Vox AC30 6TB

Price Paid: 1000 (EURO) used

Features: 8
I think it's a 1999 amp. It's a simply amplifier, with only 2 regulation ( bass, treble ) for each channel ( vibrato, normal, brillant ) and without reverb...

The tree channels works great, especially the normal channel.

I'm searching for this amp so many years...
And finally I've found it!!!!
In Italy or you buy a new one or you must be very lucky to buy a used one. Infact I buy a used one

Sound Quality: 10
The sound of this amo is something incredible. If you play at lowest volume it sound a great clean.
But if you try to turned full up the volume, this amp is pushed into natural valve distortion, with so incredible sound.

On stage I use this configuration:

Burns Red Special Brian May >
Dunlop cry baby Wha >
Boss DD-5 ( Digital delay )>
Boss PS-2 ( Pitch shifter/digital delay )>
Boss CE-3 ( Chorus )>
Vox Valve tone ( Overdrive )>
Tubescreamer Ibanes TS-5 ( Booster ) >
AC 30 6TB ( normal channel with volume turned full up for a natural valve distortion)
I control the volume from the guitar ( Brian May is a good teacher...)

This version is with celestion greenbacks.

I've also use an american Stratocaster, the sound is quite different, but with the Burns the sound is perfect...

Fot the tone control I cut the BASS, turned full up the TREBLE and the CUT.

In studio I change the tone distortion from the pickup settings and from the tone control. It is very versatile, for the clean tone I put the volume at least 30% for a beautiful clean sound.
Like Brian May use to do, I use a 6 pence coin: the sound is very different to use the normal pick, try it...

I use this amp in two different way:
I have a Queen cover band and my personal rock band.

Reliability: 10
Always works fine. No problem.

Customer Support: N/A
Never deal.

Overall Rating: 10
This is a dream come true. Before this amp I had a Marshall Valvestate S80, Laney S200 and POD 2.0.
Marshall was my first amp and i was very happy when I play with it.
But something was missing, the distortion was very creamy, the clean channel was orrible.
The laney amp works great but was enormous!!!!
The POD 2.0 is a little jewel, especially for studio recording, but on stage the only thing that sounds good was the distortion, the clean sound was terrible...
And finally I've bought this wonderful amp, and the dream come true...
Either it amp have basic control, haven't reverb and is very heavy ( about 30 Kg ) it is the best amp that I ever try.
Try it and then you love it forever...

Submitted by Nicolas at 07/17/2003 00:47

Price Paid: US $900 used

Features: 7
Mine is an early 90's reissue I bought in '94 with celestion greebacks. The features are pretty basic and the tone controls are counter intuative but once you get used to them you can pretty well dial in your sound.

A couple of minor complaints is that the power chord is not permanently attached and therefore could get lost if you move the amp a lot. Also the tremolo - while very cool - only operates at fairly fast settings and only when patched into the tremolo channel (which is not the best sounding channel). Additionally, true to the original, there is no reverb on this amp.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp is the one I would pick if I was stranded on a desert island (with electricity of course). It just sounds great. It is warm and bright at the same time. It breathes and sounds wide open. I also have a Boogie Mark IIIc, '64 Fender Deluxe and Vibrochamp, Marshall JTM45 reissue and POD for recording, but my AC30 just sounds the best!

I am not presently playing out (I am a full-time music composer), however, when I was this was my stage setup:

'64 Strat > Boss Reverb > Boss Chorus > Mesa V-Twin > Vox Valve Tone > tremolo pedal > AC30 (bright channel) for smaller venues I used the Marshall Power Soak to bring the volume down.

Note: This amp is LOUD, and must be run at at least 50% volume to get the good AC30 tone.

For recording, I just crank it up and put an sm57 up to the cone and a Neumann 10 feet away or so and it records great. It is a little noisy but that usually isn't an issue as long as it is run at a good volume.

Note: when I bought this amp I also checked out an AC30 with the VOX bulldog speakers side by side with this amp and I liked the greenbacks better - probably just a matter of personal taste. The bulldogs were I bit bright for me and lacked some mids.

Reliability: 10
Mine has never broken down.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to.

Overall Rating: 9
When I bought this amp, I'll admit I was swayed by the undeniable coolness of the look of a VOX AC30. It has been associated with so many great players (past and present). But once I got into the amp and worked around its shortcomings (features), I was hooked.

