Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Once again, if you're playing some more 60's and 70's flavored metal, you can absolutely use an AC-30 and sound great. Once you start trying to play Metallica, you start to not have the tight percussive sound that you need for that style of metal.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Honestly, metal guitar is more playing style, EQ approach, signal chain, mic placement, room placement, your bass player etc that will determine whether or not any amp will get a certain sound. You can have a Mesa Dual Rec, but place it in a huge empty room, use plenty of mids and treble, be conservative with the bass and gain, mic the room with condensers/ribbon mics to capture the more atmospheric sound of the room and blend with one SM57 close-miked for clarity. You can also take an AC30, EQ it with plenty of low end, stick your favorite overdrive in front of it, blast the master volume, put it in a very small and foam padded closet, and use only close-miking, coupled with a really tight bass player/bass tone. In this case, the "metal" amp won't sound metal at all, while the "non-metal" amp would probably fare well for metal. It's not that simple, and really, the guitar player should just use whatever inspires them to play their best. For some guys, that'll be a stereotypical metal setup; for others it'll be a setup thought to be unconventional for metal.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

For me, when an AC30 is used for heavier tones using predominantly pre-amp gain, it's a very fizzy/ugly distortion. The trick with AC30s is always to get the power tubes cooking - that gets LOUD quick, BUT it does begin to smooth out the ugly pre-amp gain. The interplay between pre- and power- tube distortion on MV AC30s is just one of the challenges in dialing in a usable tone. At the local level, I think the reason AC30s don't get so much play/recommendation for hard rock/metal is that they're just too loud to get those tones at smaller venues - this then leads to the need to get the tone from outboard/pedals, which then means it's easier to use an amp designed for the purpose in the first place (Mesa, EVH, Marshall, etc.)


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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Granted an AC 30 can be quite loud. But they never get the tight percussive bottom end that is the hallmark of the more technical genres of metal. Unless maybe you use a very effective gate.

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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Am I the only one that laughs at the thought of a "metal" band saying a single AC30 is too loud (when they usually idealize a half-stack setup)? What, are they playing at a retirement home?
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Myaccount876 said:
Am I the only one that laughs at the thought of a "metal" band saying a single AC30 is too loud (when they usually idealize a half-stack setup)? What, are they playing at a retirement home?
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For me it's not that the AC-30 doesn't get loud enough (I prefer 2x12's any day of the week anyways). But it's just not tight enough. You have to do a hell of a lot more to get an AC-30 to be tight whereas a Mesa or a Marshall can get there pretty easily.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

The AC15 and 30 have proved to be superb in almost all genres of electric guitar music for over fifty years. They have nothing to prove.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Benthedemon007 said:
Wait, Ritchie Blackmore is using Engls? [emoji45]
Click to expand...

From what I understand, the Vox was used on:

Shades of Deep Purple
The Book of Talisyn
Deep Purple
Concerto for Group and Orchestra (there is video of this)
In Rock (at least part of it)

Check out Blackmore's ENGL. Funny, Steve Morse has a signature ENGL too. He sounded better with his 5150 setup.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

I'm wondering if an AC30 into a 4x12 sealed cab would tighten things up. It would be interesting but perhaps defeat the purpose of having an AC30 in the first place.
 
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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

ime, the only el84 amps good for the chuggs are the circuits that utilize a resonance/damping control in the power section to control how tight the speaker interaction is.

Between the combo cab, typical speakers, and power tube type, Vox or similar aint gonna cut it doing AJFA , e.g.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

You also have to take in consideration - a lot of AC30s have a tube rectifier. Change it to a solid state rectifier for a tighter sound.

There's also the speakers and cabinet, but at that point it's becoming less of an AC30. You can blend the open back 2x12 with an extension 4x12 loaded with something like G12-75T's. Just make sure when placing the cabinets in the same room that the sound coming out of the back of the open cab doesn't have phase cancellations with the 4x12. Another trick is to place the open back right up against the wall, preferably any wall with a denser material. If you place the back of an AC30 less than an inch from a brick wall, it'll have a lot more bass and sound heavier. Use compression if you still want to tighten things up.
 
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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Actually, I think what Blackmore did was have his AC30 transplanted into a Marshall head shell, and drive Marshall cabs with it. The closed-back 4x12, being pushed easily by a 30-watt amp would tend to tighten it up a bit. I think there's a picture in the the Machine Head jacket of him using this rig in the studio.


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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Rich_S said:
Actually, I think what Blackmore did was have his AC30 transplanted into a Marshall head shell, and drive Marshall cabs with it. The closed-back 4x12, being pushed easily by a 30-watt amp would tend to tighten it up a bit. I think there's a picture in the the Machine Head jacket of him using this rig in the studio.


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Click to expand...

I always thought he used a Marshall major.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

Live, it was a modded Major or two. But the early studio stuff was the AC30 wearing a Marshall's clothing.


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Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

There is live footage of him using actual ac30 combos. You can find it on youtube.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

I've recorded them a couple of times. The chuggy low end is not for them. Anything else, is. They sing. When available, a couple of times I recorded the heavy rhythm tracks with some meaty amp and the solos with a VOX.
 
Re: Why aren't Voxes more commonly used in metal?

The footage of Blackmore live with AC30s is 2 years before he was using Marshalls. I had heard he transplanted the AC30s before, but I don't know when he switched over to Marshalls. However, I still think his tone pre-Strat was his best ever. I don't like the tone on his recent Rainbow shows.
 
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