Vox AC-1 Mini Combo

Price Paid: US $43

Features: 6
3 knobs (volume, cut, gain), input jack, 2 2" speakers. It looks like a shrunken-down AC-30. Approx. 8" wide X 6" tall. Very cute little amp, and very simple. It's a little bigger than I thought it would be, quite a bit bigger than the mini-marshall I've seen at music stores. It seems better-built, too. At least it's big enough to sit on a table without the weight of a guitar cord pulling it off onto the floor.

Sound Quality: 8
This is a cool-sounding little amp. If you turn the volume up about 3/4 of the way, set the Gain about 1/2 way up, and leave the "cut" turned up(down? whatever the maximum treble setting would be), it is a hoot to play through. It cleans up when you back off on the guitar's volume knob, and gets good lead tones when cranked. It has a suprisingly gutsy sound. Must be the power tubes distorting (hee hee hee). I'm looking forward to recording with this little amp. I'm going to take it to band practice sometime as a joke, too. It's pretty darn loud for its size. I like the fact that I can FINALLY crank an amp up to full volume in my house, and not have the neighbors complain about the noise. Remember though, you have to turn it up loud for it to sound good. If you leave it turned down, it sounds kind of small, which of course it is. Another thing: Cranked up full, you can stand (sit? kneel?) in front of it, and get great feedback. This kind of suprised me.

Reliability: 6
Well, I've had it for a total of 17 hours now, and it hasn't failed me yet. As small as it is, I'd worry about accidentally stepping on it and crushing it, more than I'd worry about dropping it or something. I don't know about gigging with it... I think it would be hilarious to see someone on stage with one of these sitting on a music stand, mic'ed up and wailing. I'd do it, and probably will, but not without an AC adapter. It's plastic and meant to be a toy, so I won't give it a really high rating, although I can't see it giving me any trouble.

Customer Support: N/A
If this thing went up in smoke, I'd probably just dust the burn marks off and set it on a shelf. It's a toy. No, actually, I think I'd call them and raise all kinds of hell, just for the comedic aspect of it. I wouldn't expect an amp company to make a $40 toy amp a high priority, but it would be funny to call them and act like I expect them to.

Overall Rating: 10
I judge any instrument or amp by the amount of fun I have playing it. This amp, for what it is, is a lot of fun. It's meant to be a cool-looking toy that also sounds kind of like a real VOX amp. It does both really well, so I hereby bestow on it a 10.

Submitted by kelly at 04/02/1998 10:40

Price Paid: US $40

Ease of Use: 8
This being one of those little plastic "toy" amplifiers, it's not that tough to get the swing of things. Oddities: there's no power switch. you plug in and it's on There's volume, gain and cut (treble cut) controls. The Volume and gain are very interdependent and neither one cranked up will give you instant "fuzz" like with those little marshal MS-1s. But, as I will discuss later, that doesn't matter one bit...

Sound Quality: 10
This thing is the most amazing thing to happen to Vox-addicts on paper-route budgets. Picture it. It's a $40 peice of plastic that just looks cool, like a tiny AC-30, but this thing sounds amazing! Unlike the little toy Marshall or Fender mini amps, this thing has a very specific vox-like character. I can't explain it, but mic'd up, this thing does an amazing job at faking that classic Vox tone. For $40, don't just take my word for it, if you're a Vox fan, you must pick one up. The key is to keep the volume full up, or close to it, and the gain somewhere below half, and put the cut up about halfway and you've got a killer tone. It breaks up in a very sweet, voxy way. I'm an electronics geek and I can't figure out how they did this!

Reliability: 5
Well, it's plastic. I wouldn't do much more with it but record or practice with it.

Customer Support: N/A
I have no idea... You could probably fix yourself, if you had to, although I haven't opened it up yet (I swear I think there's magic in this thing!)

Overall Rating: 10
I would buy one for all my guitar playing friends. A great stocking stuffer, but beyond being so cute, it sounds amazing.

Submitted by Roger at 12/28/1997 17:21

Price Paid: US $45.00

Features: 8
1 Watt practice amp styled as mini AC-30. 2x2" speakers (no I don't think they are "Blue Backs") one input, volume "cut", "drive" controlls. Mini headphone jack (walkman type). 9 volt wall wart input. Usefull little solid state practice amp loud for its size. check out the authentic looking grille cloth and other cool cosmetics! I just wish it was bigger, something like the old Escort with say 3 or 4 watts running off of 6 AA batts going through 2 4" speakers would be a cool alternatve to a Pignose.

Sound Quality: 8
Now the amazing thing is it sounds pretty " Voxy" The "drive" gives a nice creamy smooth distortion up to about 3/4 much different than the grind you get out ot the Marshall Ms-2. My Tele gets a nice Jeff Beck with the Yardbirds tone, and if you back off the drive a bit you get a fair approximation of Rick Ring with my 330/12. The tone control works as a cut, giving full treble in the 1 oclock position and rolling off highs as you sweep it around, a little diffrent I will need to expirment more. It doesn't really get harsh untill its all the way up on all settings and its more of a physical breakup as opposed to a musical distortion. Up to 3/4 is cool with lots of good blues and pop sounds on tap. The head phones are pretty raucious giving a Satisfaction fuzztone type of thing at all settings. Could be useful for recording. Pretty good overall

Reliability: 9
Seems well made more solid than my ms-2

Customer Support: 7
Just got it! Warranty? what warranty.

Overall Rating: N/A
Pretty Cool overall It sound good and looks great (I'm thinking about watering it to see if it will grow into a AC-30) The head phone jack is less than great but what the hey, I'd get another(Custom colors?). But I wish Marshall would release somthing in the Vox line between this and the AC-15. The Escort would be cool, and the AC-4 would be awsome!! The schematics are out there, how about it!!

Submitted by D. Lindsay at 10/24/1997 12:14