Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

[Ascension]

Reason I ask is we played a festival last night and the guitarist for the band that played after us had one and it's for sale.
The tone FLOORED me from her on stage but i have yet to get a crack at it. Seemed an odd bird with few controls and the thing was loud as H$%l! However the TONE with her playing a Tele through it last night was GLORIOUS! I may jump on this thing but need some more info. Can't find one for sale anywhere ( maybe because there were only 500 built of these ? ) so I have no idea what they are going for in the real world. This is a MUCH different amp than a regular AC-30 and for me is a total unknown anybody here have a clue on some of this with these particular amps??
Rig is MINT and price seemed surprisingly low ( less than 1/3 of what I have seen listed as the new price) for what this is so---.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

They are very limited amps...single channel, single input, single volume control and no other controls. They have a built in boost that is supposed to mimic Brians treble boosters. They are based on the normal channel of a fairly typical AC30/6. There are a few tweaks to the circuit but nothing real crazy...

It's really not that much different from an AC30 except that it's been stripped of it's brilliant channel and vib/trem channel...it's 1/3 the preamp of an AC30 with a typical AC30 power amp and a built in boost.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

They are very limited amps...single channel, single input, single volume control and no other controls. They have a built in boost that is supposed to mimic Brians treble boosters. They are based on the normal channel of a fairly typical AC30/6. There are a few tweaks to the circuit but nothing real crazy...

It's really not that much different from an AC30 except that it's been stripped of it's brilliant channel and vib/trem channel...it's 1/3 the preamp of an AC30 with a typical AC30 power amp and a built in boost.

Any idea how much they are worth?? Girl told me she would sell me this one well below a GRAND which sounds like an insane deal on the surface. With her USA Standard Tele last night the tones she was pulling out of this amp were just jaw dropping!!!

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

Damned if I know, but I hadn't even realized they made a full powered version of one. The last Brian May sig. Vox I heard of were some practice amps or something. For less than a grand, if it sounds good - go for it! I don't think you'll struggle to get your money back.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

Not sure on current value to be honest...I'd say less then a grand is a good deal if you really want the amp.

They only made 500 of them but truth be told they didn't sell well and there are still some NOS/NIB examples out there for sale!

You just have to understand that they are very much a one trick pony and in addition to that to really get that trick happening you are going to be LOUD as all get out.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

I'd get one in a heartbeat. Especially for under a grand (if I had money).

Part of the reason there aren't really any controls is the EQ has to be so EXACT that Brian removed the knobs on his AC30 to avoid changing the settings. So it has all the settings fixed to save buyers a lot of headache trying to EQ it, only to find it doesn't really sound like Brian May at all.

But a normal AC30 would be just as good (and more versatile), but good luck finding the EQ.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

I'd get one in a heartbeat. Especially for under a grand (if I had money).

Part of the reason there aren't really any controls is the EQ has to be so EXACT that Brian removed the knobs on his AC30 to avoid changing the settings. So it has all the settings fixed to save buyers a lot of headache trying to EQ it, only to find it doesn't really sound like Brian May at all.

But a normal AC30 would be just as good (and more versatile), but good luck finding the EQ.

The reason there are no controls is because Brian never uses anything except the normal channel, on the normal channel all you have is a volume and a cut control and Brian always turns the volume up full and the cut all the way down.

Since Brian never uses the brilliant or vib/trem channels on his personal AC30's the tubes that drive those channels are removed (to reduce heat) and at that point the only 2 knobs on his amps that work are the normal volume and the cut.

That said for Brians purposes his amps could have NO controls as he never runs the volume at less than full up!

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

The reason there are no controls is because Brian never uses anything except the normal channel, on the normal channel all you have is a volume and a cut control and Brian always turns the volume up full and the cut all the way down.

Since Brian never uses the brilliant or vib/trem channels on his personal AC30's the tubes that drive those channels are removed (to reduce heat) and at that point the only 2 knobs on his amps that work are the normal volume and the cut.

That said for Brians purposes his amps could have NO controls as he never runs the volume at less than full up!

