Vox AC30CC2 212 Combo

Price Paid: US $999.00

Features: 9
Everything you need is there.

Sound Quality: 10
This is my second review. I ordered this when they first came out and let me tell you that this thing is great. I really dont know where these guys come off with inferior boiuld quality, have any of you ever looked inside and English made AC30? I have and Im telling you they are CRAP next to these new ones, just the power tube mounting alone is a HUGE improvment. No mini parts in these new ones everything is full size and laid out very nice. Thick PCB's thick steel chassis, real wood, I mean some people just dont get it, tradition is great but hey lets all move into the 21st century together. Ive played the hand wired ones and they are great but really this one is to far behind at all.

Reliability: 10
Not a problem and I have NO HISS just nice and quiet.

Customer Support: N/A
Not needed at all.

Overall Rating: 10
Great amp for many styles of music, try one youll like it, and I am not an employee, Im a Missouri paramedic who loves music!!

Submitted by Chris Hoover at 06/15/2005 08:58

Price Paid: Trade

Features: N/A
Congratulations Vox. You've succeded in making the coolest looking, most harmonically musical, and YET most UNRELIABLE amp in history! I don't know why I got suckered in again. I AM an idiot with an AC30 weakness. This is my fourth AC30! The first three were British Korgs. Ironically this Chinese made AC30 held up the longest. Wow - two entire weeks of service before it just stopped working at a show with a full dancefloor. I'm sorry, but Fenders and most other tube amps don't do that... even when a tube goes! I can say this because I've only had this problem with every Vox I've ever had, no other amp fails quite like an AC30.

Sound Quality: 8
When it worked, it actually sounded divine. Very musical. I'm a plug in and play kind a guy. rhythm & blues. Strat loaded with Van Zandts. But what good is telling you all this if the amp will not hold up. I'm sorry. I'm very upset.

Reliability: N/A
If you are a working musician, stay away from this amp. I actually work on my own amps, and 9 out of ten times I can fix them myself. Well - no such luck here. Vox also makes it next to impossible for you to work on these things yourself. If you have a Vox weakness and go against my advise, take a reliable back up amp everywhere you go and have it plugged in on standby ready to go.

Customer Support: N/A
I don't want to have to deal with customer support. I want to be able to fix these things myself. You think I want to take this 70+ lbs beast to the post office and deal with shipping it and all of that mess. I'm taking it to the dealer I got it from and trading it for something else I know is more reliable. Fender or something.

Overall Rating: 1
Vox AC30... the best looking amp of all time... one of the best sounding, most musical amps of all time... THE most unreliable piece of Crizz-ap of all time! Maybe the AC30HW is the way to go, BUT who on Earth can afford one! I sure as hell's cain't!

Submitted by Tony at 06/13/2005 16:10

Price Paid: US $999

Features: N/A
2005, new AC30CC, with Wharfedales.

Sound Quality: 1
Let me preface my review by listing the Vox's I have previously owned:
71 AC30 Grey Panel w/ silvers
Early 90's Korg RI (the actual LA Namm amp, prior to the blues being released)
Mid 90's RI, w/ blues
ANOTHER late 90's RI, w blues
AC15 RI w/blue
modded AC15 RI, master defeated, blue.
Why so many? Well, I toured with a few, used a few on recording projects, and have always had a penchant for AC30's, but never had the scratch to actually buy a very old one at the outrageous prices they now command. They have always been in my "stable", along with many other EL84 flavors. Now, along comes this AC30CC. Needless to say, I was curious, and was forced to buy, sight unseen. Of the lot, it is, BY FAR the weakest sounding AC30 I have owned/played........ever. To anyone who thinks this is how an AC30 should sound, I can only ask: have you ever really heard a nice sounding AC30?? I think not. Now, there have been many who have actually AB'd this with JMI amps, and found it to sound fine. This baffles me even further. In a nutshell: this amp is a weak facsimile of what an AC30 should be, and in my opinion, is directly aimed at inexperienced players who previously could not afford one, or just didn't know what the heck an AC30 is/was. (no offense to those players, just saying....) I won't even get into some of the glaring "cheapy" parts and manuf. techniques that have been grafted into the now China-made amp. Not really important, and the RI's were not gems either, so let's stick to T-O-N-E. Can we say "trebly, raspy, buzzy, fizzy, splatty crap"? Let's try it,.....all together now. That's what the amp produces in spades. Looking for nice crunch, with some nice EL84 grind ala "Top Hat", "Matchless", "Dr. Z"..........no way people. What you get is unrefined, one dimensional, small-sounding, frappy, splatty, overdrive that sounds like a blizzard of nails being thrown at a chalkboard. Literally. That nice chimey growl that you can get from just about any Korg RI pushed, or hit with a decent driver is gone.............NOWHERE to be found. Now, I have been playing for 31 years, and can dial just about any POS to sound half way decent. I spent many hours with this amp, and ran it in every conceivable manner: master up, channel down, vice-versa, hit it with good stomp boxes, played with the EQ (and I am quite familiar with the AC30's EQ), employed the "extra" features, including the tone-stack switch....on and on.........the bottom line? No matter what the "features" offer, you can't make a bad amp sound good. This amp is a huge step back for Vox. I have heard $400.00 amps that CRUSH it, in every respect. The real bummer is, I am stuck with an amp, that already isn't worth near what I paid, and also carries the wonderful reputation of a Chinese-made product. And, just to set the record straight, my review has NOTHING to do with where the amp was made. I recently purchased a Chinese made Guild GAD50, and is one of the finest made guitars I have played/owned. I LOVE a bargain, and couldn't care less from whence it comes. This amp is crap, plain & simple. Line up kiddies........this one's for you.

