My Hot Rod Deluxe died. Time for a new amp. Help! Vox AC15?

[simonv]

Hello ladies and gents,

My old beaten-up fender Hot rod deluxe died on me again during a show last week. I've lost my trust now and I won't feel safe to play live with it anymore, so I want to get a new amp.

So, I'm thinking about those new Vox AC15CCI. What do you guys think about those? Are they worth it? How do they sound? I just have a good feeling about the Vox amps, but I'm not sure about the reissue stuff. What are their pros and cons?

If not, my requirements for an amp are:
- not too big/heavy
- good for the studio
- reliable
- tube
- around 600$us or 800$can

My playing is soft/bluesy/stratocaster type. I need a good clean sound that I'll overdrive with a TS9. I need an amp that responds well to "expressiveness", with a good reproduction of details, which my HRD was not to good at... (compared to better amps)

Any suggestions?

[Jonboy79]

If you go over to americanmusical.com, they are selling ac30cc 1x12's for 699 US. I already have the ac30cch and absolutely love it.

[code green]

Originally Posted by simonv

Hello ladies and gents,

My old beaten-up fender Hot rod deluxe died on me again during a show last week. I've lost my trust now and I won't feel safe to play live with it anymore, so I want to get a new amp.

So, I'm thinking about those new Vox AC15CCI. What do you guys think about those? Are they worth it? How do they sound? I just have a good feeling about the Vox amps, but I'm not sure about the reissue stuff. What are their pros and cons?

If not, my requirements for an amp are:
- not too big/heavy
- good for the studio
- reliable
- tube
- around 600$us or 800$can

My playing is soft/bluesy/stratocaster type. I need a good clean sound that I'll overdrive with a TS9. I need an amp that responds well to "expressiveness", with a good reproduction of details, which my HRD was not to good at... (compared to better amps)

Any suggestions?

princeton or princeton reverb!

[bogeyeater]

that vox reissue looks pretty sweet, def worth a tryout - i've already ordered a tiny terror + 1x12 so i'm committed now

i swapped my hotrod for a blues junior back when and never looked back, never got on with it that much except when it was pumped up way loud




hey, that dog on yr avatar is the cutest!!

[Tommy Fobia]

Careful of the AC30cc2, I know of at least three of them with insufficient ventilation which causes the strip above the speaker baffle to heat up and warp dramatically outwards. This may be a problem that they have since rectified (I know that Vox are aware of the problem anyway), but this has occurred on more than one amp, so for now I would steer clear of them. The Chinese reissue amps are still in the teething stages in my opinion, but they do sound very nice.

The cch looks lovely, but don't expect it to yield the same sounds as your old fender. Vox are a favourate of mine for their dynamic 'touch sensitive' response which you feel your fender was lacking, so maybe this option would work for you.

[simonv]

Originally Posted by Tommy Fobia

Careful of the AC30cc2, I know of at least three of them with insufficient ventilation which causes the strip above the speaker baffle to heat up and warp dramatically outwards.

If it heats my beer... it's a no-go.

[simonv]

Originally Posted by bogeyeater

hey, that dog on yr avatar is the cutest!!

Thanks! but...
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=98299

(Don't worry it's all good )

[bogeyeater]

poor puppy

[simonv]

I went to a couple stores today and I tried the following:

An original Princeton Reverb - 995$can
A Super reverb (4x10" Celestion V30) - 895$can
A Twin reverb - 1200$can

I didn't drive them at a very high volume, but at first listen, I prefered the 4x10 Super Reverb.

But, the thing is, just before buying it, I decided to try a Hot Rod Deluxe just to calibrate my ears to what I currently have, and I must admit that I liked it too.... So I decided to wait a bit until I find something that really triggers my mojo.

Any other recommendations?

[Teddy Gee]

Another recommendation for the Orange Tiny Terror (I am waiting on one here but have had some stirring chances to play/hear this beauty).

It will cost you a bit more than your $600 range by the time you add a speaker cab, but to my ear they are a large step above the Vox and Fender products of today.

Down side is that they are still relatively hard to come by. I expect to get mine in January sometime.

Good luck,
Stephen

[Matt Grondin]

Whose Hot Rod Deluxe hasn't died???? I swear, those are the most poorly made amps in history. And what sucks is that they sound really good for a new, cheaper Fender. I've had one, my buddy's have had theirs, and they've all died. dfegad new Fender shit made in Mexico.

[Football]

I know you want something small but I have to tell you I just bought a Bassman LTD and while it is not exactly small it is much lighter than I expected.

I find it wildly superior to the Hot Rod Deluxe (I have one).

Maybe I am still in the honeymoon phase but if you can get past it being a little larger it really is worth a look.

[tomdarude]

I´ve always been a big fender fan....

the Hotrod-Deluxe is a super amp....for the first 10 weeks
than it starts to crap out.....we´ve been through this with a least 8-10 of them!!
(bought for a music-school & by friends)
NO GO !!

