I grew up on Fender amps thinking that I liked them. What I actually liked was reverb. My favourite amps I’ve ever owned are a piggyback AC30 with greenbacks and a ‘61 Selmer Truvoice 12. (Selmer’s are still really well priced when compared to a lot of other vintage stuff). The amp I play the most is a Fender Champ - like Dave Cobb says - set on about 3. Sounds like the actual guitar, then build from there.
Got a Marshall DSL-1 (8" 1(one) watt combo) and a Boss Dual Cube LX lunchbox amp. The Cube can emulate JC, Tweed, AC30TB, 1959, 5150 Peavey and Mesa/Boogie DR. My favs are JC with chorus, Tweed with subtle phasing and Mesa with octaver 😎.
I love the Vox AC30. My brother has one. With that wonderful midrange it has what we always called a throaty sound. Of course I'm a big fan of the Brian May sound especially on Killer Queen...
Having been a fan of Blink182 since I was about 7, I've always had a huge amount of love for Mesa Boogies and Marshalls since that's what Tom Delonge was partial to for those earlier albums. For finger picking and less gain, the Roland Jazz Chorus and the Divided by 13 amps are great. Being able to use an Axefx and have easy access to all of those different amps though has made double tracking super quick. So I guess my fav is all of them haha 🙂
Nailed it. Very well explained! Years ago I finally stopped trying to get midrange, edgey tones out of a Fender amp, when I learned what I was really looking for was in Vox territory.
Its too bad not many know the Vox Valvetronix amps are some hard hitting hybrid amps that dont sound like a high pitch tweeter. I have 2 20 year old 15w chrome editions that Il will never part with. One survived being underwater for 3 days. No bs. I dried it and cleaned it immediately. It has no issues with the electronics at all. These things have some bass, which I love. They need more love Our home flooded in 2016.
I got a Vox Valvetronix AD30VT in the late 2000s to take with me to college. Still is my go-to "cheap, versatile, practice amp I can get away with playing in an apartment." That thing's been beat to hell and back and never once had a single issue.
Midrange is my guitar playing ‘hometown’ so I’m glad my first decent amp is a Vox AC30. Not least because it was Rory’s earliest and go-to amp which he developed his inimitable style on. Learners are advised to pick their guitar hero / demigod as inspiration and a model to emulate. ‘Unfortunately’ for me, Rory Gallagher has been my blues rock since 1973. Seen / heard him twice live in Wellington Town Hall then the Opera House. Front row seat in the Town Hall, mere feet away from him on stage, so could take plenty of up close photos including leaping in the air (sorry Pete), while I recorded it on my portable tape recorder (bit to bass-y - well, you know how lifelong sideman Gerry McAvoy drives the 3 piece power unit along) PS: I cut my teeth on a Marshall 10W ‘bedroom’ made in India which I bought in a pawn shop along with my Squier Stratocaster MIK in the 90s. AND they are still churning that model out - unchanged after all those years
Vox is my favorite for sure. I have a Handwired, English made AC15 and AC30, as well as a Tweed Deluxe (Clark Beaufort) clone. All fantastic in their own right, and sounds absolutely huge when I split a signal to a Tweed Deluxe and a Vox. So, so HUGE for two low watt amps.
Wow. Thats what my hair gets like if i dont get it cut! Love it dude! Its big, and you could lose a 4x12 in it! Seriously, greatist tips ever man. So helpful. Cheers
Between a Marshall origin 50 and Vox ac15 head. Which one would be better for classic hard rock my brother and I write more like 70’s power chord hard rock songs, not really open power chords like ac dc but more like Black Sabbath power chords but with ac dc’s energy.
Great question! I like Dynamic Mics for Brass. RE20, 421 etc. you can use large diaphragm Mics, however you are at the mercy of the brass players mic technique
The vox is a class A amplifier and I think it really has a different feel because of the way the tubes are used to amplify the signal. Basically the tubes on a vox class A run ride wide open or hot. And the class AB commonly referred to as the class B the voltage to the tubes of goes up and down with the way you play. I think that's why the Vox sounds so chimney and that's my favorite of the bunch although the others are nice to. I probably know less than you but I share your thoughts on all of these amps.
