Vox AC30 Top Boost Vintage

This amp is an English rock legend. If you ever get a chance to play a JMI VOx Ac30 there is nothing that will satisfy that need an desire for a vintage Vox Ac30 top boost. I thought that the tone from this amp was very useful and exciting. It was strong and warm and sounded old , but in a good way. The great thing about this amp is that it has a familiar British flavor but vastly different from the British sounds of a Marshall or a Hiwatt. The grind from this amp is very unique and voiced much like a Fender Twin, but deeper tonally and much darker than a Fender Twin.

These amps were only made for a short while in the early 60's. There are a lot of them in existence still and you don't have to look very long or hard to find one. They do break down easier since they gave one on off switch which makes amps short out with that quick rush of power.

UTILIZATION

The operation is unique to this amp as well to these amps. It doesn't look anything like a Marshall or a Hiwatt front panels. To get this thing to work harder or overdrive the Cut control knobs is what will enable you to to that.If you need an overdrive tone than you will have to crank the hell out of this thing. These amps cut through the mix very well and you will ned an attenuator to get this thing to usable volumes levels when cranking. Plus the Alnico speaker are very loud and need to be taming when diming this amp.

SOUNDS

If you want this sound there isn't much else that will achieve it. JMI has been reissuing the Ac30's but they are around $5000 for a new one. For that price you might as well throw down the money for a vintage one.

You can use a Strat or a Gibson guitar and all will sound incredible. Each one of those guitars gave a very usable and tasty flavor. For the clean stuff the Strat was optimum and for throwing an overdrive pedal in front the Les Paul gave a solid warm and rich vintage tone. There isn't too much that you can do to get a bad tone out of this amp. It kind of directs you towards the tone that the amp wants you to hear.

OVERALL OPINION

I would recommend this amp to anyone looking for that Vox tone or any music or record engineer who needs a good arsenal or tones. There is only one way to get this tone other than this amp and that is the new production JMI amps which are about the same price as a vintage one.

If you are going for a Vox or Brian May tone then there is only one way to go. You will need to get a JMI/ Jennings Music Industries Vox AC0 amp. If you are going for a particular tone then the Vox isn't going to be it. This amp has a unique tone which is only Vox.

This amp is just tone for days. I have had the opportunity to play this amp several different times in different settings. I was going for a U2 tone because I found out that the Edge played a vintage Vox Ac30 top boost. I thought that the tone from this amp was very useful and exciting. It was strong and warm and sounded old , but in a good way.

The great thing about this amp is that it has a familiar British flavor but vastly different from the British sounds of a Marshall or a Hiwatt. The grind from this amp is very unique and voiced much like a Fender Twin, but deeper tonally and much darker than a Fender Twin.

UTILIZATION

The operation is unique to this amp as well. It doesn't look anything like a Marshall or a Hiwatt front panels. The gain control knob is the Cut knob. This is where you get the gain from the amp but you have to get the power section working hard to get any kind of distortion from the amp. This means you have to blast the hell out of this amp to get it to sustain. Which won't sounds very pleasing to any neighbors you may have living next door to you. If you want to get that Brian May tone then I would recommend getting an attenuator so you can crank that volume up to get a power tube distortion. There really isn't much if any preamp distortion at all with the amp.

SOUNDS

If this is the sound that you are going for then there really is not anything better out there. There haven't been too many clone amps of the Vox Ac30 so you are quite limited in trying to obtain that vintage sound from the 60's. JMI has been reissuing the Ac30's but they are around $5000 for a new one. For that price you might as well throw down the money for a vintage one.

I used this with a Fender Strat and a Les Paul. Each one of those guitars gave a very usable and tasty flavor. For the clean stuff the Strat was optimum and for throwing an overdrive pedal in front the Les Paul gave a solid warm and rich vintage tone. However, the best operation I found was my personal favorite: a Electro Harmonics Big Muff in front with a Fender Strat. This combination gave me a great 60's tone that was so enjoyable to play.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are going for a particular tone then the Vox isn't going to be it. If you are going for a Vox or Brian May tone then there is only one way to go. You will need to get a JMI/ Jennings Music Industries Vox AC0 amp. This amp has a unique tone which is only Vox.

I would recommend this amp to anyone looking for that Vox tone or any music or record engineer who needs a good arsenal or tones. You can't make a Marshall sound like this amp and you can't make this amp sound like a Marshall.

This is a variation of one of the more famous models, the AC30. That model is a tube amplifier, as is this one. This amp is 33 watts, but it has a ton of power and amplitude. There are three channels, top boost, vibrato, and normal. There are tone controls for each channel, volume for each channel, and master volume.

UTILIZATION

The initial sound of this amp is pretty awesome. For jazz and very soft, clean stuff, I would use the normal channel. The tremolo channel is an interesting sound, but not always the most useful. However, sometimes it can be just what you need. The main selling point of this amp is the top boost channel, and that's where it really shines. For those who thought the original AC30 was a bit too dark and murky, this thing is the answer to your prayers. Getting a good sound in this channel is easy as plugging it in. The manual isn't entirely necessary, I didn't even get a manual with mine since I got it used.

SOUNDS

The best sounding guitars to use with this, in my opinion, are hollow bodies and guitars with humbuckers. That's not to say that a stratocaster or telecaster wouldn't also sound great, in fact they do. I just prefer the former. The great thing about this amp is that it can really give a gritty, raw power to all of those guitars. This is the quintessential garage rock amplifier, perfect for a rocking rhythm sound. Considering that the original AC30 played a huge part in 1960s rock and roll, this makes sense. The top boost gives it the extra high end and overtone accentuation that it arguably needs to compete in a modern market. This is not a great amp for hard rock or metal, punk or similar genres. It is capable of delivering the best of the clean with a bit of kick.

OVERALL OPINION

The sound of this thing is phenomenal. I think that this amp pretty much nailed it initially, and the top boost channel just makes it even more compelling and interesting. The other channels are fine but I would say that anyone who buys this is going to get much more use out of the Top Boost channel. If that channel isn't your cup of tea, you might as well look elsewhere, because you can get the same tones as the other two channels out of the original AC30. Definitely worth checking out.