I’ve had an interesting history with amps.  Back in the day I used to be all about modeling stuff – I guess I thought Line6 was pretty cool.  My first amp ever was a Line6 Spider 1×12.  Man, that thing sounded terrible.  Then I moved up and got a POD 2.0.  Then came a POD XT Live.  I never could get those things to sound like real amps.

Somewhere along the line I picked up a Peavey Classic 30, which was a great amp, and I never should have sold it.  But I did, because I guess I thought I wanted a modelling amp.  So, still keeping with the modelling thing, I bought a Vox AD60VT, which is an early Valvetronix “Blue” series modelling amp.  It sounded way better than the POD stuff, but it was still a modelling amp.

In December 2008, I decided that my electric guitar tone needed to be pure and simple, and that meant a tube amp.  I always used the “Vox AC15″ model on my Valvetronix amp, so that’s what I bought.  Now, Vox makes a couple versions of these.  There is the Custom Classic line, made in China (that’s what I’ve got).  They’ve got a stock model, and one with a Celestion Blue speaker, which costs a lot more.  Then there are the hand-wired made in England versions.  They are expensive.  Mine is the Custom Classic line.  How about some photos.

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I picked up my AC15CC1 used for about $500 used, and it’s got an Emminence Red Fang speaker in it, which is a nice upgrade.  The Red Fang is a clone of the Celestion Blue.

It sounds nice and chimey, just like a Vox should.  Cleans are great, and when you push it, the amp breaks up really nice.  The speaker upgrade smooths it out a lot on the higher frequencies.  Sounds good with single-coil and humbuckers.

One thing I don’t like about the amp is the reverb.  It’s got built-in tremelo (which sounds great) and reverb, but the reverb is pretty nasty.