Super Reverb is nice,
old Vibrolux (can be tweaked a million ways, till you like it)
used VibroKing (aahhhh)



....but my new found love is

Marshall HW 1974x I love this baby!!

[tubedude]

My Fender experience:
I've been playing for 20+ years now and come from an 80's and 90's rock background, lots of Dokken, Metallica, Mega, etc, and still listen to modern rock. In all this time I have not heard *ONE* single FEnder amp that sounded like it should sound to me. They sound cloudy and have awful gain staging. Turn up the drive for some RAWK and you get CRAP instead. Awful.
Also, they seem to need constant attention. Poor QC or something. For the most part when I see a Fender amp OR guitar at a store, I totally tune it out as if its a used cheap Gorilla or something. No desire for that junk. The guitars feel like a feather which screams CHEAP at me.
I'm starting to find interest in the Vox stuff for recording, but I'm iffy about the quality of the build and QC. These places just dont seem to build em like a Mesa. Mesa build quality is right on. Tough as nails, and consistent.
I just cant like a Fender and I cant understand why anyone would want one.

[Football]

Originally Posted by tubedude

My Fender experience:
I've been playing for 20+ years now and come from an 80's and 90's rock background, lots of Dokken, Metallica, Mega, etc, and still listen to modern rock. In all this time I have not heard *ONE* single FEnder amp that sounded like it should sound to me. They sound cloudy and have awful gain staging. Turn up the drive for some RAWK and you get CRAP instead. Awful.

Too funny. I agree completely that they do not do Metallica and Mega very well. I don't play Mega so it doesn't really matter for me.

I use Fender amps for their clean/slightly broken up sounds and I love them for that. Some of the Fenders have the sweetest clean sound imaginable (to me).

By the way, I used to play Dokken/80's stuff years ago and hated Fenders as well but my tastes changed as the years rolled on.

[tubedude]

Its funny that we cant actually type mega here without getting the skull and crossbones automatically. Cool.

[Matt Grondin]

Dude, if you heard my Blackface Super Reverb on about 6-7 with a nice overdrive in front of it, you might change your mind. I always liked my Twin forever, but I wanted something different so I bought a Germino, which is a Marshall clone basically. I love it to death and still consider one of my favorite amps, but after I bought that Super, I've never looked back. I still use the Germino for big heavy crunch shit through the 4x12 or sometimes Hendrix/Allman Bros. lead tones, but the Super is more responsive for leads than any amp I've ever played. Check out this clip that's also on my myspace of me jamming with The Lee Boys (I play a solo towards the end) and tell me you don't think that's a good, or even great, guitar tone, despite the shitty audio quality... I dare ya I would post something with better quality, but it's a new amp and I haven't recorded it for real yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoC85KU6ZFg&eurl=



Oh yeah, regarding Boogies, I would like them alot more if they didn't have so much extraneous shit in the circuit. Randall Smith's simpler designs are cool, but stuff like the Road King is just unnecessary nonsense IMO. Who needs all that crap? If I plug in, and it sounds good, great. If I have to **** with it for more than a minute, I'm over it. I don't even use channel switching at all anymore, but the best switching amps I've used were the Diezel's. The Herbert was sweet. Ok, later.

[simonv]

Originally Posted by dobby12

Check out this clip that's also on my myspace of me jamming with The Lee Boys (I play a solo towards the end) and tell me you don't think that's a good, or even great, guitar tone, despite the shitty audio quality... I dare ya

Man these guys can play. And you're right about that tone. It sounds awesome. I'd need a guitarist like you here, you can definitively play.

[Matt Grondin]

Why thank you. I wasn't trying to show off or anything... I just wanted to showcase what I feel is an amazing guitar tone that's been wrongly accused. I do agree that most new Fender stuff is sub-standard, but their old-school shit is second to none for certain things. Take care.

[flail19]

I am in the same boat. Right now I use a Line 6 . With my ears I have narrowed it down to the Vox AC30CC2 30W 2x12 Combo, the Blackface Super Reverb or the 59 Bassman reissue. To me the Bassman has a slight lead.

Thanks for this thread!

[flail19]

bumparino!

[FFTT]

I'm just wishing I could find a hand wired point to point drop in chassis
to replace the PC board re-issue electronics in my Blues Deluxe.

The amp was totally reliable until recently when something went cooking in the
pre-amp section overheating the P/C board.

Finding a good portable combo that will handle both bass and guitar has it's challenges.

The Blues Deluxe had enough clean headroom and power to handle my '64 Jazz Bass
over live drums and was PLENTY loud enough for guitar.


You have to be carefull with what some of these manufacturers are calling re-issues.
If it's not 100% point to point hand wired, it's just a knockoff of the original with fancy marketing.

