Wanted - UK made AC15 or possibly AC30

Sammm · March 2014

I'm looking for one of the 90s - early 2000s Korg British made Voxes, any condition and with or without blues. I've got a flightcased AC30cc1 that I can trade, but would be interested in buying if no one is keen on a trade. (Could possibly be interested in a deluxe reverb too but that's a whole new thing!)

Thanks,

Sam

maw4neu · March 2014

Look for the ones before the Korg era . . they had a solid state rectifier but they had gone back to point to point wiring for a short time after the horrible PCB's of the 70's . . . They sound awesome and the lack of a GZ34 rectifier did them no harm at all . . . I've had 2 of the Korg era Vox AC30's and my experience of them both is poor . . . They were both noisy and unreliable and ran too hot . . The last one had to be sorted out with a trip to Matamp who were making AC30's for JMI at the time untill JMI forgot to pay or so I've since been told . . . Either way, and I apologise for rambling, just because they were made in the UK it doesn't make them great . . . Mine certainly were far from great . . . try one before you buy one . . . the Chinese AC30 that I tried was much better than either of the two Korg era, Marshall built AC30's . . Don't get me wrong I love Vox AC30's, the older the better but the Korg era ones weren't great . .

Sammm · March 2014

Thanks for your advice, what kind of age are you talking? Pre 90s do you mean? To be honest I do really like my Chinese one but I'm about to shell out on new valves, an alnico gold and possibly a London Power power scaling kit which is gonna come to about £350, so have been having last minute thoughts that maybe I should sell it and get a 'better' base amp rather than modding my current one... But maybe I should stick with the cc1, it being 1x12 is useful for gigging... Some people seem to rave about the korg era models and some people say they're so so, strange. I've never actually played though one though..

Richardj · March 2014

Did you mention Deluxe Reverb...........

ToneControl · March 2014

if you see an AC10 twin, jump on it

Sammm · March 2014

I've seen a couple of old ac10 twins but they're pretty much the same price as vintage ac30s and I don't think they'd have quite enough headroom un miked. Might be completely wrong though. I love the idea of a big low power amp if you know what I mean, being able to really push it with no attenuator etc but still going through 2 12" speakers. And richard, do you have experience with Deluxe Reverbs? The idea of them sounds great, the only fender amp I've had was an old blues deluxe which sounded amazing cranked but was impossibly loud. A similar thing at 'normal' band volumes would be awesome

Richardj · March 2014

Deluxe Reverb is a different animal, has a more vintage tone and as it is essentially single channel drives quite differently. It gets snarly but with in a slightly less 'rocky' kind of way. Very nice, but different. Even at only 22 watts it is pretty loud as you have to make it work.

ToneControl · March 2014

Sammm said:

Thanks for your advice, what kind of age are you talking? Pre 90s do you mean? To be honest I do really like my Chinese one but I'm about to shell out on new valves, an alnico gold and possibly a London Power power scaling kit which is gonna come to about £350, so have been having last minute thoughts that maybe I should sell it and get a 'better' base amp rather than modding my current one... But maybe I should stick with the cc1, it being 1x12 is useful for gigging... Some people seem to rave about the korg era models and some people say they're so so, strange. I've never actually played though one though..

I had an AC15 Chinese handwired, and found that real Alnico Blues didn't sound as good, since the amp was set up to match the supplied drivers. SO make sure you try the drivers in a cab before buying them if possible.

I had a Korg ac15 tbrx, an AC10 twin as well as the ac15 HW TV one

the ac10 twin had a stunning subtle sound with the EF86, where the touch sensitivity was amazing, much nicer than the 70s AC30s I have tried

the ac15 HW TV model was amazing sounding for the money - I would really recommend trying one rather than upgrading the CC

Sammm · March 2014

I think I'm leaning that way at the moment, (new amp rather than upgrading my CC.) Would the AC10 twin cut it without being miced up at small/medium clubs? I read that they were actually closer to 15w output and volume wise very close to the ac15, or is that not true in your experience? I've got an old 60s fender mustang that I don't play anywhere near as often as I should and I'm toying with the idea of getting rid of it and getting something amazing that I'd never sell (hopefully), 60s vox or deluxe reverb... There's an AC10 on gumtree for £1500 at the moment..

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Wanted - UK made AC15 or possibly AC30

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