I have this amp and I do like it. My genre is largely blues and it gives me what I want (warm, muddy, and mellow tones) but you do need pedals with it to get the most put of it.
Amazing how Vox videos always divide opinion on the tone. Some love it some hate it. I guess it goes to show that Vox does have a signature tone that isn't to everyone's taste. Personally I really like this little amp.
Definitely. I do think Vox is a little bit less 'generic' (not in a bad way) as what perhaps Fender and Marshall have become. I like most flavors of Vox and IMO suits my guitar well. I got a modern AC30 (CC series) because of that. Many dislike that specific series as it differes slightly from the traditional AC30. Robert Douglas Pretty sure it would! Front of house will probably thank you for not taking a louder amp. ;)
I just bought this amp this morning, and it's perfect for me. My only other amp is a Peavey 5150 combo which I never take out anymore. I didn't think the gain would be enough after playing the high gain 5150, but for the house it's perfect and has all the gain I need...sounds like this will be my last amp.
Because, a box, socks and a fox.... THEY RHYME WITH VOX :'D realised that about five minutes after they appeared and this became the best video ever :) \m/
I had the 10" version and is was VERY bright. I don't see how a 12" would change it so dramatically...I think Anderton's frequently has a hard time micing stuff correctly.
Josh Neilson Wow that huge jump to no were is your opinion? You don't see how a speaker change and player change and guitar change could alter the sound so much! Add to that what ever you are listening to it on and BANG It's the mic's in the wrong place. Your powers of deduction are amazing!
I always wanted to buy a Vox AC30 because I love the sound - but there are some disadvantages to it. This here totally changed my mind, I'm definitely going to buy one of these!
Honestly this is one of the best amps I have ever heard. I love the cleans, and the dirt is just out of this world. It's only about 20 pounds too! My only concern is that it might not be loud enough for my school's band. I currently have a Vox VT20+. I keep the master volume at around 9 o'clock and the normal volume at 12 o'clock for rhythm and max for solos. You can hear me decently in the mix with two drummers, another guitar player, pianist, and seven horn players. I rarely play clean with the band so head the lack of headroom isn't the end of the world. I'll probably throw in a nice tubescreamer with the purchase for more oomph. My question is, would the AC4 be able to pull the volumes of my Valvetronix amp? I hope it does because I do not want to lug an AC15 to school and back everyday. Thanks!
Funny how in a recent “2019” video of small 4-5 watt amps - Danish Pete found this amp uninspiring - and the tone he got was nowhere close to this. Just goes to show how the player and whatever mood they are in that day grossly changes the tone. This is one of the best amps in recent years and takes amazingly well to pedals
ImM looking for a small Vox and this one sounds great. But I have a question: do you think Rob could come over and play it for me because I'm pretty sure it won't sound like that when I play?!!!
BuddyJesusSmokes I have a modded MT2 Metal Zone, a Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra, a TC Spark and a TC HOF MiniReverb. They all sound great. But, hands down, the Spark is the best pedal I own. It just makes everything sound better.
Really I thought that it wasn't that great an amp. Very much a sickly younger relative of things like the AC30. Then you plugged it into the cab and holy crapsticks!! Was awesome.
I’ve had so many of the so called great amplifiers. I’ve got this with the 12 and it’s perfect, bright, not too bassy, think EMI 1963-67, British Invasion. However, after spending thousands on amps, I honestly don’t see buying anything but Vox amps, indefinitely.
Nice review, thanks a lot! Bought the AC4C1 2 years ago and i'm still happy. The Celestion 10VX isn't bad at all and the “little less bass” is neighbor friendly. Maybe I'm a little biased, I just love 10”-speaker combos … Princeton, Pro Junior … but then I just play bluesy stuff, no drop D. Anyway, the 12”-upgrade is a very good idea, sounds really nice and is capable of handling more modern - i.e. Chappers riffing - styles!
One of the best channels on youtube for gear reviews that have more talking than playing, only use one brand of guitar, demo amps with shitloads of pedals infront of them and can only play sad, overdone "metal" "riffs" over and over and over. Thanks lads!
