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Vox AC4C1-BL Blue Limited Edition Guitar Combo Amplifier Reviews
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Average Review: 1
Manufacturer: Vox
Price: $299.95
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About the Vox AC4C1-BL Blue Limited Edition Guitar Combo Amplifier
Unmistakable vintage vibe and tone make the Vox AC4C1-BL Blue Limited Edition Guitar Combo Amplifier overflow with personality. The AC4C1-BL amp delivers the unbeatable sound of a Vox AC30 Top Boost that has fascinated guitarists for over 50 years, all in a compact design.
Vox AC4C1-BL Blue Limited Edition Guitar Combo Amplifier Reviews
As an intro: I am a Vox lover. Since I took up guitar in 1963 and gigged for the first time in 1964, in one of the many bands I would be in on thru 1983, I have preferred, and only used, Vox amps. From the Royal Guardsman to the Bristol, the Super Beatle to the AC15, unless we were using a backline supplied by someone else, I only used Vox. I was delighted to see Vox back on the map as I got back in to playing regularly in 2006. I no longer play out, and live in an apartment, so I'm relegated to 4 -5 watt tube amps, or higher watt amps w power attenuators. Of the seven amps I own, two are relevant to this review: the AC4C1-BL I recently purchased from Zzounds, and my Vox AC4TV. Compare and contrast, eh! Neither amp is better, but they are different. If you need more clean headroom and like to overdrive the power tube, at 1/4, 1, or 4 watts output, go with the AC4TV. The AC4C1-BL, on the other hand, has less clean headroom (although it gets to a respectable volumn - the interaction of the master volume and gain knobs really have ALOT to do with it), but it does have that gain knob, which overdrives the pre-amp, adding a version of that sweet Vox Top Boost, thus giving you a more realistic Vox AC15/AC30 tone. You really can't overdrive the power tube in the AC4C1-BL (well, you can, but you can't hear it or appreciate it) because to get up to higher volumes, you must turn up the gain knob, thus overdriving the preamp long before the power tubes begin to audibly saturate. (Also of note: the AC4TV's one tone control only muffles or brightens the high-mids and treble, whereas the AC4C1-BL has real bass and treble tone knobs.) So, I have both of them - running in stereo out of my Zzounds-purchased TC Electronic Nova Repeater Delay pedal - and, needless to say, I suppose, I am in Vox heaven (at apartment-living volume levels!). And, here's a very cool trick: if you are volume challenged, as I am, pick up a Boss ST-2 Power Stack pedal and put it in front of your little Vox (or whatever low-wattage amp[s] you have). You really can get Marshall stack overdriven sounds, in an apartment, with a little (or a couple of little) 4 watt Vox tube combo amps! Just set the pedal's level to match your clean amp volume, and kick it in when you wanna sound like Jimmie or Jimi or Pete...you know - stadium quality Marshall rippin' tones that won't get you evicted or have the neighbors calling the cops! You gotta try it, it's quite unbelievable. I've floored many of my musician friends with this set up! So, in the end, neither little Vox is truly a mini-AC15 - the AC4TV has more clean headroom and goes nicely into power-tube saturation at three different power settings, whilst the AC4C1-BL has separate tone controls, a version of pre-amp overdrive Top Boost, but less clean headroom. So, it's your choice...I couldn't choose so I have both, which, run together, closely approximate a mini-AC15. And, one more thing: if you go by Vox model numbers, the current AC15 is the AC15C1 - the amp under review here is the AC4C1 - so Vox counts the AC4C1 as the mini 4 watt version of the AC15C1. It's that Top Boost, I suppose. Hmmmmmm...
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