Vox AC30CC2X

[Battles]

I just picked up a Vox AC30CC2X with the Alnico Blues in them. It's a 2007 ... looks to be in great condition. I have a question about the tone on these amps. When I fired it up and drove it a bit, the speakers kind of put out a high frequency crackle like they are blown. I have never heard one of these amps in person ... is this a normal sound for these amps?

It doesn't sound terrible. Maybe I will record a scratch track so you guys can get a better idea of what I am talking about.

[lematrix]

Originally Posted by Battles

I just picked up a Vox AC30CC2X with the Alnico Blues in them. It's a 2007 ... looks to be in great condition. I have a question about the tone on these amps. When I fired it up and drove it a bit, the speakers kind of put out a high frequency crackle like they are blown. I have never heard one of these amps in person ... is this a normal sound for these amps?

It doesn't sound terrible. Maybe I will record a scratch track so you guys can get a better idea of what I am talking about.

I have the Head Version of this Amp, and i dont i dont have that Problem. The new Ac30 is compared to an old one a little bit more "thin" in the highs, but its an really good new Amp. Post a clip please....

Mathias

[Jonboy79]

Post a clip, it could be anything from your pickups to a bad cable to your speakers or amp.

[theGeek]

yeah, a clip would be helpful.

[dewey decibel]

These amps have been known to have hiss issues, is it a hiss you're hearing?

[Battles]

It's more of a trebly crackle that you would normally hear out of a speaker that has been worn out and is distorting at the top end. When I plug the amp into my B-52 cab, the extreme top end is still there, but without the crackle.

I tend to believe that a lot of people are honest, and this guy had lots of great feedback ... I have a hard time believing he would sell me an amp with damaged speakers. You never know though. I will try and get some clips up soon. I can only really hear it on the top end channel with drive. This amp sounds better through my B-52 cab ... I know that shouldn't be the case. I don't want to confront the seller until I know for sure I am hearing what I think I am .

[dewey decibel]

Did he ship it to you? A lot can happen to an amp during shipping. Did you check all the connections from the OPT/speaker jacks to the speakers? It maybe you're cranking the amp, the whole cab is starting to vibrate, and you're getting an intermittent short.

[Battles]

I guess I am just not used to the breakup of these speakers. I took the amp into a local music shop and let them hear it, and they said it sounded fine. It does sound great ... however, there is a really high frequency crackle when you play with distortion that I have never heard before from a cab. It sits out of the band of the rest of the distortion and had me concerned ... but I guess it is how it is supposed to sound. You really have to have the speaker pointing directly at your ears to pick it up.

That said, the Vox really has the tone that I was hoping for. I plan on mixing it in with a B-52 AT-100 ... I think they will compliment each other perfectly.

[Battles]

I thought of a better way to explain this crackle. Think of a big fireworks show where they shoot off the big fireworks that "fizzle" after their report and leave big sparkler looking trails in the sky. This is what I am hearing when I give my Les Paul a lot of attack. If it is supposed to be there ... I would think it sounds cool. If it's not ... well damn. If I heard my car speakers doing this I would think they were shot. Anyone know what I am talking about?

[theGeek]

if you have a noise coming from the amp that you don't like how can you say you like the tone? maybe I misunderstood what you were trying to say.

Also, could it be fret buzz? Some amps will accentuate those frequencies more than others. My plexi clone really accentuates the fret buzz while my Valve junior kind of hides it.

[Dean7]

Well, that doesn't exactly sound normal. It could be that the magnets in the Blues are on the fritz (could have happened during shipping). Alnico speakers are pretty fragile.

Anyway, I own the CC2 (with the more modern Wharfdale speakers in it), and I play it loud (I always keep my master volume all the way up and generally my gain gets upwards of 50%) and have never heard anything that sounds like you are describing. It could be the tonal character of the Celestion Blues, but I doubt it because I've heard them described as "smooth and creamy with a natural compression when driven".

How loud do you have to get the amp before they make the noise? And, yeah, if you posted some sound clips that would probably be helpful!

[peeder]

Make sure the blues are firmly screwed into the cab?

[Battles]

Well ... my girlfriend doesn't hear it (she says maybe she hears what I am talking about ... not that that's saying much ) ... I'm one of those guys who buys a MacBook Pro and sits at the Apple Store for hours convincing them there is a pixel out or a defect in the screen.

I say the tone sounds great because it does ... it is only this crackle that concerns me. It is definitely there ... but I have never heard Alnico blues ... so maybe this is a characteristic I am just unfamiliar with but I do know these speakers are very fragile so it wouldn't surprise me if they have been slightly damaged in some way. The best way to describe it really is the firecracker fizzle.

I will try and post clips soon and see if you guys can hear what I am hearing. My rig is temporarily down right now.

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by Battles

Well ... my girlfriend doesn't hear it (she says maybe she hears what I am talking about ... not that that's saying much ) ... I'm one of those guys who buys a MacBook Pro and sits at the Apple Store for hours convincing them there is a pixel out or a defect in the screen.