If it were not for it's fairly primative features and lack of reverb I would give this amp a 10 on the basis of its tone. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another, but I would check out the AC15 just because I don't really need the firepower that the AC30 has for recording. However, I bet the AC15 couldn't match this amp.

I take good care of my equipment, and I suspect that this amp needs constant TLC to stay healthy which is why I have had no problems. However, I have heard of reliability complaints and would suggest a Mesa Boogie for those of you who need bullet proof gear. But you will never get the tone this amp has.

Submitted by Steve Hansen at 03/08/2003 10:32

Price Paid: US $1599.95

Features: 7
2002 Reissue AC30/6 TB with Celestion Greenbacks. Class A 33 watt RMS all tube.

Great sound for the styles of music I play. Radiohead-ish rock with bands, and some Jazz on my own.

3 channels, no switching. Daisy-chain the inputs or use splitter boxes. 1 channel is a Vibrato and Tremolo channel, the effect can be switched on or off.

Not versatile by today's standards of digital effects, 10 channel, programmable amps. But... it is a versatile amp if you can shape your tone and sounds with volume pedals, stomp boxes, etc.

I use this with a band, gigging. Loud enough for small and large venues. Really loud! Make your ears bleed, loud.

Sound Quality: 6
I use a Gibson SG Standard and a G&L ASAT III. The G&L is basically a tele body with strat-style pickups and sounds almost identical to a '64-68 Fender strat, tone-wise.

Not too terribly noisey on its own. However, when you start strumming through it, this thing makes some evil sounds! The actual sound coming out of the speakers is great, but the amp chassis, tube springs and retaining clips sound like they are about to fall apart.

This amp will never be a metal amp. However, I use a Voodoo Lab Overdirve with it, and it sounded fantastic.

If it wasn't built with shotty components, I would love how this sounds. But because I can hear rattling and buzzing from the inside at low, moderate, and even semi-high (normal practice) levels, I hate it. Makes me want to cry. Such great tone, made with such crappy parts that sound like they are about to fall apart.

This is why I give this a 6

Reliability: 2
Total shite. Reissues = shite. Well, Vox Reissues = shite. I had a 1962 Bluesbreaker reissue, with tons more low-end than this puppy and it never sounded like it was going to piss itself.

I'm sending it back. Bought it from Zzounds, highly recommend those cats, super nice, great prices, allow 30 days for return, etc. etc.

Can't gig with this bastard. It will short out, fry the tubes, and then fall apart. And don't even think about going on the road with this, unless you got a guitar tech that has a van full of spare parts for these.

Customer Support: 5
Warranty is short, I think like 1 year. Last I checked most high-end amps have a 5 year warranty on everything but tubes and speakers.

You are SOL if you have these break on you. Only like 5 places around the US can service em.

Overall Rating: 4
These are JUNK!

I have owned several Marshall reissues and orignals, every last one built like a tank. Hell, even Crate uses better parts for their crappy amps.

If it were stolen, I wouldn't buy another. I would praise God, and go get something else.

Love the tone. Hate the shit components they used.
Cabinet construction = good
Speakers = good
Signal path components, and tubes = CRAP!

I researched them for a while, about a year. Read every last review I could. Bought it in hopes that I would get the luck of the draw. I didn't.

If you gig, tour, or want to never worry about your amp blowing up on stage, DO NOT BUY A VOX.

Submitted by Jeremy at 08/29/2002 13:59

Price Paid: US $1000 used

Features: 7
Tis amp is a '93 reissue that I bought used. All of the featrues of the AC30 have been described here in detail so I no need to elaborate any further. It is just great sounding amplification!

Sound Quality: 10
I'm using it with three differebt telcasters, Hame T51, Hamer Newport, Gibson LP'56 RI, '62 strat, '66 ES335. I think the AC30 is the ideal tele amp. It is brings out the best of the tele. I use the billiant channel and run the volume between 1/4 and 1/2 depending on the venue.
The humbucker equipped bring this amp into overdrive heaven and the tone is sweet, defined and will put a smile on most any players face with the exception of a metal player.
I've played Fender, Boogies, and Marshall amps for years but this amp is the tone king!