Reliability: N/A
Hope we never have to change a tube on the fly. You think the RI's were difficult> You aint seen nothin yet. Judging by the cheaper parts used throughout (knobs, screws, switches....ect), I am not brimming with confidence. Besides, I wouldn't take this to a gig, seriously. I would be frustrated by the amp itself, and to be honest, ashamed that I could not get what I consider a "good" tone from what appears to be the venerable VOX AC30, and amp that any club fisted oaf should be able to sound reasonably good through.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 3
I'll give it a three. The speakers aren't half bad, and the cab is pretty much the same as it was. The chasis re-design was headed in the right direction, until they affixed 4, YES 4!!!! speaker leads directly to the internal PCB, rendering the insertion of an attenuator near impossible, and the removal of the chasis itself an hour long ordeal. Idiots. The new features are relatively useful, but again, the circuit just misses the boat, and I haven't a clue why. I can only speculate that values were changed, or parts themselves were substituted to further cost reductions. I just don't know. What I do know, is I have several Teles that sound good through just about anything, and they just fight this POS every step of the way. This amp sounds closest to a cheapy Hughes & Kettner "tube edition" (or something like that), I briefly demoed in a some Mom & Pop store while on vacation. Thin, raspy, fizz.....with a tone TRYING to mimmick a Voxy/EL84 vibe. The H&K amp was tagged at like $400.......add another 12" spkr to it, and a few more watts, and you have this AC30CC.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/09/2005 10:45

Price Paid: US $900.00 used

Features: N/A
Well, you kjow.

Sound Quality: 9
I play a variety of guitar, oldies, specially stones, beatles, other 60s, 70s, 80s and 90's. I played pro for 15 years until early 90s and covered a wide variety, including Jeff Beck, Eagles, Def Leopard, Cars, Linda Ronstadt, Pretenders, Blondie, on an on. I used a 66 Fender Deluxe and a 64 AC30 for much of this (later matched up with Marshall Jubilee and Orange 120 amps). Anyway, Vox amps are not for everyone! Together with a Fender, you can cover most anything, but by itself, well, it has a special tonality, around the mids that gives it it's voice, combined with natural compression more that distortion. I have used Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, 335, Casino type guitars, occasionally a Ric John Lennon too. There again, they all sound great but they all need tweaking for their "voice".
SO, what I am saying is try a good Vox first. You will either like or dislike the basic tone. With that said, you will find uneven quality in these things. I am on my 4th AC30 through the years of reissue. A 64, a 70's with Reverb, a 90's from Korg, and this Custom Classic. Now, you will probably want to shoot me but I can tell you from my experience, and the luck of the draw in build quality, that this amp is in there. I would rate it second to the original JMI. Mine is quiet, distorts more than the original, when you want it to that is, so is more useful that way. Stays full and punchy up to where these amps operate before output distortion takes over. The reverb is ok, get real, you only really use onboard reverb in low to mid levels anyway.

Reliability: N/A
I hope it proves dependable, the others always were. Not enough time on this one to rate it.

Customer Support: N/A
I would rate support as having always been fairly low for all Vox gear.