I say the tone sounds great because it does ... it is only this crackle that concerns me. It is definitely there ... but I have never heard Alnico blues ... so maybe this is a characteristic I am just unfamiliar with but I do know these speakers are very fragile so it wouldn't surprise me if they have been slightly damaged in some way. The best way to describe it really is the firecracker fizzle.

I will try and post clips soon and see if you guys can hear what I am hearing. My rig is temporarily down right now.

I am an extreme perfectionist as well, and let me tell you: you should get some sort of resolution in your mind about this or it will always bug you. :)

[theGeek]

Originally Posted by Battles

Well ... my girlfriend doesn't hear it (she says maybe she hears what I am talking about ... not that that's saying much ) ... I'm one of those guys who buys a MacBook Pro and sits at the Apple Store for hours convincing them there is a pixel out or a defect in the screen.

I say the tone sounds great because it does ... it is only this crackle that concerns me. It is definitely there ... but I have never heard Alnico blues ... so maybe this is a characteristic I am just unfamiliar with but I do know these speakers are very fragile so it wouldn't surprise me if they have been slightly damaged in some way. The best way to describe it really is the firecracker fizzle.

I will try and post clips soon and see if you guys can hear what I am hearing. My rig is temporarily down right now.

I suggest figuring this out before becoming too attached the amp. If you spend that kind of money (I don't know how much you spent but I have a pretty good idea) you don't want to have an amp that's "good enough".

Has anyone else with a "guitarists ear" listened to them? have they heard the fizz? I would seriously start checking all screws, knobs, casters, anything you can find. You'll be surprised at how much something silly like a loose screw can rattle and how audible it is.

[peeder]

Here's a question: how do you re-tube an AC30CCH? (the head version of this amp)

I unscrewed the back panel, and I was unable to find anything else likely to unscrew, nor was I able to slide the chassis out. The front grille is screwed in from the inside.

This chassis is incredibly poorly designed. If a tube goes the amp is toast until someone can figure out how to get in there....

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by peeder

Here's a question: how do you re-tube an AC30CCH? (the head version of this amp)

I unscrewed the back panel, and I was unable to find anything else likely to unscrew, nor was I able to slide the chassis out. The front grille is screwed in from the inside.

This chassis is incredibly poorly designed. If a tube goes the amp is toast until someone can figure out how to get in there....

Seriously, I think you need to take another look. I've pulled apart my AC30CC2 and it was a piece of cake!

And, seriously, looking at this image it doesn't look incredibly hard:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbas...9/6/228796.jpg

[Battles]

Originally Posted by peeder

Here's a question: how do you re-tube an AC30CCH? (the head version of this amp)

I unscrewed the back panel, and I was unable to find anything else likely to unscrew, nor was I able to slide the chassis out. The front grille is screwed in from the inside.

This chassis is incredibly poorly designed. If a tube goes the amp is toast until someone can figure out how to get in there....

Try looking under the chassis for screws. On my unit, there are screws attached to the chassis board that are located underneath in the speaker cab. Remove those ... and the chassis will slide out. I took the unit apart to make sure the tubes the seller said he put in there were in fact in there. They were. Everything else looks solid as well.

[peeder]

Originally Posted by Dean7

Seriously, I think you need to take another look. I've pulled apart my AC30CC2 and it was a piece of cake!

And, seriously, looking at this image it doesn't look incredibly hard:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbas...9/6/228796.jpg

Yeah I took off the back panel, and the chassis would not slide out. The screws on the bottom don't go past the spring reverb. I think the chassis is stuck in there with some double-stick foam strips that won't unstick without some degree of damage to them. I may be wrong, but what I'm looking for isn't advice from someone with the combo, but specific advice from someone who has actually retubed the head version.

An internet search didn't reveal anything, and Vox will probably act to protect their service subcontractors.

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by peeder

Yeah I took off the back panel, and the chassis would not slide out. The screws on the bottom don't go past the spring reverb. I think the chassis is stuck in there with some double-stick foam strips that won't unstick without some degree of damage to them. I may be wrong, but what I'm looking for isn't advice from someone with the combo, but specific advice from someone who has actually retubed the head version.

An internet search didn't reveal anything, and Vox will probably act to protect their service subcontractors.

Well, it was incredibly smart of you to ask your question in a thread where we're talking about the combo and not a thread where we're talking about the head then.

The head and combo are pretty close in terms of assembly as far as I can tell (probably re-used as many pieces as possible to keep production costs down).

Anyway, as Battles mentioned I believe there might be some screws holding the chassis in place from below. You could try searching for those.

[theGeek]

Originally Posted by peeder

Here's a question: how do you re-tube an AC30CCH? (the head version of this amp)

I unscrewed the back panel, and I was unable to find anything else likely to unscrew, nor was I able to slide the chassis out. The front grille is screwed in from the inside.

