getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

[man-in-moon]

I have had my vox for a few weeks now I really like the clean tone. It seems to pair great with my les paul junior. But so far I can not find a gain pedal that works with it. I have taken my amp and guitar to the shop with me twice to try pedals. Both times I would find stuff that sounded good but when i get everything home I can not get them dialed in. I can maybe find one sweet spot that sounds good but if I touch a knob it throws it off completely.
I am generally a set and forget person besides adjusting the gain knob here and there depending on my mood. But no matter what pedal i have tried if I touch the gain or level it starts to sound like ****. The sound either gets too harsh and bee in a can sounding or turns to flubby mud. Today i picked up a new rat a big muff and an ocd pedal. They all sounded great at the store and i could dial in alot of good tones with each pedal.
Stacking them in different orders had good results as well. I get everything back home and hooked up and none of it sounds good. If inturn the tone past 10-11 o'clock on any of them it gets harsh and just plain awful. If i turn the gain past 1-2 o'clock on any of them its so fuzzy there is no note definition at all. I can see the rat and big muff getting all fuzzed out but the ocd is getting just as fuzzy.
So far inhave tried
Bogner red and blue
big muff
ocd
rat
super bad ass
jetter gold standard
mxr prime distortion
metal muff
hardwire valve distortion
full drive 2
along with several xotic and wampler pedals. I am not expecting to make the vox sound like a marshall but just want a good smoother heavy distortion. I am starting to wonder if something may be wrong with my amp or something. In the 20 years I have been playing I have owned amps from peavey to splawn and and few bogners. But I have never had this problem before. I know its not my ears my wife even commented on how none of it sounds good compared to in the store.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Are you bringing your Vox back to the store to try them out? Maybe there is something wrong with your vox.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Could be the room you are practicing in at home. If the space at the store was big and wide open, then you really heard the amp and pedals at the store. If your room is small at home, then you are hearing a lot of the wall reflection and cancellation/boosting of incorrect frequencies from the closed in/smaller space.

Try removing any furniture or upholstery/rugs to liven it up, or add rugs/furniture with upholstery to tame harsh high end and undesired reflections that mix with the amp sound.

Most likely, if the bass gets flubby you are hearing the standing waves of the room size adding to your low end sound, making it muddy and indistinct. You would need some kind of diffusor on the walls to break up the standing wave at home.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Yeah I have been taking it and my guitar with me. I know stuff always sounds different in the stores but it should not be that drastic.

 

[chadd]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Are you playing at the same volume levels in both locations?

 

[ex-250]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Odd, I get a great "smooth heavy" sound from the AC15 at the practice space I go to from time to time. "Top Boost" channel, every knob on 10, and my Duncan Pickup Booster (OG edition) with the gain set to whatever I feel like that day. I've actually always had the impression that the AC15 was really easy to dial in. Pretty sure I've got decent results with a Black Russian muff as well.

I'm going to echo the above concerns about room and volume. Not sure what else would be going on. I've never played it at a reasonable volume level, its always cranked full throttle…perhaps therein lies the key?

 

[AlexR]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

I bought an AC 15 once. I play clean + drive pedals and also found no great tones I liked with any of the pedals I have/had at the time. It went back.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Dirt pedals with low headroom amps is always tricky IME. You might prefer going with something a bit less heavy, like a simple clean booster.

As for the different sound in different places, that's just how sound works. Every room sounds different.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Like i said in your last thread, I love ac15s, but like all amps they can't do everything. Being a pedal platform is just not their groove. They are a funky, low powered, aggressive and characterful vintage class A combo. Thats all great stuff if thats your groove too, but you cant fit a square peg in a round hole. If you don't dig the natural dirt of the amp then perhaps you need something more neutral and pedal friendly. Preferable something with some more headroom.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

I am going to try different placements in my jam room to see if that helps. I have read a few things about voxes not being pedal friendly. But have also read that they are even the guys at pro guitar shop told me voxes take pedals pretty well on the phone. But people hear things different. I have been looking at other amos in the same price range. But I can not try any in person. Unless its a vox a modeling amp and some fenders no one around here carries anything else. A good clean sound is important to me and I never cared for the fender sound.
Ideally I could keep the vox for clean and get a peavey 6505 combo for gain. But space and funds will not allow it. i had an orange OR15 head that i loved the sound of but i could not switch from clean to distorted. One day after we get some work done to the house I plan on buying an OR50 or a thunderverb 50. I have wondered if some of the problem is the stock P90. Combined with the room and other factors. I have noticed even using the amps gain its fuzzy and weak sounding in my room.
It sounds like a tube screamer with the tone about 4 o'clock and the gain at around 11 o'clock. I need to check the tubes aswell. Just to make sure.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Curious. What guitar, pickup?

