[NickLee]

Hey guys,

i'm new here.

i bought a vox ac-15 the other day, and i thought i liked it. but i've been reading the reviews and it seems like nobody likes it and it really makes me nervous.

i know..if i like it..i should keep it..but why keep it if i can get something better for the same price?

so here is my list question thing.

-Price Range - less than 700$

-Necessity - I will be playing it to jam with friends and play at church in the youth praise team. We have a sanctuary that fills about 1800 people. I will be micing the amp. I don't think i will need to rely on my amps volume besides playing in my bedroom so that's really no big deal.


-Frequency - How often are you going to be playing out? Going to be using it during praise and worship on sunday, and probably everyday throughout the week.
-Musical Style - hillsong united, chris tomlin, crowder, starfield, matt redman.

-Current Setup - I have a schecter tempest custom(it says custom on the thing..idk why haha..so i guess that means its custom?) I am using a pod xt live for effects. I'm scared that my vox ac15 may have been a bad buy and i could have gotten a better amp for same price.

-Experience - I've been playing for about 4-5 years. I tried out some of the crate, fender, and vox tube amps. I liked the vox over the rest because it had less of a vibration to it.
-Personal Research - unfortunately i come in complete ignorance haha. I do know i want a tube combo.
-Shopping - guitar center, and new.
-Timeline - soon as in...next few days.

thanks for being patient..if you're going to be.

if not.

then..it's cool. haha

[Ax]

Originally Posted by NickLee

Hey guys,

i'm new here.

i bought a vox ac-15 the other day, and i thought i liked it. but i've been reading the reviews and it seems like nobody likes it and it really makes me nervous.

i know..if i like it..i should keep it..but why keep it if i can get something better for the same price?

so here is my list question thing.

-Price Range - less than 700$

-Necessity - I will be playing it to jam with friends and play at church in the youth praise team. We have a sanctuary that fills about 1800 people. I will be micing the amp. I don't think i will need to rely on my amps volume besides playing in my bedroom so that's really no big deal.


-Frequency - How often are you going to be playing out? Going to be using it during praise and worship on sunday, and probably everyday throughout the week.
-Musical Style - hillsong united, chris tomlin, crowder, starfield, matt redman.

-Current Setup - I have a schecter tempest custom(it says custom on the thing..idk why haha..so i guess that means its custom?) I am using a pod xt live for effects. I'm scared that my vox ac15 may have been a bad buy and i could have gotten a better amp for same price.

-Experience - I've been playing for about 4-5 years. I tried out some of the crate, fender, and vox tube amps. I liked the vox over the rest because it had less of a vibration to it.
-Personal Research - unfortunately i come in complete ignorance haha. I do know i want a tube combo.
-Shopping - guitar center, and new.
-Timeline - soon as in...next few days.

thanks for being patient..if you're going to be.

if not.

then..it's cool. haha

If you like it the you like it. That's all that matters. Vox's have pretty good reputations.

[Soap]

ok. A few options

#1. If YOU like the amp who cares what anyone else thinks? Keep it and rock out.

#2. If you decide you never really liked it, I'd try a marshall valvestate...although it may be too high gain for Tomlin or Hillsong...then again it may not. Also, try the Vox valvetronix series and see if you like the sounds from those.

[Ax]

Originally Posted by SoapbarII

#2. If you decide you never really liked it, I'd try a marshall valvestate

Whoah there... Not all Solid State is bad, but Marshall Solid State is fairly... well... crappy.. his budget is under 700 bucks, he could get a tech21 for that if he really wanted SS.

...although it may be too high gain for Tomlin or Hillsong...then again it may not. Also, try the Vox valvetronix series and see if you like the sounds from those.

I've heard decent things from Valvetronix and about valvetronics... I'm not a Vox guy but I can tell you that he'd be much happier with a Valvetronics than with a Valvestate.

Also, Again If you like the amp, then that's all that matters, unless you've heard reliability/technical complains, then I'd pay attention to them, but tonally, it's all in your ears bro.

