VOX AC30-Guide Archiv: Infos, Artikel und Modding

Statement vom AC30-Guide blog: Seit 2011 betrieben Moritz und Jens in ihrer Freizeit den Blog AC30-Guide.com mit Informationen rund um das Modding der AC15/AC30s von VOX und mit dazu ergänzenden Informationen. Im Januar 2022 haben wir die Webseite des AC30-Guide eingestellt. Erfreulicherweise hat uns das Musiker-Board angeboten die Inhalte zu übernehmen, damit diese nicht verloren gehen. Da die Webseite auf Englisch geführt wurde, sind die folgenden Artikel entsprechend gehalten. Wir wünschen euch mit den Inhalten weiterhin viel Spaß !

Dave Peterson from Shere Sound now offers instruction sets for his professional AC30 modifications for little money. It covers differnt models of the AC30 and offers BIAS adjustment, power select and other modifications. For details you can visit his facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/sheresound/

Our AC30s have two speakers. But there are certain situations you may wish to use only one, Maybe you have two different speakers (like me) and you like to have the option to use them separately because of recording someting, drive one speaker harder or just for tonal variation or to reduce the sound pressure in small venues while playing with your band. As you see there are many reasons why it can be suitable only to use one of your speakers, For me, I have a Celestion Blue and a WGS Reaper in my AC30HW now, it´s a good option I can choose if I like. I like to show you how easy you can modify your AC30 without destroying it and with a little knowledge in wood and soldering to achieve this new feature. As the AC30s a different, I will...

This article provides some information about tubes in conjunction with the AC30 amplifier. Quick Facts The AC30 is a cathode based amp with auto-bias. This means, you do not have to rebias your amp after you've exchanged tubes - just exchange them and you're done. You should always get a matched set of power tubes. Depending on the actual model, accessing the tubes may or may not require removing the amp chassis Initial Thoughts Most amps can be improved by changing tubes. In many cases, factory tubes are not the best sounding ones available and the tone can be significantly improved by upgrading to better tubes. However, it might not be an easy task to find the right tubes for your amp and your personal needs. Even different...

A few weeks ago Nik Player told us about his modifications he did on the AC15HW. Because of the fact that the AC30HW and the AC15HW ist nearly the same, I tried his mods at this amp and I really can recommend them. So below you see his mods described and adapted for the AC30HW. Original article of Nik Player is available in his blog. WARNING - These amps contain lethal high voltages which can remain present even when the amp is unplugged from the mains supply, do not attempt any modifications unless you know what you are doing. Made changes: - Reducing the DC filtering capacitor values and using better quality caps. - Changing to better quality signal capacitors. - Adding grid stoppers to the Top Boost and Phase Inverter to avoid...

The AC30 is loud. Actually, it is very loud. While there are still many questions along the boards wheather an amp with "only" 30 watts is loud enough for band/gigs, we may remark that watts are not a measure for volume. Either way, yes, an AC30 is loud enough for nearly any application and easily competes next to a 100 watts Marshall stack. You may have already noticed that the AC30 sounds best when cranked. When we get the chance to play an AC30 at higher volumes, we realize there is a certain sweet spot in terms of breakup, punch, chime and overall musicality which just sounds very good. Unfortunately, this sweet spot usually will be too loud for most situations. And when you get the opportunity to play in a really huge location...

This article provides information all related to speakers. While being the last limb in your signal chain, speakers do have a significant impact on your tone which may be even higher than the impact of tubes. While a speaker exchange is comparatively easy to do, it may be pricey, depending on the speakers. Speaker Impedance The classic AC30 combo features two 12” 8 ohm speakers which are usually wired in series resulting in a total impedance of 16 ohm. When you change speakers, it is important to use the right impedance. Speakers usually are sold in 8 or 16 ohm versions. Most AC30s can handle both by switching the impedance switch to the according position. You always have to get two speakers with the same impedance so if you wire two...

Thanks to mAx___ at the Vintage Amps Forum for sharing know-how and experience on upgrading the output transformer and choke on the AC30HW. The original thread is no longer available. This is the process I used to replace the OT and Choke: 1) Remove the back cover and bottom of the chassis. 2) Cut the nylon ties that secure the primary leads to the chassis. Take out all the screws of the turret board and lift it till you find the three cables in the picture. The OT has six leads that need to be unsoldered to remove the existing transformer. The choke has only two. The red one in the pict comes from the primary side of the OT and the black and white from the choke. Unsolder all three. Remove the choke. 3) Unsolder the brown and...

Thanks a lot to Lyle Caldwell for sharing hix experiences on modding AC30s to vintage specs. I work on a lot of Vox AC30s, from the '60s to now. They all have peculiarities. I'll start off with the Custom Classic series. First, I'm not slagging this amp in the slightest. It's extremely well made and designed and can sound fantastic. In many respects it is a much better amp than the previous made in UK TBX series (I'll get into that later). But it has a few drawbacks. First, there was so much chattering on the net about "jangle" and "sparkle" and "Beatles" that Vox voiced this amp differently from other AC30s, to appeal to those who thought the amp should sound a certain way (even though AC30s don't sound that way at all). History...

After you have bought a new amplifier, chances are that you like it very much and it's your new baby. However, after the first euphoria, you may find some things that could be better... Here are some suggestions how to improve your personal sound on an AC30 (and other amps if you have), no matter which model you´re playing. 1. Yes, the amp might be new, but try to resist the seduction of tweaking it in the first few weeks you´re playing. Take enough time to really get used to your amp. Give it enough time for speakers to break in and to get used to all possible settings. Also try different guitars to enable yourself to differentiate which parts of the sound are related to the guitar and which are based on the amp. 2. Nearly every amp...

Thanks to Donpaul McAllister for providing this article and his effort in revealing this issue, gathering information and finally getting Vox to fix it for new production series. Also thanks to all other helpful people at the Gear Page and Vox forums. This article provides a fix for a known issue with some (older) models of the AC30HW series. This issue has been acknowledged by Vox and listed in the Vox service updates (available to authorized repair centers) as "modification to prevent noisiness when a brand of EL84 output tubes are used that are any other than the original Ruby brand of tubes" (info provided by authorized tech). The update has been tested by Vox and requires no additional parts. The issue was first found when...

This modification is suggested for and works with all AC30/15 models of the CC series. It may or may not be of use/application for other series Needed: - Soldering experience and a soldering iron - Desoldering wick (optional) You might have noticed that the AC30 is kind of a bright amp with lots of high frequenceys. When using overdrive pedals, especially in the top boost channel, the distinctive bright character of the amp can become an issue leading to a harsh and screechy distortion in the worst case (especially in the CC series). Fortunately, there is a simple and effective way to tame the brightness of the top boost channel: the bright cap modification (also known as treble-cap mod). This mod replaces or even completely removes a...

In no particular order, this is a list of artists and bands that have used or still use an AC30. Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Jet Harris of The Shadows, for whom the amplifier was originally developed during early 1960s before Beatlemania. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison of The Beatles Keith Richards and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones Pete Townshend of The Who Brian May of Queen Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo Paul Weller of The Jam Robert Smith of The Cure The Edge and Bono of U2 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana Noel Gallagher of Oasis Bernard Sumner of Joy Division and New Order Tom Petty and Mike...