Mr-M
Turnkey Music in Strydom Park is having a Clearance Sale from today (Thursday) to Saturday. I've just been there with a mate of mine who bought a Demo model VOX AC30 CC1 for R3600! Yes, R3600! He's so stoked and I'm really jealous! :D
Sadly I don't really have much $ at the moment so I couldn't get anything for me that I need (plenty that I want though - hey I just might go back), but there's some super-crazy deals for the rest of you. I've attached the Turnkey Specials lists I got in their Newsletter (sorry I should have told everyone sooner :P).
Some awesome deals on VOX and Peavey amps and tonnes of studio gear (Steinberg, NI, EMU, ESI etc.). There's also Hartke, Samson, Wharfedale on a separate list, which they don't have in the shop. The list says pay and you can pick up in a couple of days. There's also a huge pile of M-Audio, which isn't on these lists for some reason (some guy got a Midisport 8x8 for R500!) but it is definitely there.
Hey Joey, if you're still after an Orange, check out the deal on the VOX AC50CP2 @ R6995! I've been lusting after one for a while - it’s basically a marriage between a VOX clean and a Marshall Crunch channel - at like half price. Dude, if you can, go and check it out. There's also an AC15CC1X (with Celestion Blue) at R5400.
Hope this helps some of you guys. :)
https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/attachments.guitartalk/cd00692c3bfe59267d5ecfac5310286c-TURNKEY%20SPRING%20CLEAN-COST%20%20BELOW%20SALE%20PRICES%2020.8%2020081.zip
AlanRatcliffe
You know if that AC15 Heritage is still there? What's the email address to reply to?
Shit - bad timing, but it's a damn good price at R9K. Must think hard...
Mr-M
Yeah, I saw the AC15 Heritage there. Can't miss it - it's white!
It's a really hot amp! A mate of mine has the head (bought at full price mind you) through a 2X12 Celestion Blue Cab in his studio. It can bring tears to your eyes, it sounds so beautiful! ☹ Everything you've ever heard to describe the tone of a good AC30 applies here, and more (esp. the EF86 Channel)!
Email:
hohner@hot.co.za or
retail@hot.co.za
Tel: 011 792 8272
AlanRatcliffe
I LOVE EF86s! The triode/pentode switch brings it down to the kind of power levels I need for studio use too.
Damn, why couldn't this be just a month later? I now have that classic guitarist's choice of eating vs. new amp.
Thinking...
kayDUB
Why can't this be in CT??? WHY?????
never played a AC15, but i think it might be an amp I would enjoy. gotta play one... ?
Mr-M
Yup, AC15s, AC30s, EF86s - I love 'em all! Who needs food when you have a Heritage VOX? Actually I do.... ?
If you haven't tried one you should, m'kayDUB? ?
Anyway, give 'em a call if you wanna buy one, I'm sure they'll be able to courier it to you.
kayDUB
I have enough gas already! But maybe I should? ?
AlanRatcliffe
No kayDUB, you need to gas for a
Cort GVT - then
I can get the VOX. ?
Failing that. Someone needs to buy some of my
pickups 'n stuff.
kayDUB
ohhhhhh! seems like there is a bit of a gas epedimic at the moment! GAS knows no boundaries...
AlanRatcliffe
Yeah. I've built up a guitar GAS immunity, but have been looking for a good small amp for a while. The Vox is right up my alley (as it were), it's just the timing sucks, otherwise I'd nab it without hesitation.
kayDUB
you after the heritage AC15?
i must say 4200 for a AC15cc1x is not bad. I have just heard bad things about the reliability of the voxes.
any experience anyone?
how much of a mission would it be to get to CT? just thinking out loud... damn this GAS!
AlanRatcliffe
Yup. The Heritage.
I've also heard of reliability issues, but specifically with the CCs. Just pay R500 for a courier and you're set - three days to your door.
kayDUB
Yeah, I dunno bout buying an amp that has been plagued with reliability issues... even if it is R4200?
maybe rather go for a hotrod deluxe or classic 30 for a bit more bucks.
maybe this should be another topic (HIJACK) but I hear people go on about the vox "jangle"... so how exactly does it compare to the other amps I mentioned above? probably hard to describe, you need to hear it?
teleplayer
I've got the ac30 cc1 (celestion speaker) been really reliable, had it for about 3-4 years now, I have changed my tubes, but that's just a tube amp thing, not vox specific problem.. I now have groove tubes in my Vox, WOW!!! Different amp, if i were to replace mine, i'd get another and get new tubes straight away..
