Notable users of the AC30

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 Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
  
• Peter Buck of R.E.M.
  
• Rory Gallagher
  
• John Scofield, noted jazz/fusion guitarist
  
• Joe Strummer of The Clash
  
• Jim Albrecht of Hoi Polloi
  
• Matthew Bellamy of Muse
  
• Snowy White
  
• Joe Satriani
  
• Kenny Howes
  
• Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues
  
• Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
  
• Hans Magnus Ryan a.k.a. Snah of Motorpsycho
  
• Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol
  
• Phil X of Powder, The Drills and Fretted Americana
  
• Carl Barat of The Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things
  
• Nic Cester of Jet
  
• Jamie Hince of The Kills
  
• Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols
  
• The Pigeon Detectives
  
• Cage The Elephant
  
• James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers
  
• Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother
  
• Sergio Pizzorno of Kasabian
  
• Jan Paternoster of The Black Box Revelation
  
• Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon
  
• Andrew White of Kaiser Chiefs
  
• Brendan Benson
  
• Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World
  
• Tony Bevilacqua of The Distillers
  
• Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age
  
• Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters
  
• Jeff Beck
  
• Marc Bolan
  
• Bernard Butler of Suede
  
• Arctic Monkeys
  
• The Black Angels
  
• Dave Davies
  
• Grant Nicholas of Feeder
  
• Topher Mohr of Mayer Hawthorne & The County
  
• Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  
• Tom DeLonge of blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves
  
• Billy Lunn of The Subways
  
• Rose Hill Drive
  
• The Horrors
  
• My Chemical Romance
  
• Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi of Thrice
  
• Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics
  
• Greg Hill, former guitarist for MUTEMATH
  
• Dan Kroha, guitarist and vocalist of garage punk band the gories
  
• Nick Broomham
  
• John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls
  
• Andy Latimer of the prog-band CAMEL
  
• Jeff Tweedy of Wilco
  
• Kevin Parker of Tame Impala

 

[jattle]

Original AC30-Guide blog comments on this article:

mAx___ on 31. October 2011 at 21:33 said:

I think this list is missing one of the most talented and influential players in the history of rock, Ritchie Blackmore.

Although commonly associated with Marshall Majors, his actual studio work for most of Deep Purple and Rainbow (Dio era) involved his AC30 almost exclusively. The most famous guitar riff in rock history, “Smoke on the Water”, was actually played on a Vox AC30 and very few people are aware of it.
He even tried to get his Majors modified at the Marshall factory to sound as much as possible as his AC30, which he described as “perfect”. Because this was not possible, he had to hide it inside a Marshall cabinet for live shows.

jattle on 1. November 2011 at 7:38 said:

Hey, thanks for the comment. I think we will double check and add Ritchie

steve on 14. March 2016 at 3:21 said:

Sorry Blackmore played Marshall’s..pretty easy to see if you watch anything live

jattle on 15. March 2016 at 15:28 said:

Played AC30s in studio

Derek on 14. November 2020 at 22:45 said:

Max said vox30 inside Marshall case ..I like to believe it…I love crazy but true stories

Aaron on 5. December 2016 at 16:40 said:

That’s pretty interesting. I’ve only recently moved from Marshall to my beat up used Vocation Ac30 combo, and love it! I still use a 2×12 Marshall 1936 along with it because I love the punch it brings. I am going to look into a Vox 2×12, or possibly Avatar because of the good things I’ve heard, but for now love my set up.

Jeff Boswell on 7. December 2012 at 16:51 said:

You forgot to mention Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, huge Vox supporter.

moco on 11. December 2012 at 14:27 said:

Added.

Red Portal on 22. July 2013 at 9:50 said:

Maybe putting in more ‘complete’ information will make this page better. For example what model that artist used for how long, wether he is still using it, carrying it for gigs or just for studio, what famous song was involved, etc…

jattle on 22. July 2013 at 18:41 said:

Hey there, that would be fine I agree. But it´s difficult to get those information. We try our best to find out If you have some information just write it here

Steve S. on 8. May 2014 at 3:12 said:

Dean Deleo from Stone Temple pilots is a pretty notable user as well. Just saying.
I’ve seen Omar from The Mars Volta with one too.

Kelly Thorn on 6. December 2014 at 0:05 said:

What about Mick Whitnall and Pete Doherty from Babyshambles? More often then not both of them are using AC30s though occasionally one will use a Marshall.

Jspr on 12. February 2015 at 13:34 said:

What about the guitarist from War in youth?

Jay Smalls on 17. March 2015 at 1:05 said:

Since you’re also listing newer bands, one major omission is both Brian Fallon and Alex Rosamilia of The Gaslight Anthem.
Brian uses em more but Alex usually has one to A/B with live.
Also, Tom Gabel/Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! has used em a lot.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine uses em as a main studio rig and also as part of his massive live setup.
It’s also a not-so-secret that James Williamson used them as the main rig for the Stooges’ Raw Power album. As did Brian Setzer for the first Stray Cats album

Andreas Winzen on 3. May 2015 at 10:07 said:

Excuse me, but in your list of VOX-users you have forgotten another fantastic guitar-player of the 70ties who has been very influencial (although younger readers my not know him…?) with his remarkable and very individual sound: ANDY LATIMER of the the prog-band CAMEL used (and, so far as I know, still uses…) and preferred the VOX AC 30.

moco on 15. May 2015 at 11:25 said:

Hi Andreas, thanks for your info. I’ve just added Andy to the list.

Ethan on 6. September 2015 at 4:22 said:

Kurt Cobain? He uses it for the whole nevermind album haha

Tom Jones on 23. June 2016 at 22:20 said:

I read he used a Mesa boogie studio preamp thru some kind of solid state power amp like a Crown, or something and 4×12’s with Radio Shack speakers.

Cole on 26. October 2015 at 6:37 said:

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala also uses the Vox AC30. Worth mentioning imo, great list!

Gregor on 12. December 2015 at 6:34 said:

JOHN SCOFIELD!!!!!!!!

moco on 7. November 2020 at 12:08 said:

Thanks for letting us know

chris ryan on 26. December 2015 at 23:48 said:

Iggy and the Stooges guitarist James Williamson recorded all of “RAW POWER” on a Vox AC30

moco on 7. November 2020 at 12:08 said:

Thanks for letting us know

Andy Cooper on 25. April 2016 at 13:11 said:

Ray Davies used an AC30 in early Kinks stuff too.
& almost as interesting – in their early early days they only had one AC30 between them and the whole band went through it… which I bet caused a lot of fights.

moco on 7. November 2020 at 12:09 said:

Thanks for letting us know

Andy Cooper on 26. April 2016 at 18:10 said:

& I just saw Bruce Springsteen using a pair of AC30’s in his Purple Rain tribute in Brooklyn last Saturday.

Don Willis on 26. August 2016 at 18:45 said:

Great list! I see you have Chris Shifflet of the Foo Fighters listed, but I’ve also read that Dave Grohl used AC30s for most of the album “There is Nothing Left to Lose.”
https://reverb.com/news/the-gear-of-foo-fighters
And during some live performances, including at Wisseloord.


Brad on 1. November 2020 at 16:00 said:

super list – thanks for sharing – maybe consider Johnny Marr ?

moco on 7. November 2020 at 11:44 said:

Thank you Brad for letting us know

Jay on 5. January 2021 at 23:58 said:

Eric Clapton also used a AC30in his early days.
I never knew Kurt Cobain use them, I’d love to see photos or footage of him using them.

Troy on 16. September 2021 at 1:39 said:

I love the Vox sound. I have been using Vox amplifiers 45 years.