Reliability: 10
I must have gotten a good one or I am one of the lucky ones. It seems that many here have had some reliability problems with their AC30's. Mine has been gigged every weekend for 6 years and I have not had a problem. The secret according to the guy who sold it to me?
Get a NOS retifier tube for it. Most of the Vox troubles come from the rectifier frying as these amps run hot. A NOS tube will do the job for you.
Still, I never play without having a backup. Something I learned way before I every owned this amp.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to use them.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing guitar for over 35 years. I've played the road for years and have been through many different amps. Tone wise the AC30 is what I really like. I never had any amp please me more. tone is very subjective so what works for me may not for you.
If it were lost or stolen I'd pickup another one.
The one thing I would do to improve it would be to make it lighter. This thing is heavy and a bear to move around

Submitted by Dave Beckwith at 07/21/2002 06:25

Price Paid: US $1549.00

Features: 10
Made in 2001, reissue, 3-channel, easybake oven.
versatile enough for me, but may be a bit limiting for-whip your hair and high kick- type folks.

Sound Quality: 10
I'm using a 62'strat, and a 76'les paul. Suits my style perfectly,(classic rock, blues, jazz,etc.) can be noisy if you dont turn the vib-trem and normal channels up half-way,while in the brilliant channel. The clean sound is full and crisp, almost slighty compressed.
the dirt only comes into play when you get it up to about 1/4 or 1/2
way up. I really only use the brilliant and vib-trem channels, i end up running an a/b box between them, with the brilliant channel set for
a clean tone and the vib/trem channel at 1/2, with the vibrato footswitched off. it will compensate for not having a clean and diry channel. (the vib/trem channel doesnt have as much volume as the brilliant channel so even though its halfway up its the same volume as the brilliant channel but much more overdriven.)

Reliability: 5
This seems to be a real heartache for people who really like this amp.
When i first took the amp out of the box i noticed that one of the
connecting wires to the speakers was not attached. and after only 2 gigs one of the speakers had quite a bronchitis like rattle.
I bought the amp from musicians friend and they are sending me a new one, in exchange for this one.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 10
been playing since i was 5, im 23 now. I own everything from plexi marshalls to bassmans to boogies,etc.
if it were stolen, i would have to just ball about it because i could never afford another one.
you either hate the tone or love it. this is the sound i have searched
my entire life for, i feel privileged to be able to still buy a reissue of the original. no other amp compares in looks or tone or instant gratification.
i hate that i have to wait for a new one, and send my old one out because of a *&^%^^% blown speaker.

Submitted by Rich Noon 2 at 11/27/2001 18:46

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
It is followup time, boys and girls! my ac30 reissue blew up again, the 2nd time after owning it only 75 days. I got new output tubes under warranty from the company, but after installing them, it burned out the rectifier immediately after powering up. So, I got really pissed, and got the company to send me a brand new factory sealed model. after waiting a couple weeks, I finally got it. plugged it in, turned it on, heard beautiful sounds... for all of two minutes. then I smelled something like hot glue melting, and horrible noises came from the amp. I know it was just a blown capaciter in the tone circuit... but when you pay almost 2000 bucks for an amp, burning a cap after 2 minutes is simply not acceptable. so... I got all my money back, and am looking for something new. I would strongly recommend staying as far away from these reissues as possible. I know I won't even consider any type of new vox for quite a long time. I'm just thankful that the store I bought from (edtronics in oregon, WI) was on my side with this, or I would have been stuck with a 2000 dollar unreliable box of electronic components.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by nick munagian at 11/11/2001 18:17

Price Paid: US $1849

Features: 8
is a brand new reissue. not really a very versatile amp, just gets a nice sound. 3 inputs, 33 watts or so. there is a significant drop in volume on the vib/trem channel, but since the amp is freaking loud anyway, I doubt that it would ever be an issue for me at least.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a heritage 150p les paul copy with it, and it sounds fantastic. just a spectacular tone. has way to much volume for my needs, but I'm ok with that. very receptive to the effects I've tried it with, just a wah, distortion and chorus. the vib/trem input is particularly nice for getting some beautiful textures. I've heard that you can bridge the inputs together, but I'm not sure if that's healthy for it or not... I did it the first day that I had it, and a capacitor in the tone circuit blew up. I dont' know if those are related events or not. was an easy fix though, and has been running fine since then. beautiful sounding amp.