[Ilty]

Originally Posted by tomdarude

I´ve always been a big fender fan....
the Hotrod-Deluxe is a super amp....for the first 10 weeks
than it starts to crap out.....we´ve been through this with a least 8-10 of them!!
(bought for a music-school & by friends)
NO GO !!
Super Reverb is nice,
old Vibrolux (can be tweaked a million ways, till you like it)
used VibroKing (aahhhh)
....but my new found love is
Marshall HW 1974x I love this baby!!

+1

be careful with reissues..

try Ampeg ReverbRocket, or used Crate Vintage Club

[FFTT]

I'd be taking a close look at the Marshall 18 watt, the Mesa Lonestar Special and the Divided by 13's

There's plenty more out there in the boutique lines, but these three would be a good comparative starting point.

[raal]

new amps i'm considering are reissue super reverb, hand wired AC15, handwired 1974X and 2061X. got a tiny terror recently. can't say enough good things about it.

Originally Posted by tomdarude

I´ve always been a big fender fan....

have an old blackface vibroluxe. for crystal clean or slightly broken up, what tone... thumbsup

[Kestral]

Keep in mind this is someone who owns a British made Vox AC15tbx amp...

If you're going for a bluesy sound which sounds great overdriven by a tube screamer, then I'd recommend getting some kind of old Fender. It sounds like a blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb is the kind of amp you'd want to get, but way out of the price range. You can get a reissue but I've owned a blackface Fender reissue before (65 Twin Reverb reissue) and sad to say imo they do not have the mojo as the real deal. I was surprised the Princeton Reverb didn't do the trick though.

The Vox amps are more for if you want that Beatles or U2 or Queen sound, that's what it excels at, it's not that Stevie Ray Vaughn blues sound that it sounds like you may be going for. PLUS I haven't heard good things about the China made Vox amps (and to me they didn't sound anywhere near as good as the British reissue Vox AC15/30 amps), especially without the blue alnico speaker (imo that's a must-have for the Vox, not a luxury option).

[FFTT]

If you are performing regularly, you need something roadworthy.

That's a real tough call in your price range and even more difficult if you want lots of clean headroom playing with live drums.
The Vox AC30's gets the sound, but they are historically not very reliable on the road.

I would check out Gbase.com and look for an original hand wired Bassman ( non-re-issue) or go for a hand wired Vibro-King.

Also check out the Vintone ACEY 30 ( lifetime warranty)
The heads run $1700.00USD and up. www.vintone.com

Lots of people are praising the 65 Amp London and Marquee, the Divided By 13's and the Bad Cats, but thats way more than you were planning to spend.

Staying in your price range, you could try to find a tweed Blues Jr. or go for the non hot rod Blues Deluxe adding a Vintage 30 to hold you over.

You have to decide what it's worth to you to have proper tools for your trade.

If you are generating enough income to justify the expense, go to your bank and
get the necessary funds to buy a better amp.

[bogeyeater]

i'm in the same boat - i can't get enough clean headroom out of my BJr

so it was going to be a vox head until i visited the matchless site and got dc30'd

soooo i'm heading for a ceriatone dc30 with a reason amps head cab plus a tubetown 2x12 greenback/vintage 30

i reckon the whole lot should settle in around £750 inc shipping - ie about the same price as the equivalent vox rig .

[Unclenny]

Originally Posted by bogeyeater

i'm in the same boat - i can't get enough clean headroom out of my BJr

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=110979

[undermind]

Originally Posted by simonv

Hello ladies and gents,

My old beaten-up fender Hot rod deluxe died on me again during a show last week. I've lost my trust now and I won't feel safe to play live with it anymore, so I want to get a new amp.

So, I'm thinking about those new Vox AC15CCI. What do you guys think about those? Are they worth it? How do they sound? I just have a good feeling about the Vox amps, but I'm not sure about the reissue stuff. What are their pros and cons?

If not, my requirements for an amp are:
- not too big/heavy
- good for the studio
- reliable
- tube
- around 600$us or 800$can

My playing is soft/bluesy/stratocaster type. I need a good clean sound that I'll overdrive with a TS9. I need an amp that responds well to "expressiveness", with a good reproduction of details, which my HRD was not to good at... (compared to better amps)

Any suggestions?

Going back to the original question..
I think that the amps that will suit your style of "expressiveness" with a good reproduction of details would be the Vox AC15 you mentioned or a Bassman. Maybe even a Blues Deville. I think the key is that if it's Fender, and you want that responsive, quick expression, you've got to go with 10" speakers. Fender's are just too thick with the 12"er's.

But the thing I'm thinking is that you're coming from a long time playing the Hot Rod Deluxe, so going to an AC15 or a Bassman would be a bit of a shock to the system I would think. Especially the AC15. What other people have mentioned is very true. I just spent awhile yesterday playing all the amps we're talking about here, and god that AC15 just has a sound that no Fender can get. It's that crystal clarity. But they just don't know how to get warm like a Fender!

Personally, I'm gonna grab a AC15 and a Fender Pro Junior. That Pro Junior is unreal. Stomps on the Blues Junior IMO. Should be a great combination for the studio.