4:35 Ah yes, another shot of the good old Chippity Chap's crotch. That is some pure win. But what would make it an epic win? Why, only if there was a caffeinated beverage placed in between his crotch. Yes, just picture it now. The shot could have been an epic win...
glad to see shiffordable is still going strong since the coffee shop next door....(where you coined the phrase)...I know these are older vids, but I am just catching up :)
sorry to drag this up, my only gripe with Vox amps is you have to have the master up a fair way for them to sound decent, which is why the lower the wattage the better they sound. They also come with really crappy Chinese valves. Spend 40 quid on a new ecc83 and el84 either decent groove tubes or some nice NOS stuff and they sound instantly better. Great sounding amp though. I always have and always will love vox tones
If I didn't already have an ac15 I would probably get one of these. I never run the ac15 all out, even though the best clean sound is with the master dimed and both channels at 9 o' clock (ish). I also hardly ever use the trem or reverb on the 15. Funny, I'm talking myself into getting one of these
I happen to have one of those Brian May amps,but it's solid state. Believe it or not,it does sound real good through a 4x12,but not that dinky 10' speaker.
That's not meant to be a full on vox tone, it's based on his deacy amp, which is a little transistor thing, that John deacon made out of an old radio! That's all over queen records, but a very niche sound 😁😁
This amp is warm/dark sounding I have tested this in a guitar center before and it is quite low endy and has quite a shimmer when driven. It has a pretty good bass response for this small package
This Amp has given Chappers probably the best Tone I have ever heard him have.. 90% of the time when I hear him on a Vox All Tube Amplifier, I wonder why he does not make that his signature Amplifier..Love the Victory Amps, but he sounds better in my opinion with the Vox AC4 and AC30
they used a gibson for the first 4 minutes... btw if you watch the other videos you can see they use chapmans as often as gibsons and fenders and they also used prss
I don't think they do too much to be fair, but if they do I'd imagine it's for a constancy, because if everything is different every time then you don't really know what whatever sounds good or whatever. That was poorly worded but hopefully you get what I mean
Steven McRainbowtits the chapman guitars are pretty common in a sense, all I really see here is a telecaster with humbuckers. Would you complain if he had used a fender with the same pickups? probably not.
Tried this amp along with a few others ,Ended up with the Laney Cub 12R Best bang for the buck.. 15w Loud enough to gig with ,using a 212 cab and Mic up!!
Great catch, Captain. It ain't Sh-affordable, it's just affordable. Kickass fun fact: I messed up the spelling the first time, and youtube spell check actually suggested as the first thing "Sh-affordable".
I was a bit worried there you wouldn't play with the gain turned up through the 4x12. Imo this is the whole point of low wattage amps. It makes it possible to really get the valves hot. Sounded so much better by itself than with pedals. All you should need is maybe a boost with these kind of amps.
Pause at 4:38 Someone call the paparazzi ! Ah Yes, what an epic shot of the chippity Chap's crotch and the good ol' Captains face planted in the foreground. Such a moment calls for a large caffeinated beverage and a piece of win pie. It deserves to be blown up in a large poster and planted across the bedrooms of all future guitarists. Such an epic shot needs to have t shirts made so they can be worn across all of the world, in school, in professional workplaces, everywhere. Oh yes!
That little amp screams with the 4x12 cab, but I knew it would, I'm a big fan of the vox pathfinder 15r's - and I do the same thing, put 'em through 2x12 cabinets, and you should see the look on other guitarists faces' - they think it's every bit as loud as a 100 watt stack.
Would like to have seen the bass dialed down just a little at the end to see if the VOX treble would cut through like on a AC30. Was the 4X12 throwing out enough sound to gig with? Good amp for the price.
To be honest, I've always found that Vox sounds way better with low output singlecoils. strats work great. so much more punch and clarity when using low output pickups. Then again what do I know, I use powerful humbuckers into an Orange OR15 :P
Are you using mixed lighting? I keep picking up a greenish cast here and there, like there are fluorescents on along with the lights you use for filming.
I'm looking for a tube amp loud enough for playing in a band and I want to be able to get AC/DC or green day kind of tone with the amp's gain and metal tone with my boss ML2 do you guys think I could go for this one ? (my budget is 300 to 400 €)
Laney CUB amps are quite nice budget tube amps ... just give them a try. The Orange Crush Pro solid state series sounds really good too. The Roland Cube 80 does very nice hard rock and metal tones ... recommended.
