Vox AC30HW 212 Combo

Price Paid: US $3200

Features: N/A
N/A

Sound Quality: 10
This is a follow up review after using the amp for over two years now. Best ever AC30. Bought another one of these.

Reliability: 10
I have used the amp for over two years, at least 260 gigs, stays in the equipment truck, no road case, just a cover. As expected zero problems. Only maintenance: Changed output tubes twice. Ei's.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't need it

Overall Rating: 10
Still solid 10's all the way around. Simply a great amp. Bought another one.

Submitted by bill at 12/22/2005 15:19

Price Paid: US $2600 Used

Features: 8
Single Top Boost channel with added 2-knob Reverb,Tremelo, and Master Volume.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using this amp with both a 57' reissue Strat loaded with Custom Shop 54' pickups, and a stock 61' reissue Gibson SG. Effects include an EH Deluxe Memory Man, Fulltone 69' Fuzz, Bad Bob Booster, and a reissue MXR Dynacomp. The amp sounds equally great with both guitars. With the strat I get a wonderfully detailed sound, sweet chimey highs and great but not overwhelming lows. The SG is really able to push the amp into surprisingly high gain realms. The Celestion Blues always keep the sound detailed with absolutely no fizz or farting out.
The Reverb is more subtle than that found on Fender amps, but great sounding nonetheless. The tone knob acts almost as a second dwell control as well. The tremolo does the job, but honestly is nowhere near as complex as the original. Different circuit I realize.

Reliability: 10
Excellent. Over two years with no problems whatsoever. I haved owned the TBX reissue- actually two of them- and they were a nightmare.

Customer Support: 10
I called them once for a Owners Manual as well as for a footswitch. They were very helpful both times.

Overall Rating: 9
I love it. Sometimes I feel it's too much amp for me, but I know I would kick myself if I ever sold it.

Submitted by Sir EL84 at 08/24/2005 06:26

Price Paid: US $2800 used

Features: 10
Great add on features compared to the origiginals. Reverb and a master volume added on. Got rid of extra channels which I never used. Trem now on tob boost channel - makes sense.

Sound Quality: 10
It's all about class A sound I say and no amp does it better then this amp! They really took this amp to a different level and changed the character of this amp and gave it a little more of a more modern personality to it - I just love it! I would rate it an 11 if I could.

Reliability: 10
Seems like it's built like a tank with good quality parts.

Customer Support: 10
People seem to know there stuff and have been quite helpfull.

Overall Rating: 10
Would rate this amp an 11 if I could - love the tone of this amp. Don't just think beatles this amp does absolutely everything! Got to now find myself a back up one to gig with.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/30/2005 03:33

Price Paid: US $3000

Features: 10
Single top boost channel from the originals with the addition of a master volume, reverb and a much better tremolo. Great improvemnts and the single channel is all you need.

Sound Quality: 10
I have has many, many, many amps and have to say this is the best sounding amp I have ever owned. I love class A amps and no other manufacturer touches this baby! Mind you they are the ones that invented the whole craze. Boogies, and all the boutique stuff soesn't come close. As well the celestion blues just sound so mucial and chimey. Would rate 11 here if possible.

Reliability: 10
Built like a tank! ALl components seem to be of greater quality - knobs, pots, transformers, tubes etc.

Customer Support: 10
Support has been great so far. Really good at answering questions.

Overall Rating: 10
Worth every buck. I am already in the market for a back-up one incase anything ever happens to this one. Great job to Vox/ Marshall on this limited run model.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/10/2005 03:29

Price Paid: US $2900

Features: 10
Great improvements from the originals. Trem, reverb and even a master volume.

Sound Quality: 10
KILLER! Would type in forever to describe how much great tone this amp has.

Reliability: 10
Built like a tank just like the originals. Basketwaeve tolex looks amazing but you must be carefull as it tears quite easily.

Customer Support: 10
Local support is great.

Overall Rating: 10
Hands down this amp is a keeper in my collection. If it was stolen I would definitely have to replace it with another. Now that the so called ciustom classics are coming out of China I am sure these rare handwired collectible ones will go up in value. I tried a Chinese one and they are great bang for your buck but not nearly in the same league as these handwired ones made from the Marshall factory.

