Reviewed by:
Nathanialm, on november 13, 2008
0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 159
Purchased from: Ebay
Features: This is a brilliant amp a step away from the AC30, they look similar and you can get some wonderful AC30 sounds from this amp. I play a bluesy rock, like Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Free etc. And it sounds brilliant and raw with out any effects. It has the usual headphone jack output for a bigger cab. It has two channels 1 clean and the other one is the overdrive/distortion channel, this channel has a tube in the preamp, to get a nicer loud sound. It has spring reverb and tremolo, the tremolo sounds nice but is not anything I can see myself using. Currently I am using this amp for home practise and small band practise, it's loud and has a much fuller sound then my Laney MXD65. // 10
Sound: I play mainly strats and a telecaster. My Telecaster has noiseless pickups and sounds a bit like Steve Cropper through this amp. While my custom shop Strat with noiseless pickups and push/push knobs like the elite strat sounds a treat in all positions. My Clapton strat with Gold Lace Sensors has glorious Glass like tones. This amp sounds great when you play the likes of Jimi Hendrix through it, I always play Hendrix with bit of reverb because it sounds so nice. This amp is not made for metal it's for rock with has overdrive at the limit. The spring reverb allows you to dial in how much you want and I think 1/3 is enough but there’s more to give. The clean channel gets a overdrive if you turn it up loud enough, but there’s that tube on the 2nd channel. I must state this amp has overdrive not distortion. // 10
Reliability & Durability: These amp are meant to be cursed with Cambridge-itis, when Vox commissioned it they put in a very cheap opto, which means the amp overheats and gets a horrible brown sound. This can be resolved by replacing it with a new Fender opto which is cheap. I’m going to do this soon, the amp still sounds fine but I don’t want it to go when I need it most. The only downside with replacing this opto is the tremolo looses it's depth, but I don’t think that’s much of a downside. // 8
Impression: So in conclusion this amp is good for blues and rock. I’ve been playing for 9 years and have loads of equipment, but this is currently my fav amp, I bought this off ebay and is in good condition, they don’t make this amp any more. It looks the part very much like the AC30. This amp is 30watts but is capable of 58watts if you replace another part which again is very cheap, may consider doing this in the future. // 10
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