VOX AC15 british made from 1998/ celestion blue

[NoahBenefiel]

I have always had a fender amp, always loved them. I decided to get an ac 15 and i found one on craigslist for 600 with a blue, so i thought it was an alright deal but it actually came out to be a steal since its actually made in england. i love the amp alot but not familar with it yet. i mostly play through my strat so if anyone has any suggestions how i could setup the tone on it throw it at me i love trying new sounds

 

[Wayne Alexander]

Top Boost Vox amps have different tone controls than other amps. First, the cut control - think of it as a presence or treble reduction control, with it turned all the way to the left it's off and the amp is it's brightest, with it to right the amp is the darkest. Set it all the way to the left as you adjust the other controls, then adjust the cut to the room you're playing in.

The master volume should be all the way up if you want the cleanest sounds the amp will make, and the amp will sound buzzy / farty with the master below about 25%. For the dirtiest possible sound, turn the main volume control to 100% then reduce the master to the volume you want. Realize that this amp will never make loud clean sounds at rock gig volume, it's a dirty amp at gig volume, you need to mike it for rock gigs if you want loud clean sounds. For the cleanest possible early Beatles type sounds, master at 100%, main volume at about 1/3, cut at zero (maximum treble), treble and bass controls somewhere in the middle, probably the treble would be higher. For Tom Petty type semidirty sounds, master at about 1/3, main volume at about 60-75%.

The tone controls are interactive - start with them both at 50% (straight up) and adjust one at a time, noting what they do. Don't be afraid to have the bass at 25% and the treble at 75%, or vice versa. You'll probably never use it with the bass at zero and the treble at 100%, but listen to it that way and decide.

 

[skeksis]

I have this same amp - a 1998 AC15 TBX and guess what - I got it last year for $600 I thought I got a smoking deal on the thing. Use mine all the time for practices and gigs... great for dirty tones, cleans up pretty nice but not a lot of headroom.

Note that Wayne's mostly right on - but this particular amp does not have the cut control. So you can forget about that one.

For me - the amp sounds best with master volume all the way up (pretend it's not there), use the preamp volume primarily for adjustment. At gig levels this means the preamp at about 75%, then control the rest from my guitar. Treble & bass controls I usually have the bass about 60-70%, treble at about 40-50% depending on the guitar and room and volume. I usually leave the reverb and tremolo turned off.

Check on the tubes - good tubes can really help make this amp great.

 

[jjkrause84]

Nice score!

 

[NoahBenefiel]

yeah i love the amp alot but im so used to fender amps its just completely different. ill def try all these things. i like how it sounds now but i need a little more bass to it

 

[Wayne Alexander]

To get more bass turn up the bass control and turn down the treble control- the controls are interactive, don't be afraid to move them both around a fair bit. And play it louder with the master up higher. The Celestion blue has a lot of bass in it unless it's not broken in yet. It takes about 100 hours of gig-volume playing to really warm up. If that amp wasn't used much before it's possible the speaker still isn't broken in.

 

[NoahBenefiel]

i honestly think its not broken in...thats really helpful though ive been playing it alot

 

[ac15]

I had that same amp. I pretty much turned everything about half way, except for the preamp vol, which I usually left at 1 or 2 o'clock (if you're looking at the amp from the front). I turned up the main volume based on how loud I needed it, but usually all the way up and work the guitar volume controls from there.

And yes, you got a great deal, because those go for over a grand these days. I sold mine for $1,200.

 

[noname_dragon]

Mine's a 99 with no Cut control. It's a great amp with it's thick Voxy tone. You can scoop the midrange slightly w/ the treble control moving between 12 & 2 oclock. Of course it gets brighter so softening the treble on the guitar compensates if you like. That midrange information is what makes the Vox tone unlike any other. Other times I play with the treble set very low.
Mine was built w/ a faulty ground and the hum was pretty bad until a tech finally found it and made the repair... dead quiet and more musical without 60 cycle hum causing odd phase cancellations. A few years later it blew out the power transformer while on standby during break at a gig. Luckily I had my 69 Vibrolux there to save the day. My tech offered me a generic transformer but I insisted on a Mercury Magnetics unit. The sound improved with more clarity, body and definition and that transformer runs cooler. I'm told that a MM output transformer would be a further improvement as well.
The factory G12Blue has softened over the years and the amp continues to sound great on the bandstand with Tele, Strat, SG and Rickenbacker. This amp has a unique tone, so have fun.

 

[NoahBenefiel]

thanks guys. i look forward to trying all these things