Matthieu Oliver The CUB 15 should be loud enough for a not too heavy drummer. It's equipped with a Celestion Rocket 50 ... a budget speaker with good reputation ... perfect budget fit. I like my CUB15R combo ... get the one with the reverb option ...
headroom not withstanding ...i play hard rock in clubs-and i never crank the volume much on any amp without requests to turn down ....now this thing about "i dont think its loud enough to gig with " is only relative i think .? Whats (watts-lol) the use in having an ac 30 if its only using a small percentage of its volume ? Isnt it more logical to crank the ac4 RIGHT UP to breaking up and mic that sucker too ? Makes more sense to me .
I love my old Vox AC-15TB, and I was thinking of getting this amp, but I saw the back of it and the cutouts surrounding the jack socket and mains plug were misaligned (crooked). Pretty sloppy, like Marshalls. Made in China, I believe. Mine was made in England. It sounds pretty good, though, despite the sloppy build.
I notice Andertons stocked the new Kramers (like the Baretta Vintage) please... I need a video on those at the very least... I need to see at least SOMEONE play it before pulling the trigger...
From this video, I can observe there is a bit more versatility tone-wise, and perhaps a bit more low-end oomph thanks to the 12" speaker. That said, I can still hear a harshness in the high end, and boxiness from the speaker and cab. Too similar to the AC4TV to justify making the jump? After all, the fundamental issues here are the cab size and material, and speaker quality. FWIW I already own the AC4TV and I am already making a custom enlarged plywood enclosure and pairing the innards with better tubes and speaker. I believe a bit more cab air helps the amp breathe a whole lot better.
True. Had the AC4TV and AC4C1-12 and they both sounded much better through a decent-sized 1X12 cab. They made the AC4C1-12 cabinet too shallow. I don't know why they would do something like that.
Michael Garcia maybe because when shipping an item by sea, they charge by volume vs weight (which is more relevant to air freight) and a larger empty enclosure which would benefit the sound is seen more as an expensive option? That said, a lot of the vox cabs are quite shallow, and correspondingly have their own sound. I already built my custom cab with more depth and it sounds really nice. The 1x10 is about 12" deep, sealed rear but ported front baffle. Sounds tight and focused.
That said, I'm pretty sure construction materials play a huge factor as well. For instance, Orange cabs are massively over-engineered, made out of birch ply and sound really good. Contrast that to the skinny chipboard material used by Vox.
After spending an afternoon at a music store comparing this to the Laney Cub 12r I went with this one. The cleans sounded much better (to me). The only thing was it was being hard to get a good gain sound. So I decided to try a mini tube screamer in front of it and let me tell you, what a fantastic sound! IMO and for my style of playing the best amp at this price range. P.S.: Doesn't sound anything like the one on this demo, probably because of the pedals.
João Miguel Gomes I feel like it takes pedals really well. I run a Dirty little Secret for a bigger dirty base sound and fuzz with octave to get down with the Vox or Marshall sound. Wah up front, verb and delay at the end. Covers a lot of ground for bedroom and home recording.
Hello Mr. Chapman, quick question, I'm really interested in procuring myself a nice ML-3, what would be my best option as a Canadian living in Quebec? Thanks
Though I'm not the Chappers, I am an American in the same boat. You can get one through Andertons that they will ship to the Great White North as well as the USA. They do the exchange rate so you don't have to pay the horrid VAT on top of shipping and sales tax, I think.
He announced his first Canadian retailers in a video several months ago, but they can all be found at www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/retailers failing that, yeah Andertons ships internationally
Hey Rob, do you think that this would be a good bedroom replacement for the AC15? I like this price and the fact that it would be quieter and smaller, but I want it to sound like an AC15. Also, how loud is it, and how much headroom does it have? Cheers!
That Vox chime with chorus... it's a great sound.
Yep chorus comes alive with chime!.my favourite clean tone is just a tiny bit of chorus into a vox
18 minutes of 1 amp and I did not get bored! Wohoo!
Strat sounds glorious cranked up! Love my AC4! Simple and really dynamic.
Thanks guys.. I pre-orded one of these a week ago in Australia. Can't wait till it arrives mid September.
Did it ever get there? If so, what did you think? Do you still have it??
I have this amp and I do like it. My genre is largely blues and it gives me what I want (warm, muddy, and mellow tones) but you do need pedals with it to get the most put of it.
The 'muddy' sound is the creamy sound of Vox.... yum!
Adding the 4x12 changed everything. Beautiful.
Amazing how Vox videos always divide opinion on the tone. Some love it some hate it. I guess it goes to show that Vox does have a signature tone that isn't to everyone's taste. Personally I really like this little amp.
