Using the Top Boost channel eq when playing on the Normal channel with the Master cranked helps a lot. You talked about it in a previous video. Thanks for the great tips!
THANK YOU! I've had a ac15 for around 5 years or so and was guided toward regulating volume with the master and turning up pre to get distortion at low volumes. I had never really been happy with my sound. Your tip works SO much better. Now my wife is still happy with the volume and I'm happy with my tone. Thank you!!
Each and every time you raise the bar on your informative tips. This video couldn't come at a better time during this pandemic. Thanks for making this relevant to the times! FYI . . . I have logged off Facebook so please dont think I deleted you. Luckily I get The Tone Lounge updates via email. Thanks for all you do.
Thanks Jay! No worries about FB, I hope taking a break is re-energizing you. If you want to spice up the tips I give in this video, add the “tone hack” to it!
I can't turn up my AC15C1X in the living room, so I got an AC4C1-12 and pulled the 70/80 in favour of an Alnico Blue, now it's exactly like a fuzz pedal, I absolutely crank the volume have the gain anywhere between 11 and 2 and then adjust the tone and volume knobs on my guitar to get cleaner or dirtier. It's pretty much all I ever play now, and it'll be great in the studio as well. I'll only need to bring the AC15C1X out for shows, so it's definitely the perfect solution for me! Cheers.
The AC4 is the unsung hero of the CC line. People see it more as a practice amp, but to me it's Vox equivalent of the Fender Champ. It's not just a practice amp, but a little beast in a home studio environment.
I have a VOX AC10 C1 Arriving on Thursday afternoon. I am looking forward to breaking it in while applying some of the advice from your channel. An AC10 play list would be sick!
@@TheToneLounge I already do most of them, actually, but i really appreciate the EQ in the loop, the overdrive pedal, and the "crank the master" one. I do like to play the amp open actually pretty loud itself, while reducing the input volume of the amp with my diy dod 250 clone, which i use as a discrete boost, and in this case, anti-boost (and before the 250 i have the dallas rangemaster clone that i also built, for ... well , a vox and a treble booster, you know what i'm up to haha ! ). If i am in the mood of playing clean stuff, i still crank the amp but lower the volume on the guitar itself (my guitar has a treble bleed circuit inside). That way i get more punch and dynamics... i also use an attenuator with my other amps and might just end up building one for the Vox (yes, i DIY a lot of things, because it's cheap, and really if you research your subject enough you end up with something actually nice). The risk with attenuators is to overuse them. They can be actually useful, at least imho, to reduce the volume by about 10db, so it's a small amount and you get just a little bit more volume on the amp and the end result is a compromise that's okay enough for me. What i loved in your video were the audio examples, in the DAW. That provides the viewer with a lot of insight about what he/she's hearing !
Come on then, I have a serious problem with insomnia, but at the same time I like to play before dawn in my room, the solution I use for that is a low volume transistor amplifier. In time, your tips are very good, professional and honest.
Celestion Ruby speakers give the best results for cleans at low volume they roll off a tiny bit of high end which is good for the AC15C1 and they sound great at low volumes especially in this amp.
Thanks for sharing! Not many people out there dare stray from the Blue or Greenback doctrine. I, for one, really dig my AC15 with a V30. I'd love to try it with a Ruby.
Does it keep the vox tone? I tried a canabis rex into my ac15, it sounds actually surprisingly well, takes pedal way better than the greenback, sounds better at low volume BUT I lost half of the voxy vibe so I put the green... Back in!
@@guitareMTL What makes the Ruby lower in volume with an AC15 is that it cuts the high mids which is where most of the volume is on that amp on most settings - Yes it changes the tone, with an EQ pedal or drive pedal with EQ it can sound in the ball park of a Mesa Boogie Electra Dyne - but trying to re-add the Vox chime back with EQ won't work (and would pump the volume back) - the circuit in the amp that created the chime goes through more components than just an EQ so you wont get the magic chime back. High pitch sounds sound louder to the human ear, dulling them can lower perceived volume by a lot but it will not sound like the same amp hence the negative reviews on the Ruby because idiots try to use it with the same settings as a greenback.
@Ushnic Yuvnikof I'm not an idiot, but the ruby is my least favourite Celestion Alnico. It's a puddle of mud, no matter how much twiddling I do with the top boost channel treble and bass knobs. Cheers.
Thanks for the tips. But what about an attenuator? Does the AC15 plays nice with an attenuator? So yes, can you recommend any (I have a recent greenback version)? I did the speaker out - speaker in mod so I can place an attenuator between the power section and the speaker.
I’m not a huge fan of attention, the devices tend to colour the sound by making the highs sound dull. Another way is to use something like an active load box. Suhr makes a great one. There is also things like the UAD OX box or the Two Notes stuff. I use the Two Notes Captor.
@@TheToneLounge Thanks for the reply. And what about the Captor X? It handles 8 ohm. Is this compatible with my 1 x 12"" 16 ohm Celestion G12M Greenback? If I use that 8 ohm switch on the back? Cranking the master volume here at home isn't an option...