Submitted by tonebone at 07/02/2005 05:54

Price Paid: US $2800.00

Features: 10
This is a great amp, with the best features of the AC15 "reissue" (master volume, reverb, tremolo), the power to handle big gigs, but the ability to sound great at bedroom volume. Reverb tone switch actually is nice---I prefer the darker tone to the brighter "surf" reverbs, and this unit delivers both well. Tremolo is better sounding than the AC15, which was better than the Fenders in my opinion. Tone cut, is handy I suppose, but I tend to prefer in your face sounds ala Marshall, so I rarely cut the tone (presence) more than a tad. As is true with the AC15, the natural tones are so good, that you don't really want to use effects unless you must for a particular song, so no need for an effects loop for me.

Sound Quality: 10
I play blues based rock, with a touch of Van Halen style noodling, primarily using a Big Apple strat with Seymour Duncans. Amp works fine regardless of the pickup combination used, but I find myself drawn to the neck single coil, to get a semi clean tone. 335 delivers the goods as does gold top Les Paul. Distortion isn't brutal--it's very defined and articulate in the mid range, so if you set the interactive tone controls right, you get a lot of non-fuzzy distortion, which still allows the individual notes of a power chord to ring out. Amp can tend to be bright, even with bass up high, but dialing back the treble a bit, or adding just a touch of tone cut, handles this issue well. Loud volumes can be clean as you like, or dirty, since the preamp and master volumes, coupled with the loud class A watts, give you all the choices for sound. But the roaring feedback/harmonics aren't the default overdriven sound of this amp, unlike a Marshall, so those sounds come from a nice pedal (for me it's a Chandler tube drive), which pushes the front end hard.

Reliability: N/A
It's relatively new (2003) and appears very durable, though the tolex is a bit fragile. First thing I realized after trying it out was, I never want to part with it, and as a result, if I wanted to gig with it, I needed a road case. For me, it's an investment, but even more so, it is the amp you want to use as your main rig, so I hope the road case keeps keeps this amp cosmetically clean and functionally reliable.

Customer Support: N/A
No dealings with the company, so no opinion.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 35 years, electric for about the last 20. I own a Marshall JCM 800 50 watt half stack, 1964 Fender twin, Rivera fifty five twelve, Vox AC15, '87 Blackie strat, '94? Big Apple Strat, '83 Gold top Les Paul, '76 Gibson ES335, Tayor, Gibson, Guild, Larrivee acoustics. I would definitely replace this amp, as I would the AC15--they are both the real deal Vox tones, and in my opinion, there's no points in buying something else to get this sound. With my other amps, I have the flavors I want for rock, blues, jazz, and don't need anything else (no grunge, rap, disco, death metal)

Submitted by plankspanker at 06/27/2005 13:19

Price Paid: US $2100

Features: N/A
I purchased this amp from Zzounds at a discount. Apparently, it had to be sold as damaged because the box was damaged. However, the amp was in perfect shape. What good fortune. This amp is very versatile. It is different from the originals as far as channels and such, but I'm not too worried about it. It sounds great. I do kind of wish it had an effects loop, but if they left it out in deference for circuit simplicity, I'm fine with that. I use this amp primarily as a clean amp in a two-amp setup including an Orange 1d-140tc/Orange 4x12. It has just enough clean headroom to play high volume gigs.

Sound Quality: 10
Probably one of the best (if not the best) sounding amps I have ever played, which include a 69' plexi, 66 twin reverb, etc. It was designed and built with one thing in mind; producing an amp that could yield all of the classic vox sounds faithfully in one amp. It has a master volume, which allows you to get an amazing grind at non ear-splitting levels. I play in a band that is a modern rock of the style of radiohead/themarsvolta/interpol, etc., and this is my clean. ...and it sounds glorious. I need to get one of the new custom classic amps so I can retire this one from the road. I am insane for even thinking of taking it on the road. I think there only like 250 of these made? The distortion is not really brutal. It is smooooth.

Reliability: 10
No problems so far.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
Amazing amp.

Submitted by spoonie at 06/03/2005 08:07

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
I bought this amp about two years ago (2003). The amp is extremely versatile, and works well for just about anything - blues, alternative rock, which is what I play. It provides only the top boost channel from the original AC30, but I find I don't miss the other channel at all.

One thing that does gripe me, is that it does not have an effects loop! This would have made it so much more versatile... right now, if you use delays prior to input, but you have the preamp cranked up, the delays become mush - it doesn't allow for that spacious sound you get when you put the delays in a loop, or after the preamp stage somehow... I might even have the amp modified at some point if it's possible...

