Vox AC15 C1

VOX AC 15

Wonderful 15 watt amp just right for recording or smaller gigs

I bought this amp after a 15 year hiatus playing guitar and never owning a tube amp. Im always happy with the sounds it produces whether im using my Fender strat or an epiphone or harley benton LP.

I'm not going to knock any marks off because its the nature of the amp itself, but I will say that bedroom playing is possible but not easy, even with a master knob. The amp wants to go loud and the increase in volume using master knob is very sudden from inaudible to moderately loud, so it takes a bit of finesse to get just right for low volume. Even then ,YOU will want to go louder as the tone only seems to improve with a bit of volume. I intend on trying an attenuator to see if it can help produce a happy medium but with this amp it requires a bit of light modification.

Great sounding amp

I tried the amp with a Strat and I fell in love with the tone. Very bright with a good reverb and many tone options.

Cons: It is a single channel amp, I guess this might be an issue for some people.

Classic Vox Tones

After playing a VT20 for a couple of years, I decided it was time for an upgrade. I was torn between the AC15 and a Marshall Origin 20, eventually the classic Vox chime won out.

Build quality:

The build quality of the AC15 is very very nice, it's basically built like a tank (and 21.7 kg heavy like one too). I would expect this amp to last a long time.

Sound:

First up, it's loud - and I mean really really loud. But hey, loud is more good right? Honestly, though it is probably too loud for bedroom use (if you want to crank it that is). I will almost certainly get an attenuator as I only play at home.

I love the sparkly Vox tone, and this delivers in spades. You can go from beautiful rich sounding cleans to full on throaty rock tones.

The only downside I can see is that the speaker is hard wired so to use the internal speaker with an attenuator, you need to mod it.

Profitable amp if you know what you want!

This Amp-series might be one of the more famous ones in the world, and the "status" that it has is understandable. I've it stationed in my bedroom beside my little "studio" corner and of course, it's a good looking amp and also a sort of decoration. The features may be limited but that's almost what to expect, if you're looking to buy an amp from the AC-series you know what you're searching for. As in my case i'm a huge U2 fan and that's is actually the main reason why i bought it.

Basically you have two options, either the Top Boost or the Normal channel.

I'll summarize it quickly from my point of view.

Top Boost - No additional pedal is needed to create a crunchy/overdrive sound.

Normal - Might need something between the guitar and amp to crunch it up a little...

A really good additional pedal to the Top Boost option is a simple Compressor pedal, my main order is basically: Guitar - Dyna comp - Delay - Vox Ac15. And for solos i usually add a Boss Sd1. It's quite simple when comparing to the tones you can get.

Then should you buy it? It depends...

1. Do you want to imitate specific bands, for example U2, Queen etc?

2. Do you have access to a place where you can really crank an amp to it's max?

3. Do you have a few different guitar pedals? (Probably yes..)

If you can tick these 3 then you might be the one to buy a Vox AC-15.

Now comes the 3 opposite questions..

1. Do you play at home, ex in an aparmtment/townhouse?

2. Do you have a really expensive guitar and almost no pedals?

3. Do you want a Vox AC-15 but with the Alnico blue speaker instead of the Greenback stock version?

If you can tick these 3 then might not be the one to buy a Vox AC-15..

I'm living in a house with neighbours in almost every direction and it's not very often when i can even crank it up to 50% without worrying about getting complains, i've solved this sort of by having compressor with relative low volume on. But i'm not fully satisfied with that solution.

Then as i said it's features are limited. Tremolo and Reverb is the only effects you can mod around with so i'd recommend having a few pedals just to spread the capabilities.

And the speaker... i underrated the Alnico blue speaker and planning on ordering it to get it replaced with the Greenback speaker. I'm not saying the Greenback is bad (which it isn't) but it's not the tones i'm searching for. So dig into the two options just to be sure you're choosing the right one.

Summarized it's a great amp and of course a really good option if the AC-30 is too big for you. I'm only 17 and i do not have all the money in the world but i still find this amp "cheap" compared to its capability. And especially to U2 fans wondering if it's any good for "U2" purposes - It doesn't requires more than this amp and ex a Korg SDD 3000 to give me shiver =)

Classic tones

Love this amp, delivers the classic Vox tones without having to crank the volume right up too!

small amp, big sound

premise: this is VERY loud. You cannot expect to run the tubes at full power in a house.

The dynamic response is amazing, the sound is clean and creamy and british and the eq settings can shape the tone with elegance. The best part though is the built-in true spring reverb. No effects pedal will give you that.

Excellent vintage sound

I bought this 9 years ago and it will probably last a lifetime, it is used only ocassionally as I play another instrument. Build quality is excellent. The control knobs are not even making any noise after all these years.

Probably best used with single type pickup guitars. Some players will miss the middle frequency tone control and you have to buy a router to easily switch between normal gain and high gain without having to pull the cord, but if you are going for vintage, this is not an issue. I have the version with Greenback speaker and have not tried the others.

King of Tone!

Amps are subjective like all tone-related stuff but man does this VOX AC15C1 inspires! have played all from Bugera V5, V22, V55, Bugera G20, Fender DR, Laney Cub10, Peavey Bandit, VOX VT20+ , Boss Katana 50 but nothing really comes close to this (exept the Fender DR but is a different beats tone wise). Right now I have an Egnater Tweaker 15 into a Palmer 1x12 cab loaded with a Jensen Blackbird alnico 12" speaker and is a lovely sounding amp but nothing like this AC15C1.

My playing style is clean to slight overdrive and then some lead tone and all this can be found in this spungey, gritty, vintage indie goodness! I mean as soon you hit a chord Radiohead comes to mind!

At first i was eyeing the AC10C1 but it had only the top boost channel and I wasn't sure it would play well with my pedals and I also dislike closed back amps.

Im glad I chose the AC15 as both the top boost and the normal are usable and some of my guitars prefer one over the other but both take my pedal board well.

Fantastic buy! Amp with great dynamics and really responds well with the use of guitar tone and volume knobs without tone getting muddy when volume is reduced. Also turning down the tone knob on the guitar brings about some very nice crunch for rhythm!

Very happy with it! Im keeping it stock!

I'm sorry

I'm sorry I waited so long to get to know you, AC15. I will get the one negative out of the way first: It's very heavy. Despite that, the AC15 is a timeless classic. Funny how from this dinosaur you get tremendous dynamics! Even with my Strat's volume at 10, simply strumming softly or picking produces edge-of-breakup until you strum hard and get great overdrive sound without colouring my Strat's voice at all. And the spring reverb -- although not Fender's -- can still give you just the right surfy sound, if like me, that is what you're looking for. Lastly, the tremolo -- for me at least -- is just right not too intruding. Before I forget, the AC15 doesn't need an FX loop, because all pedals translate beautifully up front; nothing is missing coming out of the speaker. I really am sorry for not having gotten this British classic earlier.