[token]

the bottom line is that you're satisfied with your purchase. to a lot of us, that could just mean that we enjoy the sound we get, and to pretty much everyone, it's also something to show and be proud of (in a good way). For your musical styles, you chose a great amp. I'm pretty sure starfield's jon neufeld uses a vox ac30, as well as chris tomlin's daniel carson. To achieve their sound, it's a good step forward.

with that said, the ac15 will obviously sound different than the ac30. also, to get to my main point, what exactly are you asking? are you looking for a new amp?

[NickLee]

thanks guys.

wow that was a really fast response.

i'm definitely happy with the sound.

it's just kind of a buyers remorse kinda thing. haha

i think i'm just being paranoid with people's negative response.

and i started to read the tube tips at the top and i stated to get nervous. about whether i could maintain this thing.

for example...i was hovering over it..and it smelled like burning kinda.....i'm assuming that's a bad thing.

haha.

i'm hoping it was my heat but idk.

.......

i have more questions.

so if i'm playing in a big sanctuary...and i have a 15 watt amp...how does that work.

will i get weird distoration and noise if i have to mic it with high volume to fill the place? or will it make no difference.

if the answer to the question is that i can mic this amp and fill how ever big a place i want...why would people get louder amps?

my understanding is the people in general mic their amps instead of just letting the amp fly solo.

and to token, if i found an amp of better value i was planning on exchanging it.

but i'm not sure about that.

i really do like the amp.

the way it sounds and everything.

i would never want to go back to SS.

i just wanted to know if there was something out there that was better.

thanks for the fast response guys.

oh and to ax guitar is it that lives in marrietta ?

idk if you've ever attended 722 at northpointt church in alpharetta..but don't they use ac-30s?

i believe their smaller auditorium holds around 3000 and my sanctuary is a bit smaller than that.

bye.

[Ax]

This sounds like a case of ignorance. I am guessing that this is your first tube amp.

Originally Posted by NickLee

thanks guys.

wow that was a really fast response.

i'm definitely happy with the sound.

it's just kind of a buyers remorse kinda thing. haha

i think i'm just being paranoid with people's negative response.

and i started to read the tube tips at the top and i stated to get nervous. about whether i could maintain this thing.

for example...i was hovering over it..and it smelled like burning kinda.....i'm assuming that's a bad thing.

I was guessing as much. That smell is perfectly normal, the bias might be set a bit hot, but you shouldn't worry.

i have more questions.

so if i'm playing in a big sanctuary...and i have a 15 watt amp...how does that work.

will i get weird distoration and noise if i have to mic it with high volume to fill the place? or will it make no difference.

No, actually micing the amp is recommended, I'd actually not dime it but set it to a setting where you're getting the tone you like and then mic it, the PA should fill the room without the amps help, the amp is there for tone rather than volume.

if the answer to the question is that i can mic this amp and fill how ever big a place i want...why would people get louder amps?

Because of High Gain and Clean Headroom. High gain amps need to generally be loud because of the type of music they're playing.

my understanding is the people in general mic their amps instead of just letting the amp fly solo.

again, I've covered this.

and to token, if i found an amp of better value i was planning on exchanging it.

Just remember that you're the one who has to use this amp, not some other losers who get on the internet and make unfounded claims.

i really do like the amp.

Isn't that the point.

oh and to ax guitar is it that lives in marrietta ?

idk if you've ever attended 722 at northpointt church in alpharetta..but don't they use ac-30s?

i believe their smaller auditorium holds around 3000 and my sanctuary is a bit smaller than that.

bye.

That church is pretty big, what church do you play at, because I would have heard of another church that big and the only one that comes to mind in the area is Woodstock.

There are several bands at 7:22, the lead guitarist of the house band does use and AC30, but some of the bands that have played there used Modelers and Fenders. I don't go often, but I've been enough.

[thesteve]

howdy, it's not really necessary to type one line at a time. Paragraphs are certain welcome here If the amp is new, the burning should go away. There's a couple burning smells associated with tube amps. One is legitimate component burning, which is often accompanied with smoke, and the other is actually the smell of the glue used to hold the amp covering, or the amp covering itself giving off a smell. I had the same thing going on when I owned a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

When you mic the amp, the mic should pick up whatever sound is coming out of the amp. I can't think of any reason why you'd get any "weird distortion" unless you're already making that yourself.