The amp can get loud if you want it to - it doesn't scream like my Fender Tonemaster - but then the amount of available power is not really comparable (the Tonemaster has 100W if I remember right). For most uses, the AC30 volume is easily enough - when it gets loud, it sounds even better - the tube sag is wonderful!

Lastly, the amp has a tube reverb and tube tremolo. The tremolo gives speed, and depth control... the reverb has depth and tone.

I give this amp an 8 on features - the addition of an FX loop would have earned it a 10.

Sound Quality: 10
This is probably the single best sounding amp I have ever heard! The tone is unbeleivably smooth - it is quiet - it's awesome. I really like the distortion when it's cranked - it's so creamy sounding. The drummer in my band doesn't care for the distortion too much - he prefers the Fender, but he really loves the clean tone from the AC30. The clean tone is unbeleivable... it is really chimey - it has a nice thick low end, and the high end really shines. It has a really smooth sound - one of the most refined sounds I have ever heard. It can get really punchy if you play that way... it's just gorgeous.

I actually bought one of the new Vox custom classic amps (the CC2X with Celestian Blues). I have A/B tested these amps many times - I was trying to decide whether to sell one of them. As far as tone, the Hand-wired model takes the cake. They do sound very similar, but the HW model is just smoother - it sounds more delicate - more tasteful. It does rock just as well as the CC, but it just "sings" a bit better in my opinion.

As far as the reverb goes... the HW is awesome! It is so thick and warm sounding... it blends perfectly with the sound without diminishing any of the tone... it really makes the sound fat... even with the depth knob all the way up - which is a bit too much reverb for my taste - the sound is still brilliant. Compared with the CC, the HW reverb blows it away. This is one of the major shortcomings of the CC... the reverb just doesn't compare with the HW... it doesn't go as deep... it doesn't blend with the sound as well - it just doesn't have the same quality of sound.

As far as the tremolo - I also prefer the tremolo on the HW to the CC. It can go a little bit faster than the custom classic, and has a nicer tone. The difference is more subtle that the reverbs on the two amps... I do still slightly prefer the tremolo on the HW though.

I play a Gibson ES-335, a Rickenbacker 360/12, and hopefully very soon a Gretsch 6136! Right now, the amp probably sounds best with the Rick... the 335 is really nice through it too though. If you want about the smoothest, thickest tone in the world, just combine those two. For a really fat, refined jazzy sound, it's a great combination. The distortion is a little bit too round sounding with the 335 to me though. The rick 12-string distorted is heavenly! I can't wait to hear this amp with the Gretsch when it gets here (it's on order).

Reliability: 10
So far, this amp has been rock solid. I haven't had a single problem whatsoever...

I was a little bit annoyed when I first received the amp... there were indentations that had cracked the black covering on the amp on each side (right on the front of the amp). It looked like it had been banded with a bunch of other amps somehow, and somebody cranked the banding too tight... it wasn't too bad, but was kind of an annoyance when I paid so much for this amp brand new...

As far as the construction and design of the amp though, it is solid! Not a single issue.

Customer Support: N/A
I have had no need to even contact the company... hopefully I don't need to. I can't remember how long the warranty goes, but hopefully I won't need to worry about that either. Like I said before, the amp construction seems solid so far.

Overall Rating: 10
I think I paid about $3000 for this amp... maybe $3100 - I can't remember. Anyway, it was probably about the best $3000 I have ever spent. If the amp were lost or stolen, I would probably sit in a corner and cry because I don't know if I could ever find one again... I'd had to search Ebay every day waiting. I suppose the CC would have to suit me in the meantime - the CC is still a great amp - it's just not quite on the level of the HW in my opinion. What can I say - this amp absolutely rocks! If it only had an FX loop I'd be in heaven - still, it is so good, I can't give it any less than a 10 overall!

Submitted by Todd at 05/30/2005 14:14

Price Paid: US $3200

Features: 10
Wow, what can I say I loved the regular model but when I heard they came out with a limited run of hand wired models with reverb and master volume all on one channel, the few dollars in price was not even a consideration.

Sound Quality: 10
As much as people think this amp is all beatles I disagree. This amp is just a great sounding amp regardless of styles of music. The clean tone is amazing, and those speakers are in a league of there own. This amp is also super quiet as well which is something I was always impressed with.