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for 40 years. I also own, Marshall Jubilee 50 watt, two Vox C-30 amps (modded), Vox Cambridge 15, Fender Deluxe (65), Fender Blues Deville, Tech 21 Trademark 60, Crate Vintage 50 head, Crate VIntage 30 1x12. Guitars, are Les Paul Custom Shop, Fender Mary Kaye Custom shop, modifed Korean strat, Epiphone Casino, Epiphone Riviera, Telecaster.
If lost or stolen, I would buy one used again.
Love the vox thing, you may not! Doesn't mean I don't like the Marshall or Fender thing, all different uses. I will say this, try as you may, you cannot get all of these thing for real out of any modeler. They may be easy to work with but are bascilly crap. Why do you think these are the three most sought after sounds? Everything that is produced is related in these terms, mostly, a few exceptions.

So, lastly, I think the bulk of the good feedback is related to a better experience. I cannot overemphasize, the quality of this product is very uneven, as indicated by the reviews. Take your time, give it a fair chance, maybe an AC30 is what you are looking for. I will say this, that sound comes only from an AC30. The blue speakers may be the crowning component but the Wharfdales sure are nice for the price.

Submitted by Paul at 06/03/2005 17:49

Price Paid: US $995

Features: 10
This amp has it all, a mv, variable trem, verb, normal and brilliant bridgeable channels and the ability to select output voltage and smoothing. Gret variety of tones for little cash.

Sound Quality: 10
Sounds great w/ all my axes but especially with teles and strats. Nails the Tom Petty, Rem, Byrds things too. Sounds great onstage or for recording but too loud for home use. Not any brighter than any other vox I have heard and is in fact tigher in the low end than the HW, and JMI models I've owned.

Reliability: 10
Been abusing it for a month now - no problems. Mitch Colby will go out of his way to help you if you have a problem though.

Customer Support: 10
See above.

Overall Rating: 10
I bought the wharfedale model and it sound killer. As I have said this model compares well to the HW and JMI era amps and sounds better to my ears than the Kork UK era. It convinced me to sell an HW and a Matchless DC30 and has outshined badcat, dr. z and valvetech in some local shootouts - bravo.

Submitted by obladi at 06/01/2005 20:50

Price Paid: US $999

Features: 5
You all know what this amp has, and doesn't have by now. The basic ideas behind the features the features department gets a 10. However, the actual sound quality of the reverb and tremolo alone get a zero. That makes this a 5.

Sound Quality: 3
I play blues, blues-based rock, classic rock, etc, occasionally some 60's stuff. This amp sounds different every night. But the sound is usually sharp as razor blades. Way more treble than anyone could hope to use. Bass response? Next to zip. What that means is that if you try to tame the ear-shredding treble, what you en up doing is getting a muffled sound. You cannot introduce more bottom end to the sound, this amp does not have it to give.

If the amp were better balanced in the tone department, I'm sure I'd love it. The ability to saturate and distort, the touch sensitivity are all wonderful. But this thing will make your ears bleed with the high end. And I use humbuckers. I tried one with Celestion Blues, and it was even brighter - rip your head off.

I'm a reverb junky. I like reverb. This reverb is 100% USELESS. It's way too weak, and the decay, or "tail" is way to long. It sounds silly and cheap. I won't use it. It's probably the worst sounding reverb I've ever heard on any amp. I think it's the circuit design, personally.

The tremolo is next to useless, being almost as bad. It just doesn't quite go fast enough.

I'm seriously considering selling this amp and buying a Reissue. The honeymoon is about over.

Reliability: N/A
Too soon to say, but I'm marking my doorway with lambs blood and wearing a wreath of garlic to ward off any bad amp mojo.

Customer Support: 10
I've been in touch with Korg on various topics. I've gotten immediate response, even though there are certain issues they simply can't help anyone with . . like the way the amp sounds, for example. That's not the fault of customer support.

Overall Rating: 5
How would *you* rate an amp, overall, if you knew you had to sell it because it just doesn't sound very good? Even if it looks cool, and is "almost" there? Sorry, some are hits and some are misses. This one is a miss. I'll be generous and give it a five, because I really would like to like this amp. But the writing is on the wall. I've got to get a real AC30.

Submitted by AC30CC User at 05/31/2005 18:57

Price Paid: US $999.00

Features: N/A
I, like Jim below, wrote a glowing review of this amp, and like Jim, I've learned my lesson. Read on.........

Sound Quality: N/A
Sounds great when it works!

Reliability: 2
Well boys and girls, here's the bad news...I've only had this amp a week, and it's already crapping out on me. I just put it on standby for about 5 minute after playing, then came back and turned it on and got nothing....absolutely nothing. So, I put it back on standby and was just getting ready to turn it back on and it turned itself off. That's right, it turned off by ITSELF! It had done this earlier in the week, but it came back on, so I thought maybe it was my guitar, but it turns out that it wasn't, after all. So, I'm sending it back. I'm really disappointed, because I love the sound, but if I can't depend on it, what good is it?