With a mic in front of it, would it handle a small pub gig/jam night?
Definitely. I do think Vox is a little bit less 'generic' (not in a bad way) as what perhaps Fender and Marshall have become. I like most flavors of Vox and IMO suits my guitar well. I got a modern AC30 (CC series) because of that. Many dislike that specific series as it differes slightly from the traditional AC30.
Robert Douglas Pretty sure it would! Front of house will probably thank you for not taking a louder amp. ;)
Do you think it would handle a gig (with a sensible drummer) cranked through a 4x12?
That should make it about as loud as an AC15 with two speakers. Not sure if it'll be clean, but you'll keep up alright methinks.
AttitudeCastle no
Lovely amp and very musical playing!! You can tell Rob liked it.
You lot always say "you probably couldn't gig with it" but you could easily mic it up and put it through the PA so, you can gig with it haha
Yes, use the amp as your monitor and put a mic on it
I gigged with it! Sounds great. Bars asked me to turn down.
I just bought this amp this morning, and it's perfect for me. My only other amp is a Peavey 5150 combo which I never take out anymore. I didn't think the gain would be enough after playing the high gain 5150, but for the house it's perfect and has all the gain I need...sounds like this will be my last amp.
Just ordered mine. Can't wait! Great review guys!
9:20 This tone is why I love my AC15.
Chappers and Captain Lee do it again!
The Brian May solo from Bohemeian Rhapsody made me happy
I always feel better after watching these guys, its like a Zen thing (although I don't really know what that means)
Always blown away by your shreddage Chappers.
Because, a box, socks and a fox.... THEY RHYME WITH VOX :'D realised that about five minutes after they appeared and this became the best video ever :) \m/
not sure if it's the mic placement you guys used, but it seems pretty dark to me.
I had the 10" version and is was VERY bright. I don't see how a 12" would change it so dramatically...I think Anderton's frequently has a hard time micing stuff correctly.
Josh Neilson Wow that huge jump to no were is your opinion? You don't see how a speaker change and player change and guitar change could alter the sound so much! Add to that what ever you are listening to it on and BANG It's the mic's in the wrong place. Your powers of deduction are amazing!
Yep! :)
Josh Neilson lol
You do make valid points though.
I always wanted to buy a Vox AC30 because I love the sound - but there are some disadvantages to it.
This here totally changed my mind, I'm definitely going to buy one of these!
Honestly this is one of the best amps I have ever heard. I love the cleans, and the dirt is just out of this world. It's only about 20 pounds too! My only concern is that it might not be loud enough for my school's band. I currently have a Vox VT20+. I keep the master volume at around 9 o'clock and the normal volume at 12 o'clock for rhythm and max for solos. You can hear me decently in the mix with two drummers, another guitar player, pianist, and seven horn players. I rarely play clean with the band so head the lack of headroom isn't the end of the world. I'll probably throw in a nice tubescreamer with the purchase for more oomph. My question is, would the AC4 be able to pull the volumes of my Valvetronix amp? I hope it does because I do not want to lug an AC15 to school and back everyday. Thanks!
The tone at 15:20 - took me back to my DigiTech rack 20 years ago!!
Funny how in a recent “2019” video of small 4-5 watt amps - Danish Pete found this amp uninspiring - and the tone he got was nowhere close to this. Just goes to show how the player and whatever mood they are in that day grossly changes the tone. This is one of the best amps in recent years and takes amazingly well to pedals
That bohemian rhapsody solo was pretty epic
ImM looking for a small Vox and this one sounds great. But I have a question: do you think Rob could come over and play it for me because I'm pretty sure it won't sound like that when I play?!!!
Hehehheh
Freaking hell that amp sounds pretty amazing! And i've never been parcel to Vox!
I know this comment is 6 years old, but… *partial
@@ColonelPaynus Heh, "parcel"
Wow, sounded better than expected.
I have a Vox AC30C2 I just got about a month ago. I love it. I have a few pedals, not many, that the Vox takes extremely well.
Anthony Norton what have you had good experiences with? I am thinking mini tube screamer, a danelectro EQ and a tone city chorus pedal for my ac4
BuddyJesusSmokes I have a modded MT2 Metal Zone, a Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra, a TC Spark and a TC HOF MiniReverb. They all sound great. But, hands down, the Spark is the best pedal I own. It just makes everything sound better.
thanks for the leads.
