FYI: Vox AC30 Bass Amp in Dublin

What's Hot
pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
https://www.someneckguitars.com/products/vox-ac-30-bass-1965

I'd be all over this if I had the dough.
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
«1

Comments

  • DodgeDodge Frets: 1430
    Have I missed something? I'd have said that's quite pricey for a non Top Boost AC30.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    edited October 2018
    Very pricey for a grey panel non-TB with silver speakers in that sort of rough condition.

    Also the left-hand speaker has been messed with and might even be the wrong speaker with the Vox bell cover on it - the label is in the wrong orientation and the terminal board appears to be in the wrong place... if the speaker had just been turned through 90º it would be at the 3 o'clock position not 1:30.

    I would want to see inside it before even assuming things like the transformers are original as well. Loads and loads of photos but not one with the back off or of the chassis...

    Also notice there's no *clear* photo of the questionable speaker frame, unlike the other one. The back panel has clearly been off dozens of times given the random extra screw holes, all the jacks have been changed, also the mains switch and fuseholder, and the voltage selector cap is missing, which could mean it's just been hardwired inside but is more usually a sign that the power transformer has been replaced with one without the multiple voltage taps.

    "Good vintage condition"? No, to me that looks like an extremely hard-worked amp which has been thrashed to death and repaired many times over the years by the sort of techs who just got things going again and didn't care about bodging them if necessary.

    I really don't know why people pay so much for ratty old wrecks like this.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 4reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30825
    @CustomPedalBoards ;

    if if I buy this can you collect from Dublin?

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Gassage said:
    @CustomPedalBoards ;

    if if I buy this can you collect from Dublin?
    Am I also missing something? Is it ex-Edge?

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Doubt it. He likes the play the songs at gigs with the guitars he wrote them on and recorded them on. So I guess he'd be the same with amps.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Apparently I was missing a Gassage inside joke :).

    But I was struggling to think of a reason such a knackered old bass model AC30 could be worth anything like that otherwise...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Gassage said:
    @CustomPedalBoards ;

    if if I buy this can you collect from Dublin?
    of course my dear no problem, do u want me to tip a jack n coke ash tray down the back of it as well? :)
    for all things pedal boards please visit www.custompedalboards.co.uk
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • @Rocker one for you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Dodge said:
    Have I missed something? I'd have said that's quite pricey for a non Top Boost AC30.
    Probably because it's for sale in a shop which is located in the centre of Dublin. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Bygone_TonesBygone_Tones Frets: 1527
    edited October 2018
    The speaker on the right is definitely not original. Those chassis with the extra tabs (and the solder terminals cut at the sides) were only used from July 1969 onwards. If it has a 1965 date code printed on the frame, then it is likely to be one of Justin Harrison's fakes.





    Vintage dealers for you. Tell everyone its original and provide minimal photos then you can charge top price for it. Plead ignorance when pointed out that it is clearly not. Talk all day long about how its the "holy grail" to reel in the rose tinted spectacle wearing buyers, but make no mention of the condition and whether it actually works properly or sounds good - which is where all the value is to any sane musician.

    As ICBM said in another thread, these dealers do know what they are doing. Don't fall for the "honest mistake" act.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    The speaker on the right is definitely not original. Those chassis with the extra tabs (and the solder terminals cut at the sides) were only used from July 1969 onwards.



    That's something very useful I've just learned - I hadn't noticed that before.

    Given the obvious long and various repair history of this amp it wouldn't surprise me if it's an 'honest' replacement from many years ago though.

    Plus of course the speaker wiring is clearly not original which means that it's been buggered around with as well.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Shop name says it all - Some Neck.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • Bygone_TonesBygone_Tones Frets: 1527
    edited October 2018
    Just had a look on the Vox AC100 website, and he has some photos of a May 69 chassis with those extra tabs (EB date code):


    So I guess I've learnt something too. That is definitely the earliest I have seen them though. I think the Vox alnicos might have been made at a different factory to the greenbacks. Certainly those chassis would be very unusual on a greenback before July 69 (GB date code).

    Check out the "Designed for VSL" label too, which is also a later feature (post JMI era). The  earlier labels say "Designed for JMI".


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I wouldn't have this shop down as one to pass something off as legit when not. It's the place where all the visiting bands go for a look.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    I wouldn't have this shop down as one to pass something off as legit when not. It's the place where all the visiting bands go for a look.
    Well, it clearly is not in "very good vintage condition". Average for a very heavily used amp at best.

    It *may* be "all original apart from essential maintenance", since essential maintenance would include replacing speakers if they blew, having the back panel off dozens of times and drilling a lot of extra screw holes when the original threaded inserts strip or fall out of the wood (a common problem), replacing the power switch and fuseholder (though that one is a bit more puzzling), all the jacks (ditto, I've never seen one where that was necessary) and even a mains transformer, if it has been... basically anything that comes under repairing a gigging amp to keep it going.

    I can tell all that without even seeing inside - apart from the mains transformer, which may or may not be original, but I'm suspicious because not only is the selector cap missing, it's described as 'UK Voltage'. An original AC30 transformer is *universal* voltage - that's what the selector is for.

    And for that price, I would expect a near-mint example, all-original except for filter caps and no more than a handful of other parts, given that it's not exactly the most valuable AC30 version in the first place... and even then it's probably too much. For two grand you can get a decent Top Boost model.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    @Rocker one for you.
    Thanks @bingefeller but Markbass is my current amp and I could not justify changing it. Except for a bigger Markbass. 
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • I wouldn't have this shop down as one to pass something off as legit when not. It's the place where all the visiting bands go for a look.
    Being in a band makes them experts on which dealers are legit or not? There was a place in Leeds all the visiting bands went to as well: 




    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • So, theoretically what is the going rate for non top boost 60s AC-30s?

    The reason I ask is I have an earlier one (blue speakers, copper panel, original transformer and choke with matching date codes) that I may be looking to move on at some point in the near future...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    So, theoretically what is the going rate for non top boost 60s AC-30s?

    The reason I ask is I have an earlier one (blue speakers, copper panel, original transformer and choke with matching date codes) that I may be looking to move on at some point in the near future...
    I would say about £1500, up to around £2000 if it's in very nice condition.

    Have a look at completed auctions on Ebay.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Ta. I’ll get the vib/trem channel working and see how I feel. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.