IMO, vox is the way forward, don't miss that special, i had to pay 6 500 for mine (was going for 10, but got it on special)
AlanRatcliffe
Voxes have always had some reliability issues - largely because they are class A amps that run the tubes harder than a class AB. As someone else pointed out recently, the AC30 actually puts out something like 33W and the original Celestion Blue speakers were only rated at 15W each, so they had a tendency to blow speaker cones too. Add to that the CC's circuitboard construction and it isn't going to be the most reliable amp around.
There aren't many amps that sound anything like them either, so Vox lovers are, for the most part, willing to put up with going through tubes faster and needing the occasional repair.
Voxes (especially those with Blues) Chime... and that's the best way to describe the sound. It's thick, it's complex, it's midrange heavy. It also suits both humbuckers and single-coils, making them both sound gorgeous, while (IMHO), the Fender amps like single-coils and Marshalls like humbuckers best. It's also one of the few amps that make both the 'tweens (position 2 & 4 on the switch) and the single pickup sounds of a Strat sound great.
"Jangle" for me is a specific combination: Vox amp and Rickenbacker guitar (especially the 12-strings). Think REM, Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn, some of the Beatles stuff and any number of newer "Britpop" bands.
teleplayer
I agree Alan, i think if mine had to start giving issues i wouldn't change it, i'm way too satisfied.. Also have a guy a few mins away who fixes them, so i wouldn't be outta action for long..
My brother's peavy classic 30 has given him more issues than my vox has given me funny enough
Mr-M
RE: Reliability - I've had quite a few VOXes in the past few years - AD30VT, VR30, AC30CC2, AC30CC2X, AD50VT - without a single problem. I'm now down to only the AD50VT for financial reasons <sob>, but I wouldn't hesitate to say they are great amps that are as reliable as anything out there. Specifically with the AC30 & 15CCs, from what I've heard, there were teething issues with the first few batches (I think amps made in 2003/4 ), but on the whole the new ones are very reliable if you look after them (apart from using up their valves a little quicker because they're Class A. Interestingly when the amp starts to break up/ overdrive it's actually running in Class A/B like most other amps, but that's another really complicated story).
By comparison my Peavey Classic 30 ate through two sets of valves in two months, before I decided to sell it. The Classic 30 is also one of my favourite amps, but from what I've heard from others, they have valve reliability issues.
Funny enough I recently realised why: The Classic 30 doesn't have a StandBy switch like most amps do and because of this most guys don't give 'em (and the valves) enough time to warm up before playing or cool down before switching the amp off (in fact I think most guys don't treat their amps well in this aspect). StandBy basically allows the valves to warm to close to proper operating temperature before you play (give it 2mins at least IMO) and before switching the amp off, allows the valves to cool from "hot" to "warm" before switching the amp off. Sudden temperature changes affect most equipment and the same is true, to a degree, with valves. Without a standby switch in the Classic 30, most users won't give it proper time to warm or cool, which I reckon will affect valve life. That's my thesis on the Classic 30. ?
kayDUB
yeah, i've always wondered about the lack of a standby switch on the classic 30.
Surely it doesn't cost the manufacturers much to put one in? I think if I ever got a classic 30 i would have one fitted.
I am seriously tempted with the AC15CC1x atm... mmmm...
AlanRatcliffe
Mr M wrote:
Interestingly when the amp starts to break up/ overdrive it's actually running in Class A/B like most other amps, but that's another really complicated story).
I know, but it requires explaining how the different classes work to explain properly - I didn't want to confuse the issue.
StandBy basically allows the valves to warm to close to proper operating temperature before you play (give it 2mins at least IMO) and before switching the amp off, allows the valves to cool from "hot" to "warm" before switching the amp off.
Good advice!
teleplayer
With my ac30, I always Turn my power on, set the rest of my rig up, then turn on the standby switch, giving the amp plenty time to warm up and the same goes for cooling down, standby of, de-rig, power off, after that i also wait at least 30 mins or so before moving the amp (obvoisly in certain gig situationn they want u outta there, but i try leave it cooling while the next band so their set...
My rule of thumb is 3mins at least between power and standby, both for powering up and down..
Maybe i'm just really careful though?
