What Is The 'VOX' Sound?

The Vox AC30 is undoubtedly one of the most iconic guitar amplifiers of all time. Used by some of the greatest rock bands ever, this amp has left an impact that still has players today pining for that classic Vox "chime" and sparkle. What Is The Vox Sound?
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[andigisler]

The story of how Brian May found his sound is so interesting. As a 16-year old he and his buddies regularily watched the great Rory Gallagher play with Taste at the Marquee club in London. t some point he finally took courage and asked Rory how he got his sound. Rory's answer was something like 'Oh it's so simple. You take a Strat, a Rangemaster Treble Booster and run that through a Vox AC30. Done'

And Brian did exactly that: He bought a Rangemaster and a used AC30. He didn't buy a Strat because he already had built his Red Special by then. And THIS - to this day - is his basic sound.

What's amazing is that Rory and Brian are two of the greatest ever players - but they sound completely different. There's also something to be said to sticking to one instrument and setup: Almost all of the true stylists did that.

[kevinfraser]

Vox may not be my favorite sounding amps of all time, but as a live sound tech, they make me smile ear to ear when I see them on stage. Nothing makes a guitar sit so effortlessly in the mix than an AC30. If their are two guitarists and only one has a Vox, most of my guitar mixing effort is spent trying to give the other guitarist as much space in the mix.

[dspindola]

Why is nobody talking about that awesome little “Bullet the Blue Sky” cover in the beginning? One of U2’s best songs!

[Breakbeats.]

30 years from now, some kid that is just as enamored with the history of Rock and the devices that made it possible will talk about amps with the same passion as you. This is why I love music.

[j.a.s.]

Vox is the greatest sound ever. Most underrated best home/recording amp is the Vox AC10. Don't even get me started with the Limited Edition with a Celestian V-Type speaker.... 🎸

[ScottTheNews]

Years ago in the 90’s I was working in a music shop in Sydney. What I noticed about the AC30’s that we were selling was that no matter how you set the dials there was always a useful sound to be had. Amazing amps. I wish that I bought one.

[Soobysounds]

Man that Strat -> AC30 sounds good! Like the sun is out, but there’s snow on the ground and I can see my breathe. That’s what it sounds like. ❤️

[BordersJambo]

My main guitar is a Burns Brian May Red Special, from 2001, plugged into a (Chinese) AC30 C2X via a treble booster, and it sounds great. Recently, I've gone the whole hog & output to three amps (the other two 'side amps' are small VOX MV15-ACs to 8" Cambridge speakers) for the full BM sound. 800ms delay to one side, 1600ms to the other, and a dry centre into the AC30 itself. It's taken me two decades to build / buy this setup, and I'm really happy with it.

[cliverkay]

Years ago, I was at the Marshall factory being shown round by JIm and he showed me the Vox's coming off the lines. I could see it gave him great satisfaction as Vox was his competitor in the 60's and the fact that he was making them made him smile !!

[Lakaiordie]

Can't believe no mention of Rory Gallagher! He's May's inspiration sound-wise! And what a job he did with the AC30!

[misterknightowlandco]

To me, one of the best guitar sounds ever is a Gretsch through a Vox. 🍻

[tron]

Rory Gallagher is the reason Brian May played a Vox AC30, Brian was a teenager when he met Rory after a show and explained his Vox and Treble Booster combo to young Brian . Look up the Brian May interview talking about Rory's influence.

[eccollins]

Hi Rhett, great info and demo. The AC30 "essential" that no one talks about is the original chrome stands. In the 1960s, none of the British Invasion bands ever used the AC30 sitting on the stage or studio floor. With a 90 degree baffle, the AC30 pushes about 30% of the speaker projection into the floor, either reflecting the sound back up off a hard surface and causing phase cancellation, or being absorbed into a carpeted floor, both causing a loss of volume. The AC30 is louder, clearer and projects more like a 4x12 half-stack with the chrome stand. Highly recommended.

[slowdiver]

You should talk about the “Roland Jazz Chorus” Sound.

[ThadBrown]

Excellent discussion as always, but one other point about the lack of negative feedback. First, it makes the speaker an even more integral part of the circuit since you can't 'hide' the behavior of the speaker behind the negative feedback. So if you put a great sounding, efficient EV speaker in your AC it might be a great speaker but it will change a LOT about how the amp acts. Second, the lack of negative feedback means that the transition from 'clean' to 'distorted' much more subtly. I don't know now many times I've played a part on a vox and then listened to it in isolation and thought, 'Whoa, that's WAY more distorted than I thought.' The amp transitions from clean to distorted, even on the same note, elegantly. So you can have a 'distorted' that sounds cleaner than it is. As for other options, the Top Hat AC copies are great, and the Catalinbread Galileo is a super option.

[Squiershire]

I had a Vox AC15 and it was my go-to until I had to move and downsize - the Gen 1 Vox Night Train 15 head has been invaluable for me since then. It gets me the chime I love so much and also some very killer high-gain stages. A very good alternative for people wanting the chime without the heft of a full amp.

[zeroamplification]

There's no such thing as a "low headroom tube" it's purely based on circuit design. Different tubes put out different power levels so breakup vs. volume level can be argued but tubes are just tubes on their own. EF86 is a pentode preamp tube which not all Vox's have, I'd say non-top boost, non-EF86 Vox's still have the Vox sound and plenty of pentode preamp designs like the Gibson GA-20 or GA-40 don't have a Vox sound.

Not being difficult, just want folks to have the most accurate info about the murky and confusing world of tube amplification! Awesome video!

[joshuaunitt]

LORD, that bullet the blue sky intro was great

[jaxon]

My main rig right now, guitars and amp wise, is an SG standard from 1970, and a Gretsch 5422tg through a vox ac15. It breaks up beautifully, I love it.

[Twongo]

As a recording engineer one of the biggest guitar sounds ever recorded in my studio was a VOX AC15. I don't remember what the guitarist was playing or what he did before or at the amp, but every once in a while I listen to the recording and wish I'd payed more attention. I don't think we thought about where it was in the room. I think I just mic'd it where he set it down on his way in. I threw a couple of mics at it. Both close, one front, one rear. It was on a bench, a couple feet from the wall behind it and 6' or so from the next nearest wall. Probably a 4033 and a 57. It is one of the most detailed, articulate, rich, and gurgley sounds I've ever heard.

On the modelling front - I think one of the hardest concepts to propagate is that, no, it does not and can not sound like your amp. BUT! Very, very few of your audience is ever listening to your amp. Whether on record, from the back of the club, or even closer seats in the arena, your audience is listening to your guitar sound through a daunting signal chain. Starting with... mics.