Vox AC15C2 2x Greenbacks

Well I have to say, things worked out pretty good for me on this trade I made yesterday to pick up a Vox AC15 with two Greenbacks in it. I have always wondered what an AC15 would sound like with two speakers instead of one in the cab, and I am happy to say I got the results I expected. Two speakers definitely fills in the sonic space in a way that one never did for me with small Voxes. The new Chinese made Voxes don't sound quite as rich as the old hand wired models, but I suspect they are a little easier to maintain and the essential Vox sound is there. I would like to hear a stronger low end and may swap out a greenback for another speaker with more beef, but on the whole that chimey, fat grind is all there. Has anyone else tried one?

Not an AC15 but I swapped out the Greenbacks in my AC30C2 for a H30/V30 combo. I tried 2 H30s first but prefer the mix. You get bite, a more solid bottom end and a fair dollop of extra volume (H30 and V30 are both 100db/1W/1m. More options for micing up/ recording too.
The Greenbacks were a bit too thin and fizzy for my tastes with the new Voxs.

BTW I have owned a 1961 AC30 head A 1961 AC30 combo with Blues. Both are much bassier than the Chinese Voxes and run much hotter. Although a large part of me hates the idea of a Chinese Vox, let alone mdf for the cab, they do sound good and are far easier to live with. The new ones make the tone many people think Voxs are "supposed to make". My old ones never sounded Beatley on their own. The old ones just had to have the Rangemaster for me.

Has anyone tried other speaker combos in a Vox, either AC30 or other, with 2x12? How would Blues sound vs. greenbacks?

Yelly said:

Not an AC15 but I swapped out the Greenbacks in my AC30C2 for a H30/V30 combo. I tried 2 H30s first but prefer the mix. You get bite, a more solid bottom end and a fair dollop of extra volume (H30 and V30 are both 100db/1W/1m. More options for micing up/ recording too.
The Greenbacks were a bit too thin and fizzy for my tastes with the new Voxs.

BTW I have owned a 1961 AC30 head A 1961 AC30 combo with Blues. Both are much bassier than the Chinese Voxes and run much hotter. Although a large part of me hates the idea of a Chinese Vox, let alone mdf for the cab, they do sound good and are far easier to live with. The new ones make the tone many people think Voxs are "supposed to make". My old ones never sounded Beatley on their own. The old ones just had to have the Rangemaster for me.

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I've had alot of old JMI-era Vox Amps! If your amp is running hotter then you should check the Smoothing Caps/can. If you still have the original ones in it then get it to a tech as those things were only designed to last 10 years, not 50+. The Electrolyte solution dries out and crystalizes and sucks your voltage down, causes odd harmonics and double note when the volume is wacked up. Also on an original one it's very easy to convert it from either Bass or Normal to a Treble model or add a Top Boost Kit. I have a 1964 AC30N and once owned a 1960 W(stood for white knobs, was an original Shadows owned amp & was the 290th AC30 made). I've serviced around 500 original AC30's among all the other original Vox Amps.
The reason it is hotter vs. the new Chinese stuff is the new stuff has better ventilation/air flow. They've made openings on the baffle & plynth as well as top vents that are nearly 3x the size of the original vents. But, one thing to consider is that the hotter these amps get the better they sound and they will put out more wattage. The Chinese made amps use utter crap components. The output tranny alone is a joke and the more time one puts in on the amp the worse these sound. right out of the box they sound decent, but get 30-40 hours playing in on them and they just loose warmth, note detail and harmonics.. I've modded so many new Korg/Vox Amps over the last 20+ years and they all sound considerably better after that.
Also, since your AC30 is a`61, you might want to swap out the Cathode Resistor in the output section from an 82 ohm to a 50 ohm. you'll get a bit more output and punch. Vox had a LOC(list of changed) that was pretty extensive in, I believe, 1963 that changed the Cathode Resistor to 50 ohms.

Mr. Papa said:

Well .............The new Chinese made Voxes don't sound quite as rich as the old hand wired models, but I suspect they are a little easier to maintain and the essential Vox sound is there.....

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I've never owned a vintage VOX amp. But, if the Chinese VOX amps sound anything like the vintage VOX amps, I guess I just am not a fan of the VOX sound. The AC15CC with a Celestian blue I had lasted about 15 minutes in my studio.

The old Voxs are long gone I'm afraid. To get the sound of them from the new ones it needs bright cap removal from the top boost channel, running the treble high with low bass BUT almost full cut from the tone cut to get rid of the fizz my old ones never had.....and run them loud.

Yelly said:

The old Voxs are long gone I'm afraid. To get the sound of them from the new ones it needs bright cap removal from the top boost channel, running the treble high with low bass BUT almost full cut from the tone cut to get rid of the fizz my old ones never had.....and run them loud.

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Interesting comment on the bright cap........

Does this apply to the standard production models and the handwired models? I have the recent incarnation of the handwired AC-15HW1X and don't find it very trebly, but have never A-B'd it against a vintage AC-30.

And yes, I agree 100%: part of the Vox magic is to let those tubes cook and to run them loud. I remember that lesson with my first Korg AC-15TBX

The Standard ACs are quite differently constructed. I have never heard one that needed any bright cap.
Both versions have very different layouts than the old ones.