Question about tone/amp settings (Custom 24 into Vox)

[Salty]

Hey everybody,
I've been playing a Custom 24 (I think it's a 1999, completely stock aside from a McCarty switch) for many years now, usually through a modern (90's, anyway) Marshall combo. I love the tone of the guitar straight into the amp, even at bedroom volume. Unfortunately, the Marshall needs a re-tube and Christmas spending has put a hole in the repairs budget until early into the new year. Now on the very, very fortunate side of things, I do have a Vox AC30 reissue as well (it's not mine, just holding it for a buddy who's overseas at the moment), but I'm having trouble getting a good tone out of it at bedroom volume. Specifically, the bridge pickup in my PRS sounds really harsh through the Vox, while the neck is a bit muddy and flat. By contrast, my Epiphone semi-hollowbody, which is fitted with PAF-type humbuckers, sounds great.

Now obviously, the more modern pickups in the PRS were something that the guys at Vox couldn't have anticipated all those years ago when they designed the amp, but I have to think that there's something I could between my amp settings and my volume and tone knobs to soften the shrillness of that bridge pickup. Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[Egads]

I've never like AC30s down low. Now, bring 'em up above 30% and they start sounding oh so good. The hotter pups will exacerbate the issue.

 

[László]

I agree that an AC30 is just one of those amps that needs to be cranked a bit to sound good. What I'd suggest is turning down your guitar's volume and turning the amp a little hotter than you might otherwise do.

This will give the guitar less high frequency push into the amp because as you lower the guitar volume, you lower the HF content a little. You might try the tone knob, too. Then you can push the amp volume up a bit, and it won't sound thin.

Another thing to do is experiment with the cut control on the AC30. You can cut some of the treble shrillness with it, yet the amp will still sound relatively bright.

 

[Tag]

Another thing to do is experiment with the cut control on the AC30. You can cut some of the treble shrillness with it, yet the amp will still sound relatively bright.

This...



and use the "normal" channel or input, not the top boost. I had a Vox AC15 HW and my PRS sounded INSANE with it, even at low volumes. Vox do not excel at really high gain tones, so if you are going for that, its just the nature of the beast IMO. I hated the "hot" switch on mine, and never used it at all.

 

[pac90]

Good tips in above posts..

Also have a gander over at TDPRI forums, they have a lot of users with bright telecasters whom use Vox, for some more tips.

I just went through something similar myself with my own smaller Vox an AC4-1-12, which has a version of the top boost circuit only, no normal channel. It's my first tube amp so was a learning curve, here's what I was helped with.
I did a few hardware mods: (1) bright cap mod - taking 2 capacitors out of the circuit - they let treble through at low volumes, not used at higher volumes. That helped a bit, effectively letting me roll off less treble at the guitar, but in the end I went for a speaker and tube upgrade which effectively doubled the cost of the (relatively cheap) amp - to a celestion blue and mullard tubes. It sounds amazing now and the shrill treble is gone. I used to have to do the tip earlier in the thread and restrict the guitar side volume to tame amp 'treble', now its pleasing to the ears as is. I think the original speaker on the AC4 (VX12) is far less quality than anything in an AC30 though, when first out of the box it was very ice picky.

A soft mod which I use is to colour the tone with my compressor pedal, a route 66 (which is just set on low parameters to thicken the guitar sound), by setting tone on bass side a little. I was eyeing up a Source Audio EQ pedal to use with the bridge, but the speaker wasn't actually that much more. Maybe you have a pedal which has tone control, like an OD or compressor which can be run cleanish?

The vox users on that other forum say that the Vox AC15 can peel paint from the walls, I have the AC4 at 9 oclock on volume for 11 oclock on gain (zero / max is 6 o'clock)and its very loud in the house, so the AC30 may need more volume to get to a sweet spot on the top boost circuit.

I was so disappointed in my amp out of the box, gutted in fact, as I felt it had ruined my guitar, but now I really love it and I 'get' the Vox sound.

(guitar is bernie with 53/10s)

 

[Tag]

The vox users on that other forum say that the Vox AC15 can peel paint from the walls,

If you want it to it probably can, but it can be as dark and woody as you want as well! This is my PRS Artist 3 with 57/08s into a Mad professor silver spring reverb pedal, straight into my old Vox HW 15. I love this tone and do not find it bright at all. (Normail channel, gain about 10 Oclock, MV engaged, cool mode)

 

[solacematt]

Try Grailtone