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Great sounding amp, but Vox obviously hasn't improved reliability any.

Submitted by guitarzan at 05/19/2005 19:22

Price Paid: US $999

Features: N/A
You know the score here with the new ones added channel switching/blending, reverb, tremolo etc...

Sound Quality: N/A
This is my third (yep THIRD review of this amp) am I too stupid to get it right the first time? ....YEP! am I too stupid to get it right the second time? ....YEP! here's my final analysis (because I returned the amp)The amp sounds absolutely AWESOME!!! it does...and it's price is relatively cheap (compared to other amps). But, here's the 'COST' of that sound and money savings.....cheapo parts and a VERY noisy circuit. If you can hang with the 'HISS' this thing produces then ROCK ON! I could not bring this awesome sounding amp to a gig and (just by turning it on) send all that NOISE to the PA system. I'm talking MAJOR HISS! I changed the tubes to ultra quiet NOS Mullards and still MAJOR HISS! Even with the amp switched 'on' and NOTHING plugged into it! And this is with the volume at THREE!!! No sound guy in the country (that I play at anyway) would allow that amount of hiss/noise (I'm talking about the 'top boost' channel with both channels blended and only a modest amount of top boost added! ....TOO MUCH WHITE NOISE HISS!!! the amp is pretty dull otherwise (normal channel and no 'brilliance' added)) I considered sending it to my amp tech and have him hunt and change the noise making cheap parts in the circuit when the screws (absolutely cheap and cheesy screws) began stripping and breaking off in place (argg!) I said 'screw it' (no pun intended) and sent the amp back the the store I bought it from. The wood is heavy duty but the parts are cheap and cheesy and getting at the tubes and circuitry is a major to do (remove about 20 cheapo screws and the last 4 are hard to get at). If you like this amp and want to keep it I would suggest going to Home Depot or your hardware store and spend about 3 bucks and buy some quality replacement screws and then try to find the 'noise making parts' in the circuit and replace them too! I bet the total bill for doing this would amount to about 20 bucks or less actual. So, yea, make an amp in China but don't use cheesy cheapo parts that matter to a working musician....Great sounding amp but unusable in pro situations.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Best sounding AC30 I've heard but unusable because of noisey circuitry....

Submitted by Jim at 05/17/2005 09:18

Price Paid: US $999.00

Features: 10
Bought this amp new, made in 2004 or early 2005, I assume. Unlike many tube amps, this one is loaded with features. Two blendable channels, Normal and Top Boost, reverb, tremolo, master volume. From what I've read, it's the most versatile AC30, yet. Keep in mind that it is also very heavy, weighing in at 71 pounds.

Sound Quality: 10
Holy shit, this thing sounds awesome. I have a Rickenbacker 325, a Gretsch, two Strats, and two Les Pauls, and they all sound great through this amp. The normal channel is pretty muddy until you flip the "brilliance" switch, which is kind of like the "bright" switch on most Fender reissue amps. It has a little more low end than the Top Boost channel, and would probably be great for playing rhythm. Crank the channel volume on this channel and you get a good Brian May-type crunch.

The Top Boost channel sounds the best, of course. I don't think you can find any more top-end chime and sparkle than this. The Rickenbacker and Gretsch sound awesome through the Top Boost channel (of course), but my favorite so far is my Epiphone '56 Les Paul Goldtop with the P-90's. Close your eyes, and it sounds like an old Gretsch Tennessean....I mean, damn near dead-on! Be careful with Strats and Teles on the Top Boost channel, though. You could probably peel the paint off the walls with the bridge pickup on, it's that bright!

Here's the beauty of this amp, though: You can blend the two channels. For instance, if you like the chime of the Top Boost channel, but find that it lacks low-end presence, you can blend in the Normal channel to even things out and vice-versa. I find that blending the two yields the best overall tone. It's a very, very versatile set-up. Also, with the Master Volume, you can get distortion without blowing out the speakers (and your eardrums). Just keep the Master Volume set low and crank the individual channel volume. Voila!

I think any guitar would sound good through this amp, but P-90's and Filtertrons (Gretsch) are my favorite pickups to play on this, so far. It makes my Gretsch sound even more like a Gretsch.