Whoops my bad then. I remember hearing what I mentioned previously, but I didn't think of it entirely as fact (because it is the internet). For how simple his rig is, it is still incredibly hard to get anywhere near his sound.

Here is something to read:

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/queen.html

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

I have no idea, but i reckon it would sound epic at a guess. I found this tho. Hope its useful:
http://www.brianmaycentral.net/ac30bmreview.html

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

Did he not have a lot of "stuff" crammed into that guitar his Father built for him.
I believe this amp was made with Brian May freaks in mind.
Not the most versatile amp for the majority of players.
Seems like most guys would be happier with the AC30CC models than one of the BM amps.
To each his own.
good luck

 

[Lovegun]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

Did he not have a lot of "stuff" crammed into that guitar his Father built for him.

If I remember correctly the Red special has a on/off switch and a out of phase switch for each pickup. The Red Special has also a volume and a tone control.

 

[Brow]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

He also had a crude Fuzz circuit built in that had a push switch for on/off, but he didn't like it and rarely used it so he took it out and stuck a star sticker over the hole in the scratchplate.

Apart from what Lovegun said above that's all his guitar ever had in it as far as I know.

 

[zzmoore]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

10-4.
I stand corrected.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

never played thru a vox even, but for a decent Brian May tone on the cheap, I get a pretty likable tone out of a Red special pedal. ( or whatever its called)

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

If she sounded so great playing thru that amp, why does she want to sell it........................and at such a loss? Seems to me, if you got a good thing going you do what you can to keep it going.

I love the sound of a Vox AC30, but I like the AC15 better. And it's still pretty darn loud.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

If it's selling for well below a grand, I would check what speakers are in it; see if they are original. When the Brian Mays were new, I recall they were more expensive than either of my two AC30s.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

Seems like a pretty easy flip,if you don't like it.
I'd say give it a shot if you can.Too bad you didn't have time to noodle with it.If she's local maybe set up a day.

& some kinda Power Soaky thingie,maybe?

 

[Ascension]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

If she sounded so great playing thru that amp, why does she want to sell it........................and at such a loss? Seems to me, if you got a good thing going you do what you can to keep it going.

I love the sound of a Vox AC30, but I like the AC15 better. And it's still pretty darn loud.

Easy story on this as like me she is a P/W player but unlike me she is on the road and doing mostly smaller Churches that she can't use the power in. I do a LOT of playing in Black pentecostal Churches and frankly I wear plugs because the stage volumes are BRUTAL.
She is frustrated with the fact that it's just too loud for anywhere she is playing if it's run like it should be and stays in the warehouse 90% of the time. I heard it at a big fest on a outdoor stage and it was glorious sounding!!
Here was our set with my church band (we are across the street and are selling our historic school building to the city to be used as their civic center and will move at the end of this month so they tapped us to play) before them from my Zoom Q-3 with me playing my PRS through the little Jet City>

Still looking at this as the amp really is a one trick pony and frankly I really need a 3 channel 50 or 100 watt head like maybe a Carvin V-3M, a Legacy 3 or some thing like them here.
Really need 3 separate channels a good loop and a lot of eq for the variety of stuff I'm having to pull off on the fly in a single set.
Still want to take a hard look at this thing though because that tone flat blew me away!! I heard this thing across a parking lot unmiced at first on an outdoor stage as I was packing up from the set before them and it stopped me dead in my tracks! Been a LONG time since something has grabbed me like that!

 

[Ascension]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

If it's selling for well below a grand, I would check what speakers are in it; see if they are original. When the Brian Mays were new, I recall they were more expensive than either of my two AC30s.

Yes it does have the original alnico 12s and now I want to really take a hard look at those speakers no matter what happens with the amp itself.
Went back and hung around till they got off stage to find out what the heck this thing was and was offered the rig for $700!
Problem is right now I don't have the $$ I can spend. Seems like these ran $3K new on MSRP so---.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anybody here have any experiance with the Vox AC 30 Brian May??

I had an original (not RI) AC30 and couldn't use it. Too loud and not method of getting it quieter worked. Also too big and heavy.