Of course it takes pedals well, it's a 30 watt insanely loud expensive amp
Nice that Cap and Chappers are finally doing stuff again
Really I thought that it wasn't that great an amp. Very much a sickly younger relative of things like the AC30. Then you plugged it into the cab and holy crapsticks!! Was awesome.
I’ve had so many of the so called great amplifiers. I’ve got this with the 12 and it’s perfect, bright, not too bassy, think EMI 1963-67, British Invasion. However, after spending thousands on amps, I honestly don’t see buying anything but Vox amps, indefinitely.
Nice review, thanks a lot!
Bought the AC4C1 2 years ago and i'm still happy. The Celestion 10VX isn't bad at all and the “little less bass” is neighbor friendly. Maybe I'm a little biased, I just love 10”-speaker combos … Princeton, Pro Junior … but then I just play bluesy stuff, no drop D.
Anyway, the 12”-upgrade is a very good idea, sounds really nice and is capable of handling more modern - i.e. Chappers riffing - styles!
The clean delay part reminded me of White Rose, Rob. Great old tunes!
I don't see any reason why this couldn't be a gigging amp. If you can't crank your amp loud your sound guy will like you that much more.
Plus, almost everyone mics their amp and sends it through the PA these days. You could easily gig with this.
I have this amp, and you could TOTALLY gig with this.
Chris Mortlock
Yes, I own one of these as well and 12 o' clock on both gain and volume is where you'll start syncing with the drums at repetitions.
Mic it up and it would be great
that guitar and amp match perfectly!
One of the best channels on youtube for gear reviews that have more talking than playing, only use one brand of guitar, demo amps with shitloads of pedals infront of them and can only play sad, overdone "metal" "riffs" over and over and over. Thanks lads!
That in one proper sounding lil' amp! Dig it!
An awesome wee amp!
I recabbed my ac4 in a new enclosure that will hold 12" . Used a greenback and wow, what a difference. It's a hole new animal.
4:35 Ah yes, another shot of the good old Chippity Chap's crotch. That is some pure win. But what would make it an epic win? Why, only if there was a caffeinated beverage placed in between his crotch. Yes, just picture it now. The shot could have been an epic win...
Great review and great gears as always !
Holy shit that sounded good when pushed through the 4-12.
That chapman is gorgeous
Steamboat Willie he will let u touch it..... tee hee
glad to see shiffordable is still going strong since the coffee shop next door....(where you coined the phrase)...I know these are older vids, but I am just catching up :)
Very cool. Big improvement with the 4=12.
+greatvanzinni Geez my typing sucks. A Year later & I'm still correcting. 1x 12 dang it!
The black ML3 with chrome hardware looks amazing.
Thanks for the review guys, great amp for home use. Although I was considering the VT40.
is it just me or is the tone in this video a little muddy
+Myles Pierpont VERY muddy
Great review guys! little all tube amps are becoming very popular these days and I think you could gig with this amp through PA.
15:18 THAT Zakk Wylde tone!!!!!!
sorry to drag this up, my only gripe with Vox amps is you have to have the master up a fair way for them to sound decent, which is why the lower the wattage the better they sound. They also come with really crappy Chinese valves. Spend 40 quid on a new ecc83 and el84 either decent groove tubes or some nice NOS stuff and they sound instantly better. Great sounding amp though. I always have and always will love vox tones
If I didn't already have an ac15 I would probably get one of these. I never run the ac15 all out, even though the best clean sound is with the master dimed and both channels at 9 o' clock (ish). I also hardly ever use the trem or reverb on the 15. Funny, I'm talking myself into getting one of these
I happen to have one of those Brian May amps,but it's solid state. Believe it or not,it does sound real good through a 4x12,but not that dinky 10' speaker.
That's not meant to be a full on vox tone, it's based on his deacy amp, which is a little transistor thing, that John deacon made out of an old radio! That's all over queen records, but a very niche sound 😁😁
This amp is warm/dark sounding I have tested this in a guitar center before and it is quite low endy and has quite a shimmer when driven. It has a pretty good bass response for this small package
This Amp has given Chappers probably the best Tone I have ever heard him have.. 90% of the time when I hear him on a Vox All Tube Amplifier, I wonder why he does not make that his signature Amplifier..Love the Victory Amps, but he sounds better in my opinion with the Vox AC4 and AC30
It'd be nice if you guys wouldn't do all the reviews with only chapman guitars, maybe use something a little more common?
they used a gibson for the first 4 minutes... btw if you watch the other videos you can see they use chapmans as often as gibsons and fenders and they also used prss
I don't think they do too much to be fair, but if they do I'd imagine it's for a constancy, because if everything is different every time then you don't really know what whatever sounds good or whatever. That was poorly worded but hopefully you get what I mean
Steven McRainbowtits the chapman guitars are pretty common in a sense, all I really see here is a telecaster with humbuckers. Would you complain if he had used a fender with the same pickups? probably not.