Reliability: N/A
I can't really say much on this category, so far. But you may want to take a look at the reviews for the old Made-in-England AC30's. It seems that they were pretty sad, as far as reliability goes. It remains to be seen whether these new Chinese-built AC30's are any better, but given that they have totally redesigned these amps, I think maybe they'll have finally worked the bugs out. Oh, and don't let the gear snobs tell you that these amps are somehow inferior just because they're made in China. I've read where the originals from the 60's often caught fire on stage. Also, read the review below mine. That guy played through original Voxes from the 60's, and they shut down after the second song of the set! How's that for reliability? Take the new Gretsch guitars for example. They're made in Japan, but many people who own the originals say that the new ones are far superior in quality and sound just as good. I think the same will be true for these new Chinese-made Vox amps. I'll admit, I don't like buying yet another made-in-China product, but if I'm spending $1000, then damn it, I'm going to get my money's worth.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with them, and hopefully won't have to.

Overall Rating: N/A
Wow, this amp is awesome. It's not great for everything. In fact, it may be too bright for some, but if you're considering an AC30, chances are you know what you're getting into. My other amp is a '65 Fender Twin Reverb reissue. The Fender has more balls, but this Vox has more character. It'll be tough deciding which one to gig with. I'll probably just take turns. :-) Seriously though, if you've ever thought about getting an AC-30, do it now. I can't see these things staying at $1000 for long.

Submitted by guitarzan at 05/16/2005 12:50

Price Paid: US $999 from zzounds.com

Features: 10
You get a foot switch and stereo cable for the Reverb and Tremelo section, but you can skip that if you like and control it from the amp ( I do ). The channel blending switch is a great idea, as is the selectable power levels for different sized venues and saving on tube life. The smoothing feature allows you to go completely balls out, or go for a totally traditional or "standard" sound. The birch cabinet is solid, nice construction and workmanship. Vox really hit one out of the park here, I have no complaint whatsoever, except that I had to wait about four decades to have the AC 30 of my dreams. I'm telling you, this Has the sound, reliability, the look and alot of features that the originals don't. I'll take my AC30CC2 over a vintage amp any day, let the snobs shell out a fortune for an antique.

Everyone knows that NO amp looks cooler than a Vox. I can set my Rickenbacker 325c58 in a stand next to my AC30CC2 and everybody's rubber-necking to get a look, and yes, it's so flat out cool looking I would use it even if I didn't like the sound and had another amp built into it. Coolest looking amps of all time. Period.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm a veteran touring musician ( since the mid-sixties) and I've used alot of Vox products over the years and anyone who has dealt with the old gear knows that "finicky" and "unreliable" are common descriptive terms. Ever play a show through three Super Beatles and have them all shut down in middle of the second song? However, if your after the Vox sound you gotta do Vox. I can tell you from experience that it's an AC30 your after, you can skip spending 6 grand for an original 60's model that didn't work that well to begin with, because the new Vox AC30CC2 is simply a much better amp. The wide array of very desirable and useable sounds leaves nothing to be desired from me, whether or not your going for an overdriven sound or playing totally clean. Very versatile compared to an old one. I didn't even get the one with the blue alnico speakers and I'm floored by the sound of this thing. I've run it pretty hard and it hangs right in there. The Reverb and Tremelo sound great, nice and warm sounding. The sound stays there even at low volumes where most amps get kind of wimpy sounding. I run my Rick 325c58 through the Top Boost channel, and if you are into a completely authentic Beatle sound, THIS IS IT. Snobs may snicker, but let 'em, because my money says that The Beatles themselves would've liked this amp better than the originals they used. This is THE AC30 to have.

Reliability: 10
I'm a road and studio kind of guy and I don't want to deal with anything that needs to be babied. This amp is solid ( it's also heavy at about 71 pounds ), I will have to see how the grill cloth holds up over time, but since it's in a case there shouldn't be a problem. It's every bit as tough as my Fender 59 Bassman, and that thing has seen it all. Once again, no complaints from me.

Customer Support: 10
I've dealt with Vox in the past and they've always been nice to me and easy to deal with. Haven't had to call them over this amp, but I don't anticipate any problems with the service department.

Overall Rating: 10
This Is The Vox AC30 Of ALL Times!!

Comparatively, I'm shocked that this amp wasn't priced alot higher, and if it were, I would pay the price because it's worth it. I would have paid alot more, but I'm pleasantly suprised at the price. Too many companies price their gear out of the range of anyone except the wealthy.

This will be my main and only amp for the rest of my life. I've played through about everything and this is it. If something happened to it I would get another exactly like it. I have never been this pleased with a guitar amp, I have found the amp of my dreams. I may get a second one for big shows and run stereo reverbs and delays.

Submitted by Vox-4-life at 05/10/2005 12:51