abillity to speak english. I bought an ac 10 in the end of july but it had some problems. It did not respond well to the note E. When I hit an E note, open E string or at the twelfth fret the note resonates in the amp and gets really loud and sustains for a long time, and the amp rattles quite loud as well. It also happens on other places mostly on the low strings and it get worse from the twelfth fret and up. So I sent it back to the store for them to look at. After more than a month I got the amp back, they said that the tube sockets had been tightened. But the amp was just like before I sent it back.
I spoke to the shop and they apologised and said that i should get a different one. I recieved the new amp today and this one have the same problem, only worse, it now happens on several different notes, from the twelfth fret and up it happens almost on every note on the low strings. I´ve tried different guitars and it is the same problem. I really like the amp apart from the resonating problem. But it is unusable like it is now. I think it is strange that this happens on two different amps. And hope someone here can help me solve the problem.

Same here, but I started tinkering with the gain and tone knobs - they are *very* interactive on this amp. With the gain around halfway up, and the bass cut way back, what you are describing doesn't happen to me anymore. And don't worry about losing bass when you turn the knob back; you will have as much bass as before, but it will stop doing that rumbling thing you're talking about.

 

[schotter611]

have the Eminence Red Fang 10" ceramic in mine, but it's only about 4" deep. Get the Lil Buddy and let us all know how it sounds.

yes please. And how's that Red Fang in yours compared to stock?
I was entertaining sticking one or two greenbacks into a large extension cab for variety but the amp is so compact, I don't see myself moving a large cab around when the combo can sound almost as good.

 

[jannodude]

No, the proximity hasn't caused any problems. Some on here actually have the bell contacting the chassis when the back is buttoned up. No issues that I know of.

I have the Eminence Red Fang 10" ceramic in mine, but it's only about 4" deep. Get the Lil Buddy and let us all know how it sounds.

- Bob

It was you that made me purchase a Red Fang in 16 ohm! Hahahaha

 

[morkov]

Same here, but I started tinkering with the gain and tone knobs - they are *very* interactive on this amp. With the gain around halfway up, and the bass cut way back, what you are describing doesn't happen to me anymore. And don't worry about losing bass when you turn the knob back; you will have as much bass as before, but it will stop doing that rumbling thing you're talking about.

I´ve played around with the controls a bit, it definitely gets better when turning down the bass. Although it doesent dissapear completely, maybe i can live with it like this. There is also a bit of rattle going on, I suspect that might be the tubes. I will have to play it some more and see if I decide to keep it or to send it back. Thank you for your tip.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I´ve played around with the controls a bit, it definitely gets better when turning down the bass. Although it doesent dissapear completely, maybe i can live with it like this. There is also a bit of rattle going on, I suspect that might be the tubes. I will have to play it some more and see if I decide to keep it or to send it back. Thank you for your tip.

Yeah, the rattling might be tubes. I was getting bummed-out about the flubby low-E string thing, and even started using a distortion pedal instead of the preamp overdrive. Once I started exploring the interactivity of the tone/gain knobs, I found a combination that works nicely and I don't even use overdrive pedals with this amp anymore, with the exception of a boost for leads.

 

[Richie-string]

Yeah, the rattling might be tubes. I was getting bummed-out about the flubby low-E string thing, and even started using a distortion pedal instead of the preamp overdrive. Once I started exploring the interactivity of the tone/gain knobs, I found a combination that works nicely and I don't even use overdrive pedals with this amp anymore, with the exception of a boost for leads.

Good point dude, i was surprised how interactive the controls were on my AC4c1, the whole range of controls are very interactive, the gain and master vol is almost like two master vol controls. If i have the master around 2 or 3 for example and start with the gain around the same it's obviously quite a quiet amp, but if i then leave the master as is but turn the gain up to 9 or 10 the volume increases significantly - i've never had a gain control like this before. The gain controls on all the amps i've owned previously just controlled the preamp drive, hence the amp would just overdrive more as i turned the gain up, but the overall output would not significantly change.

With the Vox the gain control doesn't alter the overdrive as much as i expected it would. In order to get the amp to really overdrive i have to have both gain and master vol turned past half way.

 

[Blix]

Mine arrived today!

No noise or rattles thankfully, in fact it was so quiet when I turned it on I suspected it was DOA, but no, just not any noise until gain is past 12 o'clock.
Sounds glorious, a little riff machine of an amp, reverb is suprisingly lush and useful.
A little picky about pedals as expected, but it sure liked a Klon, and the delay pictured.

 

[sliberty]

What specifically do you guys mean when you say that the AC10C1 (or other Vox amps) is picky about pedals? I assume this refers to drive pedals.

I happily use or have used:

EH LPB1
AMZ MOSFET Booster
Emerson EM Drive (copy)
Emerson Paramount (copy)
Mosky XP Booster (EP Booster clone)
Tone City Sweet Cream
Mooer Blues Crab (Blues Breaker copy)
King of Tone (clone, dual Blues Breaker)
Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone)
Caline Orange Burst (BB Preamp clone)
Donner Boost Killer (RC Booster clone)
Mosky Crazy Tone (Suhr Riot clone, not really my thing)
etc.​

They all sound great, and just as expected.

What has been your negative experience with using pedals with your AC10C1?

