Zvex Distortron into Vox AC15

[Flores_68]

Hello everyone,

I 'd always loved the Distorton running into my old Peavey amp but a while ago I got a Vox AC15. For some reason, the Distortron (and a few other pedals (Boss BF3, TC Corona Chorus)) doesn't sound organic anymore. I just feel that the sound is coming out of that little box and it drives me nuts. Has anyone had a similar experience? I used to love the Distortron and now and then I'll tweak for days and I can't find that beautiful JTM 45 sound I used to get. I think I'll give the JHS Charlie Brown a shot...

[JB_From_Hell]

This happens sometimes. Different amps respond differently to different pedals.

[superpete]

i've found ac15s to be a little fussier than other amps about taking certain od pedals, but others really can make it shine. maybe they just don't play well together.

[Securb]

I would consider a Rangemaster clone alone or with the Zvex .

[jeremy]

different dirt boxes work better with different amps. a rangemaster works well if your amp is cranked, into a clean amp it isnt pleasant to me. do you like the tone of the amp by itself?

[GuitarStv]

The AC15 is very upper mid rangey with no bass at all. If your distortion box has a mid range bump in similar frequencies to what the amp boosts it can easily make things sound boxy and too mid-rangey. Look for a wider range, slightly mid-scooped (or at least minimally mid boosted) distortion.

[Flores_68]

different dirt boxes work better with different amps. a rangemaster works well if your amp is cranked, into a clean amp it isnt pleasant to me. do you like the tone of the amp by itself?

I love the AC 15 on its own. I also found it sounds great with the Ibanez ts9 and with the Wampler Tumnus.

[Flores_68]

The AC15 is very upper mid rangey with no bass at all. If your distortion box has a mid range bump in similar frequencies to what the amp boosts it can easily make things sound boxy and too mid-rangey. Look for a wider range, slightly mid-scooped (or at least minimally mid boosted) distortion.

Maybe a pedal with more eq settings?

[GuitarStv]

Maybe a pedal with more eq settings?

That could work too . . . but all distortion boxes have some sort of inherent EQ built into them. Tubescreamers have a big 800Hz mid range boost, Klones have about a 1.1kHz mid range boost, DS-1 is slightly scooped at around 900 kHz with some bass roll-off, the big muff has a huge scoop that occurs somewhere between 700 - 1.5 kHz depending on where you set the tone knob, etc. You just need to figure out what kind of EQ you need with your amp and then find a box that works with that.

[eclecticsynergy]

Voxes are notoriously picky when it comes to drive pedals.

[BRHGM]

The AC 15 hates Tubescreamer pedals but loves, Klons, Timmy’s and OCD pedals. I had better luck with MXR Analog Chorus and WayHuge Blue Hippo Chorus pedals. The Rat pedal works great for more distortion. I had good luck with MXR Carbon Copy Delay and the WayHuge Aquapuss Delay. In both cases, the MXR pedals are darker and the WayHuge pedal are brighter. It’s a matter of preference.