Vox ac15h1tv 50th anniversary

shaunm

Has anyone got any experience of these? I am picking one up next week and I’m pretty excited as I’ve never owned a Vox.

I take it reliability should t be a problem? @ICBM or @Van_Hayden have either of you any experience with them?

Will I need an attenuator to get the best from it?

ICBM

They’re a bit of an oddity... called ‘Heritage’ but not corresponding to any vintage circuit - although they do use some elements of them - and ‘Hand Wired’ even though they’re built on a PCB.

They do sound like a Vox, but not any specific one - including not like a classic AC30 - which may or may not matter to you... and they seem reliable enough, which is not always the case with Voxes.

You will need an attenuator if you want to overdrive it at lower volume, but otherwise they have a good clean sound and take pedals well. I am personally not a fan of the EF86 channel at all, but I know some people like it.

Hope that doesn’t worry you if you’ve bought it already .

pmg

I ran one cranked out the ef86 for many years until I moved up to 30w for more headroom.  I know nothing about amps but it sounded lovely

shaunm

pmg said:

I ran one cranked out the ef86 for many years until I moved up to 30w for more headroom.  I know nothing about amps but it sounded lovely

I am guessing there’s not much headroom on these?

shaunm

ICBM said:

They’re a bit of an oddity... called ‘Heritage’ but not corresponding to any vintage circuit - although they do use some elements of them - and ‘Hand Wired’ even though they’re built on a PCB.

They do sound like a Vox, but not any specific one - including not like a classic AC30 - which may or may not matter to you... and they seem reliable enough, which is not always the case with Voxes.

You will need an attenuator if you want to overdrive it at lower volume, but otherwise they have a good clean sound and take pedals well. I am personally not a fan of the EF86 channel at all, but I know some people like it.

Hope that doesn’t worry you if you’ve bought it already .

Not at all, it’s a case that I will try it and see if I like it. I’ve never owned a Vox and have little experience of them so I have no basis for comparison. 

It might cover similar ground to what I already have with the JTM45 though.

ICBM

shaunm said:

I am guessing there’s not much headroom on these?

There's a reasonable amount on the Pentode setting, less on Triode (intentionally). More than enough for a completely clean sound at home, and difficult to overdrive it like that without an attenuator - but at band volume, no... you won't get a clean sound that will keep up with a drummer.

shaunm said:

Not at all, it’s a case that I will try it and see if I like it. I’ve never owned a Vox and have little experience of them so I have no basis for comparison. 

It might cover similar ground to what I already have with the JTM45 though.

Not really - they're very different-sounding even clean. The JTM is much chunkier and smoother, and easier to dial in - the Vox is spikier and more touchy, and the controls are all quite interactive which you might find trickier to get used to at first, but once you find the right combinations then it's very responsive... if that makes sense.

pmg

shaunm said:

pmg said:

I ran one cranked out the ef86 for many years until I moved up to 30w for more headroom.  I know nothing about amps but it sounded lovely

I am guessing there’s not much headroom on these?

I’m referring to band volumes.  No headroom for him I Keir’s, a bit for single coils.  They’re 15w and should be overdriven tho!

shaunm

@pmg totally agree. I use my JTM45 would up to 75% of the volumes and use the guitar to get my clean tones. I was figuring it would be much the same in use. 

pmg

@shaunm yeah they do get dirty quite quickly and but I found in my band there wasn’t quite enough clean headroom for my needs.  Like I say, it sounded great, just not for band cleans

shaunm

@pmg and @ICBM do either of you think an attenuator is a good shout. If so do you have a recommendation? 

ICBM

Do you want to overdrive it at home? If not, no need...

If you do, purely-resistive attenuators like the Dr.Z Airbrake (expensive) and the Harley Benton (cheap) usually seem to work best with Voxes.

shaunm

No at home I won’t really be using it. It’s for recording and small gigs. That should be fine then. 

Im guessing the volume will be similar to that of a 18 watt Marshall which is useable

dazzajl

I had one of these, it’s in the list of things I have no idea why I sold. Personally I loved the EF86 side, I’ve kinda given up trying to describe what it sounds like to me but it felt more like a part of the guitar than another amp I’ve played. Except the tweed I have now. 

pmg

@shaunm you don’t need an attenuator with it, the volume is fine for live application.  I wouldn’t get an amp like that for home playing unless you live in a mansion.  Or a large, detached house with big rooms

pmg

dazzajl said:

I had one of these, it’s in the list of things I have no idea why I sold. Personally I loved the EF86 side, I’ve kinda given up trying to describe what it sounds like to me but it felt more like a part of the guitar than another amp I’ve played. Except the tweed I have now. 

I lived on the ef86 channel too.  It’s stuck with me through to my Badcat black cat -ef86 for me!