 

[Blix]

In my case I've only tried a few so far, but say compared to my other combo, a AB763-style amp, the Nemesis delay worked great, my Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe which is fantastic with the other wasn't.
My old Boss DS-1, which with the Fender-style amp actually delivers a pretty fat EJ-style lead tone was a splatty mess witht the Vox.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

What specifically do you guys mean when you say that the AC10C1 (or other Vox amps) is picky about pedals? I assume this refers to drive pedals.

I happily use or have used:

EH LPB1
AMZ MOSFET Booster
Emerson EM Drive (copy)
Emerson Paramount (copy)
Mosky XP Booster (EP Booster clone)
Tone City Sweet Cream
Mooer Blues Crab (Blues Breaker copy)
King of Tone (clone, dual Blues Breaker)
Caline Pure Sky (Timmy clone)
Caline Orange Burst (BB Preamp clone)
Donner Boost Killer (RC Booster clone)
Mosky Crazy Tone (Suhr Riot clone, not really my thing)
etc.​

They all sound great, and just as expected.

What has been your negative experience with using pedals with your AC10C1?

I was wondering about this also. Some reviewers say that the AC10C1 is "pedal friendly", and other have said that it "doesn't like pedals". Same amp. This alone tells me that half of what I read in guitar forums is pure B.S.

 

[sliberty]

This alone tells me that half of what I read in guitar forums is pure B.S.

Your just figuring that out?

Duane Allman once said (he probably didn't originate this quote) that opinions are like assholes - everybody's got one.

 

[mysteriousfish]

Ehx lpb-1 works good for me, how do you guys set it on the ac10? Typically i'm running it about 9-12 o'clock. Fulldrive 2 mosfet and OCD are good too and I found them to be better on 18v as opposed to 9v. I also use a diamond memory lane jr, do you guys prefer digital or analog delay through this amp?

 

[JBFatFingers]

I never had any success running a Donner Blues Drive into the AC10, but in my experience it seems to love the DS-2 and the EHX Crayon.

 

[sliberty]

I never had any success with the Donner Blues Drive, period. I thought it was terrible, and was lucky to sell it.

 

[BucktoothBetty]

Holy ****.

Not for me!!!!

I really feel cheated !!!!!

When buying a valve amplifier should be at least in preamp and power amp, (rectifier is something else).

But an amplifier with transistors in the preamp is a hybrid !!!.

A technician explains to me, seeing the scheme that the diodes are for the first stage preamp !!! and the return of the reverb, while the 2 tubes are for gain and phase inverter !!!

The diode preamp should have been replaced by 12xa7 to be valvular.

According to him is a hybrid amplifier in all rule.
Intolerable, I want my money back already.

And this must be denounced x deception. I'm very annoying, it's a rip-off !!!

 

[BucktoothBetty]

Holy ****.

Not for me!!!!

I really feel cheated !!!!!

When buying a valve amplifier should be at least in preamp and power amp, (rectifier is something else).

But an amplifier with transistors in the preamp is a hybrid !!!.

A technician explains to me, seeing the scheme that the diodes are for the first stage preamp !!! and the return of the reverb, while the 2 tubes are for gain and phase inverter !!!

The diode preamp should have been replaced by 12xa7 to be valvular.

According to him is a hybrid amplifier in all rule.
Intolerable, I want my money back already.

And this must be denounced x deception. I'm very annoying, it's a rip-off !!!

I'll take it off your hands for $35

 

[69Telecraigster]

Re pedals and the AC10. Some of the mixed reviews regarding Vox amps and pedals may be tied to whether we're talking about the top boost circuit or not. The AC10, of course, is based on the top boost circuit. Not sure about the AC4. Move up to the AC15 and the AC30 you have both the normal and the top boost. Saw an episode of That Pedal Show recently that focused on the AC15 and they made a big point in the early going of saying that the normal channel is the better circuit for pedals. Doesn't mean that pedals don't work with the top boost, just that it's fussier and fewer do.

 

[sliberty]

Re pedals and the AC10. Some of the mixed reviews regarding Vox amps and pedals may be tied to whether we're talking about the top boost circuit or not. The AC10, of course, is based on the top boost circuit. Not sure about the AC4. Move up to the AC15 and the AC30 you have both the normal and the top boost. Saw an episode of That Pedal Show recently that focused on the AC15 and they made a big point in the early going of saying that the normal channel is the better circuit for pedals. Doesn't mean that pedals don't work with the top boost, just that it's fussier and fewer do.

I think you are onto something there. BTW, the AC4 is also a TB circuit.

Its all about how bright / brittle the amp tone is I suppose. Of course, headroom is even more important, but I am not so sure that any of the sub-30 watt Voxes have much headroom. When pushed, they breakup. But so far, I am not having problems dialing in my AV10, and didn't have problems dialing in my AC4 (now sold) to work with pedals. I just keep the input gain pretty low, and try to take off some treble (not the easiest thing to do of course).

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

For clarity, the AC4TV amps are similar to the "normal" Vox channels; the AC4C1 and AC10C1 are Top Boost only amps.

 

[tom310]

I was wondering about this also. Some reviewers say that the AC10C1 is "pedal friendly", and other have said that it "doesn't like pedals". Same amp. This alone tells me that half of what I read in guitar forums is pure B.S.

+1