Reliability: 10
Built like a bloody tank!

Customer Support: 10
Local support is very good!

Overall Rating: 10
I will never let go of this one. What ever it costs I would have to replace it. It's too bad Korg has stopped production of the Vox's in the UK and will do everything out of Japan so it makes it even that much more of a keeper.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/15/2004 09:37

Price Paid: US $3200

Features: 10
This is a beautiful amp. The "features" are in its tone, but you have to be able (or willing) to use your guitar volume to clean up the tone. I'll run it with the volume near 7, for a dirty riff sound when I need it, but back the volume down for clarity. Works like a charm. Then just get a good stomp box in the line and you're all set. An effects loop might be the only al thing someone might ask for, but the tone is all that you should be worrying about. Or not worrying about--with this one, you have tone tone tone.

Sound Quality: 10
Several guitars--a Les Paul and a Strat mostly. I played a big band jazz gig (four trumpets, three trombones, five or six saxes, bass, piano, drums) outside, and I still had to turn down because it was a little too clear all the way to the back. Lots of presence. With the Strat, I can play more modern jazz or turn up for a blues. It's all good. Again, if you want a lot of distortion, you'll probably have to use a signal booster or distortion box to get extreme. But the clean tones are just gorgeous and prove that volume doesn't equal tone. Tone is all that you want.

Reliability: 10
As others mentioned, this is built like a tube tank. If it breaks, someone can fix it. In 50 years, it'll still be around and kicking the butt of your great grandkids.

Customer Support: 10
The footswitch went bad on me. The store fixed it. No other problems.

Overall Rating: 10
I am way old. Born in the fifties, playing since the seventies in many bands, many theater productions since I read music and play it musically as well. I love the Beatles, but oddly, they are too sacred for me to play a lot of. That's how Clapton used to feel about R. Johnson, and I love them too much to mess with. But not always--I play some of their tunes. Anyway, the point is that this is the amp that made them famous, and it's so fine, and I'm so glad that it's my little amp. It's so fine, I'm telling all the world. I also have a MB Mark IIc, a MB Nomad, a Fender blackface Bandmaster and a Soldano Hot Rod 50. All fine amps and each is used, but this one is growing on me. If it was stolen or lost I'd find another. what's it missing? Well, I accept it on its own terms, and the other amps have switching and loops galore (except the Fender). Okay, maybe just some form of progressive gain switching, but I can live without it if it would mean messing with the tone.

Submitted by SID at 07/12/2004 22:49

Price Paid: US $3,300

Features: 10
Unlike a JMI era AC30, this version has reverb, a quite useable tremolo, and a master volume. Reverb in cathode follower circuits like this is usually pretty weak compared to the blackface Fender circuit. Indeed, this Vox has to be set pretty high to get the same amount of reverb a Fender has on about 3-4. Nonetheless, the reverb sounds good, and the reverb tone control is quite nice to darken it up a bit for a more refined, subtle effect. The tremolo is not as swampy as say an old Valco, the best there is, but again it sounds good. If you use reverb and/or tremolo this amp has enough of both on tap.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp is without question one of the best sounding amps for what it does. Clean sounds are, of course, spectacular as one would expect from an AC30. There is enough clean headroom for most clubs for clean or just on the edge country chicken pickin'. A Tele and a bit of compression are simply stunning. Note definition is fantastic since with the TB circuit and Celestion blues you can play with tons of high end content without any brittleness. Low end strings just jump out and cut through the din of stage noise wonderfully. The notes that other amps can't seem to produce on stage are just right there. The attack and feel is great, very quick but not at all stiff. Clarity and touch in spades. Tone controls don't have a wide range, but you don't need it. As on all AC30's, putting the treble much past 1 O'clock just dumps all the mids and lows. The cut control is the knob with the most useful function for bringing out cut and clarity on humbucker guitars or to cut the edge off a real bright Fender. Turning the amp past 10 O'clock brings on a great meaty throaty wailing tone. The kind of output stage distortion that is not buzzy or fizzy or over compressed. Rather a very articulate and strong tone. No low end fartiness, rock solid feel. Add a pedal on top of this and you can cover a lot of bases. The master volume works well at allowing a very natural on-the-edge grind at club friendly levels. I prefer not using the master but use a 2.5 DB L-pad to cut just enough volume to allow me to crank it up a bit with the master on full. You can get useable fairly high gain bedroom distortion by cranking the preamp and backing the master way down, but, that is not what this amp is best at. If you like/need an amp with tons of compressed high gain, scooped mids etc., this amp is not for you. There are better choices for a lot less money. But if you want an amp that delivers a great clean or a grinding tone foundation for stage this is about as good as it gets. Amp is really for the pro player who will appreciate the subtle aspects and responsiveness of this amp. Amp came with Ei output and Ei preamp tubes. They sound quite nice, although I swapped in a Telefunken in the first tube position. A bit smoother, rounder sound than the Ei(telefunken copy).

