IceCreamMan wrote:
The AC4 has a 1/4 , 1 watt and 4 watt settings too..... and 4 watts can be plenty loud....keep the 30 and add the 4 for practice ...win win
The AC4 having the different watt settings is definately a plus, but that lack of gain control is still an issue. More on that shortly. As for 'keeping the 30'. I do not actually have a 30. Its just thats the tone I love and am looking for, but do not have the surroundings to use that kind of power, so wanted to go for a lower wattage that can still replicate, or at least get close to the AC30 tone.
Which brings me to my extensive research today.... I literally spent 5 hours in the store today whilst my car was being serviced, and tried many vox's (voxes, voxii?), and a few others. Here's my findings for those who are interested?..... Brace yourselves! Its a long one.......
Guitars used PRS SE Semi-Hollow, Epiphone LP std, PRS 245, Epiphone 'dot' (335 copy) and a Gibson LP (fitted with burstbuckers, since the LP I am currently borrowing has burst buckers, which I left at home since I was wandering the streets of Tokai at 7:30am awaiting the shop to open).....
Amps listed in order of 'examination'....
1) Vox AC4TVH and matching cab.... This was both the 'all new' showroom floor model, and the 'used, and revalved' model (I was lucky enough to arrange the guy to bring it to the store to try it). I started with the PRS Semi hollow on the 1/4 w setting on both amps, and placed their 'dials' at the same position on both amps. First I tried the new amp, and loved the tone straight away, but did find the sound to break up all too quickly when turning the volume dial, as was mentioned in an earlier posts. This is obviously a drawback of the single control which controls both volume and gain. So, over to the used one we went.... Again, the lack of seperate gain control was felt, but there was a little more leeway before the sound broke up too much. In both cases, it should be noted that the broken up and distorted tone was still very nice and usable, but was not the tone I was looking for, but would certainly welcomed into the arsenal. The tone I sought was there, but was not easy to get, with such a small area of the volume control to work in. So, yes it sounded nice, but I knew that it would leave me frustrated.....
Even on the 1w and 4w settings, the same story was found, and I actually found the tone in both amps to not be as nice at the 4w setting, as it had a kind of chime to it and seemed to be the result of a boost in the upper mids and lower trebles a little, which gave it this character. So we then moved across to.....
2) AC15C1 combo, with internal 12" 'greenback'.... Still using the PRS Semi-Hollow Almost immediately, I was knocked over... Not by the power, or loudness that everyone has spoken of, but by how much fuller sounding and open the tone was. It really showed where the other amps were lacking. Compared to the AC4TVH's cab, it had much better low end, and interestingly (since it wasn't noticed whilst using the AC4 before trying the AC15) it showed that the AC4 was actually quite nasally sounding!
I loved everything about the AC15, and was able to shape the tone with no trouble, and in fact, I was even able to play the amp at a softer level than the previous two whilst having the tone I liked, or even getting it really gritty.... Obvious really since it has separate gain and volume controls! I could go on for hours with all sorts of great expressions and fluffed up wordings about how great this amp was, but I won't... I loved it straight away, and could see myself being happy with it..... But more excuses for research were needed.....
So, off the shelf came the Epi LP Std.... This was a dissapointment... The tone was suddenly much darker and muddy. No ammount of tweaking the controls could make this guitar sound nice. Everything was just bland, not bad, but just dull and lifeless. In this case, not the amps fault, but rather just a poor pairing between amp and guitar.... So on to the PRS 245. Nicer sounding, and fuller again, but less top end and very confusing controls on the 245 left me 'not feeling it'. There wasn't anything bad about the guitar sound as such, but it wasn't 'my tone'. Then we switched to an Epi 'Dot', which I'm assuming is the Epi version of the 335 dot? I've always loved the style of these guitars, but found their sound to be frustrating with issues like feedback and 'noise' being the off putting factors. In fairness though, I had never played an Epi version, but rather different manufacturers versions. The 'Dot' sung beautifully, and again gave me that tone I was looking for with little need to tweek the controls. So all this showed me that this amp would really give its honest opinion of the guitars being mated with it, kind of in the same way a child would about food..... This was highlighted by a brief plugging in of an Epi Sheriton... Just didn't do it for me, and sounded much more 'upper middy' nasal type tone. Probably great for something, but not for me.
So I decided to try out the......
3) Vox Lil' Night train (and matching 8" cab).... Agian switching back to the PRS semi, I was actually very pleasantly surprised by this head! Its two watt, but unlike most amps this size and power rating, it had separate volume and gain controls, so that sweet sound could be found quite easily. The let down factor here was the little cab it was paired to. It just sounded boxy. Kind of like it was trying to contain the Hulk in a Shoe box! It wasn't a bad tone at all, but it just sounded contained and compressed. So I then paired the Lil Night train with the AC4TVH's cab, and straight away it sounded bigger, but lacked the low end as mentioned earlier (clearly this aspect is more the AC4TVH's cab, rather than the AC4TVH's head that affected this part of the tone since it was demonstrated when using with both heads?). The head really did impress me, and I could see that matched with a decent cab, it would sound very nice indeed! I wich I could have tried it through the same speaker as the AC15, but since that was a combo, this was impossible! I still preferred the AC15 though, as I did find the lil night train also seemed to be a little more chimey in the upper mids, which I think on a bright sounding guitar would leave me frustrated. Again though this could have been more the cab than the head?
A good while later, after a short walk to the garage to grab a drink, we got the Gibson LP (with said burstbuckers) off the wall, and tried that firstly through the AC15, and wow what a tone! I think by this point my mind was more than made up, but another cab was suggested to me, in the form of a Mesa Boogie 12", to try with the lil night train. I didn't get the model number, but that was a massive improvement over the other cabs we had paired the night train with. Much fuller sounding, and really allowed the tone of the 'train 2w' to come through. I was also surprised that the Mesa was not too expensive, at around the R3k mark! If I went for a night Train, this would certainly be a cab I'd look to pair it with! But alas, for me, the AC15C1 was the outright winner, and literally won me over from the start! Even the brief appearance of the very nice sounding Orange Tiny Terror combo was not able to get my attention.
So, now all I need to do is sell my Orange (once I stop getting messed around by all these time wasters) and one of my bass cabs, preferably before the month is through, and then I'll hopefully be the proud new owner of an AC15C1?!
EDIT: I also forgot that we tried out the Ibanez T50 (or summut like that ? ) and that was actually also pretty nice sounding, and may even be a consideration if the AC15 falls through, but until then, its not gonna be AC15 all the way (unless an AC30 pops up for MORE (or should that be less?) than a bargain!
If I may just thank the guys at Marshall Music, Constantiaberg for their patience and assistance today, particularly Michael, that would be great! (mods please remove if this sentence is not deemed as 'proper'?)
Cheers!
G!