Reliability: 5
well, I'm kind of worried about that because of the incident on the first day... I think that it will be alright now though. I take good care of it, baby the hell out of it actually. planning on upgrading the tubes to mullards or something like that because i've heard the factory ones aren't so great. sounds spectacular anyway, but I have read that cheap tubes don't fare so well in the ac30 because of the amount of heat that is generated. anyway, it sounds so good it's worth the worrying.

Customer Support: 10
when it broke, the guy who sold it to me fixed it up just fine without any hassle at all. the warranty is good for a year, so if anything else is going to go wrong, I sure as hell hope it happens soon. I'm not too terribly concerned though, I think it just had it's glitch and is now ready to go.

Overall Rating: 10
i've been playing for about 4 years or so now, and this is my first all tube amp. stepped up from a solid state peavey and a 5 watt crate... so as you might surmise, this was quite a freaking improvement. I actually miss the amplifier while I'm at work, and contemplate running home on my break to play for 15 minutes, so that should tell you that it sounds alright.

Submitted by nick munagian at 07/16/2001 09:00

Price Paid: US $1100

Features: 5
My AC30 is a 2000 model Korg NOS: 30 watt Class A tube power, 2x12 Vox/Celestion Greenback speakers, 3 channels: Brilliant (which is practically all I use), Regular and Vib/Trem. The Brilliant channel incorporates the famous Vox "Top Boost" circuitry that gives the AC30 its trademark chime. Plug a Rickenbacker into the Brilliant channel and you have 1964 all over again, my friend. The Vib/Trem feature works OK, but you cannot switch channels on the fly: You either need an A/B channel switchbox pedal or you need to unplug from one jack and plug into the other. Or, as I do, you use a Boss Trem pedal on your pedal board and just stick with the Brilliant channel. No reverb in this amp, but if it was good enough for the Beatles, it is good enough for me.

Sound Quality: 10
Sound is what this amp is all about. It is the real deal that all the tube amp emulators are trying to mimic. Brown, earthy tone that is thick enough to stop traffic. Saying the tone is "creamy" does not do this amp justice. Sounds like a guitar amp should. What more can be said. Also, this amp is unbelieveably loud. Don't let the "30 watt" label make you think this amp is not gig worthy. On the contrary, it blows away 50 watt tube amps from other manufacturers. Don't ask me how, just check it out at your nearest Vox dealer. This thing smokes. I play a Rickenbacker 330/6 and a Fender Standard Telecaster and the AC30 makes these instruments come alive in my hands. For the most part, I play classic rock from the 60's up through current Top 40. To say the least, the AC30 is ideal for 60's and 70's pop rock - but more than that - it is a REAL guitar amp that gives you REAL tone.

Reliability: 7
Well, I have had my amp a couple of months gigging 2-3 times a month and practicing several times a week. No problems of any kind with my unit. The AC30 has a reputation for being delicate and requiring high maintenance, but so far so good with mine.

Customer Support: 6
Korg USA is the US distributor. They have a very helpful web site. Have not needed warranty service or assistance from the factory, so I cannot really rate their help in that dept.

Overall Rating: 9
The AC30 is a dream to own. It sounds like no other amp on Earth - especially not the digital "recreations" of what an AC30 is supposed to sound like. It is one heavy bitch to haul around, but it looks and sounds like a million bucks.

Submitted by Joel at 05/21/2001 12:02

Price Paid: US $1,100 new!

Features: 8
This is a reissue of the classic 60's vox ac 30. Mine was made circa late 90's and is a slightly different setup than the original. The tues are set up sideways, instead of vertically (this sucks when it comes to changing the tubes.) the standby switch is added (which helps prolong tube life). It has six inputs, hi and lo's for normal, a brilliant and a vib-trem channels. It has a class A setup, blah blah blah. They basically kept it simple, that the beauty of it!