This chassis is incredibly poorly designed. If a tube goes the amp is toast until someone can figure out how to get in there....

yeah, you totally hijacked this thread. You should probably start your own thread so Battles can get HIS question answered.

[jsaliba]

Where do you have the cut knob set that's next to the volume knob? With this knob all the way off, this amp has some very high frequencies that aren't present in a lot of warmer-voiced amps. I find that the cut needs to be up around 3/4 of the way up or you're in treble city if treble and bass are both around half way. There's a chance that the amp is fine and you're just hearing that crazy-high treble that isn't getting rolled off. Hopefully this is your issue and not something actually wrong with the amp. That thing with celestion blues is so sweet. I keep wanting one but it wouldn't get used much for the style of music my band plays.

Jake

[Battles]

Here are some clips. I have two mics on the Vox panned hard to both sides.

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by Battles

Here are some clips. I have two mics on the Vox panned hard to both sides.

That scratching noise I heard sounds not quite right to me, but you play with your Vox more driven than I usually do so that could have something to do with it. ?

Anyway, it doesn't sound 100% "normal" to me, but on the other hand it doesn't really sound bad, so if you want to "fix" that sound I'm sure you can, but is it worth it to you?

-Dean

[Battles]

Thanks for the reply Dean7. That scratchy sound that can be heard while I am playing single notes sounds like a tube acting up. Not sure though. At the end of the Vox_test_1 file you can really hear the sound I am curious about. Are these normal characteristics of a Vox? Like you said Dean7, it definitely doesn't sound bad. On the chords it sounds cool ... but when playing solos, I do not care for the noise.

Either way ... the Vox definitely has the sound I was looking for. Just trying to figure out if my unit is okay.

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by Battles

Thanks for the reply Dean7. That scratchy sound that can be heard while I am playing single notes sounds like a tube acting up. Not sure though. At the end of the Vox_test_1 file you can really hear the sound I am curious about. Are these normal characteristics of a Vox? Like you said Dean7, it definitely doesn't sound bad. On the chords it sounds cool ... but when playing solos, I do not care for the noise.

Either way ... the Vox definitely has the sound I was looking for. Just trying to figure out if my unit is okay.

Well, in that regard I think your unit is OK. There are a lot of strange harmonics that go on with the AC30, and I've heard reports of people hearing strange notes that basically sound like they're playing 2 notes when they're only playing a single note.

I used to notice that sort of thing as well until I took mine in to an amazing tech here in Portland and he installed a "rectifier saver" circuit (not sure what that entails I have to confess) because the AC30s REALLY chew through rectifier tubes, and he installed some better tubes in it and those 2 changes made it sound a lot better (and it tamed some of the strange wolf notes and stuff a little bit). It still has the quirky AC30 sounds, and it's crazy at times (part of what I like about my AC30) but it has a more "rock solid" tone to it now. So, you might just need to re-tube with some high-quality stuff if you want to get rid of that tone.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is: the AC30 has ALWAYS been a quirky amp. Ever since their inception they have been plagued with reliability issues (my CC2 actually has been pretty dang reliable since I had the amp tech go over it, actually), and Dick Denney basically created it by tweaking and finding something that sounded good. His methods were pretty ghetto and un-scientific, and I have gotten the feeling that he was the kind of guy who didn't really understand what he was doing half the time but just "went for it" anyway.

Hope this helps. :)

-Dean

[FFTT]

If you want a very cool, much better build of the AC30 circuit,

I'd look at the /13 RSA 31
The dAAb Tupelo Honey
Gabriel Voxer

The dAAb was a real hit at the recent NY/NJ amp show both
for design and for sound.



Fred Daab
358 Fairlane Drive
Spartanburg, SC 29307

The Tupelo Honey is priced as follows:
1x12 Combo: $2050
2x12 Combo: $2225
2x10 Combo: $2150
Head Only: $1650
1x12 Cab: $450
2x12 Cab: $550
2x10 Cab: $500
For a two-stage attenuator built into any amp configuration, add $65.
Three-button footswitch for channel switching and drive, add $50

The stock speakers in their cabs are Weber VST

Their price for an all hand wired head is quite reasonable.

[sethmeister]

I think what you're hearing is noisy tubes. Its common to EF86 preamp tubes and if I recall correctly the tubes supplied stock in the AC30CC series have been lower quality.

I'd retube with better quality and see if it goes away.

[Dean7]

Originally Posted by sethmeister

I think what you're hearing is noisy tubes. Its common to EF86 preamp tubes and if I recall correctly the tubes supplied stock in the AC30CC series have been lower quality.

I'd retube with better quality and see if it goes away.

Yeah. Re-tubing my AC30CC2 made a world of difference.

[Battles]

Originally Posted by Dean7

Yeah. Re-tubing my AC30CC2 made a world of difference.

The power tubes are JJ's and the pre's are Mullards. Maybe they are just worn out.