Reliability: 10
Amp is hand-wired turret board construction, and is extremely well put together. I was frankly suprised. I build and mod amps, and this amp is one of the easiest amps to work on I have ever seen. I don't expect any problems at all with this amp except for changing the output tubes. Like any good AC30 this one will eat output tubes pretty quickly. One down side is the amp comes with a metal shield making it hard to get at the tubes without taking out the chassis. I just took mine off, problem solved. You can put individual tube shields on the preamp tubes if you wanted, but amp is dead quiet as it is. Amp has much more filtering than a regular AC30, hence it has much less noise and much less ghost notes. Oddly my amp was delivered with the speakers wired out of phase. If you get one and it lacks power and sounds louder from the side than from the front maybe check your wiring. It is supposed to be wired in series at 16 ohms. Although the out of phase wiring atually had kind of a cool effect from the funky phase cancellation.

Customer Support: N/A
Won't need it. Like any classic amp this one will last for decades.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been lucky enough to own a Top Hat Club Royale, 70' small-box Marshall, 55' Tweed Super, 58 4X10 Bassman, 64' Deluxe, 64' Vibroverb, 66' Princeton, 64' Valco Thunderbolt, Matchless SC 30, Vox AC15, etc., etc., All great amps in their own way. This new Vox ranks among the very best for stage work. They are not cheap, however, an original AC30 cost about $3200 in real dollars back in the mid 60's so perhaps that is some consolation.

Submitted by Bill at 01/20/2004 22:39

Price Paid: US $2700 plus tax

Features: 9
2003 AC30HW combo. This amp does not have a lot of features, but the ones that are there are perfect. I've always found the Brilliant channel to be the most useful on any AC30 and it's the only one I use 95% of the time. So the fact that this amp has just that one channel is not a real problem for me. However, I've always wanted the option of having tremelo on the Brilliant channel instead of on its own separate channel which, to me, never sounded as good as the Brilliant channel. I get my wish with the AC30HW. Add to that what is quite possibly the best built-in reverb I've ever heard on an amp. I am not a fan of reverb, but this sounds great. It doesn't suck the life out of the tone, nor does it take away from the articulation of the amp, as so many reverbs often do. I'm not giving this amp a full ten points simply because of that 5% of the time I use the Normal channel in my other AC30s. I wish this amp had both a Brilliant and Normal channel, but that's my only complaint.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp sounds full, yet very articulate, with a well-defined high end. It gets a fabulous clean tone, and then slowly edges into a sweet harmonic overdrive that nothing else can touch. This amp drips tone. I've never heard a better sounding amp, and I've heard a ton of amps. I've owned an early Matchless DC/30, several AC30s (including a 1961 and a 1964), a 1960 Vox AC15, and an Alessandro Beagle. The Vox AC30HW tops them all.

Reliability: 10
As another user said, it's a hand wired amp. It should be extremely reliable and easily serviced. I've had no problems as of yet, but I don't really anticipate any, either. I'd gig this amp without a backup. However, I will only give it nine points as I have not yet had enough time with it to truly know if it will have any problems.

Customer Support: 10
I've had emails and bulletin board messages answered by a VP at Korg/Vox, and by the people who actually design the amps there. That goes beyond customer service! This company truly cares about their customers like no other company I've ever dealt with.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for 29 years, and I own three other AC30s, an Alessandro Beagle, a bunch of guitars, and various other stuff. This amp is my prize. If something were to happen to this amp, I'd get my hands on another one as soon as I could. Other than the Normal channel thing I mentioned above, I can't think of anything else this amp needs. It's virtually perfect. In fact, the tone that eminates from it far outweighs a normal channel. Ten points!