There are other guitars than fenders? Yes there are!
Very well done.... Love this guy.
Got a vox vt20 plus and i love it to death
That Les Paul's burst is doin it for me
Tried this amp along with a few others ,Ended up with the Laney Cub 12R Best bang for the buck.. 15w Loud enough to gig with ,using a 212 cab and Mic up!!
The amp could be a bit louder in the mix. You have it miked separatly for a reason right?
Y'all definitely could stand to revisit the ac4
Looking to invest in my first 'leccy. Just needed a good, affordable amp and I think I may have found it. Thanks very much, lads!
Sick Tone and playing!! How long have you been playing for?
Great catch, Captain. It ain't Sh-affordable, it's just affordable.
Kickass fun fact: I messed up the spelling the first time, and youtube spell check actually suggested as the first thing "Sh-affordable".
You guys are great I watch pretty much all of your videos and I would love it you did something about the epiphone casino thanks
he was playing one vision by queen on the gain demo at the beginning
I was a bit worried there you wouldn't play with the gain turned up through the 4x12. Imo this is the whole point of low wattage amps. It makes it possible to really get the valves hot. Sounded so much better by itself than with pedals. All you should need is maybe a boost with these kind of amps.
Pause at 4:38 Someone call the paparazzi ! Ah Yes, what an epic shot of the chippity Chap's crotch and the good ol' Captains face planted in the foreground. Such a moment calls for a large caffeinated beverage and a piece of win pie. It deserves to be blown up in a large poster and planted across the bedrooms of all future guitarists. Such an epic shot needs to have t shirts made so they can be worn across all of the world, in school, in professional workplaces, everywhere. Oh yes!
That little amp screams with the 4x12 cab, but I knew it would, I'm a big fan of the vox pathfinder 15r's - and I do the same thing, put 'em through 2x12 cabinets, and you should see the look on other guitarists faces' - they think it's every bit as loud as a 100 watt stack.
I've been looking for a new small amp and if this had reverb OR an effects loop I would have bought it
Would like to have seen the bass dialed down just a little at the end to see if the VOX treble would cut through like on a AC30. Was the 4X12 throwing out enough sound to gig with? Good amp for the price.
Did chappers play the ship to shore theme at around 6:30 ?
was wondering how this sounds in comparison to the hand wired version ??
4X12 revealed a decent valve sound
To be honest, I've always found that Vox sounds way better with low output singlecoils. strats work great. so much more punch and clarity when using low output pickups.
Then again what do I know, I use powerful humbuckers into an Orange OR15 :P
Is this new ac4 any different then the head and cab that they've had out for a bunch of years now like the tv or blue (aside from being a combo)?
So treble, but sound good
Have tubes?
White Dove for the Outro? That riff is wicked man!
Are you using mixed lighting? I keep picking up a greenish cast here and there, like there are fluorescents on along with the lights you use for filming.
rob you are a beast
Hello, Can you do a Review about the Peavey 6505+ Combo 112 ? ... I want to know about your Perspective about that Amplifier as a Combo
I am confused, I have a Vox from 1972 and it states it is made in Torrance CA
that amp sounds beautiful...
Box? No. Socks? Shit. Fox? Damnit. VOX! Yes!
I'm looking for a tube amp loud enough for playing in a band and I want to be able to get AC/DC or green day kind of tone with the amp's gain and metal tone with my boss ML2 do you guys think I could go for this one ? (my budget is 300 to 400 €)
Laney CUB amps are quite nice budget tube amps ... just give them a try. The Orange Crush Pro solid state series sounds really good too. The Roland Cube 80 does very nice hard rock and metal tones ... recommended.
I was interested in a Laney Cub15 before seeing that amp, I'll try them all I think ! thank you !
Matthieu Oliver
The CUB 15 should be loud enough for a not too heavy drummer. It's equipped with a Celestion Rocket 50 ... a budget speaker with good reputation ... perfect budget fit. I like my CUB15R combo ... get the one with the reverb option ...