From what I've read, it's safe to use an 8 ohm Captor with a 16 ohm amp, you just have to be careful with how loud you crank the amp. Don't take my word for it though, there is a great Two Notes community that can help you on facebook with such questions. facebook.com/groups/twonotesaudiocommunity/
Hey. I'm a bit late to the party, but hopefully you can give me some guidance. When you say "crank", do you mean to max it out, or just significantly loud? Maybe mentioned in the vid but in that case I missed it... Great vid mate!
I have not. I heard that Freyette (formerly VHT ?) is awesome. So, it might very well be a killer attenuator. I tried the Bad Cat attenuator and wasn’t too fond of it.
Hey dude. Any tips on which “amp attenuator” can be used with a combo amp like the ACs and how to do it??? I dont think ive seen a vid like that or maybe you or viewers can point me the right direction? Thank you like always for all these AC videos?
I don't use them, but I do have a two Notes Captor 16 that I use with Impulse Responses for a very similar result. If you are looking for the traditional way to attenuate, I haven't experimented with that yet. Perhaps someone here will chime in?
There is a video describing how to add a jack to be able to add an attenuator on youtube somewhere. I'd love to hear an AC with a tone king attenuator - I love my TK Iron Man II mini
You have to experiment with pedal placement. I tend to favor the compressor before the EQ, if I want to control the dynamics of my playing. I'll put the compressor after the EQ, if I intend to control the frequencies of the EQ pedal.
@@TheToneLounge i plane to set may vox15 to a clean channel and use the AC-tone to get a vox30'ish sound (Rory Gallagher kind of vibe). Hope will fit well :)
It really depends what tone you are going for. If you want to turn your AC15 into a Metal best for a few songs, it will be alright. If you are looking for the Metal tone for 90% of what you do, I don't think that amp/pedal combination will meet your needs.
I have the Boss EQ and it is great.Sometimes other people can be over-dramatic about things that don't matter.Just follow this video really.I have an MXR 10 band that I use in the effects loop of my other amp.
Couldn’t I just use an attenuator like a Bugera and use that to allow me to play in the bedroom, where my AC 15 actually is located? I’m a returning beginner so sorry if this sounds silly but I don’t have any pedals except for a looper. At the moment with reduced hours at work because of pandemic I don’t have a lot of cash to dump into gear.
You can absolutely use an attenuator! But even with attenuation, sometimes, the sound we get lacks bass and can sound uneven. Cheap Pedals will get you there to, doesn’t have to be expensive to work. You can find the Danelectro and Behringer pedalson the used market for dirt cheap.
@@TheToneLounge so if I set my Ac15c2 to the levels I want that gets the “tone” I want, could the Bugera for example allow me to play in the bedroom with out my wife down stairs screaming at me to turn it down? Or are the pedals an absolute necessity and can you name the best pedals, please limit it to 3-4 that a beginner like me needs?
Here is how I suggest looking at this, the attenuator will help you crank the amp as loud as you want, and then bring that down to what ever level you wish. The point of that is that if you wish for the amp to be distorted for some good old rock tones, that is a great way to do it. The cost of bringing the entire level down is that we are dealing with physics. I refer to the Fletcher & Munson curve in the video because it's just how our ears work. At bedroom levels we don't get much bass. You can get away with not using pedals, for sure. You should start with the attenuator and see if the sound is pleasing to you. If you notice that you lack bass frequencies, or need to cut certain frequencies then I suggest a cheap EQ pedal. If you notice that your volume is very uneven, loud parts are too loud and quiet parts too quiet, then I suggest a cheap compressor. Combing both EQ and compressor with attenuation will make for a very flexible and useable rig, without bothering your wife and family!
Unboxed a brand new AC15C2 today. Trying something new after 20 years with a Fender HotRod 4-10. The first thing I noticed is noise, like 440 hum, that increases and decreases with the output. Unless I play at really low volume it's always there. Since I don't know what's "normal" for this amp, I don't know if I have a problem. ... but I don't like it. Could it be a bad tube, right out of the box? It doesn't sound broken, just noisy, like I'm playing a cheap single coil. Ideas appreciated.
It could very well be the tubes. The amp does generate some, very minuscule amount of hiss ( it’s a tube amp) but nowhere near what you are describing.
Hi James, have you figured out what the problem was? I also have a buzzing type sound that increases with volume. I am 100% sure this is not just regular 60 cycle hum or standard hiss - it does sound like some sort of sympathetic vibration from a component inside the amp. Haven't opened it up yet.... the number of screws makes it a bit of a project.
@@meadish if you haven’t done this before, please don’t go around poking things as there are components that hold lethal charges that can result in a very nasty situation. An amp tech would be your best bet. Let me know if you ever do find what the problem is. Cheers
@@TheToneLounge Guys, I've mostly parked this amp. It's way too loud for the bedroom anyway. I got a Vox AC10C1 1x10" 10-watt Tube Combo Amp and It's much more suitable for me. I dono what I'm gonna do with the monster yet.
I would go with a BOSS GE-7 Eq, you can find them pretty cheap on the used market. For compression try something simple, MXR Dynacomp or maybe something a little more flexible like the EHX Tone Corset.