The reason people use different wattage amps is tonal. A 15W tube amp like yours is going to have a different amount of headroom (volume before saturation) than a higher wattage amp.

[Hopeful]

If you really like it, that's all that counts.

Are there better amps out there? That's always possible, but you would be the judge of that better than anyone else. Remember, what one person looks for in an amp, another could care less. Here's what I think. First, you've made a big step with the AC-15. If you do get a better amp, don't expect the same incremental improvement in sound that you just got. Your amp and your POD should get you by for a long time. Also, your POD is digital, so you can't say you'll never go back to SS again. I say it's good to have both.

[NickLee]

hey guys.

axguitar you're absolutely correct. haha i really don't know anything about tube amps...or any technical aspect of really anything. I just know that I like the sound alot more than what i've heard from solid state.
and my church. it's definitely not as big as the bigger northpoint room. (from what i know the room that's the first room on the right is the smaller one?). and I've only been once so perhaps i'm underestimating the size of that place. haha. so i guess my sanctuary is about 2/3s the size of it? considering our sanctuary has the capacity of about 1800, and i think northpoints its 3000?. but our church isn't like a big contemporary church like northpoint or anything like that.


to steve thanks for the information about the differences in wattage and all that. I type in lines because..haha i'm a weirdo and I usually think it's easier to read when it's like that.

thank to you too hopeful.

bye

[acrossthesirion]

If you want some convincing argument for Vox amps the Edge from U2 uses AC30s (which are pretty much louder AC15s with overdrive (I know that's oversimplifing it, but it's close)).

I have a 30watt Valetronix it I love it. I am actually hoping to get an AC15 or AC30 sometime soon the clean tone you get through them is amazing, so I would definately tell you to keep it.

If you really don't want it you could always give it to me

[Rainer.]

Whoah there... Not all Solid State is bad, but Marshall Solid State is fairly... well... crappy.. his budget is under 700 bucks, he could get a tech21 for that if he really wanted SS.

Well if the "if you like it, then it's good" argument goes, then I'd say that the Marshall Valvestate line is really a good line. Marshall AVTs are way too overpriced for their value, but the old Valvestates are pretty darn giggable and are very, very cheap as far as at least acceptable gigging amps go. Great if you're strapped for cash or want a cheap back-up amp.

But the AC15 should be a good buy. It's very different from the AC30, though.

[Major Tom]

I've been wanting to try the new AC15.... I've been told that AC15's are really a different amp than the AC30, they have less gain, and I guess some other differences, but then, the new ones out now aren't a re-issue, so ...? Do not worry about the tube thing - they are not difficult to maintain. Your amp is cathode biased, so if and when you do change power tubes, all you have to do is plug them in. Tubes should typically last several hundred hours. 15 watts, real usable watts like from your amp is plenty loud.

[Wesley7777]

Hey i have a AC-30 custom classic and love it. Tried many other voxish amps that were considered higher end amps but stuck with the vox because of the price and i love it.

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Originally Posted by thesteve

howdy, it's not really necessary to type one line at a time. Paragraphs are certain welcome here If the amp is new, the burning should go away. There's a couple burning smells associated with tube amps. One is legitimate component burning, which is often accompanied with smoke, and the other is actually the smell of the glue used to hold the amp covering, or the amp covering itself giving off a smell. I had the same thing going on when I owned a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

When you mic the amp, the mic should pick up whatever sound is coming out of the amp. I can't think of any reason why you'd get any "weird distortion" unless you're already making that yourself.

The reason people use different wattage amps is tonal. A 15W tube amp like yours is going to have a different amount of headroom (volume before saturation) than a higher wattage amp.

a third burning smell thesteve, is if its been on the floor a while, its been in a warehouse a long time, etc. is dust on the tubes. I get that smell sometimes when firing up an old amp.