How about that Vox AC30?

[theunrulychef]

While on topic of the celestion blues from China in an AC30...

Does anyone have a good comparison between those & older ones? I've read that the Webers tend to sound like vintage blues & the modern china made blues are brighter. I also keep reading that if I want that blue sound, nothing can be substituted ($279 each now?) . Doing my clone here in the next few weeks & need to get serious about speakers. I've looked at as many posts as I can find on the subject but I'm still left wondering; it's a lot of scratch to drop.

[Robert M. Martinelli]

279 USD for an original VINTAGE "blue" AlNiCo?

You gotta be kidding!

I guess that the price for an original blue/silver in perfect conditions ( not re-coned ) is more likely to be three times as much......

My impression, owning a '64 TB i regularly play and having tried the other AC30s ( '70s, 80, "Marshall made" Ac30s, reissues, Chinese ) is that the modern AlNiCos are somewhat "harhsher", at least to my ear, and possibly a little less efficient ( but that could also due to the amp I tried, so don't take this as the undisputed truth ).

Hope this helps

Best regards

Bob

[theunrulychef]

Ha, sorry, not for originals. That's American Musical Supply price of new production. I think other places have made the jump to $299 already - Musician's Friend.

Don't suppose you've compared to the Weber Blue Dogs have you? Some reviews say they're good, but have a different sound than the blues. For $200, I think they're my likely choice at the moment because of budget restraints. Plus I've had good luck with Weber products & service in the past.

As for the new production ones being harsher / brighter. I've also wondered if alot of those reviews aren't due to the supposed extra long break in period.

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Don't suppose you've compared to the Weber Blue Dogs have you? Some reviews say they're good, but have a different sound than the blues. For $200, I think they're my likely choice at the moment because of budget restraints. Plus I've had good luck with Weber products & service in the past.

No, unfortunately I didn't have the chance to listen to a "Weber-made" Blue Dog ( remember I live and work in Italy ), but, according to what I've read about them, and, more in general, about Ted Weber's products, they're good value for the money.

Best regards

Bob

[HTH]

Just pointing out that the Chinese AC30CC2X comes with the Celestion Blue speakers for about $1800 (compared to the current street price of $1200 for the amp with the Wharfdales). Not too long ago they were selling for $1600... darn!

I did have a question for HTH... which of the following MM OT is the one that you recommend ("RS Hygrade repro")?

OUTPUT
Radiospares OT O45RS-L Radiospares -- leads $250.00
Radiospares OT O45RS-L-8 Radiospares -- leads -- 8k primary -- standard RS secondary $265.00
Radiospares OT O45RS-L-16 Radiospares -- leads -- 3.4k, 6.6k & 8k primary -- 16Ω tap $270.00

Thanks!

Steve Ahola

Steve, I got the O45RS-L and wired it for a 6K6 primary Z - amazing tone worth every penny.

Many OT's don't have such an improvement on the tone, for instance I changed the OT in a Zack Wylde JCM800 and while there was a definate improvement, it was nowhere near as drastic as the improvement I got with the RS repro OT. The guys at Mercury have said to me that they really dig the RS OT and its a 'special' design thats tough to beat and I'd agree.

I think the RS OT I used had 6k6, 8k and 9k primaries - obviously the higher two would be more compressed in the top end with less overall 'grunt'.

[Robmosis]

I have heard alot of people talk about changing the OT in the AC30CC2 and getting great results. but I have also heard people making the change in other amps and not getting that big of a result.
I think that my next upgrade to my AC30cc2 will be the OT. Are there any obvious things for a noob to moding should keep in mind when doing this. I am confident in soldering and wiring so that is not a big deal, but sometimes there are things that you only learn after the fact that I would like to know before hand.
Peace and Great Tone to All, Rob

[Steve Conner]

Any obvious things? Sure, just make sure you wire it up right. The wire colour codes won't necessarily match, and the instructions may be unclear. And don't eat the yellow snow.

[txstrat]

And don't eat the yellow snow.