Sound Quality: 10
Well... its a God F*cking VOX!! It is the classic awesome tone that many respected and revered musicians use today, U2, Radiohead, the BEATLES, and its F*cking LOUD, you crank it up and natural distortion kicks in!! I use a Fender Duo-Sonic with Duncan mini 59's on the bridge and neck positions and a Epiphone 335 Dot with Gibson Hardwarw and each channel has a personality all its own, the vib-trem sounds awesome, and is used by Radiohead in their song Planet Telex and by the Beatles in their song Flying. The volume for the Vib-Trem is weaker than the other Volumes, but I've heard about this complaint before. The Normal Channel is perfect for a well rounded tone, for rhythm and some lead work, and again it sounds like a vox. The brilliant channel, this is where the amp excels, as if it didn't already, The highs can cut through you so harshly, in a good way, and it's bright, very bright, (i.e. not ideal for metal). It sounds classic and earthy, it's sounds like an electric guitar should sound, it brings out the personalies of both my guitars, combining its unique tome with my guitars unique settings. One gripe, it does seem to hum rather loudly and I've heard about this problem before. Apparently the inputs are out of phase with each other and they interfere with one another. To fix this I've heard that you should turn up the volume settings on the other inputs while using the current inputs. It works, but I think my amp is like this because it was a floor model that had been at a Sam Ash store for a couple of years and the tubes probably need to be changed (this is how I got this amp so cheap, and with the original warranty), but nonetheless, it sounds awesome.

Reliability: N/A
I've had it a few days and it has not given me any problems yet, and i've heard some stories both good and bad...

Customer Support: 7
This bad boy has a 1 yr warranty on the hardware, 90 days on the speakers and 90 days on the tubes. Haven't had to call them yet

Overall Rating: 10
On the average, you will pay between 1400 and 1700 us dollars for a new one, but this is well worth the price! I've been playing for 8 years, my music ranges from Classic Rock to Modern Rock to Blues to Jazz, and this amp covers it all. I've played various guitars and variouis amps, fenders, crates, tube peaveys, but nothing comes close to this. The Vox AC30 TB is the best Tube amp out there, period. Tube amps out there are trying to copy this amp, but fall short. It has a tone all it's own and is perfect for any type of music, except metal. If it got stolen, I'd bash my AC 30 over the thiefs head, take it home wipe off the blood and play til the cops show. Try one out and you'll see this lives up to the hype

Submitted by sal at 05/13/2001 10:59

Price Paid: 1979.58 canadian

Features: 8
I buy a Vox AC30/6 TB(reissue) and i think it was made in 2000. I
mostly play rock'n'roll, rock and blue. For the feature that it have it is versatile, not for all kind of music but enough for what am playing. It have 3 non-footswitchable channel:brillant,normal and vibrem. There is a tone control for all the channel(cut)and the brillant has treble and bass. It has a tremolo and it is great. Each channel have is own color, what is made the amplifier more versatile. I master would be great but when you crank up the volume you can hear
a nice dirty clean. I mostly play in my bedroom and a jam with freinds
one time a week, and it is enough loud for playing in a band situation, 33 loud watts. When a play rock'n'roll a use the vibtrem channel and switch off the vibrato with the egg footswitch. I crank up and get a very good dirty clean kind of rolling stone sound(awesome one). I use this channel because its is less dart than the normal and it is less powerfull. When i play clean i use the brillant channel, the top boost make this channel so clear and you hear all ring out of a chord.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Yamaha Aes-1500 semi-hollow body guitar with the stock pickups(dimarzio q-100)it has a coil spliting that i love, i can choose the humbucker or the single coil, i mostly play with the single coil and play with the humbucker when i use a distortion pedal. The amplifier is a bit noisy, but like other say turn the volume knob of the normal channel to the half way and it disapear. I sold my Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 for buy this amplifier and the AC30 is a WAY better than this fender amp. The AC30 was my frist choose but i check out the other model and i find that it was the better sounding.
The sound is clear and can be dirt, it is not muddy. The nornal channel got a lot of bass i bit too enough for me but still good for putting a overdrive pedal.

Reliability: N/A
Here i dont know, i read a lot of review before buy this amp and some got problems, i choose to buy this amp knowing that it can broke down, but i baby this amp and i take care of it a lot so i think that it would last, i hope!!

Customer Support: N/A
I never dealt with the compagny but i hear some bad thing but the is a distributor near of my city at St-Laurent(Quebec)(Canada), so if i have problem i know where to go. The garanti is one year(i think)it is not very much but it ok.

Overall Rating: 9
I play for 5 year and i think that i can say what sound good or not, and honestly it a very good amp, not the better there are no better amp, but it a awesome one. If it were lost of stolen i would buy a other one or maybe a matchless buy god they are overated. This one of the better amp a never hear and never have and it will stay with me of life.

Submitted by olivier turcotte at 04/18/2001 07:58