Tube amps

[Tiremanws]

Please advise me on my son's thirst for a Vox ac30 amp. He's only 18 and he wants this amp. I asked alot of questions and was told they, Vox, are not want they used to be. Alot of the hand wiring is not the quality it used to be and the tube lay out offers limited cooling and problems not far down the road. Of course DR Z was suggested but that's way out of my budget. If he was making money doing this I'd think about it longer but he isn't. I was also told that the Fender hot rod series amps were really good for the money. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[just strum]

Please advise me on my son's thirst for a Vox ac30 amp. He's only 18 and he wants this amp. I asked alot of questions and was told they, Vox, are not want they used to be. Alot of the hand wiring is not the quality it used to be and the tube lay out offers limited cooling and problems not far down the road. Of course DR Z was suggested but that's way out of my budget. If he was making money doing this I'd think about it longer but he isn't. I was also told that the Fender hot rod series amps were really good for the money. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I can't offer any suggestions, but I will give you a question or two that will probably be asked.

1) what type of music does he play?

2) what guitar or guitars is he planning on playing through it?

3) Probably the most important, where is he going to be using the amp - His room, basement, Music Hall, large stadium (hey, you never know)

[luvmyshiner]

How about a Firefly? Rockin' the house with 1.5 AWESOME watts of power!

[beachhound]

This gets alot of play on different forums. The Hot Rod Delux is a favorite among guitarists. Small combo's like that and the Peavey Classic 30 (I have this one) are loud enough for home and small - medium rooms. Bigger than that they go miked or bigger amps. He really needs to figure out what he likes to play and them try alot of them first. Don't forget most of us get them used for less that new. Only thing I know for sure about the AC30 is it has a particular sound described as ringing and it was described as an "Easybake Oven" in a discussion on tube amps. The heating and cooling cycle with limited air flow does cause problems apparently but it's worth it for the tone.

My two cents.

[Tiremanws]

Thanks for the replys. He plays in a light rock band, not the heavy metal music and most of the time he's miked to the pa system. We went and tried the fender hot rod deluxe with the 4 10 inch speakers, first thing I did was told him to pick the amp up. You don't want to be banging the tubes around transporting it from van to stage and back. I have a twin reverb but I replaced the speakers with SRO's a long time ago and can't lift the thing anymore, I didn't want that to be a problem with him. He has just about every pedal Boss makes on his pedal board, I started with a cry baby and a fender blender, my has times changed.......

[Spudman***]

Check out the Crate V50 1x12 in the Crate Blowout thread. Under 2 bills for a 50 watt 2 channel and tank reverb. Good deal if you ask me.

[hubberjub***]

Check out the Crate V50 1x12 in the Crate Blowout thread. Under 2 bills for a 50 watt 2 channel and tank reverb. Good deal if you ask me.

I've got to agree with you Spud. The Crate with the EL84 power section is going to be a lot closer to the Vox AC sound than a Hot Rod.

[markb]

The Peavey Classic 30 does a nice "Fender meets VOX" thing on the clean channel and "VOX meets Marshall" on the overdrive channel with that unique chiming growl of EL84s. The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (1x12) is more "Fender" and "Fender meets Marshall" respectively. I'd happily use either. They're both loud and portable, mike either for bigger rooms but things would need to get pretty loud for that. The Crate mentioned above sounds like it might be a close match for the Peavey.

[Brian Krashpad]

A suggestion for the AC30 option:



Get one in black, clip on back of amp. Voila. I have just such a fan and if I ever play outdoor gigs where the amp will be baking in the sun in addition to baking from the tubes inside, I try to remember to bring the fan.

[Bloozcat]

Brian's idea is quick, easy, cheap, and effective. You could even buy a small box fan from Ratshack that's designed for cooling electronics, and mount it inside the amp and wire it in to the on/off switch.

EL 84 amps run hot, especially those with 4-EL 84's. I always run a fan behind mine when playing for extended periods. Some amps, like the Peavey Classic 50 with 4-EL 84's come with the fan wired in to the on/off switch (my Epi BC 30 does too, but that's a different tube configuration).

Given the particularly bright, edgy tone of a top boost AC 30, it would seem that your son might have a reason for wanting this particular amp, Tiremanws. Is he a Brian May/Queen fan, by chance? It's certainly a great amp, but there are others that are more versatile.

[TS808]

Please advise me on my son's thirst for a Vox ac30 amp. He's only 18 and he wants this amp. I asked alot of questions and was told they, Vox, are not want they used to be. Alot of the hand wiring is not the quality it used to be and the tube lay out offers limited cooling and problems not far down the road. Of course DR Z was suggested but that's way out of my budget. If he was making money doing this I'd think about it longer but he isn't. I was also told that the Fender hot rod series amps were really good for the money. Any suggestions would be helpful.

A Fender Hot Rod series amp is a good choice, and I concur with the other suggestions to look at the Peavey Classic series too. I've seen mixed reviews about the Vox AC-30's.

An amp that I would recommend in the same price range as the AC-30 is the Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb. It has good cleans, good breakup once the volume gets to about 11:00, has EXCELLENT reverb, and a very good tremelo circuit. It's a 6L6 powered amp rated at 40 watts, and you can get good tones at bedroom levels and it's plenty powerful for gigs. The Vibrolux also takes pedals extremely well, has a normal and bright channel, and is great in terms of reliability. I owned a Vibrolux and really liked it, just too loud for my needs. Give it a look.