Where are you putting these pedals in your pedal chain? What other effects are you using?

I wonder if switching the v1 preamp tube would make a difference. Try a different brand, or even a tube with a different gain rating, like subbing a 12AT7 (or 12AY7).

Another thing it could be is your house...there might be a difference in the outlet voltage, and this can seriously affect the tone and feel of an amp. Good time to make sure you're using the correct power supplies for the pedals. Have you tried batteries?

Try a VOX pedal, like their Saturator or some of the newer ones. Vox + Vox could be a winner.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[JeffB]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Does it have a g12m 25 in it? The combo? I know some newer ones do.

12m25s can get messy, mushy, and compressed in a bad way when hit with too much gain, and with heavy mid and bass amp settings. Combine it with a mI'd range and compressed vox preamp AND dirt boxes, and you are asking for trouble.

Try a low gain tube in V1, and a clean boost type pedal.

I also think you might just need to realize the limitations of the amp.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Try using it with an extension cab. Speakers can radically change the way an amp sounds, so you mix the bright clean sound that you like with something maybe smoother and darker in the extension cab and you end up with the best of both worlds.

 

[saladin]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

The guitar I am using is a les paul junior with single P90. I am not expecting it to sound like a marshall or anything like that. When I bought the amp I tried it out for about 2 hours with my guitar and alot of different pedals. I have taken it back to the store twice to try pedals and they sound good. The amp does have a greenback in it. It was one of the reasons I bought it. They are my favorite speaker.
I have wondered about the power in our house for a few years now. Our house is over 60 years old and so is the wiring. Most of the plugs are 2 prong instead of 3.

 

[JeffB]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

Yup. Try a power conditioner.

As for g12m greenbacks, IME the EV/Heritage g12m by far handles gain the best of the new 12m25 from Celestion and the WGS green beret. Its woodier/drier, has a clearer midrange and has better bass response, so you can roll it off at the amp some and still have a low end. It is not as fizzy on top either..the speaker is more like the Creamback 12m65 in those aspects. The standard G1m25 Celestion and especially the WGS flub out, mud out, and get brittle much quicker. Probably why Eddie uses the Heritage version. It is a bit quieter/less efficient, 2db IIRC, and it's noticable, and that may help it. It is worth taking a look at for a low wattage amp if you like the 12m sound.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

I'd give a treble booster a try.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

I did some research last night and found a lot of threads where people were having the same problem as me. I came across alot of people talking about treble cut mod all you do is clip 2 resistors on the top boost channel. From what I read it restores the amp to older vox sounds. The handwired and heritage series don't have these caps either. So I figured why not give it a try. It does not change the tone much just gets rid of some of the harshness. I can still dial in the clean sound I like.
But with pedals it made a world of difference. Everything is alot fuller and smoother sounding. i may still look into getting another amp just for heavy sounds but the ac15 isnt going anywhere for my clean and mid gain. On a side note who makes a good treble boost? I have never used one before.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

You answered your own question in your last paragraph. In wheeling and dealing amps, you sold the right ones and bought the wrong one, and now you're chasing your tail with pedals.

In the 20 years I have been playing I have owned amps from peavey to splawn and and few bogners. But I have never had this problem before.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: getting frustrated find dirt pedals for vox ac15.

I have always wanted to have multiple setups. I learned a long time ago that no one setup will cover everything. It's just easy to get caught up in chasing tones. I am hoping to find a job soon. That way I can have more money to build a good setup. It will take me a long time but I want to try a bogner xtc or friedman be100. Wanting good gear on a Taco Bell budget is rough lol.