...unless it's Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4v9I9JPijw

[octal]

I have heard alot of people talk about changing the OT in the AC30CC2 and getting great results. but I have also heard people making the change in other amps and not getting that big of a result.
I think that my next upgrade to my AC30cc2 will be the OT. Are there any obvious things for a noob to moding should keep in mind when doing this. I am confident in soldering and wiring so that is not a big deal, but sometimes there are things that you only learn after the fact that I would like to know before hand.
Peace and Great Tone to All, Rob

One reason changing OTs in an AC 30 makes a larger difference in tone compared to other amps is that the AC 30 has no NFB. The corrective action of NFB will tend to smooth out OT frequency response irregularities and distortion- at least up to the point where the amp is clipping hard.

Nathan

[some1else]

The best sound I ever heard was a Les Paul I heard a young kid play about 30 years ago with a 60s AC30 ..... Its the sound I've always wanted to get myself

[Prairie Dawg]

The US is the world's biggest poluter along with China, so those environmental laws aren't exactly THAT stringent are they.

The US accounts for 4% of the world's population but produces about 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions. China accounts for 21% of the world's population but produces about 13% of all carbon dioxide emissions - saints by comparison.

The US (since Bush came into office in 2001) have also constantly refused to sign up to environmental treaties when all other EU members have roundly accepted that this is an important issue. Hopefully Obama will be more forward-thinking on this matter.

Are things perfect in the UK? - no!, but I'm not claiming they are either. The UK is equally a part of the problem, but at least we are actively addressing the problem.

Back onto amps... the AC30s made by Korg sounded too Marshally to me, very much like a Bluesbreaker. Still really nice amps, but not a true AC30 tone imo. The Chinese AC30CCs aren't constructed as poorly as people make out - the board and components are above average imo, but the transformers are poor and this has a massive impact on the tone.

With the stock AC30CC OT the midrange sounds wierd - phasey. Once I put the Mercury Magnetics RS Hygrade repro in the AC30CC (no other changes) the midrange was much more natural and overall tone improved vastly. In the stock form, I couldn't get an acceptable tone out of the top-boost channel - with the MM OT it was an amp I seriously considered buying for myself (was a local band's amp I modded).

Your numbers are wrong.

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Steve Conner]

Well, the numbers may be technically wrong, but they're not far off.

On a related topic, I bought a Celestion Gold a while ago. It started out sounding pretty harsh and bright, and took a real good pasting (about 10 hours worth of playing at high volume) to break it in, during which the tone got considerably smoother. I imagine it's made to a similar recipe as the Blue reissues.

[some1else]

I remember hearing a guy on local radio who was an academic who specialised in ice ages ...... he said there was more evidence to suggest we were heading into an ice age than a greenhouse effect. He also said that more carbon dioxide was delivered into the atmosphere from the eruption of Krakatoa than from the entire Eureopean industrial revolution.

Where did all of this sequestered carbon come from in the first place ....... plants and animals .......... is it really the natural state of the world to have carbon in the ground forever or moving around in a cycle.

The worlds climate has always been changing and always will. History indicates for example that the chinesse fleet went to the north pole at one stage and found no ice ....... I think about 1400 CE ....... of course there are those that deny the fleet did this too.

Back onto amps ........... I have been speaking with a local guy about the AC 30 and he supports this idea that the transformers make the difference as do using quality part right through. It strikes me for a modern made AC30 and the price you pay and the parts you need to replace that we might all be better off building one from scratch and saving the money of the purchase of the amp in the first place ........ now if only Vox would sell bare boxes ..... but then again are they made with a top quality ply wood nowadays or that glued sawdust pseudo wood .......... I think in so many ways we are just buying a legendary name that isn't quite living up to its past reputation.

We need to keep reminding ourselves again and again that every manufactured item is made with human hands and let me say this average human hands! If we start with the right design and then choose quality parts that do what they are supposed to and then take the care to put it together .... then we will have a success ........ it cant be that hard Vox did it.

[Glasgow]

In any case for many people the EF86 preamp *is* the authentic sound of the Vox AC-30's (ever heard of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones?)

Steve Ahola

I want to sound like the Kinks!

Brian

[some1else]

I want to sound like the Kinks!

Brian

So if this preamp is the original and best does it not mean wes hould build our own if they arent available ....... who are the Beatles and Kinks ......:-}