Submitted by kevin at 10/31/2003 12:28

Price Paid: US $3150

Features: 10
Vintage AC 30 features point to point wired with added two knob reverb and a sublime master volume.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp loves Les Pauls maybe more than a vintage Marshall. Fenders have chime and charm through the AC30HW but Les Pauls push it into heavenly rich tones that sputter out chimey harmonics as each note decays. This lush tone is when the master is opened up and you regulate the amp with your volume knob. The Celestion Blues are a perfect match for the output of this amp, as you push them harder the add the right snarl and breakup while subtracting the harsher frequencies. The reverb is really sensational in that you can dial its' tone as well as its' mix and create any era reverb tone you're in the mood for from full surf to dark small room slap back. The other bonus with the reverb is it can be footswitched off when you want to visit Marshall country. The trem sounds nice and can also be footswitched on and off. The master volume was a concern to me before playing the amp and my concerns were completely erased after plugging in. Tony Bruno supposedly had a hand in designing this recreation and the master volume shows that some genius had a hand in the circuitry. When the master volume is cranked it doesn't effect the tone in the slightest, A/Bing the Hand Wired with a vintage AC30TB there was no negative tonal difference except that the new Hand Wired was night and day quieter of hiss. I also liked the high end of the Hand Wired at full volume better with more sweetness and less cut. Now crank down the master volume and the AC30HW starts its' journey into studio and bedroom Marshall tone. The preamp distorsion of this amp leaves the sweet tones and becomes wonderfully aggressive, it has an immediate chunkyness followed with a soul stirring grind that gives it that on the edge tone that is usually only heard through a cranked power section. I think it is the Bruno magic combined with the Bulldog speakers all poured through hand wired premiun components that give it this quality bedroom breakup. Anyone who realizes that Vox is the third most heard amplifier in the history of rock and roll will be ecstatic over the fact that with this amp and moderate skills they can pour these tones out at will.

Reliability: 9
Hand Wired, if it breaks it can be fixed. Larger vents will probably add to it's longevity.

Customer Support: 9
Korg should be a reasonable company to deal with, hopefully I won't have to

Overall Rating: 10
This is really a rare opportunity to own an amp that recreates the holy grail of rock and roll tones and ads several bonuses like superb reverb, master volume done right, incredibly low noise level, and limited edition status to hold its' value better. Sorry for the rave review, I have vintage Fenders, Voxes and Marshalls as well as a Victoria and a Boogie and this AC30HW really impresses me with the pure familiar chimey sweet clean tones it readily produces at a variety of volumes. I won't be selling of any of my other amps but if I had to keep only one I feel the this new Vox could cover the most sonic territory while still coming back to produce exact vintage tones with a twist of a knob.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/20/2003 20:59

Price Paid: US $4000

Features: 8
Features? They took what was good in a JMI era AC30 and added the features that should have been.
Vox Kept the point to point hand soldiered (work of art) chassis, the top boost circuit and cloned, to the nearest detail, the transformers. Then they added a lush parallel reverb circuit and a sweet tremolo. The also tapped the transformer so you could operate at either 8 or 16 ohm (add an ext. cab).
Above all, they added a master volume. one that works real well I might add. Don't underrate this addition; it's huge. Purests will spit and reach for their hotplate, be I applaude. It will ALWAYS be the most usefull feature on the amp.
Gone is the 4 or six input design. Also gone is the famous "normal" channel (sorry Brian May/treblebooster fans; no love here). This had to happen, but I do miss it. It now has a hi and lo input and are both functional for different situations.
Footswitch for reverb and tremolo.
5 12ax7 tubes for preamp (note that they are all ax7 tubes), a GZ34 rectifier and a quad of el84.
Layout is artwork. All the tubes have spring holders.
They are reportedly only making 350 combos and 200 heads worldwide.
I have lucky #0064 (..."when I'm 64").
I would report it to be able to cover most all styles of music except heavy bottomed neometal.
removable edison cable and transformer can be tapped to different worldwide currents.
twin 12" Vox Celestion blue bulldog speakers are standard. Construction of the box is good, but nothing upgraded from their regular Korg reissues except for the addition of a 'LIMITED EDITION HAND WIRED' badge on the front.
the list price is $4000. I know that sounds high, but realize that a standard Korg/Vox AC30 with blues lists for almost $3000. That's a serious amount of bang for that last grand. NO CONTEST.