+Matze R
I'll try this one for sure, I think it should fit perfectly with what I'm looking for (I don't need to play with Dave Grohl on drums XD)
The Fender Mustang II packs quite a punch, and sounds awesome too!
Hello guys, have you ever tried to upgrade the speaker on this model?
headroom not withstanding ...i play hard rock in clubs-and i never crank the volume much on any amp without requests to turn down ....now this thing about "i dont think its loud enough to gig with " is only relative i think .?
Whats (watts-lol) the use in having an ac 30 if its only using a small percentage of its volume ? Isnt it more logical to crank the ac4 RIGHT UP to breaking up and mic that sucker too ? Makes more sense to me .
I wouldn't say the AC4 sounded boxy with the built-in speaker, but it did sound rather quiet/small.
Why doesn't anderton's sell VHT? The VHT special 6 ultra is a perfect contestant for this one
Please play more blues! Your blues licks are killer!!!
Gotta love that shifforable gear
I love my old Vox AC-15TB, and I was thinking of getting this amp, but I saw the back of it and the cutouts surrounding the jack socket and mains plug were misaligned (crooked). Pretty sloppy, like Marshalls. Made in China, I believe. Mine was made in England. It sounds pretty good, though, despite the sloppy build.
That las tone was HUGE. Add a little Spark and we're good to go. (head=blown)
I notice Andertons stocked the new Kramers (like the Baretta Vintage) please... I need a video on those at the very least... I need to see at least SOMEONE play it before pulling the trigger...
From this video, I can observe there is a bit more versatility tone-wise, and perhaps a bit more low-end oomph thanks to the 12" speaker. That said, I can still hear a harshness in the high end, and boxiness from the speaker and cab.
Too similar to the AC4TV to justify making the jump? After all, the fundamental issues here are the cab size and material, and speaker quality.
FWIW I already own the AC4TV and I am already making a custom enlarged plywood enclosure and pairing the innards with better tubes and speaker. I believe a bit more cab air helps the amp breathe a whole lot better.
True. Had the AC4TV and AC4C1-12 and they both sounded much better through a decent-sized 1X12 cab. They made the AC4C1-12 cabinet too shallow. I don't know why they would do something like that.
Michael Garcia maybe because when shipping an item by sea, they charge by volume vs weight (which is more relevant to air freight) and a larger empty enclosure which would benefit the sound is seen more as an expensive option? That said, a lot of the vox cabs are quite shallow, and correspondingly have their own sound. I already built my custom cab with more depth and it sounds really nice. The 1x10 is about 12" deep, sealed rear but ported front baffle. Sounds tight and focused.
That said, I'm pretty sure construction materials play a huge factor as well. For instance, Orange cabs are massively over-engineered, made out of birch ply and sound really good. Contrast that to the skinny chipboard material used by Vox.
Hi lee do you have any of your andertons 50th anniversary heads left I've seen the cabs but no heads thanks for reading regards Ben
After spending an afternoon at a music store comparing this to the Laney Cub 12r I went with this one. The cleans sounded much better (to me). The only thing was it was being hard to get a good gain sound. So I decided to try a mini tube screamer in front of it and let me tell you, what a fantastic sound! IMO and for my style of playing the best amp at this price range.
P.S.: Doesn't sound anything like the one on this demo, probably because of the pedals.
João Miguel Gomes I feel like it takes pedals really well. I run a Dirty little Secret for a bigger dirty base sound and fuzz with octave to get down with the Vox or Marshall sound. Wah up front, verb and delay at the end. Covers a lot of ground for bedroom and home recording.
Hello Mr. Chapman, quick question, I'm really interested in procuring myself a nice ML-3, what would be my best option as a Canadian living in Quebec? Thanks
Though I'm not the Chappers, I am an American in the same boat. You can get one through Andertons that they will ship to the Great White North as well as the USA. They do the exchange rate so you don't have to pay the horrid VAT on top of shipping and sales tax, I think.
He announced his first Canadian retailers in a video several months ago, but they can all be found at www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/retailers failing that, yeah Andertons ships internationally
I know its lot more but i get the sound that amp has with both of the stax switches on from my laney lc30 II alone.
Hey Rob, do you think that this would be a good bedroom replacement for the AC15? I like this price and the fact that it would be quieter and smaller, but I want it to sound like an AC15. Also, how loud is it, and how much headroom does it have? Cheers!