Vox AC15 Custom Head, AC30 Custom Head

2
first play
19
july 2016 Guitarist
VOX AC15 & AC30 CUSTOM HEADS
2. The AC30 Custom head
has a slightly stretched
control panel, which
benefi ts, among other
things, from high- and
low-sensitivity input
jacks for both panels
Feel & Sounds
When discussing the ‘Vox sound’, we often
hear the words ‘chime’ and ‘jangle’, which
may give the impression that AC models
are thin and trebly, when in fact both heads
have a distinct midrange emphasis. That
chime and jangle is still there and comes
into its own for mildly distorted stuff on the
top boost channel, but it’s the smooth, warm
mids that are as much a part of the Vox
character as its complex high frequency
response. This is accentuated by the
Celestion-loaded V212C open-back cabinet,
which is perfect for delivering the articulate
pop-rock chord and solo stuff that both Vox
heads really excel at producing.
As you might expect, both amps sound
very similar; the only real differences come
from an increase in clean headroom on
the AC30, together with the ability to vary
the tone of the spring reverb. At cleaner
settings, with a lot of reverb and a decent
tape echo emulation in the AC30’s effects
loop, it’s easy to nail practically any classic
60s British pop tone, from The Beatles and
The Shads, to The Hollies and The Kinks.
Crank up both amps, and you’re in a thick
soup of harmonic-laden overdrive that’s as
relevant to today’s indie bands as it was to
the British Invasion back in the mid-60s.
It’s a particularly vocal overdrive with just a
hint of fuzz that sounds equally toothsome
with single coils or humbuckers, and fully
Video demo http://b it.ly/guitaristextra
GIT408.rev_vox.indd 19 5/12/16 2:32 PM