Features and construction make this a holy grail/mine for life candidate.
I only rated it 8 because they eliminated the 6 input design and did not opt for deluxe cabinetry.
Also gripe that the stock tubes were good, but not great. I booted the Sovtek recto for a Mullard immediately. No non-branded preamp tubes were also replaced by 1 mullard and 4 JAN phillips 12AX7a. I left the Ei el84 power tubes alone.
Tone improved quite a bit.

Sound Quality: 8
my #1 is a Hamer 25th anniversary LTD semihollow Artist Custom with SD Pearly gates in the bridge and SD Custom Custom in the neck.
My guitar and amp came to an immediate understanding. The only pedal I use is a Don Butler Rangemaster (fullboost and trebleboost modes) for front end goosing. And, occasionally a Tech 21 comptortion pedal; when the compressor bug comes a calling.

The amp is stone quiet. Quietest Vox on the planet.
Tremolo (speed and depth) is very useable from subtle flutter to brain bending stuttering vintage warble.
Reverb (level and tone) while not mandatory with the remarkable 3-D texture, is a monster bonus. This baby goes all the way to mega surf city ba-bee. The tone knob can change the complete texture of it also. DEElectable!
The gain knob (as opposed to master volume) is extremely sensitive. The difference in tones from the 10 oclock setting (bell-like classic vox chime) to full open (Jeff Beck over the top blazing) is just a flick of the wrist away. adding the fullboost (rangemaster) multiplies the compression and harmonics and floods the sonic structure with musical overtones.
Pulling back on the guitar volume knob turns the faucet back down to a trickle.
I'm not a strat player, but can only think it must be heaven there too.
Again, my biggest gripe is the ommision of the normal channel. One of the coolest circuits there is.
The twin bulldogs were a perfect match for this power level.
I added a twin celestion blue ext cab to the equation (4 blues total, ext was closed back; combo open back) and it changed the amp to much more of a 60's Marshall rage. The power seems less "in your face". much rounder while still retaining punch. After some experimentation, dedcided that the 2 blues in the combo were the right formula.
This amp is one channel, but can cover alot of different sonic territories. The clean is the real deal, and the natural overdrive is even better.

Using that semihollow, when the groove gets to rompin', the volume comes up a bit and the f hole starts a resonating, THAT'S AMOURE'!!

The one word I keep using with this amp is "SMOOTH". Almost beyond description.

Reliability: 8
Thought maybe it would have a longer warantee, but being a tube amp, it's 100% repairable by normal guys and will need to go in for periodic tweaking.
so far operation has been flawless.

Customer Support: 10
cripe, the Vox guys frequent the big internet BBs. that's ultra cool in my book. They take their product seriously. Passion runs high.
10++

Overall Rating: 9
Like alot of guitarist that have been noodling for 30+ years (my gosh, has it been that long?). I've been through a truckload of amps.
I have approached all with an open mind. Over the past 3 or 4 years, I keep migrating to Voxland for my sonic pleasure. It started with a small Top Hat, then to a Vox Pacemaker (!), then a Vox Valvetronix AD120VT (!!). That made me jones for more... an AC30RI (!!!!). The next logical step was to jump to a real vintage JMI; oh wait...FLASH!! Vox announces a hand wired AC30 to be produced. NAMM reports people blown away be the new creation. must have...must have...
Never say never, but I really think I'm sittin here with the end of the journey. The real HOLY GRAIL OF TONE. So much, in fact, that I'm springin for a $$$$$$$ Road case to pamper it.

Really, honestly, it doesn't get any better than this.If your over 30 years old, you've spent your life revelling in this tone. It's magic.
Only a relatively small number worldwide will be produced. I'm tickled that I could liquidate enough gear to come up with the bling for this.
Downside, you guessed it; the PRICE. and lack of 6 input design and a upscale cab. Hey, maybe www.northcoastmusic.com will come through and build an upscale repro.
yah, yah, I know, I'm gushing. But I'm really happy. A world class guitar, a world class amp, 1000 songs in my head and never enough time to play them. Life is so short, Play the good stuff.

a special thanks to all the good friends at some of my favorite hangouts: www.hamerfanclub.com www.voxtalks.com www.vintageamps.com

Submitted by << sirDaniel >> at 05/24/2003 13:06